For many of us, climate change once felt like a distant issue—hard to witness firsthand, complex to understand, and overwhelming to act on in the face of such a vast global threat.

But the climate crisis is no longer a future concern. It’s here, now, woven into our daily reality. Every day, we see more of the devastating impact of wildfires, floods, droughts, and heatwaves on communities around the world. According to the IDMC, climate change is now displacing three times more people than armed conflict is. That’s a shocking statistic, not to mention a devastating reality, uprooting millions of people’s lives globally.

I’m Katie, a Regional Head of Programmes at Choose Love, and I’ve been leading our Choose Earth campaign for over four years. Born out of solidarity and urgency in Brazil, Choose Earth was created to support Voo da Vespa, a grassroots project working directly with Indigenous Leaders who protect the Amazon Rainforest. 

The Amazon biosphere in Brazil is an irreplaceable ecosystem critical to balancing the global climate and ensuring the health of our entire planet. But with these precious lands constantly at threat – from extractive industries, land grabbing, drug cartels and mining – Indigenous communities and leaders are the ones who step in to tirelessly protect some of the last remaining green spaces, often at great personal risk. 

For many of these communities, the Voo da Vespa project is the only lifeline they can rely on.

I’m delighted that Choose Earth has been able to support over 42 key Indigenous Leaders since 2022, but our work on the Choose Earth project has revealed time and time again that it is the most marginalised and at-risk communities that bear the brunt of the climate crisis, and displaced communities are among the most deeply affected. 

At Choose Love, more and more of our partners are reporting mounting pressures of climate changes that are impacting them as they deliver vital support for people who are trying to rebuild their lives after being forcibly displaced. 

From distributing emergency firewood and winter clothing during unexpected snowstorms in Lebanon to building essential water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure in refugee camps in Greece during searing heat waves. Our incredible partners are doing whatever they can to meet the growing needs. But the pressure is intensifying.

Environmental disasters are deepening society’s inequalities. Rising temperatures and extreme weather are making already-dangerous migration journeys even more deadly. People displaced by climate change can’t wait for climate reparations to be debated at conferences. They need support now.

As a humanitarian charity,  we believe in the power of people helping people. Grassroots responses are the fastest, most effective way to save lives—and in the face of enormous challenges, they continue to offer hope.

While the world waits for long-overdue international action, our partners are already making a difference on the ground. In Northwest Syria, they are gravelling roads in refugee camps to ease the extreme heat and improve water management. In Mexico, they are advocating for stronger legal protections for people displaced by climate in Central America. This is real impact—led by real people, right now.

By 2050, over 1.2 billion people could be displaced due to climate-related disasters (IEP). The urgency is undeniable. And this Earth Day, we’re asking for your support.

Please consider donating to the Choose Earth item. Your generosity helps us resource Indigenous leaders, frontline communities, and life-saving grassroots projects already responding to the climate crisis. We can’t wait for Governments, we must take bold, decisive action, and continue standing with those who are protecting our planet.

Because while the world debates, we act. And every act counts.

Katie Hurd

Regional Head

Like this article? share it using the options below

photo credit: DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES

Sudan is facing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world right now. 

In the uncertain, polarised and polycrisis ridden world we are living in, it’s hard to comprehend what sentences like this mean, and easy to feel paralysed and exhausted.

I’m Yasmine, the Director of Emergency Programmes at Choose Love, and I’ve been working on our Sudan response for the last year and a half. If you’re feeling the weight of countless headlines and mind boggling, horrifying statistics, I’m right there with you. But I also want to tell you a bit more about the people behind those headlines and numbers,  and remind you that even when it feels like we can’t, we can always make a difference. With my Sudanese heritage, the people of Sudan are close to my heart, and I hope that they can be close to yours too. 

On the 15th of April 2023, after years of instability and tensions following a military coup in 2021 and widespread protests demanding a civilian government be put in place, conflict escalated into civil war. Clashes between the two military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began with terrifying violence and atrocities in the capital city of Khartoum, and soon spread across the country, leaving nobody safe. 

The human rights violations that have been committed since then are too harrowing for me to describe here, but millions of people’s lives have been irreparably damaged. For those who have escaped the violence, this has at best meant being uprooted from their homes and forced to flee to a nearby town, where food is likely a scarce resource. 

People in Sudan are dying of starvation, quickly. Pockets of famine were already identified, and without fast intervention experts say we are heading towards the worst global famine since the 80s. It seems absurd that this is possible in 2025.

So, why have things reached such a critical point in Sudan? 

Some of it is to do with the ability to get humanitarian assistance into the right places, to make sure that people have food to eat, water to drink, treatments for disease and medical support for injuries. Though reaching people is never easy in the midst of a conflict, Sudan has been described “one of the most constrained humanitarian access contexts globally”  The United Nations, and International NGOs alike have struggled to work across perpetually changing front lines, difficult terrain, attacks on humanitarian staff, and destroyed infrastructure such as main roads. 

There have also been widespread communications blackouts as control over telecoms have shifted between the warring factions. Without a way for people to share and document what is happening on the ground, human rights abuses can, and continue to be rife. It has also disrupted many vital logistics in being able to coordinate the provision of humanitarian support. Without functioning messaging groups or access to banking apps, it’s much harder to deliver lifesaving supplies and services. 

As a result, those leading the response are the Sudanese themselves. Whether through grassroots organisations such as women’s collectives, through mutual aid groups, or through a network of Emergency Response Rooms that coordinate assistance – Sudanese humanitarians have been working tirelessly for years, trying to meet the needs of those affected. 

Unfortunately, they are fighting an uphill battle. International exposure in the media has been devastatingly minimal, and funding far below what’s needed – only worsened by recent cuts to international aid. The UN estimates that $4.16 billion is needed to meet the needs in Sudan in 2025. Their appeal is only 10% funded.

So, will a donation even make a difference when faced with such problems?

In short, yes. 

At Choose Love, the way we work is by channeling the support from people around the world who care about people in pain, in fear and hunger, and who want to help to those working to provide it 

My job in times like these is to reach out to local organisations, find out what work is happening, and how we can provide assistance – in the form of fast, flexible grants that give them the resources they need to get support to the people in their communities. 

Our partners in Sudan are incredible. They work non-stop to provide a lifeline to people when they thought none was coming. That lifeline isn’t just a meal for someone who hasn’t eaten in days, or a roof over someone’s head when they’ve fled their home – it’s also hope. That there are people in the world who care about Sudan. That it isn’t invisible, and that we are finding ways to help. 

Right now, our partner Malam is desperately trying to coordinate more distributions of millet to people fleeing El Fasher. We funded three of them, but we need to fundraise for more. 

Our partner SAPA, are setting up health care services to treat people injured or harmed by violence, and try to treat the spread of deadly infectious diseases. With our support and that of others they’ve set up a pediatric ICU – only one of two in the country. 

We can only keep supporting work like this with your support. 

If you can, please consider donating today. Share our fundraising appeal to three friends or family members who you know will care about this crisis. 

Take concrete action in these paralysing times.

I mean it when I say that anything you give will help. 

Yasmine Colijn

Director of Emergency Programmes

Like this article? share it using the options below