As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement network, the Red Cross of Montenegro has signed the Charter on Climate Change and the Environment.

On this occasion, the Red Cross of Montenegro appeals to humanitarian organizations to join the signatories of the Charter, as key actors in dealing with these crises.

“All together, we need to be part of the solution and help people adapt to a changing climate and environment, while increasing their own environmental sustainability. This must be a collective effort because it is clear that no organization can fight it alone. This charter aims to provide a clear vision and principles for conducting humanitarian action in the face of climate and environmental crises,” the Montenegrin Red Cross stated.

The Charter includes 7 high-level commitments that will guide the humanitarian sector’s response to climate and environmental crises. The commitments include improving the response to growing humanitarian needs and providing support to those most at risk of climate and environmental crises, improving the environmental sustainability of our work and reducing the greenhouse effect, increasing our own capacity to understand climate and environmental risks, and cooperating in within the humanitarian sector in order to strengthen climate and environmental action. The charter can be signed at https://www.climate-charter.org/ 

The Charter is not a legally binding document but represents the intention of organizations to be committed to resolving climate and environmental crises, both in the programs they implement and through the way they operate. The plan is for as many humanitarian organizations as possible to sign the Charter before the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP26), which should be held in November 2021.

The Red Cross of Montenegro, as part of its activities related to disaster risk reduction, is already implementing certain activities in communities that are building their resilience, specifically from floods.

Within the project “Alliance for Building Resilience to Communities – Zurich – Montenegro” (The Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance), the Red Cross of Montenegro operates in communities around Skadar Lake and conducts concrete activities to raise public awareness of the effects of floods and also implements interventions in the communities themselves that increase their flood resistance.

In cooperation with the Municipality of Podgorica, specifically Golubovci settlement, in the previous period the dam for protection against harmful effects of water in the settlement Ponari was repaired, while in the upcoming period activities are planned in the settlements Bistrice and Kurilo, within preventive protection and rescue measures.

The activities of the Red Cross of Montenegro in the communities in the Lake Skadar basin will continue in the coming period so that together with the representatives of local communities we can recognize their needs and thus contribute to climate change adaptation and empower communities to be more resilient to their consequences.

 Climate and environmental crises are humanitarian crises that threaten the future of humanity. They are already affecting the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, and their influence is growing. Although these crises affect us all, their consequences mostly affect the poorest and most marginalized communities, which have already been vulnerable by numerous armed conflicts, displacement, poor governance, unplanned urbanization or poverty.