The World Food Programme fights hunger on the front lines of complex humanitarian crises. Some of these crises—such as droughts and floods, crop failures, degradation of natural resources, and conflicts over access to natural resources—will increasingly be linked to or exacerbated by climate change. As the world’s largest humanitarian agency, WFP’s experience and capacity as an implementing partner for governments across the world are critical contributions to the global response to climate change.

Pledge 1:  Responding to climate-related emergencies

The main purpose of this project is:

• To maintain an appropriate level of emergency response capacity, to be deployed in the event of an extreme climatic event or crisis.
• To prepare for the increased risk of hunger associated with some of the impacts of climate change by augmenting WFP’s existing rapid response capacity in the field.
• To reflect the emphasis on responding to climate change contained in WFP’s Strategic Plan (2008-2011), including through promoting risk management approaches and management measures such as early warning systems, and risk-sharing mechanisms such as index-based weather insurance.

Action Pledge (75 kB)

Pledge 2:  Scaling up local and community-based projects to reduce vulnerability

The main purpose of this project is:

• To prepare for the increased risk of hunger associated with climate change by augmenting WFP’s adaptation- and mitigation-related targeted employment and training programmes.
• To help local communities in developing countries take an active role in building their own resilience to climate change.

Action Pledge (91 kB)

Pledge 3:  Provision of global public goods for adaptation

The main purpose of this project is:

• To prepare for the increased risk of hunger associated with some of the impacts of climate change  by augmenting WFP’s early warning and disaster risk management capabilities.
• To help countries and regional organisations take an active role in building their own capacity for adaptation and mitigation.
• To be prepared for climate- and non-climate related humanitarian emergencies, and their impacts on hunger.

Action pledge (85 kB)

Action pledge 1: Responding to climate-related emergencies progress report (80 kB)

Action pledge 2: Scaling up local and community-based projects to reduce vulnerability  progress report (76 kB)

Action pledge 3: Provision of global public goods for adaptation  progress report (77 kB)

The following were provided as contributions to and are summarised in the Nairobi work programme publication "Action pledges: Making a difference on the ground. A synthesis of outcomes, good practices, lessons learned, and future challenges and opportunities"

Assessing impacts of, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change
Assessing climate risk and vulnerability. Pledge n.3 – “Provision of global public goods for adaptation” (966 kB)

Scaling up community-based adaptation actions
Scaling up local and community-based actions Pledge n.2 – “Scaling up local and community-based projects to reduce vulnerability” (347 kB)

Reducing risks of extreme events and climate-related disasters
Reducing risks of extreme events and weather-related disasters Pledge n.1 “Responding to climate-related emergencies” (118 kB)