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Climate Crisis

Oxfam Aotearoa reaction to the New Zealand Government’s release of Budget 2026

“This budget fails to deliver on New Zealand’s promises to stand by our neighbours in the Pacific who are struggling with the impacts of climate change.” said Nick Henry, Advocacy and Policy Lead for Oxfam Aotearoa.

“After cutting $100m a year from international climate action last year, the Government now promising $33m from June 2027 is too little, too late.

“Last year’s budget left a hole in funding for our neighbours in the Pacific. A promise to fill a third of that hole in a year’s time will not be much consolation to communities who are suffering now from the escalating impact of the climate crisis.”

 

Contact information:

[email protected]

Somalia IPC Reaction

Reacting to the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published today for Somalia which shows that over 6 million people are experiencing hunger (IPC Phase 3 or above), including nearly 1.9 million in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4), Oxfam’s Somalia Humanitarian lead, Sameer Kariya said:

“Somalia is once again sliding dangerously close to catastrophe. More than 6 million people – nearly one in every three people is struggling to find food.

“Three poor rainy seasons have pushed communities in the country at risk of famine particularly in Burhakaba district of Bay region where worsening acute malnutrition and the projected failure of the Gu rains (April-June rainy season) threaten to deepen the crisis.

“Water sources have dried up while crops and livestock continue to be wiped out and families are forced to abandon their homes in search of water and pasture. For communities and particularly women, it’s no longer about rebuilding but surviving to find at least one meal a day to keep their children alive.”

“The conflict in the Middle East is further driving up the cost of living with food prices rising by 30% and fuel costs increasing by 50% putting basic necessities out of reach for millions of people. Disruption to supply routes are also making it significantly harder and more expensive to deliver lifesaving aid to those most in need, with no foreseeable end to the blockage, Oxfam fears prices of the basic commodities will continue to exacerbate further.

“Somalia has also suffered heavy funding cuts which continue to undermine its response and are forcing aid agencies to make the impossible choices as to who gets support and who doesn’t.

“The world must not wait for famine to be declared before acting — by then, countless lives will have been lost. Urgent support must be delivered immediately.”

Note to editors:

  • Poor rains and rising costs drive urgent food and nutrition needs with risk of famine in one area according to the latest IPC findings

  • The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan estimates that 4.8 million people require humanitarian assistance, with 2.4 million targeted under the response. Funding levels remain critically low, limiting response capacity at a time of increasing needs

Contact information:

[email protected]

Millions of people across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia facing drought crisis, as cost of water increases by 2000% in worst hit areas – Oxfam

  • Failed October–December rains have pushed nearly 26 million people into extreme hunger in East Africa.

  • 58 million people do not have access to clean drinking water.

  • Millions of livestock are at risk as drought devastates grazing lands and water sources, threatening pastoralist livelihoods.

Failure of the last rainy season across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is triggering a food and water emergency for millions of people still trying to recover from the longest and most severe recorded drought spanning from 2020 to 2023 during which five rainy seasons in a row failed. Dry wells, soaring water prices, crop losses and livestock deaths are pushing communities to the brink, warns Oxfam.

Across the three countries, nearly 26 million people are facing extreme hunger as drought conditions worsen, decimating crops before harvest and leaving livestock to die from lack of water and pasture. Deepening water scarcity is also driving displacement with more than 58 million people lacking access to clean water. As rivers and shallow wells dry up, families – most often women and girls – are forced to walk up to 15 kilometers for a single 20‑liter jerrycan while soaring prices put water trucking beyond reach for many families.

In parts of Somalia, Oxfam staff and partners report that the cost of water has increased by more than 2000 percent. Families are now paying between $1 and $1.50 for a single jerrycan of water, compared to $0.06 a year ago. For families who have already lost their crops, livestock and sources of income, water is now unaffordable. In Hobyo town, north of the country’s capital, communities are relying on water trucked from Gawaan village, located 30 kilometers away. High transportation costs are driving up prices even further.

Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director, said: “Water trucking is becoming the last line of defence, but for many families who can’t afford even one meal a day for their children, paying for water is simply impossible. For women and girls, the crisis is particularly severe as they now have to walk longer distances, often in unsafe conditions, to secure what should be a basic human right.”

