Top of the COP: Putting adaptation & resilience at the heart of COP27

TOP OF THE COP: PUTTING ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE AT THE HEART OF COP27

Thursday 10 November 2022

In a year of unprecedented climate disasters, a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows the window is rapidly closing on the opportunity to counter the worst effects of a warming planet.

To help provide the urgent support needed by billions of people already in the throes of climate breakdown, the COP27 Presidency and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions launched the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda – a shared agenda to rally global action around 30 adaptation outcomes that are needed to achieve a resilient world by 2030. Meanwhile, at the Resilience Hub, Arsht-Rock announced the Cool Capital Stack –  $750 million Investment Pipeline to Protect the World from Extreme Heat.

It’s all a signal that adaptation and resilience are being placed at the heart of COP27. Read on for more about what’s coming up on Resilience Day.

Today’s Key Announcements

• New Race to Resilience Data Explorer: The campaign launches a dashboard to track progress of adaptation implementation. This comes alongside an update to the metrics framework launched in 2021. The framework is the cornerstone of the Race to Resilience campaign, tracking progress across different project types and identifying opportunities for adaptation solutions. Race To Resilience partners have pledged to increase resilience for 2.9 billion individuals,  264 regions and 559 cities worldwide with resilience-building actions up to 2030.  It currently has 36 partners, operating in 175 Countries with 2029 members.
• Race to Resilience launches the Insurance Adaptation Acceleration Campaign in an effort to mobilise 3,000 insurance companies (equal to 50% of the market) by COP28. The new campaign is part of the Race to Resilience and will accelerate implementation against one of the Outcomes of the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda. The objective is to scale the industry’s ability to advance meaningful climate risk reduction, and to jointly pursue the innovative public-private partnerships that reflect a shared mission of protecting vulnerable populations from the physical ravages of climate change.
• Race to Resilience partner, Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA), in collaboration with the UN Climate Change High-level Champions, has identified the need for a unified global approach towards mangrove restoration and conservation. Together they are calling for signatories to the “Mangrove Breakthrough” which supports the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda in recognition of the need to secure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves globally by 2030.
• New Race to Resilience members signatories: signatories to the Cities Race to Resilience have more than doubled since 2021, commiting to clear, evidence-based climate actions for accelerating adaptation and resilience.
• Global biopharma company, GSK, joins the Race to Resilience via the Water Resilience Coalition with a pledge to support at least 15 million people in vulnerable communities to become more resilient to the health impacts of climate change by 2030. GSK is the first healthcare company to join the campaign designed by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions to drive global ambition to create a world where nature and vulnerable communities don’t just survive climate shocks and stresses, but thrive despite them.
• Publication of the Regions Adapt on progress. Regions Adapt is a partner initiative of the Race to Resilience, which brings together leading states and regions on climate change adaptation to foster collaboration as well as learning and capacity building. The initiative includes 70 signatory members impacting over 300 million citizens.  
• The Clean Cooking Alliance and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) will today highlight the work they and partners have done to support national governments in achieving their climate goals through clean cooking and the next steps for this initiative. This will be showcased at an event at the US Center (17:30-18:30) by US EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION EVENTS SCHEDULE

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND WEBCAST, ACCESS HERE

Marrakech Partnership Resilience Resilience Action Event - Sharm el Sheikh Adaptation Agenda: The Opportunity to Accelerate System Transformation for Resilience

Location: Action Room 1 (Ibis)

Time: 10:00 - 12:00

Marrakech Partnership Implementation Lab - The Sharm el Sheikh Adaptation Agenda and the Race to Resilience

Location: Action Room 1 (Ibis)

Time: 12:30 - 14:00

Climate resilience in the built environment: adapting to a changing climate

Location: Buildings Pavilion

Time: 13:30 - 16:15

Marrakech Partnership Implementation Lab - Waste Management

Location: Action Room 1 (Ibis)

Time: 14:30 - 16:00

Climate transition-related data: Improving quality and accessibility

Location: UN Climate Change Pavilion

Time: 15:30 – 17:00

Youth demand quality climate education: ministerial session on climate education

Location: Action Room 2 (Lotus)

Time: 16:00 - 17:30

Future Labs - Healthy people, Healthy Planet: Transforming the healthcare sector

Location: Action Room 1 (Ibis)

Time: 16:30 - 18:00

Robust and accelerated climate action in non-State Actors: Race to Resilience

Location: Resilience Hub

Time: 17:00 - 18:30

EXPLORE COP27

Children and Youth Pavilion 

Today is Youth & Future Generations Day.

