Scaling up and strengthening inclusive adaptation and resilience around the world

Samson Faboye, Tim Bartmaan, and Zheng-Hong Kong

Artwork: Dr Cécile Girardin

There is a growing global adaptation deficit as global poverty and inequality increase, ecological degradation exacerbates, and climate change threatens lives and livelihoods in vulnerable regions. An unprecedented scale of adaptation and resilience — going beyond climate change, hand-in-hand with inclusive development processes to contribute to sustainable development goals — are urgently needed.

The Adaptation and Resilience day of Climate Exp0 will address the urgency and mechanisms of scaling up and strengthening inclusive adaptation and resilience around the world.

The day has a fully packed schedule with a rich array of activities, from panel discussions to presentations, workshops, and poster sessions. Topics such as the imminent COP26 Adaptation and Resilience theme priority; promotion of action-orientated adaptation research in the Global South; and key needs of climate teams within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to support the UK’s domestic adaptation objectives, will be covered through exploring the latest developments in science and policy.

Morning

The Adaptation and Resilience day will kick off with a panel discussion, seeking to identify “clear and near-term” scientific evidence for adaptation opportunities for COP26. The session will feature questions such as how COP26 can enhance the capacity for adaptation and how the Covid-19 pandemic can motivate us to rethink sustainable investment plans to alleviate poverty and improve crisis adaptation.

Following the panel session, there will be three parallel activities:

1. a workshop to review “early warning” and its connection with risk assessment and novel financial instruments;
2. a complementary poster session which will discuss “enablers and barriers in adaptation practices” experienced mainly in the UK and Europe;
3. and another poster session, which will look at new and emerging approaches to adaptation.

Afternoon

In the afternoon, poster sessions, workshops, and panel discussions will continue, staged side by side throughout the rest of the day.

The first stage of the afternoon will begin with a poster session, a workshop, and a panel discussion, dealing with the following topics respectively:

• Promotion of “action-orientated adaptation research” in the Global South;
• European experience of adaptation practice — from mainstreaming to transformation;
• and Opportunities and challenges for future research talents in the UK.

The second stage is composed of a student-led session that will expand discussions on adaptation and resilience through their research. The workshop will examine how to achieve “climate-resilient universities and resilient communities” with case studies. The other parallel session, which is composed of three panels — Conservation/biodiversity, Coastal Systems, and Urban Systems — will address the common issue: how to adapt to climate change robustly.

The third stage will present a panel discussion, sharing challenges and insights on how to promote action-orientated research in the Global South. At the same time, a poster session will illuminate the role of early warning in adapting to climate change, and a workshop is dedicated to exploring the chances of academic and policy professionals working together to support the “UK’s domestic adaptation objectives”, with studies from CAPE.

Closing session

The day will wrap up with a panel discussion session on “building international partnerships to support and achieve adaptation and resilience”. This session has a strong policy focus on climate emergency, agriculture’s role in the Adaptation Research Alliance and the transformations of agricultural systems innovation for people, nature and climate.

Online, free and open to all — see you at the Climate Exp0! Register today at https://www.climateexp0.org/

Climate Exp0 is the first virtual conference from the COP26 Universities Network and the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development (RUS), sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Cambridge University Press, the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI), and the 2021 UN Climate Change Summit (COP26).

Running from 17–21 May 2021, it takes place at a critical juncture in the COP26 pre-meetings and negotiations, and is part of the All4Climate Italy 2021 official pre-COP26 initiatives. Learn more and register your place via https://www.climateexp0.org.