Reproduced from the High Level Champion - Bonn Climate Change Conference 2023 sets stage for inclusive and united action at COP 28
Reproduced from the High Level Champion from here.
The
Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB58) was a pivotal gathering of climate
leaders, innovative minds, and influential stakeholders, which underscored the
need for ambitious and immediate action on the climate and nature crises.
At
the conference, the UN Climate Change High Level Champions for COP 27 and COP
28, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin and H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak spearheaded the mobilization
of non-Party stakeholders towards addressing climate change. They led and
participated in numerous events and discussions; highlighting not only the
critical issues at hand but also the solutions that can change the trajectory
of our warming planet.
Inaugurating
the COP 28 Presidency’s and also the High-Level Champions’ engagement at the
Conference, H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak underlined the importance of youth
participation, applauding the leadership of COP 28’s Youth Climate Champion,
H.E. Shamma Al Mazrui. Indigenous voices also resonated powerfully, reiterating
the need for diversity and inclusivity in charting our path towards a net zero,
nature-positive and resilient world. H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak hosted a listening
session with representatives of Indigenous Peoples, with the aim of instilling
hands-on experiences of protecting and conserving the environment and
biodiversity into the COP 28 programme. H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak stated, “I’m ready
to champion this group and ultimately mobilize the technological and financial
solutions that are locally-led and beneficial.”
Interlinked
discussions on finance, nature, adaptation insurance, loss and damage,
ocean-climate actions, and the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda (SAA)
led to robust deliberations, reinforcing the consensus that collective action
and localized solutions are fundamental to global progress towards a 1.5
°C resilient world. These discussions left no doubt that this is a defining
moment for our planet – a moment where we must mobilize every tool, resource,
and innovation at our disposal to ensure a livable and thriving world for all.
The
vital role of nature took centre stage in the “Finance and nature for transformative course correction” event. Dr.
Mohieldin pressed the need to increase local finance flows, which are currently
deemed “insufficient, inefficient, and unfair.” H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak highlighted
the unfortunate reality that nature solutions currently receive only 8% of
public climate finance and 17% of private finance.
During
the “Actions After Impacts” discussion, it became
clear that many local communities are already taking action in order to survive
the worst impacts of climate change and bounce back from the related losses and
damages. As Dr. Mohieldin noted, the COP27 Loss and Damage fund was
recognized as a successful first step. However, as H.E. Ms.
Al Mubarak emphasized, “It’s not just finance that will support these solutions.
It is partnerships, it is scaling up and it’s ensuring that we play a part in
also voicing the real needs of the communities and the boots on the ground.”
Dr.
Mohieldin and H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak joined government representatives and the
Insurance Development Forum at the “Insurance for Adaptation Round-table,” to
discuss strategies to increase engagement of the financial sector in the Global
Finance Policy Processes for adaptation and resilience. Recognizing the
insurance industry as a significant player in addressing climate change, they
underscored its potential to contribute significantly to the scaling up of
climate adaptation and risk reduction efforts through the utilization of its
climate risk analytics capabilities.
The
Conference reignited conversations on mobilizing finance for adaptation and
resilience, as well as empowering local communities. The Champions, in
collaboration with the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at
the Atlantic Council and the Insurance Development Forum held a meeting
exploring the critical need for the insurance industry to invest in adaptation
to reduce risks and vulnerabilities, plus to inform finance policies to enhance
private sector mobilization for adaptation, resilience, and loss and damage.
H.E.
Ms. Al Mubarak opened the Ocean-Climate Dialogue and welcomed the work of the
Marrakech Partnership Ocean and Coastal Zone Group which is developing Ocean
Sectoral Breakthroughs. These science-based and measurable targets will provide
compasses to accelerate governments and non-State actors actions and
investments for key ocean-based climate solutions. These solutions range from
coastal ecosystems, which can absorb a large amount of carbon and increase the
resilience of coastal communities, to aquatic production, which can provide low
carbon proteins for our growing global population, and a more sustainable
maritime transport industry.
The Global Stocktake: charting a course to climate &
nature recovery
The Global Stocktake (GST) – a comprehensive
process for countries and stakeholders to see where they’re collectively making
progress towards the Paris Agreement goals, which will culminate at COP 28 –
was a key focus of the Bonn conference.
