Girja Shankar Kaura
Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda was launched yesterday. It is a comprehensive, shared agenda to rally global action around 30 adaptation outcomes that are needed to address the adaptation gap and achieve a resilient world by 2030.
The Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda has been launched in partnership with the High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership. Each of the 30 Adaptation Outcomes present global solutions that can be adopted at a local level to respond to local climate contexts, needs and risks and deliver the systems transformation required to protect vulnerable communities to the rising climate hazards, such as extreme heat, drought, flooding, or extreme weather.
It comes as research warns that nearly half the world’s population will be at severe risk of climate change impacts by 2030, even in a 1.5-degree world according to analysis published by IPCC AR6 WG II Report and the UN Climate Change High-Level Climate Champions.
The 30 Adaptation Outcomes include urgent global 2030 targets related to transitioning to climate resilient, sustainable agriculture that can increase yields by 17% and reduce farm level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 21%, without expanding agricultural frontiers, and while improving livelihoods including of smallholder farmers
Protecting and restoring an estimated 400 million hectares in critical areas (land and freshwater ecosystems) supporting indigenous and local communities with use of nature-based solutions to improve water security and livelihoods and to transform 2 billion hectares of land into sustainable management.
The other key highlights are:
- Protecting 3 billion people by installing smart and early warning systems.
- Investing $4 billion to secure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves through collective action to halt loss, restore, double protection and ensure sustainable finance for all existing mangroves.
- Expanding access to clean cooking for 2.4 billion people through at least USD 10 billion/year in innovative finance.
- Mobilizing $140 to $300 billion needed across both public and private sources for adaptation and resilience and spur 2,000 of the world’s largest companies to integrate physical climate risk and develop actionable adaptation plans.
In a sign of recognition of this major milestone for the global adaptation process, the Adaptation Agenda is being driven by the COP27 Presidency, the High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership and underpinned by the 2,000+ organisations spanning 131 countries in the Race to Resilience campaign.
At the launch, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry and High-Level Champions Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin and Nigel Topping, called on all State and non-State actors to get behind this critical Agenda.
