Rethinking Climate and Humanitarian Action: Private Sector Takes Centre Stage at the European Humanitarian Forum 2025
The 4th European Humanitarian Forum 2025 featured a series of plenaries, panel discussions, workshops, and humanitarian talks over 2 days, tapping into diverse thematic areas on humanitarian action. Held in Brussels, the workshop titled “Economics of Environmental and Climate Action in the Face of Humanitarian Impacts” brought together diverse stakeholders around a critical challenge: transforming humanitarian financing to match the scale of climate-driven crises. It was an invaluable opportunity to showcase A-PAD’s engagement with the private sector in propelling climate-smart humanitarian action.
Presentations by Ms. Karolina Wilberg from Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), moderator Ms. Nishanie Jayamaha from Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations), and Mr. Juha-Pekka Japola from the European Commission, Brussels region further reinforced the urgent need for innovation in how climate-related humanitarian work is financed. They highlighted that traditional humanitarian spending continues to treat disasters as inevitable costs, rather than as preventable challenges requiring systemic change.
Addressing the business case in investing in prevention and preparedness, Mr. Firzan Hashim, COO of A-PAD and Country Director of A-PAD Sri Lanka emphasized a shift in thinking—away from reactive aid and toward prevention-oriented, economically sound models. He presented compelling evidence showing that A-PAD’s strategic coordination of private sector resources yields a significant return on investment compared to traditional emergency responses. By transforming businesses from passive donors into active partners—leveraging their logistics networks, communication systems, and local knowledge – A-PAD demonstrates that preparedness not only protects communities but also makes financial sense.
Mr. Hashim also highlighted how A-PAD and Connecting Business Initiative (CBi), at regional and global levels, are actively engaging the private sector and transforming business strengths into high-impact networks that enhance disaster preparedness and resilience.
The conversation then shifted to the topic of how environmental responsibility isn’t just morally imperative—it’s economically transformative. Organizations pursuing aggressive environmental footprint reduction are uncovering unexpected cost savings that compound over time, creating a virtuous cycle where environmental stewardship directly strengthens financial resilience. This insight, presented through compelling data from Ms. Mariama Ly of NGO CONCEPT in Senegal, revealed how sustainability initiatives quickly become powerful drivers of operational efficiency.
The financing landscape is experiencing an equally dramatic shift. Rather than chasing traditional donors with dependency-creating models, sustainable business frameworks are attracting entirely new categories of funders—impact investors and social enterprises who view measurable, long-term sustainability as the ultimate marker of program success, according to Ms. Harpinder Collacott from 4Thought Social Ventures.
These discussions crystallized into three fundamental paradigm shifts reshaping humanitarian economics: Prevention is economically viable, coordination outperforms direct delivery, and sustainability drives profitability.
Interactive breakout sessions led to a powerful synthesis by Mr. Mihir R. Bhatt of the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, who emphasized the need for similar regional workshops across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. He highlighted closer private sector engagement through CSR, reducing carbon footprints in humanitarian work, and scaling pilot projects. Citing economist Gunnar Myrdal, Mr. Bhatt called for rethinking the intersection of economics, politics, and human values—urging a shift toward nurturing economies rather than rebuilding systems that caused the crisis.
