Women reclaiming their future in Syria
For years, Khan Shaykhoun in southern Idlib was known around the world as a symbol of the Syrian war. Right here, Norwegian Church Aid has established a center for women and girls. Everyone we meet carries…
From Commitment to Action: How NCA Is Turning Climate Ambition into Practice
Climate change is already reshaping the communities where Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) works. Prolonged droughts, shifting rainfall, and pressure on ecosystems are no longer distant risks, they are everyday realities. Those most affected are often those who have contributed the least, making climate change a question of justice as much as sustainability.
For NCA, climate action is therefore not a standalone effort, but part of how we deliver humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding work.
From commitment to implementation
In 2022, NCA signed the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations. Since then, we have focused on four key priorities:
1. Reducing the environmental impact of our operations
2. Ensuring our programmes do no harm
3. Scaling up environmental and climate-sensitive interventions
4. Advocating for climate justice
Three years on, these commitments are increasingly reflected in practice. Want to see our progress? Click here.
Climate action in practice
Reducing our own footprint
Climate action starts with how we operate. As part of our commitment to do no harm, we work to ensure that our operations do not place additional pressure on ecosystems or contribute further to climate change.
We have introduced systems to track our greenhouse gas emissions across energy use, procurement, and travel; allowing us to work towards targeted action. This has already contributed to a 32% reduction in air travel emissions per internationally travelling staff.
Country offices are also taking concrete steps, including improving waste management, increasing energy efficiency, and investing in solar energy.
Today, eight country offices use solar power to cover part or most of their energy needs and 53% of our global staff work in offices supported by solar power!
The benefits go beyond emissions reductions alone. Solar provides more stable power than grid electricity or fuel generators, improving the working environment, safety, and continuity of operations in our country offices, particularly in contexts where energy infrastructure is unreliable or disrupted. In some settings, this stability can be critical to maintaining day-to-day work.
These investments can have broader, positive spillover effects. Access to reliable electricity has, in some cases, created opportunities for stronger engagement with surrounding communities, for example, by allowing neighbours to charge phones or access power. Such initiatives can in this way, create small but meaningful points of interaction and acceptance with the communities we operate in.
Building resilience through local action
In fragile contexts, climate risks often overlap with displacement, conflict, and limited livelihood opportunities. Addressing these challenges requires solutions that are rooted in local leadership.
In eastern Sudan, Ethiopian refugees established the Green Community Development Association (GCDA): the first refugee-led organisation formally registered in Sudan in two decades.
With support from NCA, they have planted more than 80,000 trees that have grown to provide shade, soil stabilisation and food, introduced sustainable gardening for over 500 households using captured wastewater, and through education campaigns promoted clean energy solutions to further reduce pressure on natural resources. By reducing reliance on firewood and supporting tree planting for both refugee and host communities, the initiative also helps ease pressure on shared resources and contributes to improved relations between communities.
What began as a small pilot has grown into a community-driven effort that improves quality of life while restoring the natural environment. This example demonstrates how climate action,
when grounded in local leadership and integrated into programmes, can deliver tangible benefits, building resilience for people and the ecosystems they rely on, from the ground up.
Acting Earlier: Anticipatory Action
As climate-related hazards become more frequent, responding earlier is critical. While climate change causes unpredictability in extreme weather events, advances in scientific forecasting mean many humanitarian disasters can be predicted to a certain degree in advance.
Through the approach of anticipatory action, NCA works with partners to act before disasters escalate, using weather forecasts and predefined triggers to release support in advance.
In Malawi, when heavy rainfall warnings indicated a high risk of flooding, 1,300 vulnerable households received early cash support. This enabled families to move to safer areas, secure food, and protect essential assets, reducing the overall impact of the crisis.
NCA is scaling its ability to provide early and anticipatory humanitarian action across multiple countries, enabling those most at risk to take actions before the worst impacts are felt.
Driving change beyond our programmes
Climate action also means influencing the systems that shape global responses.
For more than 15 years, NCA has advocated for Norway’s fair share of climate responsibility. This work contributed to the introduction of a green guarantee scheme in the 2024 national budget, aimed at mobilising private investment in renewable energy in developing countries.
By combining research, partnerships, and dialogue with decision-makers, we work to ensure that more resources are directed toward sustainable solutions.
A holistic approach to climate action
Together, these efforts show that climate action is not one initiative, it is a way of working.
By reducing our own footprint, supporting locally led solutions, acting before crises escalate, and contributing to systemic change, we are working to respond to climate risks in a more integrated and effective way.
World Environment Day is a reminder that responding to climate change requires visible, practical action. At NCA, this means continuing to turn commitments into everyday practice. across how we operate, how we support communities, and how we engage with partners and decision-makers.
Read more about our work
Acting Before Disaster Strikes: How NCA is Making Humanitarian Response More Proactive
What if humanitarian organisations could help people before a disaster happens, not after?
Every Eight Minutes, a Woman Dies Giving Birth in Nigeria. In Borno State, That Is Beginning to Change.
When Ummi Suleiman went into labour in northeastern Nigeria, her newborn arrived motionless and silent. For a few terrifying moments, there was no sign of breathing. Health workers immediately stepped in…