STICHTING INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS RED CRESCENT CENTRE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Their core work

The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre is the reference centre on climate change and disaster risk for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. They translate climate science into practical preparedness and adaptation strategies for humanitarian organizations, governments, and vulnerable communities worldwide. Their work bridges the gap between climate research outputs and on-the-ground disaster risk reduction, with particular expertise in communicating climate risks to decision-makers and affected populations. They contribute applied humanitarian knowledge to EU research consortia studying climate impacts on health, livelihoods, and European policy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2015-2019) centered on broad climate adaptation platforms and understanding remote climate hazards' effects on European sectors, with attention to the Paris Agreement and risk assessment frameworks. From 2020 onward, their focus sharpened toward concrete health impacts — heat stress, infectious diseases, air pollution — and moved into AI-driven extreme event analysis. This shift signals a transition from general climate risk framing toward specific, measurable health outcomes and advanced computational methods for attribution science.

Moving from broad climate adaptation coordination toward data-driven, health-focused climate impact research with AI methods — expect future work at the climate-health-AI intersection.

How they like to work

Exclusively a participant across all four projects, never a coordinator — consistent with their role as a specialized knowledge contributor rather than a project leader. They operate in large consortia (53 unique partners across 19 countries), suggesting they are sought after for their unique Red Cross/Red Crescent perspective rather than for technical infrastructure. Their value to consortia is institutional credibility and direct access to humanitarian networks that academic partners typically cannot reach.

Broadly connected across 19 countries with 53 unique consortium partners, reflecting the global reach of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement. Their network spans European research institutions and likely extends into humanitarian and development organizations beyond the EU research ecosystem.

What sets them apart

They are the only organization in the H2020 landscape that combines the institutional authority of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement with direct participation in EU climate research. This gives consortia two things no university or research institute can offer: legitimacy with humanitarian practitioners and a direct channel to implement findings in disaster-prone communities. For any project needing real-world uptake of climate research beyond academic publications, they are an exceptionally credible partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ENBEL
  Largest grant (EUR 202k) and strongest thematic fit — directly links climate change to specific health outcomes like heat stress, infectious diseases, and air pollution for vulnerable populations.
• XAIDA
  Represents a strategic pivot into AI and deep learning for extreme event attribution — unusual and forward-looking for a humanitarian organization.
• PLACARD
  Five-year platform project (2015-2020) for climate adaptation knowledge exchange, establishing their presence in the EU research community early on.