Sharm-El Sheikh: In response to the devastating impacts of climate change affecting vulnerable people all over the world, the COP27 Presidency on Tuesday launched the “Sharm-El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda”
The Agenda outlines 30 Adaptation Outcomes to enhance resilience for 4 billion people living in the most climate-vulnerable communities by 2030.
“Each outcome presents global solutions that can be adopted at a local level to respond to local climate contexts, needs, and risks” said the statement.
Collectively, these outcomes represent the first comprehensive global plan to rally both State and non-State actors behind a shared set of adaptation actions that are required by the end of this decade.
These actions will be taken across five impact systems: food and agriculture; water and nature; coastal and oceans; human settlements, and infrastructure. The actions will include enabling solutions for planning and finance across these sectors.
Under the agenda, the countries need mobiles, $ 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.
The 30 adaptation outcome under the agenda includes 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.
Protecting and restoring an estimated 400 million hectares in critical areas (land and freshwater ecosystems) supporting indigenous and local communities and transforming 2 billion hectares of land into sustainable management.
Investing USD 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.
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.
Speaking at the event, COP27 President and Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, said “It is our aspiration that the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda represents a significant contribution to enhancing global action on adaptation and resilience as an utmost priority. The COP 27 Presidency is keen to develop a governance arrangement to secure continuity in scope, priorities and reporting”.
Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27, said,” The Outcomes were identified jointly with a broad range of active stakeholders, reflecting existing and new global targets based on science along with local knowledge and initiatives”.
“This agenda will accelerate the Race to Resilience’s global goal of making 4 billion vulnerable people more resilient by 2030” he added.
“The Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda firmly puts key human needs at its core, along with concrete, specific action on the ground to build resilience to climate change. As the growing number of climate emergencies throughout the world clearly shows, focusing on adaptation is a crucial, pressing necessity” Simon Stiell UNFCCC Executive Secretary.
Other key outcomes of the Adaptation Agenda are:-
Protection of 45 million hectares (lands and inland waters), 2 billion hectares sustainable management and 350 million hectares restoration of land securing legal indigenous and local communities.
Invest USD 4 billion to secure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves globally through collective action on halting mangrove loss.
4 billion people with access to clean cooking through at least USD 10 billion/year in innovative finance for clean cooking action worldwide.
10,000 cities and 100 regional governments have evidence-based, actionable adaptation plans, 2,000 of the world’s largest companies developed actionable adaptation plans.
Increased use of waste as a secondary resource boosts the livelihoods of informal workers and reduces open waste burning by 60%, lowering pollution levels and improving the health of local communities.
