UNDRR engagement at COP27: Zero Climate Disasters by 2030

If we continue this trajectory, by 2030, the world will face some 560 disasters per year and an additional 100.7 million people could be pushed into poverty by the impacts of climate change and disasters.

The increasing severity and frequency of climate shocks and stresses, deepening vulnerability and inequality, are creating far more climate risk and losses than humanity can cope with.

Yet, disasters do not have to devastate.

Climate related hazards are rapidly growing, but we can and must reduce vulnerability and exposure so that hazards, such as floods or cyclones, do not turn into extreme events and disasters or lead to substantial losses and damages.

At COP27, UNDRR calls on Member States to support the aim of #ZeroClimateDisasters by 2030 through accelerating the following:

1Boost political commitment to mitigation and funding for adaptation

We call for COP27 delegates to inject #zeroclimatedisasters by 2030 into these deliberations, to guide the ambition and accelerate the pace of resilience building on the ground.

We call on G20 nations to align the ambition of climate plans with the reality we face. We must rein in unchecked greenhouse gas emissions to meet the 1.5-degree target as an urgent global priority and for stakeholders to commit to the “Race to Zero” campaign.

• We call on global decision-makers to uphold the commitment to double adaptation and DRR finance to vulnerable countries to reduce climate and disaster-related risks.

The Glasgow Climate Pact marked a new era in action on adaptation and loss and damage. A critical discussion at COP27 will be building a shared understanding for further international agreement to deliver funding on both adaptation to, and losses and damages from, climate change.

This means advocating for greater ambition to reduce emission levels, alongside efforts to limit vulnerability and exposure. Current mitigation trajectories are leading to unmanageable disaster risk. A continued increase in carbon emissions will result in irreversible changes including the breach of limits to adaptation and tipping points of planetary boundaries. Our success in reaching ‘Zero Climate Disasters by 2030’ is contingent on reducing carbon emissions and a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery as envisioned in the “Race to Zero” campaign. Ensuring a safe climate is the greatest public good governments can deliver.

2Double down on global efforts to reduce vulnerability, poverty, and inequality, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

• We call on Member States to prioritise their commitments to achieving the SDGs, especially reduction of poverty and inequality, while urgently addressing climate vulnerability with a focus on the most vulnerable countries and communities.

Climate disasters are caused not only by growing hazards such as floods, cyclones, and droughts but also by vulnerability and exposure. Today, 10 per cent of the world population live in extreme poverty, around 193 million people in 53 countries are experiencing acute food insecurity.

Risk associated with weather-related hazards is disproportionately concentrated in developing countries and, within all countries, in poorer sectors of the population. Inequality causes disadvantaged groups to suffer disproportionately from the adverse effects of climate change, resulting in greater inequality. The climate crisis is not “gender neutral.” Including people of all genders and ages and all communities, results in stronger climate action for all. Under the frameworks of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we have the tools, the targets, and the systems in place but we need far greater investment and commitment to reduce vulnerability, tackle inequality, and reach the Sustainable Development Goals.

3Scale up effective Comprehensive Risk Management

We call on national and local governments to integrate disaster and climate and related strategies, plans and financing, with clear goals to achieve #zeroclimatedisasters by 2030.

We call on global decision-makers to uphold the commitment to double adaptation and DRR finance and deliver on the ground with and for the communities who need it most..

We call for climate finance directed to fragile and highly vulnerable countries to mitigate climate and disaster related risks, and to reduce the compounding vulnerability emanating from the intersection of fragility and climate change.

We call for Member States to urgently implement the Santiago Network, as a key mechanism to catalyse technical assistance to avert, minimise and address climate-related losses and damages. UNDRR and the Centre of Excellence for Climate and Disaster Resilience stand ready to support this implementation through its normative tools, guidance, and technical assistance.

Member States are called upon to break down the silos that separate disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and related humanitarian and development action. Comprehensive disaster and climate risk management promotes integrated planning, implementation and financing that identifies actions to reduce climate-related disaster risks and reach the most vulnerable.

To implement Comprehensive Risk Management, many climate-vulnerable countries need urgent technical assistance, needed to build local capacities to better understand existing and emerging risks and integrate them into current plans. This includes integrated disaster risk reduction and adaptation plans and strategies, or, at the minimum, risk-informed adaptation plans and climate-informed disaster risk reduction plans. Moreover, synergies can be achieved through building a shared understanding of risk and applying disaster data for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, including through its Global Stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation.

4Prioritise inclusive local action and community engagement

We call on Member States to increase the volume of devolved and decentralized funding provided to local levels to implement local resilience solutions.

We call on climate finance providers to make flexible resourcing mechanisms available to non-governmental stakeholders to enable the full and meaningful participation in resilience building of all stakeholders, particularly those traditionally excluded from decision-making.

