UNDRR engagement at COP29
"Extreme temperatures, raging fires, droughts, and epic floods are not natural disasters. They are human disasters -- increasingly fueled by fossil fuels. No country is spared. But the poorest and most vulnerable are hardest hit”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres
The result of the slow pace of action is seen in the increasing impact of disasters: between 2015 and 2023, the average annual disaster-related mortality stood at 41,273 persons and more than 125 million people were affected each year. The disaster impact exceeded US$ 130 billion per year and around 95,000 critical infrastructure units and facilities, including schools and hospitals, were damaged or destroyed each year during this period.
The UN Secretary-General, in his Moment of Truth address, laments the slow progress in making the necessary emissions reduction to stabilize the planet and made a call for maximum ambition, acceleration and cooperation as elements of maximum action for course correction.
On the heels of the first Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement and the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework (MTR-SF), there is consensus that the world is off-track in protecting the most vulnerable. Responding to this challenge, therefore, demands a more comprehensive and integrated approach, and to do away with silos across all levels of society. This is a validated finding from these stocktaking activities, and one that will remain necessary to achieve success in climate action and disaster risk reduction.
We need a dual acceleration to course correct: stop the creation of new risks by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, accelerate action on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction to avert, minimize and address loss and damage.
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Our call to action
Aligned with the two-pillar vision for COP 29 – 1) Enhance Ambition, and 2) Enable Action, UNDRR calls to achieve #ZeroClimateDisasters through the following
1. Every fraction matters: Slash emissions before 2030 to slow down climate change
- We call on COP29 delegates to inject #ZeroClimateDisasters into an accelerated pace of radically reducing emissions and to approach their new and updated NDCs with the ambition required for a more liveable climate.
- We commit to support the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s call to action on extreme heat to care for the vulnerable and boost the resilience of our economies and societies.
Greenhouse gas emissions are leading to unmanageable disaster risk, and current mitigation trajectories are showing upwards trends. With every additional increment of global warming and changes in climate extremes the resulting impacts and risks become larger. A continued increase in greenhouse emissions will result in more irreversible changes including the breach of limits to adaptation and tipping points of planetary boundaries.
This requires urgent action to narrow the global emissions gap such that actual emissions are in keeping with what is required for a liveable planet. The phase-out of fossil fuels and the pursuit of more ambitious mitigation commitments are paramount. New and updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), to be submitted by every country by 2025, should reflect the emissions reduction targets that are necessary to, at a minimum, honour the commitments of the Paris Agreement to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era. Ensuring a safe climate is the greatest public good governments can deliver.
2. The resilience imperative: Scale-up the adaptation ambition to protect the most vulnerable
- We call on national and local governments to scale up the development and implementation of integrated plans for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation through a comprehensive risk management approach.
- We call for the accelerated rollout of universal early warning coverage to ensure everyone is protected by 2027 as a key means to preparing communities to act before disasters strike.
For the most vulnerable countries and communities, adaptation is often the only climate action that safeguards people from the climate change impacts. When planned and implemented right, and with risk-informed approaches, adaptation saves lives and livelihoods.
Current adaptation finance gaps are estimated at US$ 194-366 billion per year which needs to be urgently met. The new-generation NDCs should also detail adaptation priorities which build resilience, protect critical sectors and vulnerable communities, and support National Adaptation Planning.
The COP29 called on Parties to have in place their national adaptation plans, policies and planning processes by 2025 and to have progressed in implementing them by 2030, a key target of the global goal for adaptation (GGA). However, so far less than one-third of Parties have officially reported on their NAPs. Therein lies an opportunity for an integrated approach, considering that two-thirds of countries globally have disaster risk reduction strategies. Countries can consider co-creating these instruments where there are none or building upon existing policy frameworks where available.
Irrespective of their current development status, countries need systems for adaptation and disaster risk reduction to be effective in using that finance. The comprehensive risk management approach offers a practical means for policy coherence and synergy, and build a coherent policy basis for implementation.
