UNDRR at COP26
UNDRR at COP26
Climate change amplifies risk. We are seeing a significant increase in the intensity and frequency of weather-related disasters with far-reaching consequences, especially on the most vulnerable.
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 aims to substantially reduce risk, and the human and economic cost of disasters.
COVID-19 has shown us two things: what happens if we ignore risk and that, if we want, as a global community we can immediately address existential risk to the benefit of all.
Business as usual is not an option. The science is clear on both the issue and the solutions. Climate change is linked to unsustainable, greed-driven human activity.
Prevention and preparedness are critical. We need to significantly scale-up and finance our adaptation ambition. We need to reduce the risks we face today from climate variability and change, whilst also taking joint action to prevent the creation of new disaster risks.
Climate-related risks must be considered in all political, economic and development decision-making to avoid risk-blind planning. Climate vulnerable nations must be better equipped, prepared and more resilient today to address the climate-induced risks of tomorrow.
COP26 provides an unparalleled opportunity for Parties and non-Party stakeholders to chart a new course to manage, reduce and prevent climate-related disaster risks. UNDRR calls on/for:
- G20 nations to collectively increase ambition in addressing climate change and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels in line with IPCC findings. These should be reflected in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
- All donors and multilateral development banks to invest in, and comprehensively manage and reduce risk, and commit to the goal of allocating over half of their climate finance to adaptation. We need to increase financing for climate change adaptation from tens to hundreds of million dollars.
- Parties to significantly increase support for averting, minimizing, and addressing losses and damages through investment in comprehensive risk management approaches and enhance risk understanding through disaster loss databases and risk assessments.
- The acceleration of predictable, sustainable, and risk-informed investments and financing.
Breakthrough for risk and resilience at COP26 says UNDRR head
The COP 26 has established that the climate emergency is a reality and that if we don’t act urgently on it, climate and weather induced disasters will continue to rise and challenge the resilience of our systems.
DRR community at COP26
A selection of news and publications produced by the DRR community for COP26.
- A 50/50 share between adaptation and mitigation in the 100-billion USD climate finance is urgently required. This support to adaptation is especially needed in developing countries that are experiencing escalating disasters from extreme and slow onset events.
- All National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies should be based on robust data, multi-hazard and comprehensive risk assessments across scales, and should contribute to building long-term resilience and preventing maladaptation.
- Countries should put risk to human and ecological systems at the centre by considering the dynamic interaction between hazards, vulnerability, exposure and underlying risk drivers when assessing risks and identifying solutions. Comprehensive risk assessment is a foundation and an integral component of the risk management process and will help countries leapfrog towards SDGs and the goal of the Sendai Framework.
- Greater efforts are needed to translate the Global Goal on Adaptation into measurable outcomes. COP26 is an opportunity to fast-track the development of the appropriate methodologies and metrics to assess progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation.
- Scaling-up the application of nature-based solutions, achieving land degradation neutrality, restoring the oceans, halting biodiversity loss and prioritizing sustainable ecosystem management will be central to scaling up adaptation action.
- The Santiago Network mandate must be implemented, and sufficient financing ensured. Capacity-development activities anchored on human rights-based, gender-transformative approaches must be prioritized.
- The DRR community has extensive experience in addressing ex-ante risk and should be mobilised to prioritize the provision of technical assistance to LDCs and SIDS that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
- The full spectrum of risk should be addressed in the context of averting, minimising, and addressing losses and damages. These include risks from extreme and slow-onset events triggered by climate change, as well as other hazards, occurring due to compounded and cascading climatic events.
- Understanding the true extent of losses and damages is hampered by lack of data. Countries need support to quantify losses and damages for better assessment of risks and ensure risk pricing.
- Pledges for an equitable allocation of climate finance to support mitigation and adaptation actions must be honoured.
- All climate and development investment and financing should be predictable and risk-informed to better respond to longer term planning needs. Funding mechanisms should be flexible to allow risk prevention, and agile to facilitate ex-ante and anticipatory actions before risks turn into disasters.
- Importantly, the massive infrastructure investments required by population growth and urban expansion need to be informed by comprehensive risk assessments to avoid creating new risk or exacerbating existing risks.
- Public finance mechanisms should be reviewed to ensure enhanced investments in disaster and climate risk management across sectors, plans and budgets and in integrated national financing frameworks.
- Partnership with the private sector should be leveraged to co-develop innovative financial instruments, including to manage residual risk e.g., through bonds, insurance products and other contingent financing mechanisms.
Ensuring that the world is on a clear path to net zero emissions and resilient to extreme weather events is the greatest public good that governments can deliver. While time is ever more critical, there is still a window in which we can make the changes necessary to future-proof the existence of humanity on our planet. Sense of urgency and sense of agency need to be aligned to precipitate engaged action by all.
