Climate crisis increases the likelihood and intensity of disasters whilst disasters could have negative impacts on the environment. Humanitarian actors realise that they need to commit more to environmental sustainability and failing to have an environmentally informed response will increase the affected communities’ vulnerability. The debates on humanitarian-environment nexus have proliferated over the last two decades and gained traction through the integration of environmental protection into the humanitarian standard and commitment, including the Core Humanitarian Standard and the Climate and Environment Charter. In practice, some research found that incorporating environmental sustainability into humanitarian work still poses challenges such as the urge for prioritising lifesaving assistance before long-term development; the lack of resources and coordination to support the implementation; and no clear measurement to assess the carbon footprint of the sector. However, evidence is documented, opportunities are identified. This paper elaborates the discourses and practices of environmental sustainability in humanitarian action, challenges and how these could increase the resilience of the community, particularly the at-risk groups. It takes the case of Aceh tsunami response and recovery efforts wherein applying environmental reviews on humanitarian projects was deemed doable and benefitted the affected communities. The paper also discusses succinctly the experiences in Cox’s Bazar response and humanitarian operations to illustrate how any sectoral intervention could harm the environment and remedies should be put in place. It elaborates how such interventions coincide with social justice and gathers key points on how relevant stakeholders could contextually adapt the practices and approach the nexus.