Go Green: Climate and environment action

Climate change and environmental degradation are a threat multiplier for displaced people. Therefore, one of DRCs crosscutting organisational principles is to Go green.

DRC commits to respond to the global climate crisis and environmental degradation by increasing the adaptive capacities of people affected by conflict and displacement and by ensuring that our own conduct is nature-positive.

Climate change is the defining crisis of our time and disproportionately impacts the world’s most vulnerable people: those whom we serve. By making green thinking and action an organisational priority, DRC acknowledges that climate change is a global phenomenon that increasingly interacts with the drivers of refugee movements. DRC must address climate change systematically and ambitiously to address the current trends.

People affected by displacement need a strong advocate to ensure protection. Empowerment of the most marginalised will help to ensure that they will not be left behind in global climate action. In particular, stronger efforts are required to obtain data-based evidence for how we can include – rather than exclude – people affected by displacement.

In light of this, DRC will sharpen its focus on climate adaptation in programmes. We will aim to increase the climate resilience of those we serve. We will carry out initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations. And we will advocate for the rights of persons affected by displacement and conflict in situations negatively affected by climate change or environmental degradation.

DRC's climate action

Framework for Climate and Environment

The Framework on Climate Change and Environment explains DRC's ambitions to respond to climate change and environmental degradation in contexts of forced displacement. It elaborates our ambitions and commitments to tackle the displacement challenges that are already being amplified by climate change, and to mitigate and prepare for those to come.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that “increasingly interacts with the drivers of refugee movements” and disproportionally affects developing countries, which today host 80% of the world’s refugees and displaced persons. People affected by displacement, therefore, need a strong advocate to ensure protection and empowerment of the most marginalised, and that they will not be left behind in global climate action.

Climate change and environmental degradation can be threat multipliers as climate-related risks may exacerbate conflict dynamics and increase the impact of other drivers of conflict and fragility. Through this framework, DRC is underlining the importance of addressing displacement in the context of climate change as we work to ensure protection of forcibly displaced people.

We do this in our three core pillars:

We created a catalogue of selected DRC initiatives about our climate and environment action!

Climate change is a global issue that increasingly intersects with the drivers of conflict and displacement. In several regions where the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) operates, the global climate crisis presents severe challenges for the populations DRC aims to assist.

DRC has therefore committed to taking climate action across our organization, focusing on the three pillars of adaptation, mitigation and advocacy. In this Catalogue we showcase some of the DRC's Green Initiatives in the fields, encompassing a wide array of projects with varying scope, duration, funding, and focus areas.

We invite you to explore the Catalogue (below), follow the QR codes and links to learn more about the projects, and reach out to discuss new possibilities!

Read the Greening DRC

We signed the Climate Charter for humanitarian NGOs and work towards our commitments!

The recent DRC Climate and Environment Framework and the DRC Strategy 2025 define the direction for DRC in the years to come, in line with our commitments under the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations.

The Climate crisis affects all of us, but the most marginalized communities are the most affected by the consequences. Therefore, humanitarian NGOs play a key role, taking action to address the climate crisis and its effects. The Climate Charter for humanitarian NGOs intends to provide a clear vision and principles to guide humanitarian action in the face of the climate and environmental crises.

Have a look at the Climate Charter on climate-charter.org

It is our priority to address climate change and environmental degradation systematically and ambitiously across the organisation. DRC becomes a key advocate and stakeholder for people affected by displacement in the humanitarian sector.

Lillah Emmik Sørensen, Global Climate and Environment Advisor

DRCs Climate and Environment Actions

At DRC we are taking climate and environmental actions within the the three core pillars of our Climate and Environment Framework:

Adaptation in Programmatic Response,
Mitigating DRC’s Environmental and Climate Footprint, and
Advocacy for Displaced Persons in the Context of Climate Change.

These three pillars shape our response to the climate and environment crises and their interaction with forced displacement.

Further, resilience to climate shocks, environmental degradation and displacement is often very low in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, and disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable.

In this context, the relationship between climate change, conflict, poverty, and persecution greatly increases the complexity of humanitarian crises, refugee emergencies, as well as protracted displacement situations. In effect, the climate lens is becoming increasingly important for a humanitarian organization like DRC.