Resilience

Across Nigeria, hundreds of climate entrepreneurs and businesses are creating innovations to support the country’s transition to a low carbon and resilient economy.

Preserving nature is a key element in the world’s effort both to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and it also happens to be good for business. But new findings show that much of the private sector continues to lag far behind in tackling deforestation and protecting biodiversity.

LACCW 2022 will be held from 18-22 July in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and will engage and empower stakeholders to drive climate action across countries, communities and economies.

Projected impacts and related losses and damages are set to intensify with every fraction of a degree, meaning action to address this must dramatically accelerate. The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions aim to play an instrumental part in this process.

As resilience continues to improve, it should be possible to move from crisis management to risk management of droughts in the Horn of Africa, explains David Nash, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Brighton.

This week’s Bonn Climate Conference provided an opportunity to take stock of real economy action and workshop how non-State actors can help address loss and damage.

To mark this year’s World Oceans day, leading ocean advocates explain why ocean solutions are pivotal to a decarbonized, just, prosperous and resilient world.

Nature-related risks matter to businesses due to impacts on markets, operations, supply chains, and customer base. Beyond the motivation for biosphere stewardship generally, and ocean stewardship specifically, the economic rationale for investing in coastal ecosystems is strong.

UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for COP25 and COP26, Gonzalo Munoz and Nigel Topping, feature in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in recognition of their services to tackling climate change.

Forest clearing and pollution originating from aquaculture and agriculture are the single biggest factor of mangrove loss, according to 200 scientific studies published over the past four decades.

The Earth has lost 4,000 square kilometres (km2) of its tidal wetlands over the past 20 years, a new study finds. This is equal to an area roughly the size of the Spanish island Mallorca or the Indian state of Goa.

In an increasingly challenging and volatile world, the urgent need to decarbonize real estate remains a constant, explains Christian Ulbrich, Global Chief Executive Officer; President, JLL

Will greening cities be enough to fend off ever increasing intense heatwaves?

Open waste burning is one of the major contributors of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and poses major health hazards owing to the cocktail of air pollutants it discharges, according to a report published this week.

A new, more holistic approach and transformative initiative is needed to understand water and climate challenges.

Affordable energy organisation, Power for All explains why Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions such as solar can help countries expand access to on-site clean, sufficient, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy.

First launched in 2019, the Climate Action Pathways set out sectoral visions for achieving a 1.5°C resilient world in 2050, with overarching transformational milestones, and key impacts that need to be achieved to realize them.

Six months on from COP26, we find ourselves in a stark and unnerving landscape. World leaders and leaders of the real economy must step up and shift from summits to solutions with the urgency that the situation demands (Arabic translation).

A new intensive review has distilled from more than 400 scientific papers and reports a comprehensive, actionable set of technologies and practices that can mitigate climate change and contribute to alleviating extreme poverty at the same time.

Half a year on from COP26, we find ourselves in a stark and unnerving landscape. World leaders and leaders of the real economy must step up and shift from summits to solutions with the urgency that the situation demands.

Karim Elgendy, Chatham House & Martina Juvara, International Society of City and Regional Planners, explain why the UK’s planning system tool could be central to integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation in cities.

South Africa is proactively responding to climate change through adaptation-focused regulation and green energy investments.

Communities across the world are coming up with locally-led solutions to help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The latest IPCC report and Ukraine crisis show the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels, investing in renewables and developing sustainable agriculture, explains Egyptian UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, Mahmoud Mohieldin.

Indigenous rights activist and lawyer, Cindy Kobei discusses custodianship, the law, deepening equalities caused by the climate crisis, and the need to rekindle our connection with the natural world.

Never in the history of humankind have we been faced with such a stark choice: to act now or risk losing it all forever. 

Seafood firms can reduce their impact on climate and the oceans – and in doing so can ensure they have a long-term thriving business, writes Nigel Topping, UN High Level Champion for Climate Action at COP26.