If money were available tomorrow, we already have efforts in place that we know are effective, such as Early Warnings for All. While the initiative has gathered momentum and accelerated progress, only 55 percent of the countries globally have reported the existence of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS). This situation remains critical in the least developed countries. Even among the countries with MHEWS, there are gaps in coverage and comprehensiveness. Risk knowledge continues to lag behind, especially in Africa. UNDRR and WMO will launch the 4th Global Status Report on MHEWS at COP29.
3. Deliver on climate justice: Fully operationalize loss and damage mechanisms
- We urge Parties and stakeholders to enhance their support to the Santiago network for its technical assistance to be fully rolled out to vulnerable countries.
- We call on global decision-makers to deliver the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage on the ground with and for the communities whose access to the Fund is critical for global solidarity and climate justice.
The climate emergency manifests itself through dangerous and widespread losses and damages that will further increase with every increment of global warming. Years of advocacy and activism has underscored the instruments on loss and damage: the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, and the Santiago network for technical assistance to avert, minimize and address loss and damage.
Post-COP28 deliberations have seen a noticeable progress in the operationalization of these mechanisms. We must build on this momentum to secure further contributions from a variety of sources to ensure that adequate financial and technical assistance is provided to the most vulnerable nations and communities. The Fund should have fast-tracked access and simple procedures to ensure that financing reaches the most vulnerable.
As the co-host of the Santiago network secretariat, UNDRR remains committed to supporting its full operationalisation, including with provision of technical expertise and backstopping. The review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage (WIM) at the COP29 offers a key opportunity to revisit its long-term vision and devise ways to enhance and strengthen it.
4. Cross the finance barriers: Ensure predictable and sustainable financing
- The rate at which risk is increasing is much higher than the rate of financing for resilience. We call on the international community to adopt an ambitious new goal on finance and support developing countries in establishing national financing strategies for integrated adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
- We call on policymakers to adopt standards/taxonomies on adaptation and resilience finance, necessary for the emergence of dedicated financial instruments, such as resilience bonds.
- We call on the private sector to set up a global coalition of investors determined to pave the way for private investment in climate change adaptation.
A key focus of COP29 is on finance – a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on finance – that helps raise the climate finance ambition from the current billions to trillions. The world needs an outcome that builds trust and confidence, and generates momentum for reform of the international financial architecture.
The greater volume and flow of finance, while critical to enhance mitigation efforts, is also key to support developing countries on their adaptation and loss and damage efforts. Delivering on the commitment to at least double adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025 and ensuring that at least half of all climate finance goes to adaptation and resilience-building is critical. The flow of adaptation financing should be accelerated through both private lending and investment arrangements, and through public market capital raising, but this requires commitments from private actors and supportive regulatory frameworks. At the same time, governments need tailored financing strategies that support their National Adaptation Plans and mobilize the full spectrum of finance from public, private, and international sources.
Enabling climate action
All the efforts on climate action hinge upon the availability of and access to data. This includes a better understanding of observed losses and projected risks, while meeting knowledge gaps in slow-onset events and non-economic losses. The ongoing work on identifying indicators for the Global Goal for Adaptation, and data needs to inform adaptation and loss and damage actions and financing, are key opportunities to invest further on strengthening the data ecosystem for climate action.
COP29 comes on the heels of the conclusion of the first Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement and the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, both of which point to off-tracked pace of implementation on the one hand, and call for synergies in action on the other. To meaningfully race ahead of the climate emergency, these synergies are indispensable – ensuring pathways are identified and pursued both within and outside the Convention.
When advancing on climate action, inclusiveness is key - we should all ensure country-driven, gender-responsive, community-centric and human rights-based approaches. Intergenerational equity and social justice are equally important, as is taking into consideration vulnerable ecosystems, groups and communities, and including children, youth and persons with disabilities.
UNDRR at COP29
UNDRR's engagement in COP29 is dedicated to fostering accelerated action in reducing climate-related disaster risks and in so doing, promote climate justice for all. Priority areas include:
- Calling for stronger, more sustainable action and support to avert, minimize and address losses and damages driven by data.
- Advocating for more ambitious NDCs that are aligned with stronger mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage action and enable ambitious and sustainable financing.
- Promoting and advocating for comprehensive risk management at national and subnational/local levels, for integrated planning and implementation of disaster risk reduction and climate action.
