Career advice from a Save the Children climate change adviser

As a Pacific regional climate change adviser for Save the Children Australia, Edel Heuven plays a pivotal role in supporting and guiding project implementation across the Pacific Islands, including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga. Her focus is on assisting communities in adapting to and addressing the impacts of climate change. Before joining Save the Children, Heuven served as a climate specialist and monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning, or MEAL, adviser at the CARE Climate Justice Center. Prior to that, she worked as a policy adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and as a disaster risk reduction adviser for Finn Church Aid in Nepal. She holds two master's degrees in international development, one from Wageningen University and another from Radboud University. A lot of her work is grounded in the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation — a set of concepts intended to guide community-led responses to climate change. She advised aspiring professionals to navigate this work with “openness to local solutions rooted in traditional knowledge and practices.” Climate change adds a layer of unpredictability to the job, with rapid and evolving challenges. Speaking to Devex, Heuven highlighted how each project requires a unique approach, tailored to its specific context and requirements. As a result, she believes that intercultural sensitivity, creativity, and clear communication are essential skills to work in this field. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. How did you end up in this type of work? Throughout my professional life, I have been fascinated by the question of how we can strengthen people's capacities to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Climate change is having devastating effects on communities in Pacific small islands developing states, or SIDS, especially on marginalized groups like children, youth, women, and people with disabilities. At the same time, these people have shown tremendous efforts to strive for climate action at local, national, regional, and global levels — which inspires me a lot. A key example is the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, a youth-led organization that worked together with the government of Vanuatu to request the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion, or ICJAO, for climate justice. This advisory opinion will provide clarity on the international legal obligations countries bear in safeguarding people of the present and future generations from the impacts of climate change and protecting the environment from greenhouse gas emissions. It will significantly influence litigation and policy implementation globally. Another example is the way communities work together to adapt and respond to the effects of climate change. I was inspired by the stories coming from the Pacific, which I learned about during my previous job at CARE Climate Justice Center. I found the job as Pacific regional climate change adviser for Save the Children Australia through LinkedIn and it immediately sparked my interest. I was very happy that I got the opportunity and it has been an amazing experience. What does your day-to-day look like? No day looks the same. In general, 50% of my time is spent collaborating with a regional team of technical advisers. Together, we provide support to our country offices in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea, as well as our project management unit in Tonga. My work as regional climate change adviser entails offering technical climate change advice, aiding in project implementation, advocacy, capacity building, developing country and regional strategies, stakeholder engagement, and designing project proposals for various donors such as the Green Climate Fund, [Australian] Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, [New Zealand] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the International Climate Initiative, and others. So my day depends on the needs of both country offices and our regional team. I find great enjoyment in the diversity of tasks and the opportunities for travel that come with the role. The remaining 50% of my time is dedicated to providing technical advice and support for the Vanuatu Community-based Climate Resilience Project. This project, funded by the Green Climate Fund with a budget of $32.7 million, is the largest community-based adaptation project in the Pacific region. The project operates in all six provinces of Vanuatu and aims to strengthen the climate resilience of 282 communities. We provide support through nature-based solutions, climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries, food processing and preservation, initiatives for women's economic empowerment, as well as access to climate information services and early warning systems. The project is grounded in the Locally Led Adaptation Principles and Vanuatu’s Decentralization Act. It is largely implemented by the government and focuses on putting decision-making at the community level. First, we work to strengthen Community Disaster and Climate Change Committees, or CDCCCs, to develop community-based adaptation plans. Then, we support area councils, the lowest level of government in Vanuatu, in integrating these plans into their development strategies and budgets. Finally, the area councils are linked to provincial and national governments to ensure the sustainability of the project and to facilitate the sharing of lessons learned and good practices. The work I do for this project is also very varied and a lot of fun. What are some of the most pressing issues or happenings right now in your line of work? SIDS are a major priority for global climate funds, but these funds often fail to deliver fast, easily accessible, flexible, and predictable funding to match the urgency of the climate crisis. For example, an ODI report estimated that SIDS only receive 10% of the Green Climate Fund finances allocated. SIDS are experiencing disproportionate and escalating impacts from climate change, exacerbated by their unique circumstances which make them extremely vulnerable to climate change. The impacts they face are more daunting than ever. Events such as droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, biodiversity loss, rising sea levels, and heat waves have tremendous impacts on local communities. These climatic and environmental changes not only jeopardize the advancements made in tackling poverty and injustices in the Pacific but also increase urgent humanitarian needs. At the same time, there are a lot of positive developments taking place within the Pacific itself. For instance, there's the significant ICJAO initiative, described earlier, which is positioned to have a worldwide impact on climate justice. Additionally, six Pacific Islands governments have pledged to establish a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific and are advocating for a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Furthermore, there's an increased focus on addressing climate change and disasters in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Simultaneously, there is a lot of eagerness in communities to strengthen their adaptive capacities that are very inspiring to see. I just returned from a week-long training for the CDCCCs focused on climate change impacts, adaptation activities, and community-based adaptation plans using traditional and modern climate knowledge. The CDCCC members shared how climate change-related disasters impacted their lives and showed a lot of enthusiasm and dedication to develop and implement their community adaptation plan. What skill sets have you found to be most valuable and what skills have you focused on building to progress in your career? I think the most important is listening and trying to understand the desires and requirements of various stakeholders, including country office staff, local partners, government representatives, and community members. It's essential to then explore how we can effectively translate this into, for example, proposals that align with donor expectations, concrete advocacy initiatives, or regional strategies. Every time this requires a different process, depending on the specific context and needs involved. It requires intercultural sensitivity, creativity, clear communication skills, and proficient writing abilities. Openness to local solutions rooted in traditional knowledge and practices, while also a general awareness of existing practices and tools in the climate space is important. I also think skills in monitoring, evaluation, learning, and project management are good to have. Are there any specific resources, certifications, training programs, or events that you would recommend? I am a big fan of the community-based adaptation conferences organized by the International Institute for Environment and Development and I would love to attend the Adaptation Future Conference as well as the Asia-Pacific Climate Week and the U.N. Climate Change Conference sometime. Do you have advice for professionals aspiring to work on climate change? The climate change working environment is very broad and there are very diverse career pathways possible in this space — you can work on locally led adaptation projects, advocate and campaign for mitigative measures, investigate climate finance processes, work on the loss and damage fund, and much more. I would advise you to identify the specific aspect of climate change you are most drawn to and stay up to date with new developments, both successes and failures, within that area. Look for an organization or institution and roles that fit with your interests and values, and actively try to build your professional network within the field.