Building
on previous discussions on the “what” and “how”, the technical assessment phase
came to a close with the third and final technical dialogue (TD1.3)
in Bonn with a focus on “what is next?”. Through four insightful round-table
discussions, a dynamic World Café session, poster session and other events
convened by the co-facilitators, Parties and non-Party stakeholders exchanged views on
the enhanced actions and support needed across areas of mitigation, including
response measures; adaptation, including loss and damage; means of
implementation and support, including finance, technology and capacity
building; and integrated and holistic approaches. The science is clear that
urgent action is required to halve emissions, build adaptive capacity and
resilience, end biodiversity loss, and address climate losses and damages by
2030. The findings from the technical phase will provide the foundation
for the political phase and will help Parties and non-Party stakeholders
identify what is needed to course-correct and achieve the Paris Agreement goals
at COP 28. As such, the GST is one of the most important priorities for
the multilateral climate change process this year and the response and follow
through on the outcomes from COP 28 will determine how successful the world
will be in stabilizing the climate.
In
Bonn, the High-Level Champions invited non-Party stakeholders, from corporates
to civil society, to investors and cities and regions, to support the GST
process; to share their progress, help to identify key gaps and challenges, and
co-create actionable solutions. They also stressed that the transparency
brought by the GST can be a key lever to ratchet up the support from the
international community to address the climate and nature crises, which are both
a symptom and a cause of inequality. They called for transformative collaboration to course-correct our
economies, with all actors playing a role, including women, young people,
Indigenous Peoples, businesses, investors, national and subnational
governments, civil society and academia.
The
significant role of non-Party stakeholders in the GST was re-emphasized as Parties expressed their
appreciation for the contribution and engagement of non-Party stakeholders in
TD1.3, and encouraged them to organize events at the local, national, regional
and international level in support of the first GST. The high-level committee,
consisting of the Chairs of the Subsidiary Bodies and COP 27 and COP 28
Presidencies and who chair the high-level GST events to be convened at COP 28,
also stressed the importance of non-Party stakeholder participation in the
political phase and how the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Ambition Summit and
the Regional Climate Weeks are key milestones.
In the lead up to COP 28, Parties and non-Party stakeholders will be invited to
submit their views on the elements for the “consideration of outputs” component by 15
September 2023. Watch this space for more details on this opportunity.
Task Forces inject new momentum into the Sharm el-Sheikh
Adaptation Agenda
A
landmark event launching the Sharm el-Sheik Adaptation Agenda Task Forces was
attended by both High-Level Champions at Bonn, injecting strong momentum into the global
adaptation and resilience movement, under the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda
(SAA). The Task Forces will bring together countries and non-Party
stakeholders to focus on critical areas such as Food Systems, Water, Human
Settlements, Oceans, Infrastructure, and Finance. The first working sessions of
the Task Forces took place, prioritizing key areas of mobilization, planning
finance, and tracking progress - and overall the sessions focused on shaping
common, engaging narratives for consolidated action on adaptation system
transformation.
Dr.
Mohieldin, highlighted that adaptation finance is improving, but at an
alarmingly low rate: currently only 4% is mobilised by the private sector. He
said: “Even if global mitigation efforts are doing well, which are not yet,
there is a lot to do on adaptation. We must take this action from global
measures to local plans through finance, collaboration and technological
advances”.
During
the Task Forces launch, resilience experts and members of the Race to
Resilience's Methodological Advisory Group, including Anand Patwardhan,
Emilie Beauchamp, Ana Maria Lobo-Guerrero, and Paulina Aldunce, highlighted the importance of the SAA in driving
collaboration and fast-tracking action for populations in climate
vulnerable situations. They underscored the need to address the adaptation gap
and prioritize support for vulnerable communities to build resilience against
now-unpreventable climate change impacts.
As
well as the representatives from the COP27 and COP28 Presidencies, other
attendees included the Marrakech Partnership Focal Points, numerous UN
agencies, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the
Race to Resilience 36 partners’ initiatives. Their collective work will be
instrumental in delivering the first SAA Implementation Report at COP 28.
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