The world is facing a climate emergency. The window of opportunity for decisive action to limit global warming, and to strengthen the adaptive capacity of people and communities to climate induced change and disasters is closing fast. The decade between 2020 and 2030 is the most important one for ambitious policy and action.
The Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction are important global frameworks guiding the actions of governments, the private sector, and civil society to address climate change.
National and regional level policies, commitments and accountability are needed to limit the effects of climate change and to provide support to those countries and communities most affected.
Despite the urgency, the political will of governments does not follow suit. Today more than ever we need to come together as civil society and faith-based communities to call for climate justice!
ACT Alliance is determined to achieve what is long overdue climate justice for all, especially for those communities who are affected the most by climate induced disasters.
LEARN MOREACT contributes to the full, inclusive and ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement and achievement of the sustainability principle underpinning the SDGs, while leveraging the experiences, programmes and evidence of the communities with which we work to influence transformational change for a just transition to more sustainable systems and structures.
Priorities
Climate change is leading to increasing numbers of extreme climate and weather-related events. These cause rising levels of climate risks, leading to loss and damage. Climate risks provoke havoc, lead to humanitarian catastrophes, and stand in the way of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is of great importance to prevent and minimize these risks as much as possible.
However, there remains a residual risk that cannot be avoided. This is where risk insurance and risk financing have an important role to play. Climate risk transfer, that is, risk insurance, and risk financing are tools to financially address residual loss and damage by providing financial compensation.
It is not enough to make climate risk insurance available. The extent to which insurance helps to close the gaps in the protection of vulnerable groups against climate risks depends on the way in which insurance is structured.
Recommendations
Higher capital costs caused by climate vulnerability, increasing stranded assets due to high climate risk exposure, and higher economic inequality among nations resulting from climate change are future risks and past and present experiences. Loss estimates of several hundred billion USD per year clearly underline the fact that climate-poor and vulnerable countries are facing a huge protection gap. This will grow further for reasons beyond their control as low-emitting countries.
If ignored by the international community, these countries will be financially over- burdened by tackling current and future climate-induced loss and damage. If the international community does not provide support, climate-vulnerable developing countries are very likely to face constantly increasing economic loss. This will make it almost impossible for them to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At worst, it could increase the risk of these nations ending up as failed states.
Recommendations
According to the Global Commission on Adaptation 2019 report ‘Adapt now’, by 2030 climate-related impacts will push more than 100 million people within developing countries below the poverty line. Without adaptation, agricultural growth will decrease by 30 percent. Those who lack water one month a year will reach 5 billion by 2050.
ACT Alliance members have ongoing community-based livelihood work with opportunities to mainstream low-carbon, resilient, sustainable livelihood approaches. The following points are suggestions for how the framework components can be mainstreamed in their current initiatives.
Recommendations
ACT Alliance wants to promote a development in line with the Paris Agreement – a low carbon and resilient development path, where nobody is left behind. Programmes and activities supported by ACT Alliance and its members should address both adaptation and mitigation.
ACT Alliance has initiated activities to promote mainstreaming of climate change in programmes, and to facilitate experience-sharing and best practices. Through these efforts we want to promote the development we are calling for through our advocacy work.
Communications Coordinator, Climate
Global
fiona.connelly@actalliance.org
Toronto, Canada
Climate Justice Manager
Global
julius.mbatia@actalliance.org
Nairobi, Kenya
Senior Programme Officer-Climate Justice
Global
Nairobi, Kenya