Abstracts

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Facing Climate Change - The IFRC Advocating for Climate Action

by Mirjam Schwitter

The current climate crisis is known for causing and aggravating human suffering worldwide, which affects directly the work of humanitarian actors. Therefore, organisations such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have an inherent motive for climate action. Thus, the guiding questions of this thesis concentrate on why the IFRC advocates for climate action and how. For the why-question inductive content analysis was chosen, while the how-question follows a deductive approach, using an analytical framework in the form of a newly elaborated, three-dimensional matrix. The vertical dimension refers to six advocacy functions identified by Joseph Szarka (2013): (1) issue framing, (2) knowledge generation and dissemination, (3) attribution of responsibility, (4) lobbying, (5) public mobilisation and (6) agenda setting. The horizontal dimension focuses on the concept of ‘climate action’ and is defined by three categories, being: (a) climate change mitigation, (b) climate change adaptation and (c) ecologically sustainable development. The integrated dimension differentiates three levels on which climate action and climate advocacy can be taken: (i) individual, (ii) organisational and (iii) political. The analysis was applied to 30 units of analysis (13 primary and 17 supportive), which consist of publications such as organisational guiding documents, reports, websites, press releases, articles, recordings and publicly available audiovisual material. The first research question is answered by means of three reasons which resulted from inductive content analysis. The formulated reasons are A) The IFRC engages in climate advocacy to fulfil its core mission of preventing and alleviating human suffering. B) The IFRC advocates for climate action, having the (internal) capacity and expertise to do so and to “lead by example”. And C) The IFRC engages in climate action because it recognizes its responsibility and the necessity for immediate action regarding the climate. The answer to the second research question is established by collating the deductive findings corresponding to the six advocacy functions. The IFRC’s diversified range of advocacy efforts is reflected in the accumulation of the following assertions. Firstly, the IFRC frames the issue of climate change in a way that concentrates on human suffering and the essential role of risk, vulnerability and resilience, while stressing the state of urgency for taking immediate action. Secondly, the IFRC generates (empirical) knowledge about climate-related issues and climate action, especially climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures. The IFRC disseminates this knowledge within the Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement and beyond. Thirdly, the IFRC attributes responsibility in terms of climate action to every human, while also promoting internal commitments expressed by the RCRC Movement. Forth, the IFRC lobbies for the cause of climate action by expanding and strengthening partnerships with actors…