A new AI-based study compares cities’ trees and lakes to how much concrete they have, to gauge their ability to respond to climate shocks.

The more we delay action, burn fossil fuels and destroy nature, the more brutal climate change will become, according to the latest IPCC scientific report on mitigating climate.

A sustainable and resilient agricultural sector is key to sub-Saharan Africa’s economic future. Here’s how solar water pumps can help.

As with tortillas in Mexico and rice in West Africa, symbolism around bread has a spiritual dimension. Egyptians handle bread with care and respect at the bakery, on the street and in their homes.

The IPCC’s latest report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability made it explicit that people living in informal settlements are the most vulnerable urban populations to climate change.

MENA Climate Week will bring together key stakeholders to take the pulse of climate action in the region, explore climate challenges and opportunities and showcase ambitious solutions.

Scientists now say that the combination of rising sea levels, extreme weather events and population change in low-lying areas will put about a billion people at risk from coastal climate hazards beyond 2040. But they’ve also found that cities can offer the best hope of limiting that threat.

Any truly resilient city must have a flood management plan that integrates natural, engineered and social systems, argues Faith Chan, University of Nottingham and Olalekan Adekola, York St John University.

The UN High-Level Climate Champions are excited to launch their programme for the first-ever Middle East and North Africa Regional Climate Week.

As the IPCC report finds, gender is one of the key factors that compounds vulnerability to climate change impacts.

Women and girls should be at centre stage in the fight for climate justice and a transformative shift towards a disaster-proof Africa, according to the Africa Consultation on the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Because women possess unique knowledge and experience, particularly at the local level, their inclusion in decision-making processes is critical to effective climate action.

Combined solutions to climate change and gender inequality exist – women leaders, new and emerging, just need more support.

Three of the 270 scientists and researchers who wrote the latest IPCC report explain why the window for climate resilient development is closing fast.

The Philippine’s financial hub, Makati, has joined Cities Race to Resilience. The city’s Mayor, Abigail Binay, explains why joining the campaign has helped the city remain on track with its climate actions in spite of the global pandemic.

The evidence is clear: unless emissions are cut faster than governments currently plan to, climate-driven damages will worsen rapidly and parts of the planet will become increasingly uninhabitable.

Transforming global shipping is a critical part of reaching the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and building zero emissions, resilient global supply chains that billions of people rely on.

The Race to Resilience is the UN-backed global campaign to catalyse a step-change in global ambition for climate resilience, putting people and nature first in pursuit of a resilient world where we don’t just survive climate shocks and stresses, but thrive in spite of them.

Inclusive development and poverty reduction are essential to protecting the poor from disasters. Improving access to financial, technical, and institutional resources will make them better able to respond to climate change, argues David Malpass, Président, Groupe de la Banque mondiale.

With 154 events from 80 partners and featuring 176 participating organisations and 21 major sponsors, the first ever COP Resilience Hub brought together a community of state and non-state actors in an unprecedented collaboration. 

Natural climate solutions are the key for the Race to Zero and the Race to Resilience. They can take us beyond net zero, to actually achieve drawdown. With all of the cascading benefits to people and the planet, it is clear that climate finance should support nature-based climate solutions, says Mamta Mehra, Senior Fellow, Land Use & Research Program Officer & Chad Frischmann, Senior Director, Drawdown Solutions, Project Drawdown

Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity explains why we must put nature at the heart of urban development.

Former Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas explains why action to confront extreme heat is nowhere near where it needs to be.

In her poem, 11-year-old Emtithal Mahmoud watches as her neighbour’s home crumbles into flood waters in a country “already locked in turmoil”.

Miami has one – so does Athens. Now Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, has appointed Africa’s first chief heat officer – a mother on a mission to shield her city and her kids from the chaos of climate change.

At COP26, the campaign will be announcing new Partners who will deliver resilience transformations: stand alone actions that advance the campaigns mission, focused on specific barriers to resilience.

