Geneva, 6 November 2025 – As the world prepares to meet at COP30, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warns that amid multiple overlapping global crises, the world cannot afford to lose focus on the climate emergency, as climate-related humanitarian needs escalate.
Across the world, the IFRC network is responding to more frequent and severe floods, droughts, storms, heatwaves and wildfires, as climate-related humanitarian needs rise, threatening health, food security, water supplies, lives and livelihoods. Without urgent action to reduce emissions and strengthen local resilience, these needs will only continue to rise.
Investment in early action and preparedness for climate-related disasters is key to saving lives – as demonstrated recently with Hurricane Melissa where preparedness and early action gave teams on the ground valuable time to build shelters, evacuate people out of harm’s way, preposition aid and help to prepare communities to weather this unprecedented category 5 hurricane.
“Hurricane Melissa is the latest reminder that the humanitarian consequences of climate change are becoming ever clearer. It also shows how being prepared before climate-related disasters strike can save many lives. At COP30, we need action and investment that strengthen community resilience to climate extremes, because if we fail to do so, these humanitarian needs being driven by climate change will only continue to rise,” said Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary General.
At COP30, IFRC will call for urgent climate action, focused on three priorities:
- Health and well-being: Protecting people from the health impacts of climate change by building climate-resilient cities and health systems. Extreme heat, water scarcity and climate-related diseases are already affecting millions, and climate-related health risks are expected to rise sharply if action is delayed.
- Investment in people and communities: Scaling up locally led climate action and ensuring climate finance reaches the communities who need it most. Less than 10 per cent of global climate finance is estimated to reach the local level, leaving many of the most affected communities without the resources they need to adapt. A more ambitious adaptation finance target would ensure resources reach communities who need them most, especially those in fragile and crisis-affected settings.
- Timing: Getting ahead of disasters. Investing in preparedness, early warning and anticipatory action to save lives and livelihoods before climate-related disasters strike. IFRC continues to lead global efforts to ensure everyone has access to early warnings and can take action to reduce loss and damage.
People are already facing the limits of adaptation and experiencing loss and damage from climate impacts. Some areas are becoming too hot to sustain livelihoods, while rising sea levels are destroying farmland and freshwater supplies.
The IFRC is calling for predictable and accessible support for communities most affected, particularly those that have contributed least to the climate crisis and have the fewest resources to recover.
At COP30, the IFRC will work with a wide range of partners, governments and donors to ensure that the voices of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, and the needs of the communities most at risk, are front and centre in the global climate agenda and to deliver on commitments to protect those most at risk.
More information on IFRC’s climate programming - including data, reports and stories - is available here.
For more information or to request an interview, please contact: [email protected]
In Panama:
Susana Arroyo Barrantes, +507 6999-3199
María Victoria Langman, +507 6550-1090
In Geneva:
Tommaso Della Longa, +41 79 708 4367
Scott Craig, +41 76 370 3575