Accelerating Climate Change Calls for More International Disaster Relief Cooperation - HER Planet Earth Joins Forces with UK-Based RE:ACT

For Immediate Release
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Singapore, 13 October 2020, on the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction - The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said last December 2019 at the opening the U.N.’s annual climate conference in Madrid, “Climate-related natural disasters are becoming more frequent, deadlier, more destructive, with growing human and financial costs.”  

In the past year alone, we have seen more devastating fires in California, persistent drought in the Southwest, record flooding in Europe and Africa, a heat wave, of all things, in Greenland, seas warming and rising faster, putting more cities at risk of tidal flooding or worse. Indeed, climate change and its effects are accelerating, with climate related disasters piling up, season after season.

“Things are getting worse,” said Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, which also concluded in its most recent global climate report that, “It is more urgent than ever to proceed with mitigation.”

In view of the accelerating climate crisis, Singapore-based advocacy group HER Planet Earth has announced its partnership with UK-based charity RE:ACT to raise awareness of the effects of climate change and to promote campaigns that support vulnerable populations affected by natural disasters.

HER Planet Earth organises all-female expeditions in extreme locations around the world, raising funds for programmes supporting women’s equality and environmental causes in disaster-stricken developing countries. The non-profit specifically supports women affected by climate disasters who are often the worst affected and least protected. Most natural disasters occur in rural regions and the majority of agricultural workers in developing countries are women, making them particularly vulnerable.
 
Since launching in 2017, HER Planet Earth has raised awareness and funds - close to half a million dollars - in support of organisations and charities such as Conservation International, Zero Waste SG, WWF and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (known as UN Women).
 
Disaster response charity RE:ACT combines a military-style approach with humanitarian action to aid the hardest to reach and most vulnerable people. It specialises in reaching remote and isolated communities in the immediate aftermath of disaster, enabling aid to get where it’s most needed, and often operates in regions under threat of repeat and prolonged natural disasters, as a result of climate change. 
 
The partnership will enable both charitable organisations to highlight the growing issue of climate change and the effects of natural disasters on poverty and the ability of communities to recover and build resilience, focusing particularly on women where they are the most vulnerable and in need.
 
Ben Lampard, Director of Humanitarian Operations RE:ACT, said, “RE:ACT is delighted to announce this partnership with HER Planet Earth. Our mission is to provide direct humanitarian action for the hardest to reach and most vulnerable, so over the years we’ve responded to some of the worst affected communities and witnessed the disproportionate effect of disasters on the poorest, particularly women, so this is a cause very close to our hearts. By joining forces, we hope to stir people into action on the important issues of women’s equality and climate change. We look forward to working closely with HER Planet Earth for many years to come and hope that more people unite behind this incredible cause.” 
 
Christine Amour-Levar, Founder & CEO of HER Planet Earth, shared, “We are thrilled to partner with RE:ACT and shine a light on the importance of international cooperation to support vulnerable populations, especially when climate disasters strike. We particularly want to draw attention to the fact that women are amongst the most affected by climate change, partly because they make up the larger share of the agricultural workforce and tend to have access to fewer income-earning jobs. Our hope is that societies, governments and more corporations will get involved and help support disaster relief efforts.“ 
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About RE:ACT
RE:ACT is a UK-based disaster response charity that repurposes the hard skills and experience of military veterans and combines a military approach with humanitarian action to aid the hardest to reach and most vulnerable people affected by disaster. https://www.re-act.org.uk
 
About HER Planet Earth
HER Planet Earth is non-profit organisation headquarter in Singapore that aims to empower women as a way to mitigate climate change. One of its core objectives is to inspire more women to become policymakers and agents of change in order to achieve social and economic equity and a healthy and thriving planet. HER Planet Earth organises challenging, often pioneering, and self-funded expeditions around the world to increase awareness on environmental degradation and raise funds for programmes that empower and educate underprivileged women affected by climate change - ultimately helping them build climate change resilience. www.HERplanetearth.com
 
For press enquiries please contact: 
media@re-act.org.uk
connect@herplanetearth.com