This panel will review the role of leadership in the humanitarian sector in relation to climate change and will discuss the impact of climate change from the perspective of different angles. The panel includes presentation of research by think tanks and practitioners including national actors. Climate change is emerging as a critical issue for humanitarian operations. The role of leaders in humanitarian operations is crucial to lead and ensure effective handling and efficient preparation and response.

In fact, the ever-increasing list of new challenges would likely overwhelm even the most effective, dynamic, and gifted leaders. This will only worsen get worse as the scale and pace of extreme weather-related disasters increases, and as consecutive extreme events compound one another while the funding gap increases even further. Humanitarian impacts of climate change are already visible today and will become far worse. Yet many humanitarian organizations have not adapted to be able to best address the climate crisis. They are struggling to keep up and they must change how they work to keep pace with the escalation of climate-related disasters. Humanitarian leaders must take climate change and variability into consideration in their policy, operations and communications.

Organiser: Global Executive Leadership Inititative (GELI)

The panel discussion will be moderated by Mr. Panos Moumtzis, Executive Director, GELI

Speakers:

• Ms. Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen, Regional Director, Europe - Regional Office for Europe, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 

• Center for Humanitarian Action by Mr Ralf Südhoff
  Director at the Berlin-based think tank, and formerly heading operations with the World Food Programme (WFP) in a number of different operations. 

• Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation by  Kate Gilmore
  Human Rights Activist; Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics (LSE); and former Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations (OHCHR). 

• Ms. Nimo Hassan, Director - Somali NGO Consortium 

• Voices from the field Leadership labs by Mr. Michael Koehler
  Chief Executive Officer at KONU and professional certified coach - DALBERG/KONU has been leading team leadership development with Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs) in Pakistan and the Philippines in 2022 and in Bangladesh and Somalia in 2023 with a focus on climate change adaptation.