Fast Tracks: Accelerating climate action to better meet growing needs

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As scientists warn that the climate crisis is unfolding faster than predicted, and that other planetary limits are increasingly overtaken, how can aid and health stakeholders respond to growing needs of populations while moving faster on reducing their emissions? The capacity of organisations to meet populations’ needs in an equitable way may actually not be hampered but rather reinforced by ambitious climate strategies. How can solutions favour adaptation, resilience and mitigation together? Gathering our community of partners, experts, peers and colleagues across a variety of sectors, panellists and participants shared their views and practical experience in the face of this critical challenge.

Keynote speeches | Tackling together the planet and people’s growing needs in the face of an existential threat

In this session, keynote speakers looked at climate and environmental action through different perspectives: scientific, operational and policy acceleration. They spoke to the urgency, the frameworks and the benefits of acting now in the interest of the planet and people, as humanity needs to take a leap forward and collaborate towards faster, effective climate action.

• Professor Joyeeta Gupta,  Professor of Law and Policy in Water Resources and Environment, University of Amsterdam, previously co-chair of the Earth Commission with Johan Rockström
• Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-president, ICRC
• David Nabarro, Strategic Director of 4SD Foundation, Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College, former Special Adviser to the UNSG on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change

Moderated by Béatrice Godefroy | Director of Public Policy Engagement, Climate Action Accelerator

Amplifying efforts to halve emissions by 2030 in the humanitarian sector : zooming on food aid and nutrition

Food aid and agriculture could represent close to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions from the international humanitarian sector. But with more populations relying on food assistance, diminishing crop yields and geopolitical tensions, how can agencies both develop their capacity to assist those in need, build greater resilience and reduce their footprint? How could they organise the shift of their demand towards more sustainable product alternatives and supply chains respectful of planetary boundaries?

• Kathrine Vad, Outgoing Environment and Climate Change Advisor, ICRC
• Thomas Thompson, Chief Strategic Engagement – Supply Chain Division, World Food Program (WFP)
• Tewodros Gebreegziabher Asresehegn, Senior Programme Manager GIZ Ethiopia, and PhD candidate at the Wageningen University
• Bastienne Tiberghien, Sustainability manager, B Leader
• Julien Chabanet, PlumpyField Franchise Coordinator, Nutriset

Moderated by Sonja Schmid | Team Leader, Solutions Unit, Climate Action Accelerator

Reshaping models of care with climate strategies: a condition for improving health care delivery and resilience in the face of the climate crisis

Considering the growing health needs of populations, increased climate impacts and higher energy prices, climate transformation represents an opportunity for health services to become better fit for purpose, supporting access to quality care for populations and improving their resilience to shocks. Which operational approaches allow to maximise benefits while limiting trade-offs, notably in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries? Can suppliers contribute by reducing the lifecyle footprint of their products? How can global health actors enable change, through innovative programming and supporting access to more climate & nature friendly medical products?

• Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Executive Director, Sunway Center for Planetary Health, Malaysia
• Dr Fawzia Rasheed, Senior Advisor to Director of Health, Aga Khan Foundation
• Dr Kiran Jobanputra, Health Programme Lead, Climate Action Accelerator
• Aditya Gurudanti, Head of ESG and Sustainability Operations, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
• Vincent Bretin, Director of Results and lead Climate and Health, Unitaid

Moderated by Sonia Roschnik | Executive Director, Geneva Sustainability Center, International Hospital Federation

Changing the paradigm: new approaches to acceleration and costs of climate action

While the window for keeping global warming well below 2°C is narrowing fast, linear approaches to emissions reduction will not take us where we need to be, that is halving carbon emissions by 2030 on a pathway to net zero. Shifts in approaches and new paradigms are therefore needed to mobilise, build solutions and reach the required scale in time. Such efforts do not come for free, but the benefits and co-benefits of climate action far outweigh the costs of not acting. In this session, climate experts, scholars and representatives from private and public organizations will discuss how to get exponential, bust the myth of unaffordability and rise to the challenge.

• Bruno Jochum, Executive Director, Climate Action Accelerator
• Fiona Macklin, Senior Advisor – Groundswell, Global Optimism, and former campaign manager at UNFCCC Race to Zero
• Mathieu Lizée, Phd Candidate in Physics, Ecole Normale Supérieure, freelance scientific advisor and member of a group of scientists calling in journal Le Monde for the creation of a “Manhattan Project for ecological transition”
• Rob Macquarie, Adviser in Climate policy, former Policy Analyst and Research Adviser to Lord Nicholas Stern, Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics

Moderated by Alexandre Robert, Senior Community Project Manager, Climate Action Accelerator

Closing remarks | Karim Laouabdia-Sellami, President, Climate Action Accelerator

Keynote speeches | Tackling together the planet and people’s growing needs in the face of an existential threat

Panel 1 | Amplifying efforts to halve emissions by 2030 in the humanitarian sector : zooming on food aid and nutrition

Panel 2 | Reshaping models of care with climate strategies: a condition for improving health care delivery and resilience in the face of the climate crisis

Panel 3 | Changing the paradigm: new approaches to acceleration and costs of climate action

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This event was organised thanks to the support of the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Republic and Canton of Geneva.