‘Incoherent’ aid system is ‘failing’ conflict states, Miliband warns

Civil society groups must be responsible for delivering projects to adapt war-torn countries to the climate crisis, David Miliband says — warning that reliance on national governments is “failing” them. The head of the International Rescue Committee criticized World Bank guidelines that governments should be bypassed only “in exceptional circumstances,” arguing that they contribute to a “disjointed and incoherent” aid system. Speaking in London, Miliband highlighted how conflict-affected communities receive only one-third of the climate adaptation funding given to places free from conflict, according to United Nations Development Program statistics. “In fact, World Bank funds are often allocated to these conflict-affected states, but they’re not dispersed. The spend rate is about 50% even of money that’s been allocated,” he told the Chatham House think tank — because those in need are “beyond the reach of government’s control or influence.” Miliband pointed to the example of child immunization — where IRC is helping Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance deliver jabs to 2.5 million hard-to-reach children in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia — and called for the same approach when it comes to climate funds. “Areas that were considered inaccessible to government are accessible to civil society humanitarian organizations bound by principles of neutrality and independence,” he argued. “Instead of the World Bank saying that in exceptional circumstances they’ll work outside national government, it should become much more the norm to have a range of different ways, working through civil society.” Miliband dismissed the criticism that this delivery model is “not sustainable,” adding: “If you think about our own countries, we don’t think government monopolies are the right way to do many things. We look for public-private, public-NGO partnerships.” The IRC president and CEO presented the NGO’s evidence for the deepening crisis in 16 countries, which are both “racked by conflict” and among the 25% of most climate-vulnerable countries, saying: “Business as usual is failing these countries twice over.” The 16 contain 43% of all people living in extreme poverty and 44% of all people affected by natural disasters, he said. Three decades ago, 44% of conflicts happened in climate-vulnerable states — but now more than two-thirds occur there. “Climate and development finance often flows where it is easiest to deliver — from national governments in stable countries. Staggeringly, the more fragile the country is, the less climate finance it gets,” Miliband said. During the speech, the IRC chief also: • Criticized how “hardly any” of $50 billion of annual humanitarian funds “anticipates crisis” by, for example, using weather forecasts to deliver assistance before floods — saying only the German government allocates some money in this way. • Warned states experiencing conflict will not receive the investment so badly needed without a successful replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association at the end of 2024 — calling the fund “one of the few sources of grants” available. • Called on the United Kingdom’s new Labour government to reinstate a target for half its aid budget to go to fragile and conflict-affected states — instead of the current 15%. “You’ve got this overlap of conflict and climate crisis, you’ve got a concentration of acute poverty in those places — and now the trends are towards a deepening of the overlap and a deepening of the extreme poverty,” Miliband said.