The UN High-Level Climate Champions join Race to Resilience Partners today in calling for efforts to protect the most climate-vulnerable communities to double in the decade, with a focus on the most exposed, vulnerable, indigeneous, populous and large regions of the Global South.

Regions, cities, financial institutions, countries, and sectors from across society are stepping up to build the resilience of those most vulnerable to climate change.

Securing gender equality and women’s full representation in vital negotiations about humanity’s future—like those happening at COP26—rely on fulfilling girls’ basic human rights, argue Kristen P. Patterson, Director, and Carissa Patrone, Program Coordinator, Drawdown Lift, Project Drawdown.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and the Premier of British Columbia John Horgan introduce a regional partnership called the Pacific Coast Collaborative to advance climate policies, build a clean energy economy and infrastructure, and increase their state’s resilience to impacts already occurring.

The Race to Resilience has developed a metrics framework for non state actors to verify the climate resilience impact of their actions. This new metrics framework, for the first time, allows non state actors to report action, and quantify and verify impact under a common framework.

“In the last 12 years, nine of the 13 oldest and five of the six largest baobabs on continental Africa have died. And it looks like climate change is one of the reasons for this,” award winning filmmaker and naturalist Cyrille Cornu.

“By combining local efforts to protect critical habitat with effective co-management for coastal fisheries, we can ensure food security, support the productive economy, safeguard livelihoods, and contribute to achieving national and global sustainable development and climate change goals,” says Rocky Sanchez Tirona is the Managing Director of Fish Forever at Rare.

The High Level Climate Champions and the ocean community have signed the Ocean for Climate Declaration: a call to governments and non-state actors to scale up ocean-based climate solutions and action.

“Africa’s strength comes from its unity. A continent that is vibrant, fast-growing, energetic and diverse. And, a key player in showing the way to a low carbon future.” Dr. Amar Inamdar, Managing Director of the KawiSafi Ventures Fund, on the vast opportunities that come with investing in Africa.

Regions, cities, investors, businesses and governments are stepping up to build resilience in the most at-risk communities and reverse biodiversity loss within the 2020s.

More than 30 leading financial institutions, collectively with over US$ 8.7 trillion in assets under management have committed to tackle agricultural commodity-driven deforestation as part of broader efforts to drive the global shift towards sustainable production and nature-based solutions.  

Nonprofit art hub for sustainability, ReGenesis and the UN Climate Champions convened a group of artists, representing a range of disciplines, to open up the conversation on climate and help make it accessible to everyone.

If we are serious about achieving the dual goals of enhancing access to modern energy services and combating climate change in the long term, all stakeholders need to take decisive action. For lasting change, young people can be an important part of the solution, argues Sarah Hambly, Partnership and Communications Manager, Energy Saving Trust, co-Secretariat, Efficiency for Access.

Investors in 66% of listed companies are collectively at risk of losing $8.4 trillion due to declining ocean health and climate change if business as usual continues. Here’s why a healthy ocean is at the core of the global economy.

Despite the daily challenges related its socio-economic and political context, the tiny municipality of Menjez has shown ambitous climate leadership by joining Cities Race to Resilience.

A new report commissioned by IUCN and the UNFCCC High Level Champions and steered by a working group of African partners ahead of Climate COP26 in Glasgow provides compelling, quantitative evidence of the positive impacts of regenerative agricultural practices

The World Economic Forum has created a visualization of some of the most flood-impacted parts of the world.

A shift from viewing food waste as a problem to one where it can provide a rich foundation for regenerative farming can fundamentally accelerate restoring land soil health, as well as improve food resilience, argues UN Climate Champion Regenerative Agriculture Fellow, Leah Bessa.

Here are the winners of the Mangrove Photography Award 2021, each showing the importance of preserving, conserving, and restoring the world’s mangrove forests.

From oyster die-offs and coral reef bleaching, to marine heat waves and harmful algal blooms, coastal communities around the world are feeling the effects of ocean acidification. A leading group of ocean experts discuss the significance of investing in SDG Target 14.3.

