Partners of a new UN-led platform to mobilize and accelerate action on climate resilience agreed today to move ahead with plans that will help meet the needs of a growing global population that is being impacted by climate change.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon\u2019s Initiative on Climate Resilience, known as A2R (Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape), was launched by world leaders during the Paris Climate Conference last year.<\/p>\n
The A2R Leadership Group comprises Germany, Egypt, Morocco, Samoa, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation\u2019s Global Resilience Partnership; Bangladesh based philanthropic Bank BRAC, Insurance Development Forum (IDF), Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Center, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UN Environment. The Leadership Group is charged with implementing the transformational vision embedded in the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals through an unprecedented global multistakeholder partnership.<\/p>\n
It will catalyze climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts to support people in addressing the challenge of climate change, contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/p>\n
In the past two decades, 4.2 billion people have been affected by weather-related disasters such as floods, droughts and storms, including a significant loss of lives. At the same time, climate change is increasing at an unprecedented pace. Global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent broke numerous records in the first half of 2016. In addition, each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in modern temperature records, which date to 1880.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no time to lose,\u201d Mr. Ban told the Leadership Group. \u201cThe global thermostat continues to rise. Each month brings new temperature records and more floods, droughts and extreme weather events. Vulnerability to climate risk continues to increase. This translates to greater humanitarian need and more economic losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe A2R initiative will help countries secure expertise and financial resources for strengthening climate resilience. Today\u2019s launch of the Leadership Group establishes A2R\u2019s place within the UN system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than a tenth of the world\u2019s population faces climate risks,\u201d said Ibrahim Thiaw, deputy head of UN Environment. \u201cThe A2R initiative cannot solve this major challenge alone: we must work with the best partners to deliver more effective, scaled up action on climate resilience on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
The A2R initiative addresses the needs of the nearly one billion people who live in at-risk coastal areas just a few meters above rising seas, as well as those living in areas at risk of droughts, floods, storms and other climate-related risks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest hit are the poor and vulnerable, including smallholder farmers, fishers, foresters and the indigenous \u2013 the same people who provide the bulk of our planet\u2019s food,\u201d said Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of FAO. \u201cTo feed a growing global population in a changing climate, we must support farming families to adopt risk sensitive agriculture for more productive, resilient and sustainable food systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said, \u201cBuilding resilience is at the heart of UNDP\u2019s efforts to promote a more inclusive and sustainable future for all. Climate change threatens livelihoods and erodes opportunities for poverty eradication.\u201d<\/p>\n
A2R focuses on accelerating climate resilience for the most vulnerable before 2020 by strengthening three elements: the capacity to better anticipate and act on climate hazards through early warning and early action; the capacity to absorb shocks by increasing insurance and social protection coverage; and the capacity to adapt development to reduce risks at the local, national, regional and international level.<\/p>\n
At its first meeting on 24th September, the initiative\u2019s Leadership Group and partners will discuss the need for measurable targets for each of the three pillars of A2R and ensure a high profile for A2R\u2019s role in promoting the importance of climate resilience at the next global climate meeting (COP22) in Marrakech.<\/p>\n