Actions taken:
Australian Red Cross is a signatory to the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations and has published targets on the Charter website.
Australian Red Cross has an internal climate strategy that articulates our responsibility to help communities across Australia prepare for extreme weather events. To this end, we are:
- ensuring our volunteers and employees are prepared and ready to support communities at every stage of the disaster preparedness and recovery process.
- working in partnership with communities to implement community climate adaptation programs in more than 100 Local Government Areas that are vulnerable to droughts, heatwaves, floods, cyclones, and bushfires. This work is guided by the activities of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre, which supports the Movement and its partners to reduce the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on vulnerable people.
- strengthening mechanisms for disaster risk reduction and enhance anticipatory action in the Asia Pacific region.
Australian Red Cross strives to reduce the environmental impacts of our day-to-day work. We invest in renewable energy and fleet efficiency; conduct regular supply chain reviews; and engage with waste avoidance, reduction and recycling initiatives in our workplaces.
To this end, we have made a range of changes to our operations and programs. These include:
- upgrading to newer vehicles, including electric and hybrid
- using recycled furniture and materials
- using video conferencing as a viable method to reduce unnecessary travel
- increasing the efficiency of our physical workplaces, including through heating, ventilation and air-conditioning efficiency upgrades and installing solar panels and LED lighting.
In addition, in 12 months our Australian Red Cross shops have also diverted 2,750 tonnes of quality clothing that may otherwise been prematurely sent to landfill, resulting in environmental savings equivalent to 9,150 tonnes of carbon emissions and 917 megalitres of water.
As a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition, Australian Red Cross reports on our progress in reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions of carbon. Australian Red Cross has already exceeded its 2025 target of a 20% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions compared to 2019 levels.