Introduction:
“A hurricane of humanitarian crises” is raging around the world, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the summer of 2021, as the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance reached an all-time high. Not only does this mean immense suffering for millions of civilians across the globe, but it is also stretching the resources of the United Nations and aid organizations to the limit.
A hurricane of humanitarian crises: the reference to extreme weather is particularly pertinent. The accelerating climate crisis is fuelling many of the emergencies we are seeing around the world, including 7 out of the 10 crises featured in this report. And there is deep injustice at the heart of it. The world’s poorest are bearing the brunt of climate change – poverty, migration, hunger, gender inequality and ever more scarce resources – despite having done the least to cause it. Add COVID-19 into the mix and we see decades of progress towards tackling inequality, poverty, conflict and hunger disappearing before our eyes.