In Somalia, a new Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) alert revealed that the number of people facing hunger has nearly doubled since early 2025, rising to 6.5 million people. One in three people in the country are expected to be in crisis level hunger between February and March 2026. Levels of acute malnutrition have more than doubled, with communities struggling to survive as the climate crisis deepens.

In Kenya’s arid and semi‑arid areas, communities are reporting reduced harvests while in Ethiopia, some areas are reporting crop losses due to the failure of the last two rainy seasons, leaving households empty‑handed. FEWSNET estimated that some regions had suffered production losses of 34 to 54 percent due to a severe rainfall deficit.

Livestock, the backbone of pastoralist communities, are dying in large numbers as water and grazing lands completely dry up. In Somalia alone, an estimated 1.4 million livestock died in 2025, with another 2.5 million at risk. In Kenya’s northern counties, animal deaths from starvation and disease are rising while milk production has dropped by more than half, stripping families of their main source of food and income while in Ethiopia, poor rains have weakened livestock.

The deepening crisis is unfolding amid severe humanitarian funding gaps. While needs have surged across East Africa, funding has declined sharply leaving millions of families to fend for themselves. In 2021, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia required $2.65 billion in humanitarian aid, with just under 61 percent funded. In 2025, less than one‑third of overall humanitarian requirements were met. In Somalia, the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan received only 29 percent of the required funding while the 2026 has secured barely 13.4 percent so far.

“The upcoming dry season will not just be difficult – it could be the final blow pushing communities beyond the point of recovery. Urgent funding is needed now to save lives across the region. Communities here have contributed almost nothing to global climate crisis, yet they are paying the highest price. Families are fighting every day to survive its consequences. We can’t fail them,” said N’Zi‑Hassane.

Across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, Oxfam is working with local partners to deliver life‑saving water, hygiene kits, cash assistance and protection support in hard‑to‑reach and most severely affected communities.

END/

Notes to editors

According to the WHO/UNICEF JMP 2025 report, access to drinking water varies significantly across the Horn of Africa.

  • Somalia: 22 percent (4.2 million people) rely on unsafe water.

  • Kenya: 8 percent (4.5 million) rely on unimproved water.

  • Ethiopia: 37 percent of the population rely on unimproved water.

The total figure of people requiring food assistance by mid‑2026 in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is between 24.5 to 25.9 million people. Calculations from data below:

  • According to the IPC, a staggering 6.5 million people in Somalia are estimated to be facing high levels of acute food insecurity—nearly double the number recorded in August 2025.

  • FEWS NET estimates 3.0 to 3.49 million people in Kenya will require humanitarian food assistance between October 2025 and May 2026, driven by poor short rains.

  • FEWS NET: food insecurity in Ethiopia remains severe, with up to 15–15.9 million people expected to need urgent food assistance by July 2026 amid Crisis and Emergency conditions, driven in part by significant drought‑related production losses of 54% in East Hararghe and 34% in West Hararghe due to rainfall deficits.

  • The loss of 1.4 million livestock in Somalia was reported by WFP and the estimate of the 2.5 million being at risk is from OCHA.

In 2021, Kenya’s drought flash appeal received $29.5 million of the $69.7 million required (42 percent), Somalia’s Humanitarian Coordinated Plan received $862.3 million of the $1.092 billion required (79 percent) and Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Coordinated Plan received $719.1 million of the $1.488 billion required (48.3 percent).

Somalia Humanitarian Coordinated Plans Funding for 2025 saw $412 million of the required $1.42 billion (29 percent) and for 2026 to date $119.2 million has been raised of the $825 million required (13.4 percent).

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz | Head of Communication, Media & Advocacy, Oxfam Aotearoa

Email: [email protected], Mobile: +64 (0)27 959 5555

Simon Watts Was Right About Pacific Climate Support at COP30. Now We Must Deliver.

At COP30 in Brazil, New Zealand has joined other higher-income countries in reaffirming their pledge to triple climate funding for lower-income countries by 2035. Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to make good on that promise to our Pacific neighbours.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told COP30: ‘In the Pacific, climate change is not a distant threat; it is a lived reality.’ Minister Watts went on to praise New Zealand’s international climate finance programme, saying: ‘we provide high-quality, grants-based, accessible, partner-responsive climate support, with over half going to adaptation action.’

But with funding for New Zealand’s international climate programme running out in December 2025, Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to explain how this promise will be delivered.