For fisheries to remain sustainable in the face of climate change, fisheries managers, scientists and governments will need to think beyond the current socio-economic structures in place, argues Dr Rohan Currey, Chief Science & Standards Officer at the Marine Stewardship Council.

Africa’s youth population is growing rapidly and is expected to reach over 830 million by 2050. The Africa Youth Initiative on Climate Change explains why this growing force for good must have a seat at the climate decision-making table.

“The opportunities for adapting, while shifting our economy to be prosperous, sustainable and equitable, are plenty – we just have to have the will and the courage to seize these opportunities” – Camille Manning Broome, President and CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) explains why a happy ending for Louisiana is possible.

The future of climate change is based on local solutions to local problems. In accordance with a Kenyan Swahili adage ‘Haba na haba hujaza kibaba’; small efforts build up to create long lasting impact. This is the chance to learn, educate and take action towards a sustainable Kenya, and a sustainable world. 

This year’s Climate Conference in Glasgow will feature a new Resilience Hub led by non-state actors from business, investors, civil society, academia, cities and regions.

From flooding and coastal erosion to the impacts of urbanization and increasing populations, the coastal zones of the South Atlantic are in crisis.

“There are some difficult, but critically important changes that can happen only with your leadership. The most critical of these is stopping harmful agricultural subsidies, which do not work for the farmer, society at large, nor our Mother Earth,” Farmer & CEO, European Carbon Farmers, Mateusz Ciasnocha’s letter to world leaders.

“Achieving our shared climate goals demands an all-hands of deck collaborative effort supported by unifying, not divisive, politics,” Carlos M. Duarte, a member of Extreme E’s Scientific Committee and a Distinguished Professor of Marine Science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

How does a sector – defined by the movement of people and in the midst of a crisis – get to net zero by 2050 at the very latest? 

Billions of people are overweight, millions are hungry, one third of food is wasted and the way the world produces, processes and consumes food generates one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday at the first global summit on the future of food.

“Many little children can no longer play outside as they would have some years back. The warming climate is shifting weather patterns in Zambia creating stronger and more frequent storms. In some months, the heat is unbearable” – Prudence Muchinouta’s letter to leaders.

Join the Race to Resilience and an expert panel of built environment sector practitioners from across Africa to explore how to meet the challenge of rapid population growth and urbanization with decarbonized, resilient housing.

We are almost out of time to limit temperatures to 1.5C and urgent – and collective – action across the whole economy is required to keep the promise Paris alive, impassioned panellists agreed at the opening day of Climate Week NYC.

Four new partners have joined the Race to Resilience, building momentum ahead of COP26 for raising ambition from state and non-state actors on climate resilience.

Over the past decade, global economic losses from weather events like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires have grown more costly. During the first decade of the 21st century, there were only two years when weather disasters cost more than $200 billion (including 2010).

“At COP26, we ask you to speak out for the ocean as it has no spokesperson, no government, no pavilion or voice. Without a healthy ocean, we cannot hope to combat climate change. The two are fundamentally interlinked, it would be as if to ride a bike without wheels, or sail a boat without canvas. It just will not work.”

The US healthcare system is responsible for 8.5% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This year, despite the challenges of COVID19, one of the largest health systems pledged to become carbon negative by 2030.

Scale for Resilience, a new initiative aimed at unlocking the capital needed to finance nature based solutions at scale, will be launched on September 14.

Almost half of the world’s 2.2 billion children face a “deadly” threat from climate and environmental shocks, according to a new report.

“The world’s leaders should spell out in advance of the COP, what they intend to do to ensure that voices of the most vulnerable are heard — and listened to”, Jim Wallace (Lord Wallace of Tankerness) is Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

“The only thing that is missing is the will. The will to step forward and do what needs to be done. You may feel it is difficult, but this is no time for cowardice” – a former military intelligence officer’s contribution to Our World in Your Hands.

“In 2009, I was in my first semester in college when typhoon Ketsana struck the Philippines and nearly took my life. Many would look at supertyphoon Haiyan in 2013 as the turning point for climate action in my country,” climate campaigner from the Philippines, John Leo Algo’s letter to leaders.

