The contribution of volunteering to climate action and community resilience

Photo: @United Nations Volunteers

Research report commissioned by the United Nations Volunteers programme.

The study provides evidence of how volunteers across the world are engaging in actions that help their communities adapt to – and build resilience against – the impacts of climate change. It provides six recommendations:

👁️‍🗨️ Increase the visibility of all forms of volunteering that contribute to climate action and community resilience.

❤️ Care for the carers: Support the volunteers who deliver vital contributions to people and the planet.

💸 Channel climate finance and decision-making to local levels.

🎯 Continue to integrate volunteerism into national and international climate and development policies, plans and programmes (including NDCs, NAPs and UNSDCFs).

🧠 Scale up approaches that integrate Indigenous and local knowledge (e.g. collective intelligence, citizen science).

✊ Support and protect volunteers who contribute to climate governance, including land and environmental defenders.

This study intends to provide a guide for local volunteering efforts on climate action and support policymakers in United Nations Member States, governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to identify strengths and areas for improvement when assessing their own work on volunteer and climate action.

Download the report from the UN Volunteers Knowledge Portal on Volunteerism.

Read an article on the report on UN Volunteers and ReliefWeb.