IUCN event | 12 Nov, 2022

The Future of Nature-based Solutions for Adaptation and Resilience: Driving Ambition and Action

This session will convene experts from the Friends of EbA Network, the Global EbA Fund, IUCN, UNEP, and the COP27 Presidency to celebrate success stories of NbS for Adaptation from the ground in the last decade, hear from ministers around the world showcasing how their countries are implementing and scaling up these strategies, and together, set commitments to continue working together to accelerate global progress on working with nature to build climate resilience.

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Photo: Alireza Bolhari

Climate change is here, and we are already feeling its impacts around the world, from higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and increasing incidences of extreme events. The most vulnerable people – for example in least developed countries and small islands developing states – are too often the hardest hit, with recent studies demonstrating that over 3.3 billion people live in places that are highly vulnerable to climate change. Even under the most optimistic emissions scenarios, society will still need to adapt to climate impacts.

However, leaders of governments, communities, and corporations increasingly acknowledge that the health and preservation of ecosystems lay the foundation for climate adaptation, together with sustainable economic development, food and water security, and disaster risk reduction. Such nature-based solutions for climate adaptation have the potential to provide vulnerable countries with valuable protection against the economic cost of climate change – reducing the intensity of climate hazards by 26 percent, representing protection against the economic cost of climate change by USD 104 billion by 2030 and USD 393 billion by 2050 (IFRC & WWF, 2022). Investing in adaptation efforts for both ecosystems and humanity can enable transformative progress toward sustainable development – from health, water, nutrition, to clean energy, sustainable infrastructure and equality.

Speakers will include:

  • Stewart Maginnis, Deputy Director of IUCN
  • Ali Raza Rizvi, Head of Climate Change at IUCN
  • Jessica Troni, Chief – Climate Change Adaptation Unit, UNEP
  • Dr. Ulf Jaeckal, Head of European and International Adaptation to Climate Change of German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection
  • Marcia Toledo or Nady Mahmoud, UN High Level Climate Champions Team
  • Dr Mohamed Ahmed, GCF-UNDP Climate Change Adaptation Project Manager “Enhancing climate change adaptation in the North coast and Nile Delta Regions in Egypt
  • Cristina Romanelli, Biodiversity, Climate Change and Health Focal Point at WHO
  • National representatives, to be confirmed