Ensuring that the voice of Youth and Future Generations is heard loud and clear is one of the objectives of the COP27 Presidency. Having heard the priorities and concerns of Youth representatives over the past few months, it has been decided to hold a stand-alone day to engage Youth and ensure that their perspectives are taken on board and reflected across all areas of the climate agenda. The day will provide an opportunity to showcase Youth success stories and challenges and will allow for interaction with policy makers and practitioners as well as a dialogue with the High-level Champions and non-party stakeholders.

A full programme of events is here.

The Resilience Hub: Showcasing Resilience Solutions Everyday

Stop by the Resilience Hub today to see examples of resilience solutions in action for cities, coastal communities, agricultural communities, as well as from the private sector and government, demonstrating how we can overcome barriers to implementing resilience at scale.

 Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change & Development, says:

"Communities living in vulnerable locations on the frontline of climate change impacts are also some of the most resilient communities on the planet. The Resilience Hub at COP26 is a wonderful platform for them to share their experiences. The Resilience Hub at COP27 will build on this success.”

No More Fairy Tales: stories to save our planet

Before we can build the resilient zero carbon economy that we have promised future generations, we must first imagine it. 

Stay inspired by reading today’s story drawn from an anthology of  short stories written by a variety of authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson, Paolo Bacigalupi and others. These stories present positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like and how we might get there.

Each story links to a webpage where readers can see how they can help to make the story a reality. Compiled by the Green Stories Project, in association with Herculean Climate Solutions.

Quote

“The Gambia has emitted 0.01% of carbon emissions. Sinking us deeper into debt is not justice. We need debt relief – we need to be given breathing space to respond to mitigation, adaptation and building resilience. Implement now. Never tomorrow.” 

Hon. Rohey John Manjang, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, The Gambia 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

2030 Adaptation Outcomes for Adaptation & Resilience Finance, key part of the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda

Recognising the systems-level transformations required to respond to local climate contexts, needs and risks, the Climate Champions team co-created technical reports that detail the adaptation actions required to protect vulnerable communities to rising climate hazards. Read the first report on Finance here.

Mobilizing finance to accelerate climate action and advance the SDGs

A report compiled from key insights on what it will take to convert financial assets into flows derived from a series of Regional Finance forums was launched by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions. Overall, over 450 projects, programs, funds, and enterprises requiring approximately USD $600bn in financing were identified from various sources in the run-up to, during and after the forums. 

Harnessing the power of African SMEs to deliver both nutrition and climate goals

Did you know, African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) produce over half of calories and over 80% of animal-source foods, fruits and vegetables, while processing or handling about 65% of food in later stages of the value chain? In fact, they are the key drivers of food supply, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable people. To support this, Incofin introduced a financing fund that enables SMEs to invest in their businesses and increase access to nutritious foods through wider distribution and improved availability, as well as reduced environmental impact through decreased food losses.

Paving the way for a decarbonized shipping industry that leaves no one behind

A new report by the Maritime Just Transition Task Force outlines three decarbonization scenarios to provide insights into seafarer training and skills needed to support a decarbonized shipping industry. Martha Selwyn, United Nations Global Compact, explains what's at stake and what the shift requires.

WHO ARE THE HIGH LEVEL CHAMPIONS?

The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions enhance and strengthen the engagement of non-Party stakeholders in collaborating with Parties, to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement. To connect the work of governments with the many voluntary and collaborative actions taken by cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society, at COP 21, countries decided to appoint two High Level Champions. 

The current Champions are Mr. Nigel Topping and Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin. Working with the Marrakech Partnership, they build on the legacy of their predecessors to engage with non-Party stakeholders and activate the ‘ambition loop’ with national governments. Their work is fundamentally designed to encourage a collaborative shift across all of society towards a decarbonized economy so that we can all thrive in a healthy, resilient and net-zero world.

For any press enquiries contact: media@climatechampions.team