Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and environmental degradation are reshaping the humanitarian landscape — intensifying disasters, displacing communities, and straining response systems. Against this backdrop, Community World Service Asia (CWSA), in collaboration with the European Commission’s DG ECHO and the Secretariat for the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations, convened a webinar with over 55 participants from Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, and the Pacific, representing local and international NGOs, government bodies, and UN agencies. The session was moderated by Khurram Saeed, CWSA.
Nishanie Jayamaha, Co-Coordinator of the Climate and Environment Charter Secretariat, presented the Charter’s framework and its seven key commitments — including community and organizational resilience building, environmental sustainability measures, climate and environmental risk assessment integration, collective collaboration and advocacy. These commitments help organizations test whether their work is climate-smart, from adapting programmes to changing risks to cutting their own footprint. She shared examples on how organizations are already doing this – such as the use of salinity-resistant rice varieties in Bangladesh, Abaca fiber production with indigenous communities in the Philippines that protects the ecosystem and nature while reducing plastic use, and advocating with local governments to include budgets for disability inclusion and climate and environmental action at village-level in Indonesia – reminding participants that “we cannot do this alone.”
Tina El Khoury, Programme Officer — Environment, European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), presented the European Commission Minimum Environmental Requirements (MERS) , explaining how they support sustainability through do no harm, community protection, and operational efficiency. These practical measures span eight humanitarian sectors — food assistance, shelter, WASH, health, nutrition, camp coordination, livelihoods, and education — and are useful to any organization, not only DG ECHO partners. Examples came from Cox’s Bazar, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Nepal, alongside resources including the WREC coalition, Climate Action Accelerator, and NEAT+ tool.
Angelina Yusridar, ASB South and Southeast Asia, shared reflections from the ECT-WASH programme across 13 countries, highlighting the NEAT+ assessment tool, examples from the Philippines and Indonesia, and the importance of contextualizing screening tools for local communities. She grouped nature-linked interventions into nature-based, nature-inspired, and nature-derived approaches and solutions.
Philipp Danao, Action Against Hunger Philippines, presented the EARTH project in Zamboanga City, where community savings groups known as Earth Champions and local universities are testing four nature-based water-treatment prototypes — coco coir waste traps, bamboo slow filtration units, floating wetlands, and solar-powered aeration systems — alongside mangrove reforestation, responsible waste management, water conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.
The discussion addressed water trucking in emergencies, deforestation in Pakistan, and solar panel disposal and groundwater sustainability.
The key message: there is no perfect solution, but there are many practical, less harmful choices — and lasting change depends on partnerships between communities, governments, universities, and humanitarian actors.