Leila, a ten-year-old girl was sleeping the night of July 13 when deadly floods washed away her family’s tent at Al-Jufainah, the largest camp for internally displaced persons in Marib. Had the Yemen Red Crescent had adequate financial resources, it could have taken more anticipatory measures to protect Leila and her vulnerable community from deadly disaster events before they occur.

Leila has survived this time, but her tomorrow is not guaranteed, in a country where the climate crisis has added another thick layer of complexity and suffering to the already dire situation. The war in Yemen has entered its eighth year, and humanitarian needs are increasing massively amid a dramatic shrink in support from donors for years. This year, the overall humanitarian funding raised so far for Yemen is in sharp decline (51 % coverage versus over 60% at the same time last year, per UNOCHA).

Moving to Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Iraq, many children and women have faced similar experiences to what Leila experienced in terms of extreme weather events, mainly wildfires and floods that caused losses in lives and damage to livelihoods and properties.

The February 2022 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), provides unequivocal evidence that climate change is gravely contributing to humanitarian crises and impacts people at risk.  The effects are far worse and happening at a faster pace than anticipated.

In all the above-mentioned countries, local responders, like National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, are embedded in the communities they serve, before, during, and after disasters hit. They continue to be the true first trusted responders to these climate emergencies, saving lives, healing wounds and providing shelter and basic needs to affected communities.

At the 27th session of the Climate Conference, or what is officially called the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UNFCCC, which is taking place in Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt, from Nov. 7-18, 2022, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) continues its mission to ensure that voices and needs of local communities are always positioned at the centre of the response to climate emergencies, the greatest threat of our time.

Protecting people from the impact of the crisis and strengthening communities’ ability to cope and become more resilient is IFRC’s number one priority, but how?

We believe that investment in early and local action is key to reducing the impacts of climate change and saving lives. Let’s not miss this opportunity, and ensure that flexible anticipatory financing reaches the most affected, including in hard-to-reach ‘last mile’ places, fragile and conflict-affected countries and communities, and anticipate disasters better through early warning systems that reach everyone – and not only those with a smartphone.

We believe when communities are prepared, extreme weather events need not become major disasters, and local communities will have time and resources to prepare, adapt, and mitigate their impact, instead of reacting after they wreak havoc.

In light of that, IFRC will launch the Global Climate Resilience Platform at COP 27 on November 9 to significantly enhance community-based climate action by National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world.

As humanitarians, we have a moral duty toward the next generations and people at risk.  We continue to care and help every day; for one day, our daughters and sons will ask if we did enough to protect Leila and other children and women, the environment, and the planet. We are in a race against time, let’s be bold and act together with courage and to scale.