“Minister Watts is right, New Zealand provides high-quality funding for Pacific communities to adapt to the lived reality of climate change. Let’s keep up the good work.” said Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead.

“Oxfam Aotearoa is glad to hear Minister Watts reaffirm New Zealand’s promise to stand with the Pacific by funding essential climate adaptation projects. With only a month to go until the current programme runs out, we look forward to a further announcement on how this promise will be funded.”

Notes for editors:

Oxfam Aotearoa’s recent report Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region shows the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since this support was increased from 2022.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communication, Media, & Advocacy: [email protected]

COP30 falls short, offering a ‘spark of hope but far more heartbreak’ – Oxfam

In response to the outcome of COP30, Oxfam Brasil Executive Director Viviana Santiago said: 

“COP30 offered a spark of hope but far more heartbreak, as the ambition of global leaders continues to fall short of what is needed for a livable planet. People from the Global South arrived in Belém with hope, seeking real progress on adaptation and finance, but rich nations refused to provide crucial adaptation finance. This failure leaves the communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis exposed to the worst impacts and with few options for their survival. 

“The stark hypocrisy of the richest nations is heartbreaking: wealthy countries speak of phasing out fossil fuels even as they plan major oil and gas expansion. A truly just transition requires those who built their fortunes on fossil fuels to move first and fastest – and provide finance in the form of grants, not loans, so frontline communities can do the same. Instead, the poorest countries already in debt are being told to transition faster, with fewer funds.  

“The spark of hope lies in the proposed Belém Action Mechanism, which puts workers’ rights and justice at the center of the shift away fossil fuels. But without financing from rich countries, the just energy transition risks becoming stalled in many countries.   

“Our greatest strength lies in people power. No other COP agreement has ever emphasized human rights as strongly as this one. Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Quilombola communities, women land rights defenders and civil society across Brazil and around the world continue to demand true climate justice. Their voices are another reason for hope – and we will keep pressing governments, the fossil fuel industry, and the super-rich for financing and action until climate justice becomes reality.” 

Notes to editors

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

“Keep Up the Good Work” – Oxfam Aotearoa Calls on Government to Renew Climate Finance Commitment

As world leaders prepare to gather for global climate talks, Oxfam Aotearoa has launched a new report showing the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since the support was boosted from 2022.’

Oxfam in the Pacific’s Climate Justice Lead, Lote Rusaqoli, said:

“Aotearoa New Zealand has long been a leader on the global climate stage, setting the benchmark for other wealthy nations by providing all of its climate finance as grants and not loans – a move that has been incredibly beneficial for Pacific Islanders who continue to feel the worst of the climate crisis. As we approach 2026, we urge Aotearoa New Zealand to renew their climate finance commitments to help boost the Pacific’s resilience to disasters, tackle poverty, and reinforce its leadership on climate justice.”

Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director, Jason Myers, said:

“In 2021, the New Zealand government announced its biggest climate finance contribution to date. This has enabled communities all over the Pacific to maintain resilience in the face of the climate crisis. With no further funding for climate finance announced in the 2024 or 2025 budgets, critical projects have had to begin closing out. Keeping our promise to fund climate action has become urgent and the New Zealand government must act now to renew funding. Pacific livelihoods depend on it.”

Report author, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Climate Justice Lead, Nick Henry, said:

“New Zealand’s funding for climate action has benefited tens of thousands of people across the Pacific, but runs out at the end of next month. Our message to Government is simple: we need to keep up the good work.

New Zealand must keep our promise to help our Pacific neighbours, who have done nothing to cause the climate crisis, but are already feeling the worst of the effects.

Our report shows how New Zealand’s climate funding has generated enormous goodwill and positive relationships with governments and communities in the Pacific and beyond. If we continue the trend of ramping up funding for climate action, New Zealand could be on track to meet our fair share of the assistance promised to lower-income countries, including here in the Pacific.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

  • Full report: Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region link

  • The report includes new calculations, based on data published by MFAT, showing that New Zealand’s climate finance programme has exceeded its targets to deliver the majority of funding in the Pacific, with at least 50% supporting adaptation to climate change. The report analyses New Zealand’s climate finance since 2022 and shows that:

    • 59% of programme has been delivered in the Pacific.

    • 87% supports adaptation.

    •  57% has a significant gender-equality component.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Nick Henry, Climate Justice Lead, Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]