On the road to COP26
Greetings! For the next three weeks, we’ll be sharing our plans for the COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow next month through a special series of the Resilience Dispatch.
First up, we look at two big issues that often get second-tier billing at climate talks, but probably have the biggest day-to-day impact on many people worldwide: water and adaptation measures.
In future dispatches, we’ll share with you our plans at COP for advancing better carbon markets infrastructure and working with tropical forest communities to safeguard carbon sinks: two of our best solutions for meeting Paris Agreement targets.
Headed to COP and want to set up a meeting or attend one of our events? Get in touch. We are still confirming plans, and would be happy to keep you in the loop!
– The Forest Trends team |
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Adaptation: We can do a lot better than just “climate-proofing” everything
Michael Jenkins
One of the biggest questions for the COP is whether developed countries will make good on their pledges to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries. At the G7 Summit in June, the outlook wasn’t good, but we have seen a bit of momentum in recent weeks on this issue, including a push from COP26 President Alok Sharma.
Whether we get to $100 billion or only $85 billion by COP, countries will need to be forward looking in how they spend it. Extreme weather was responsible for a startling 9% of premature deaths globally in the last decade. The world needs major investments in resilient infrastructure, food systems, and public health.
But it’s not enough to just “climate-proof” our systems. Climate change is the biggest equity issue of our time. We have a chance to build back better – to make investments that support sustainable livelihoods, better quality of life, and new opportunities for people who have historically had few. Adaptation can be about not just about what we do about a changing climate, but how we do it.
The country of Peru has been quietly blazing this trail for the past half-decade. Today, it’s far ahead of most countries on “building back better,” incorporating natural climate solutions into a national level economic stimulus and infrastructure reconstruction program. A major goal for COP26 for Forest Trends is to help bring attention to the Peruvian model, and how cooperation between governments has leveraged an initial $27 million grant into a $275 million+ pipeline of investments and the transformation of Peru’s infrastructure sector.
I hope you can join us for a special virtual forum featuring our partners in the Peruvian government, USAID Peru, the Canadian Embassy of Peru, and Forest Trends experts on November 4th (details below). Also on the 4th, our Water Initiative Director Jan Cassin will be helping to lead a call to action on nature-based for governments and businesses at the Water & Climate Pavilion.
If you’d like information on how to join us, whether in-person at COP or virtually, please click the button below and we’ll follow up with details. |
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| The Chancay-Lambayeque Basin Water Resources Council on a site visit. A $10.7M portfolio of investments in restoring natural landscapes is under development in the Chancay/Piura basins, as part of Peru’s ‘Building Back Better’ program (Reconstrucción con Cambios). |
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| Flooding in 2016 the Río Seco gully, district of Oyotún, Peru, destroyed a main road and left the district with no entrance or exit. Credit: Julio Reaño |
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Forest Trends at COP: Water and Adaptation Highlights
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| Scaling up Nature-based Solutions for Adaptation to Climate Change
November 4, 15:30 – 17:00 GMT / 11:30 – 13:00 EDT
Water & Climate Pavilion (Blue Zone) | Watch it here
 Featuring: Gena Gammie, Deputy Chief of Party, Natural Infrastructure for Water Security Project, Forest Trends
Climate change primarily affects water – whether through unpredictable rainfall patterns, aquatic ecosystems degradation, altered river flows, sea level rise-induced salinization of coastal groundwater, or more frequent and intense floods and droughts. Water-related disasters represent about 90% of all natural disasters. Conveners will present case studies of nature-based solutions implemented for water and climate change adaptation benefits, including a highlight of Peru’s leadership on incorporating nature-based solutions into its national reconstruction and economic reactivation program, “Reconstrucción Con Cambios.”
Convenors: Forest Trends, Reconstrucción Con Cambios Authority (Peru), USAID Peru, Canadian Embassy Peru, Arup, FWP, IUCN, OIEau, INBO, UNECE, The Flow Partnership, Shanghai Urban Construction Design and Research Institute (SUCDRI), Frank Water |
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A Call to Action: Nature-based Solutions for Governments and Business
November 4, 17:30 – 19:00 GMT / 13:30 – 15:00 EDT
Water & Climate Pavilion (Blue Zone) | Watch it here Featuring: Jan Cassin, Director, Forest Trends’ Water Initiative
This event will highlight the challenges and opportunities for mitigation and adaptation that exist in addressing the water-climate nexus as well as considerations of biodiversity and the environment. Approaches like nature-based solutions and resilience thinking will be foregrounded to help build the business case for investments in water and climate solutions. The focus of the session is on building collective action, gaining allies/forging alliances, and breaking down barriers/silos.
Convenors: Forest Trends, Pacific Institute, CEO Water Mandate, The Nature Conservancy, LimnoTech, Danone, WWF, IUCN, United States Army Corps of Engineers, City of Cape Town, Asia Pulp and Paper, Heineken |
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Forest Trends at COP: The Full List of Events
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| High Integrity in the Voluntary Carbon Markets
Beto Borges, Director, Forest Trends’ Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative
November 3, 15:00 – 17:00 GMT
Nature Pavilion (Blue Zone)
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Local Communities: Securing Safeguards & Direct Climate Financing
Beto Borges, Director, Forest Trends’ Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative
November 7, 15:15 – 16:45 GMT
Global Landscapes Forum | Virtual (Details forthcoming)
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Leveraging Innovation for Voluntary Carbon Market Transparency
Stephen Donofrio, Director, Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace and Supply Change Initiatives
November 9
Turkey Pavilion | Additional details forthcoming
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Paris Agreement Article 6
Stephen Donofrio, Director, Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace and Supply Change Initiatives
November 10
Turkey Pavilion | Additional details forthcoming
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The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)
Stephen Donofrio, Director, Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace and Supply Change Initiatives
November 11
Turkey Pavilion | Additional details forthcoming
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