- Accelerating the Early Warnings for All initiative (EW4All), especially in fragile and conflict affected contexts.
| Event | Day | Date | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
IFRC Event: Beat the heat: people, places and partnerships event | TUE | 12 NOV | 16:30 | ODI Pavilion |
| Side Event on Santiago network for Loss and Damage | TUE | 12 NOV | 17:45 - 19:00 | Resilience Hub |
State of Climate Services Report Launch | WED | 13 NOV | 09:00 - 10:30 | WMO-IPCC-MERI pavilion |
| Special event: Decoding climate discourse | WED | 13 NOV | 09:00 - 12:30 | GCF Pavilion |
| Special event: Enhancing resilience of infrastructure through strengthened governance in Bhutan, Chile, Madagascar and Tonga - Lessons learned | WED | 13 NOV | 9:30 - 19:00 | Radisson Hotel |
| Side event: Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism | WED | 13 NOV | 11:45-12:30 | Canada Pavillion |
| Side Event: Italy -Africa Cooperation for Disaster Resilience | WED | 13 NOV | 13:30 - 15:00 | Italian Pavilion |
| SG's High-Level Event on Delivering Early Warnings for All and Addressing Extreme Heat | WED | 13 NOV | 16:00 - 17:30 | TBC |
Side Event: Beyond Emergency Response: Long-Term Transformations for Extreme Heat Resilience | THU | 14 NOV | 09:00 - 10:00 | Resilience Hub |
| Side Event: Policy coherence and synergies in action in small island developing States | THU | 14 NOV | 11:15 - 12:15 | SDG Pavilion |
| Side Event: Local Action, Global Goals: UN support towards cities in the NDCs | THUR | 14 NOV | 11:30 - 13:00 | UN SIde Event |
| ExCom side event with COP 29 Presidency | THUR | 14 NOV | 13:15-14:45 | TBC (Blue zone) |
| Consultation session on budget tagging and tracking with parliamentarians | THUR | 14 NOV | 14:00 - 15:30 | Parliamentary Pavillon |
| Side Event: Unlocking Finance for AMHEWAS to reduce disaster losses and build resilience of African countries by 2030 | THUR | 14 NOV | 17:00 - 18:30 | Africa Pavilion |
| UN Side Event: Scaling-up climate finance for ambitious action on early warning systems for adaptation with a focus on the most vulnerable | THUR | 14 NOV | 18:30 - 20:00 | UN Side Event |
| Side Event: Freshwater and sanitation Indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation | FRI | 15 NOV | 10:30 - 12:00 | Water Pavilion |
| Side Event: Accelerating climate action and finance to frontline communities affected by fragility or conflict | FRI | 15 NOV | 15:00 - 16:30 | UN SIde Event |
| Action Lab: Turning the Water Global Adaptation Goal into Real-World Action | FRI | 15 NOV | 15:00 - 16:30 | Water Pavilion |
| EW4All Advisory Panel Meeting | FRI | 15 NOV | 18:30-20:00 | InterContinental Baku |
| Presidency Event: Strengthening Climate Information and Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems for Increased Resilience | SAT | 16 NOV | 13:00 - 14:30 | COP29 Presidency Pavilion |
| Presidency Event: Scaling up climate action on loss and damage: full operationalization of the Santiago Network | SAT | 16 NOV | 15:00 - 16:00 | COP29 Presidency Pavilion |
Side Event: Safeguarding Agrifood Systems: Coherent Approaches to Disaster and Climate Resilience | TUE | 19 NOV | 09:00 - 09:45 | World Bank Pavilion |
Side Meeting: Actively Guard against Climate Risks and Build Low-carbon and Resilient Cities | TUE | 19 NOV | 09:30 - 10:00 | China Corner |
| Side Event: Santiago network | TUE | 19 NOV | 13:45 - 15:15 | CDRI Pavilion |
| Side Event: Incentivizing Low Carbon Cities: Digital Tools for Sustainable Urban Development | WED | 20 NOV | 11:00 - 11:45 | WGEO Pavilion |
| Side Event: The paradigm of Venice: valuable lessons for sea level rise adaptation and disaster risk reduction | WED | 20 NOV | 15:30 - 17:00 | Italian Pavilion |