The Pacific region is highly vulnerable to the increasingly frequent and severe disasters caused by natural hazards, including extreme weather and climate change. Whilst humanitarian responses to these disasters are increasing proportionally, their own negative impacts must be reduced. Incorporating greener approaches and processes into Pacific humanitarian action helps avoid or minimise negative effects on communities, their environmental resources, cultural values, economic opportunities, and community practices. Simultaneously, ‘greening’ creates opportunities for nature-positive outcomes to stem from humanitarian activities for Pacific communities.
This Framework for Greening Humanitarian Action in the Pacific provides local, national, regional and international humanitarian practitioners, policymakers and donors with a practical approach for strengthening greener humanitarian action. It was designed to avoid the overly technical and therefore inaccessible nature of other frameworks, and is the first operational framework developed specifically for the Pacific region. The framework centralises community perspectives, priorities and the roles of national actors in leading greener humanitarian responses.