There is a huge opportunity to better harness ocean resources in a responsible manner to provide nutritious, safe and nature-positive food, explains Sophie Ryan, CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative.

We need a new generation of financial backers from institutional investors to family offices, and from banks to insurers to put capital to work in the ocean, write Chip Cunliffe and Karen Sack, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance.

2030, nearly 40% of the world’s population will live in vulnerable housing. Disasters are increasing in frequency due to the impacts of climate change, and those living in lower income countries feel the consequences of climate change the greatest. CEO of Build Change, Elizabeth Hausler’s letter to world leaders.

“She’s shouting. Howling at you! And so am I, so are all of us. That you presume to represent” – activist, author and founder of Planetari, Cindy Forde’s contribution to the Our World in Your Hands project.

The only way to reverse some of these catastrophic patterns, and to regain a kind of stability in climate and weather systems, is “climate repair”, argues David King & Jane Lichtenstein from the University of Cambridge.

“I’m not certain how much the natural world will have changed but I am certain that my children or grandchildren will ask me, who did this?” Kenyan climate activist, Elizabeth Wathuti’s letter to world leaders.

The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report is a clear and sober reflection of our current pace. Ambition must be followed by immediate action in line with halving global emissions by 2030.

An initiative that aims to make smallholder farmers around the world more resilient, by leveraging the benefits of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), has partnered with the Race to Resilience.

A meeting in Rome last week prepared the ground for September’s UN food summit where actions will be launched for healthier, greener ways to produce and consume food.

“To the leaders of the developing countries, including my own, I would like to say: be bold! Show to the world your vision of how you want to transform your communities in order to survive AND thrive post-pandemic and amid continuous and exacerbated climate threats” — Vladislav Kaim, UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisor on Climate Change.

It takes more than rain to create a flood, and more than a spark to start a wildfire. All of the elements of our climate system – and the hazards it produces – are connected in one way or another, explains Christopher J White, University of Strathclyde.

Today is Earth Overshoot Day. The date that tells us that we’ve once again used up all biological resources that our planet regenerates during a year. 

How communities develop infrastructure, social and economic systems, planning and preparedness can make them more resilient – or more vulnerable – to extreme events, explains Scott Denning, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University.

“Climate change isn’t about countries: it’s about people. It’s about the world we want to live in for generations to come and the species we share it with. In other words, it’s far too important to leave just to world leaders – this crisis requires all of us to step up” – Governor of California, Gavin Newsom explains what’s at stake.

“Please, reach into your dreams. Into a future that can be. And draw what you see.” – Peggy Liu, Chair of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE).

“Africa for years has been experiencing the impacts of climate change and these are becoming more and more catastrophic. It has been our past, it is our present and might become our future if we don’t Act Now.” Ugandan Climate Activist, Evelyn Acham’s submission to the Our World in Your Hands project.

We know the problems, but we also know the solutions. The challenge is turning these solutions into actions, by swaying leaders at all levels of society to protect the mangroves still standing and restore what has been lost, argues a new report from the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA)

Mangrove forests cover just 0.5% of the world’s coasts but account for an estimated 10-15% of coastal carbon capture. As we try to stop CO₂ levels rising and put the brakes on climate change, protecting mangroves for their blue carbon value is key, argues Adam Moolna, Keele University.

Mbaarak Abdalla from Mombasa County, Kenya, explains in his letter for Our World in Your Hands, why he is on a mission to restore and safeguard the mangroves.

Mangroves are a vital ecosystem that benefit our environment, economy, and communities. Yet they severely under threat. An estimated 67% of historical mangrove habitat has been lost or degraded worldwide, with 20% occurring since 1980. One of the biggest threats to mangroves is the tourism industry. Here’s how we can turn this ship around.

