Media CenterOn Earth Day, CRS Joins NGO Climate Compact

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Nikki Gamer
Catholic Relief Services
[email protected]
(443) 955- 7125

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, April 22, 2020 – Today Catholic Relief Services (CRS) joins more than 80 other U.S.-based humanitarian and development organizations in signing on to the NGO Climate Compact, a pledge meant to catalyze sector-wide changes to address the ongoing threat of climate change. InterAction, an alliance of U.S.-based non-governmental humanitarian and development organizations, spearheaded the initiative, which is the largest and most comprehensive sector-wide compact on climate change to date.

“We are at a pivotal moment in history. If it is possible to glean anything positive from the COVID-19 pandemic, it could be a growing awareness that across the borders of the world, we are one human family,” said Sean Callahan, CRS’ president and CEO. “Just like the coronavirus, climate change is a great equalizer, affecting all of us. Environmental degradation leads to mass hunger, joblessness, migration and violent conflict. This is a human and economic catastrophe. The good news is that when we set collective standards, we can expedite action.”

“We joined the NGO Climate Compact to reduce emissions and to include climate solutions in the work we do in over 100 countries around the world.” – @CallahanCRS of @CatholicRelief #NGOs4Climate #EarthDay2020 pic.twitter.com/T9ChMDiTVh

— InterAction (@InterActionOrg) April 22, 2020

The NGO Climate Compact’s four areas of commitment emphasize actions that signatory organizations like CRS can take between 2020 and 2022 to start the process of collective action, generate dialogue and learning, quickly advance initial actions, and kick-start initiatives that will lay the groundwork for broader shifts.

CRS has already taken steps to mitigate its impact on the environment through the creation of a climate-action working group that’s evaluating agency-wide operations to determine where efficiencies can be made. Across its country program offices, CRS is looking at ways to use energy more efficiently and at ways to reduce and recycle waste. Programmatically, as part of its new agency strategy, CRS is prioritizing land restoration so that the organization can continue to help farmers adapt to climate change.

“The decisions we make as an NGO community impact all of those we serve, making it a moral imperative for us to continue to look at ways we can mitigate our impact on the environment,” Callahan said. “We have to move faster to make unprecedented changes over the next ten years to tackle the climate crisis. We look forward to seeing what we can do together when we act with one voice and with a renewed sense of urgency.”

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Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media in English at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; and in Spanish at: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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