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A leading humanitarian agency has revealed that climate change is dealing a “double blow” to life-saving aid efforts, simultaneously multiplying health risks and making humanitarian interventions more difficult and complex to deliver.

In a new report, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reveals how humanitarian workers and communities are adapting to the many and complex challenges of climate change.

Much is known about the negative impacts of the climate crisis on human health, but relatively little attention has been paid – until now – to the problems faced by aid workers helping those in need.

The report, entitled ‘A hostile climate: the challenges of responding to climate change’, is a collaboration between MSF’s Humanitarian Action for Climate and Environment (HACE) initiative and the Institute of Global Health at Heidelberg University and highlights the challenges faced by MSF humanitarian workers, patients and communities.

The researchers spoke to 49 humanitarian workers in 30 different countries around the world and found out how they experience and respond to a rapidly changing environment.

Their findings make it clear that various climate hazards, including changes in water availability and quality and food shortages, are inextricably linked to global warming – and are rapidly increasing the need for humanitarian assistance.

What impact does climate change have on the work of humanitarian workers?

MSF explains that climate change is, for a myriad of reasons, testing the ability of humanitarian workers to respond effectively to communities in need.

The most serious include the creation of additional logistical hurdles for humanitarian assistance through damaged infrastructure and disruptions to supply chains, as well as the creation of conditions that can pose a risk to mental and physical health.

“In March (2022) there was Cyclone Gombe “This caused major problems at the community level,” explains an MSF humanitarian worker in Mozambique. “Some communities were isolated and the MSF team was tied to one location… the bridges had collapsed so we couldn’t move the team from one region to another.”

However, the report shows that MSF is determined not to let climate change stop its important work – and that the organization is already making great progress.

In fact, the charity’s teams around the world are beginning to adapt to the crisis together with the communities in which they work.

The report reveals the stories of humanitarian workers and shows how they are changing their approach in the face of adversity.

But what are these changes?

“I think we have the opportunity to refine the way we work,” explains an MSF humanitarian worker from Switzerland. Madagascar for example… data-driven e-prep (emergency preparedness)… and surveillance, not just of infectious diseases but of things like rainfall or crop yields, food shortages and malnutrition, rather than waiting until children show up with severe, acute malnutrition.”

Other plans include raising awareness, proactive action, building resilience and promoting cooperation.

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“The response does not meet the needs”

While MSF is certainly adapting to the many challenges that climate change will bring, the report also shows that adaptation efforts within MSF and in society at large remain quite limited in scope and scale. This is partly due to the sheer magnitude of the impacts of the crisis – both current and future.

“Many communities and organizations continue to face the increasing risks of climate change because responses do not meet their needs,” says Léo Lysandre Tremblay, head of MSF’s Humanitarian Action for Climate and Environment (HACE) initiative and co-author of the report.

“This underlines the importance of more ambitious action to reduce risks, improve preparedness and protect people and communities from the impacts of climate change,” he adds.

An MSF spokesperson explains how the report was created to better understand how MSF humanitarian aid workersPatients and communities experience and respond to climate change – and to raise awareness of the issues facing so many people.

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“MSF is sharing its findings in the hope that they will help other organizations reflect on the health impacts of climate change on their practices and develop strategies and actions to minimize the impact of climate-related health threats,” the statement said.