“We have to address who is leading, and how we are leading, to usher in transformation more quickly and more fully than we’re seeing right now,” Dr Katharine Wilkinson on gender inequality, culture, imagination, and the good and the bad of net zero commitments.

A new study that mapped the “blue carbon” uptake from marine and coastal ecosystems around the world highlights how natural sinks and climate change redistribute wealth around the globe.

If you could write a letter that would be read by the world’s leaders, what would you say?

The sooner we begin retrofitting existing buildings and constructing new ones that can withstand climate change, the better, argues Ran Boydell, Visiting Lecturer in Sustainable Development, Heriot-Watt University.

Rich countries need to hear and react to the calls from developing countries to address loss and damage fairly, and most importantly with concrete ways to fund it, argues Colin McQuistan, Head of Climate and Resilience, Practical Action.

The Cities Race to Resilience, has officially launched as part of the Race to Resilience campaign, with a focus on driving cities to join the Race to make vulnerable communities resilient to climate change.

The heathcare sector has a responsibility to train, educate, advocate and influence decision and policy-makers, collaborate widely through its research work, and engage the youth in inclusive programmes, according to Dr Claire Bayntun, Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Dr Elizabeth Hausler, Founder and CEO of Build Change, an organization that prevents housing loss caused by disasters, explains why everyone, from state to non-state actors, must drive the demand for resilient housing.

“Fighting climate change helps us create a better world. And net zero is the lever to get us there,” Farhana Yamin speaking at a town hall meeting convened by the UN High Level Champions on June 28.

An expert led panel during London Climate Action Week will explore how to plug the finance gap between climate mitigation and climate adaptation & resilience.

Argentina’s third largest city Rosario’s urban agriculture program has evolved from an approach to put food on the table, to a tool for job creation, and more recently to a strategy for tackling climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have worked together on a report which finds that we can either solve both nature and climate crises or solve neither.

All forms of ecosystem degradation have one thing in common: When people hurt ecosystems, they also hurt economies, biodiversity and the climate.

As the global climate crisis worsens, an increasing number of people are being forced to flee their homes due to natural disasters, droughts and other weather events. These people are sometimes called “climate refugees”. Who are these climate refugees? And how can the international community properly address this issue?

A short environmental documentary about Seagrass meadows in Cornwall, the location for this year’s G7.

Here’s how we make the 2020s an era of recovery and regeneration and making sure that within the decade, nature is absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, supporting jobs and livelihoods, and allowing us to thrive in spite of climate shocks.

Adventurer, conservationist, writer and photographer, Cristina Mittermeirer has been published in hundreds of publications, including National Geographic and TIME. She believes photogaphy is a critial tool in the world’s Race to Zero and Race to Resilience.

The ocean must be embraced as something that connects and shapes humanity rather than isolates it. A shared responsibility rather than a final frontier of resource extraction.

Adventurer, conservationist, writer and photographer Cristina Mittermeier discusses the role of storytelling in the protection of the ocean with COP25 High Level Champion for Chile, Gonzalo Muñoz.

As we head towards COP26, governments need to recognize the importance of the ocean in delivering the Paris Agreement, argues Ørsted Chairman, Thomas Thune Andersen.

8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, making up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Chair of the Surfrider Foundation, Susie Crick explains why we must break our addiction to single use plastics.

We have to repair our connections with the ocean if we are to receive a wave of ocean benefits, argues eminent marine ecologist, Professor Carlos M Duarte.

The University of Chile’s Center for Climate Research and Resilience (CR)2 has officially joined the Race to Resilience as the Technical Secretariat to the global campaign.

Since 1991, 37% of lives lost due to extreme heat globally can be attributed to climate change on average, according to a new study which gathered data from 43 countries.

One third of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees, face extinction globally. Professor Lindsay Jaacks explains why we need to think very carefully about releasing chemicals specifically designed to kill into the environment.

The solutions to the great 21st century challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss become clearer if we view them through the ocean’s blue lens, argues Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.

Ensuring that these countries are empowered, mobilized and adequately supported is a matter of climate and economic justice.