Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda outlines 30 adaptation outcomes

08 / 11 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

The 27^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) Presidency launched the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda in partnership with the High-Level Champions.

The Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda outlines 30 Adaptation Outcomes to enhance resilience for 4 billion people living in the most climate vulnerable communities by 2030.

Each outcome presents global solutions that can be adopted at a local level to respond to local climate contexts, needs and risks and deliver the systems transformation required to protect vulnerable communities to the rising climate hazards, such as extreme heat, drought, flooding, or extreme weather.

It comes as research warns that nearly half the world’s population will be at severe risk of climate change impacts by 2030, even in a 1.5-degree world according to analysis published by IPCC AR6 WG II Report.

Collectively, these outcomes represent the first comprehensive global plan to rally both State and non-State actors behind a shared set of adaptation actions that are required by the end of this decade across five impact systems: food and agriculture, water and nature, coastal and oceans, human settlements, and infrastructure, and including enabling solutions for planning and finance.

The 30 Adaptation Outcomes include urgent global 2030 targets related to transitioning to climate resilient, sustainable agriculture that can increase yields by 17% and reduce farm level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 21%, without expanding agricultural frontiers, and while improving livelihoods including of smallholder farmers.

The adaptation outcomes also include protecting and restoring an estimated 400 million hectares in critical areas (land and freshwater ecosystems) supporting indigenous and local communities with use of nature-based solutions to improve water security and livelihoods and to transform 2 billion hectares of land into sustainable management.

They also include protecting 3 billion people by installing smart and early warning systems and investing $ 4 billion to secure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves through collective action to halt loss, restore, double protection and ensure sustainable finance for all existing mangroves.

The outcomes also include expanding access to clean cooking for 2.4 billion people through at least $ 10 billion/year in innovative finance.

Moreover, the outcomes aim also to mobilize $ 140 to $ 300 billion needed across both public and private sources for adaptation and resilience and spur 2,000 of the world’s largest companies to integrate physical climate risk and develop actionable adaptation plans.

In a sign of recognition of this major milestone for the global adaptation process, the Adaptation Agenda is being driven by the COP27 Presidency, the High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership, with the support of UNFCCC and underpinned by the 2,000+ organizations spanning 131 countries in the Race to Resilience campaign.

At the launch, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry, High-Level Champions Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin and Nigel Topping, called on all State and non-State actors to get behind this critical Agenda.

COP27 President and Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry “It is our aspiration that the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda represents a significant contribution to enhancing global action on adaptation and resilience as an utmost priority. The COP 27 Presidency is keen to develop an arrangement to secure continuity in scope, priorities and reporting.

It will lead the work building on the adaptation focused initiatives launched by COP27 Presidency at COP27 that shall accelerate action across system interventions, the adaptation and resilience outcome targets identified by the High-Level Champions.

The Marrakech Partnership, the High-Level Champions and a number of specialized UN agencies will work together- as partners- to accelerate an agenda of global adaptation action through following up on the implementation of Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda.

The COP 27 Presidency will receive – before COP 28 – from the High-Level Champions, the Marrakech Partnership and a number of specialized UN agencies a report on the progress achieved in implementing the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda.

“Overall progress on implementation will be reported back to COP 28.”

Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change: “The Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda firmly puts key human needs at its core, along with concrete, specific action on the ground to build resilience to climate change. As the growing number of climate emergencies throughout the world clearly shows, focusing on adaptation is a crucial, pressing necessity. The Adaptation Agenda outlines multiple actions and combines the commitments of governments and non-Party stakeholders into a joint vision and a joint plan. We need all stakeholders on board to deal with current and future impacts of climate change, and this is a prime example of how that can happen.”

Dr.Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27, said “The Outcomes were identified jointly with a broad range of active stakeholders, reflecting existing and new global targets based on science along with local knowledge and initiatives. The Outcome targets will continue to be refined and expanded by the High-Level Champions with inputs from State and non-State actors to support their operationalization. At the core of the Outcomes is the recognition that adaptation is often locally-driven and globally relevant, while simultaneously needing to address equity, diversity and justice. This agenda will accelerate the Race to Resilience’s global goal of making 4 billion vulnerable people more resilient by 2030.Of particular importance is the role of key enablers like finance and planning to accelerate adaptation in the near-term. $140 to $300 billion needs to be mobilized across both public and private sources annually with a minimum target of 50% for adaptation, as called by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Of particular concern and focus is Africa, where the private finance share in the total financing of climate adaptation efforts is not more than 3% ($11.4 billion). Seven times that amount will be needed annually until 2030.”

The Agenda emphasizes the urgency for counting with evidence-based, actionable adaptation plans for all actors, making climate risks visible and accessible, and to deploy the locally-led adaptation principles.