We reiterate the UN Secretary-General’s call for climate justice for all, directing resources to those highly vulnerable countries facing climate impacts that cannot be mitigated.

Scaled up adaptation and disaster risk reduction are most effective at the local level where the consequences of climate change are felt. Local and indigenous knowledge and experiences are critical to identify solutions that work best to avoid maladaptation, worsened inequalities, and unsustainable programming.

People are affected differently by disasters so we must empower and include local actors, especially community-based organizations, in the development and implementation of national and local strategies to effectively avert, minimize and address losses and damages.

5Early warning and action for all by 2027

We call for universal early warning coverage in the next five years, as a key means to preparing the communities to act before disasters strike.

We call for the universal availability of high-quality data to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems, particularly in LDCs, SIDS and African countries.

Early warning and action save lives, however, only half of the countries, and one-third of the world’s people – living mainly in the least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS), – are still not covered by early warning systems. The UN Secretary-General announced that the UN will spearhead action to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years.

Early warning systems should be end-to-end – invest in every stage of the early warning value chain, from risk assessments to technical infrastructure and community ‘last-mile’ outreach to ensure the timeliness of actions to reduce losses and damages. Early warning systems must be multi-hazard and inclusive of communities most at risk, with adequate institutional, financial, and human capacity to act on early warnings.

This campaign seeks to ramp up global efforts to tackle vulnerability and exposure to climate risks, with a focus on those countries and communities on the frontlines of the climate emergency.

We need a two-track approach to reach #ZeroClimateDisasters: slow down climate change by reducing emissions while at the same time accelerate action on climate change adaptation to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters. We require integrated policies, programming, and financing to transform our systems to be highly adaptive, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability. We have the tools at our disposal but need greater political will and funding to meet the scale of the emergency.

We know that when technical capacity and resources are put into reducing disaster and climate risk, it pays off. Guided by our collective targets under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, the world is managing to significantly reduce disaster mortality and other losses.

But climate change is outpacing our action - climate impacts are hitting earlier and harder than expected, resulting in the avoidable loss of lives and livelihoods, especially in those communities facing recurrent climate impacts. Progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is way off track, increasing our vulnerability to climate risk and dragging the most vulnerable into a spiral of disasters and greater setbacks.

We need to do more, differently, and together to end climate related disasters. We know what needs to be done to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the millions of people. Now is the time to do it.

UNDRR Engagement at COP27 Events

Monday, 7 November

  • High-Level Roundtables
    Time: 13:30 - 15:30 Location: TBC
  • DRR Thematic Event: Scaling up Comprehensive Risk Management to avert, minimize and address losses and damages
    Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Location: Resilience Hub Organizers: UNDRR, IFRC
  • High-Level launch of the Early Warning for All Executive Action Plan
    Time: 16:00 - 18:00 (TBC) Location: TBC Organizers: WMO
  • Launch of International Drought Resilience Alliance
    Time: 17:00 Location: MR25 Organizers: Spain, Senegal, UNCCD

Tuesday, 8 November

  • Climate Implementation Summit High-Level Roundtables: Water security (participation by Heads of UN orgs)
    Time: 12:00 - 14:00 Location: MR25
  • Catalysing investments for the operationalization of MHEWS and Early Action in Africa 
    Time: 14:30 - 15:30 Location: Africa Pavilion Organizers: Mozambique
  • DRR Thematic Event: Investing in resilience 
    Time: 15:30 - 16:30 Location: Resilience Hub
  • High-level reflection dinner on Climate and Security at COP27
    Time: 19:00 Location: TBC Organizers: Munich Security Conference
  • Technical Dialogue: Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement
    Time: 16:00 - 19:00 Location: TBC Organizers: UNFCCC

Wednesday, 9 November

  • UN4NAPs side event
    Time: 11:30 - 13:00 Location: TBC Organizers: UNFCCC
  • A Roadmap for Resilience: Financing Climate Action to Address Vulnerability, Food Security and Human Mobility 
    Time: 13:15 - 14:45 Location: Khufu Organizers: IOM, COE

