Rivers and their floodplains have the potential to act as shock absorbers to climate change, and are powerful agents for keeping wildlife and communities healthy and resilient.
The most effective climate action plans will account for this and incorporate rivers into their plans for a climate-resilient future, argues Michele Thieme, a freshwater scientist at World Wildlife Fund.
OPINION: This past December marked the 5th anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement. Soon after, the Biden Administration rejoined the Paris Agreement as one of their first actions in office. And in January, the Climate Adaptation Summit once again convened global leaders and local stakeholders to accelerate adaptation action.
7 April 2021
Paul Steele is chief economist in IIED s Shaping Sustainable Markets group; Shamshad Akhtar is the former Pakistan finance minister
In 2020, communities in Western Uganda faced a double crisis of COVID-19 and flash floods that caused large-scale destruction (Photo: Climate Centre via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced at the recent Climate Adaptation Summit its intention to place climate change at the heart of its work – recognising the natural world and the economy are no longer at odds.
With the growing climate stress and depletion of ecosystems, it is imperative that the renewed efforts are launched to propel a green recovery from the pandemic, preserving nature for future generations and giving it much needed economic value.
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Global Calls for Massive Scale-Up of Climate Adaptation in Africa
UN Climate Change News, 7 April – Boosting efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change in Africa was the focus of a leaders’ Dialogue yesterday that addressed the effects of the dual crises of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, with calls for a massive scaling up of climate adaptation in the region.
Heads of States and Governments, international organizations, bilateral partners and development agencies participating in the event discussed a common roadmap on implementing a bold new adaptation initiative for Africa – the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP). The initiative aims to galvanize climate-resilient actions on the continent by advancing a three-pronged approach to address climate change, COVID-19, and the continent’s emerging economic challenges.
Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP NewsDefeat Poverty
World Bank Launches New Climate Change Action Plan to Boost Funds for Protecting the Planet
The organization wants to ensure half of all climate financing goes to adaptation.
Why Global Citizens Should Care
The global climate crisis is set to get much worse in the years ahead, impacting those living in poverty the most. The United Nations calls on countries and multilateral funds to invest in mitigation and adaptation efforts. You can join us in taking action on this issue here.
The World Bank has unveiled details of its new Climate Change Action Plan, which will increase financing for climate adaptation and mitigation around the world as part of its mission to reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity, according to an April 2 press release.
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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis adapted Shakespeare’s famous Hamlet quote in an appeal to people not to remain blind to the destruction of climate change and the mass migration it may cause, writing: “To see or not to see, that is the question.”
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis receives in audience members of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission in the Vatican March 26, 2021. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
Francis went on to urge people to work together to protect “creation, our common home” and not “hunker down” in individualism, in the preface of a document by the Vatican development office on the pastoral care of people displaced by climactic events.