PRE-COP |
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From Risk to Resilience: Accelerating Adaptation Action at COP26 Ahead of COP26, UK, France and UNDRR convened this hybrid event to make a call to enhance the adaptation ambition, and make it risk-informed. *SRSG as a panellist. |
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COP26 WEEK #1 |
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Managing Climate Risks, Facing up to Losses and Damages The event aims to provide a call for action on the urgent need for state and non-state actors to reduce and manage the risks of losses and damages from climate change and to share approaches they are taking locally, nationally and internationally. *Video message from SRSG. |
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Enhancing Capacity of Landlocked Developing Countries to Address Climate Change and water-related challenges during COVID-19 era: Experiences and Solutions The session will discuss specific impacts of climate change on LLDCs and highlight approaches and emerging best practice solutions that can be shared. *SRSG as a panellist. |
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Building Resilience in a Riskier World: Actions towards a climate resilient future The event will highlight topics including risk modelling as a public good, addressing the risk financing needs of countries, and scaling up effective public-private partnerships. *SRSG as a panellist. |
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Delivering the promise of Paris, driving climate ambition at Glasgow The GLOBE Legislators Summit will convene cross-party legislators and stakeholders to share innovations and best practice, network and strategise on common agendas to advance climate action. *SRSG as a panellist. |
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Parliamentary Meeting on the Occasion of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) This event is an opportunity for parliamentarians to reflect on what has been achieved since the Paris Agreement and to set concrete plans to reach the Paris Agreement targets, at a time when the climate crisis is more critical than ever. *Video message from SRSG. |
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COP26 WEEK #2 |
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Scaling-up Comprehensive Risk Management for Climate and Disaster Resilience The session will explore means to operationalize comprehensive climate and disaster risk management through concrete examples. *Chief of Risk Knowledge Branch as moderator of the event. |
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Getting ahead of climatic disasters: Know, Predict, Warn, Act This event will present transformative solutions for addressing underlying risk drivers, early warning systems, and anticipatory action to save lives and assets and build resilience. *Opening remarks by SRSG. |
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Welcome to 2025; Where Early Action is the Default The event will introduce reach/scale that risk-informed early action partnerships can make when organizations work together, bringing the focus on current good practices from around the world. *SRSG as a panellist. |
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Scaling-up Comprehensive Risk Management for Climate and Disaster Resilience |
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Cities at the crossroads – The UN System helping cities to accelerate climate This One UN event showcases solutions for vertical integration of climate action with emphasis on national policy, local capacity, and finance. *Major of Greenville as a panellist. |
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Early Warnings for Small Island Developing States – Bridging the Capacity Gap by 2030 The event will provide an opportunity for SIDS representatives to present practical examples of effective early warning systems, with an emphasis on inclusiveness and people-centered approaches. *Closing remarks by SRSG. |
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How can better disaster risk finance, data, and innovation enable sustainable adaptation? This session will discuss disaster risk finance, data and innovation as foundations of sustainable adaptation. *ROECA as a panellist |
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Cities at the crossroads – The UN System helping cities to accelerate climate |
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Migration and Displacement in the Age of Climate Crisis: Policy and Operational Challenges and Strategies at the Global Level and in West Africa and the Sahel This high-level event is an interdisciplinary conversation between key partners working in West Africa and the Sahel on environmental migration and disaster-induced displacement. *SRSG as a panellist. |
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Averting planetary peril: convening scientists and policymakers to tackle systemic climate risks This event will explore examples of work to engage different types of stakeholders with evidence on climate change and will generate best practice examples and lessons learned. *Chief of Risk Knowledge Branch as a panellist |
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What scale-up? Disentangling the institutional enablers & barriers for early action This session aims to increase cross-sectoral awareness and understanding, disentangle the institutional barriers and enablers, and generate concrete recommendations for the scale up of early action. *Head of Bonn office as a panellist |
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Setting the scene: the current and future risk landscape for coastal communities of SIDS and LDCs The event will explore the opportunities that comprehensive risk management, specifically through nature-based solutions provide to both mitigate and adapt to climate, disaster and ocean risks. *Chief of Risk Knowledge Branch as a panellist |
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Averting planetary peril: convening scientists and policymakers to tackle systemic climate risks |
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Enhancing climate resilience for LDCs & SIDS through space data, finance mechanisms and partnerships The event will explore how science, innovative finance mechanisms, participatory planning solutions and global partnerships can support raised ambition for delivering NDC and NAP aligned climate adaptation that meets the needs of vulnerable communities in LDCs, SIDS and African nations. *MCR representative as a panellist. |
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Race to Resilience: Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Practices in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises This webinar will discuss opportunities to support increased DRR and resilience in SMEs, focusing on supporting policy frameworks that address specific needs of SMEs including from a regulatory, financial and fiscal perspective. *SRSG as the keynote speaker. |