Thursday, 10 November

  • Thematic Day: Disaster Risk Reduction
    Time: 09:00 - 18:00 Location: Water Pavilion Organizers: UNDRR & IWMI
  • Understanding Risk in a Changing Climate
    Time: 11:00 - 12:00 Location: EU Pavilion Organizers: UNDRR
  • Localised Solutions to Reduce Climate Induced Loss & Damage for the Most Vulnerable
    Time: 11:30 - 13:00 Location: Memphis Organizers: Nadam Foundation, UNDRR-SEM, Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future (SF)
  • Localised Financing for Climate Change Adaptation – Reducing Loss & Damage and Inequity Cycles 
    Time: 11:30 - 13:00 Location: TBC Organizers: Fundación Avina, UNDRR-SEM, FLACSO, GII 
  • Side Event: Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism
    Time: 13:15 - 14:45 Location: TBC Organizers: UNFCCC
  • COE Event: Moving back from the edge: Transformational interventions in highly vulnerable and fragile areas to address water stress
    Time: 17:00 - 18:00 Location: Water Pavilion Organizers: COE
  • Protecting education systems again the impact of climate change 
    Time: 17:00 - 18:00 Location: Green Zone: GADRRRES / UNESCO 

Friday, 11 November

  • From talk to action: scaling up innovative finance and solutions for accelerated adaptation in LDCs, SIDS and African Nations
    Time: 13:15 - 14:45 Location: Room 3 Hatshepsut Organizers: UNCDF, with UNITAR, UNHABITAT, UNDRR
  • Climate-resilient Food Systems and Peace: Exploring the Interconnections 
    Time: 15:00 -16:30 Location: Thutmose Room Organizers: CRFS Alliance
  • Scaling-up early warning and early action through comprehensive disaster and climate risk management
    Time: 15:00 -16:30 Location: Room 3 Hatshepsut Organizers: UNDRR, WMO, REAP Target 1 Concept note
  • Resilience & Digitalization Panel + Future of Resilience Reception
    Time: 19:00 - 22:30 Location: Movenpick Hotel Organizers: Resilient Cities Network 

Saturday, 12 November

  • From COP27 to the UN 2023 Water Conference: Accelerating action on water and adaptation 
    Time: 11:30 - 13:00 Location: Blue Zone, Room Khufu Organizers: Netherlands, Tajikistan, SIWI 
  • Making Cities Resilient 2030 Resilience Hubs: From Risk to Resilience – building a Local Climate of Success 
    Time: 11:00 - 12:00 Location: Blue Zone Organizers: Egypt Government  
  • Insurance Solutions for Supporting Recovery After Disasters and Climate Shocks 
    Time: 15:00 - 16:00 Location: World Bank Pavilion Organizers: IDF and the World Bank Group/MIGA
  • Urban Resilience and Climate Change Roadmap – Making Cities Resilient 2030 Programme 
    Time: 15:00 - 15:45 Location: UAE Pavilion Organizers: UNDRR, UNHABITAT, UAERC Office  
  • Reception
    Time: 18:00 - 19:30 Location: Tonino Lamborghini Hotel – Adjacent to Blue Zone Organizers: IDF and the World Bank Group/MIGA
  • Evening Reception: Early action for climate adaptation
    Time: Location: UK Pavilion Organizers: REAP
     

Monday, 14 November

  • Insuring for Resilience - Moving Beyond Traditional Risk Management and Response to Insure for Resilience
    Time: 11:30- 12:30 Location: Park Regency Hotel Organizers: World Climate Foundation
  • Launch of Global Shield Against Climate Risks 
    Time: 12:00- 13:00 Location: V20/CVF Pavilion Organizers: G7/V20 
  • The African Multilateral System for Crisis and Risk Management and Environmental Disaster Risk Reduction 
    Time: 12:00- 13:00 Location: Blue Zone  Organizers: Government of Egypt 
  • The Humanitarian-Development-Climate Nexus in the Sahel. Bottom-up and country-based approaches for long-term resilience
    Time: 13:15 - 15:00 Location: LLA Pavilion Organizers: UNCDF
  • Plenary Session - Climate Adaptation for extreme weather events and prolonged droughts 
    Time: 14:15 - 15:30 Location: TBC Organizers: Egypt Presidency 

Tuesday, 15 November

  • DRR Thematic Event: What does success look like for universal early warning coverage and effective AA for all? (World café format)
    Time: 17:00 - 18:00 Location: Resilience Hub Organizers: REAP, UNDRR
  • Rising up from Drought together: Towards global action for drought resilience 
    Time: 18:30 - 20:00 Location: Osiris Room Organizers:UNCCD with FAO, UNEP, UNDRR, GEF, OECD, ICRAF 

Wednesday, 16 November

  • No Solution for Me, Without Me: UN’s Efforts on Climate Justice through Local Action in Cities
    Time: 13:15 - 14:45 Location: Room 3 Hatshepsut Organizers: UNHABITAT, UNCDF, UNU-EHS, UNDRR, UNEP, UNDP

Thursday, 17 November

  • Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change [Launch of Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe)] 
    Time: TBC Location: TBC Organizers: Egypt, UNHABITAT 

Friday, 18 November

  • Resolution Day: Report back from thematic days 
    Time: TBC Location: Water Pavilion  Organizers: Egypt, SIWI 

 

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