Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda launched at COP27, seeks to mobilise $140-$300 billion to build resilience

SHARM EL-SHEIKH (EGYPT): Seeking to minimise devastating impacts of climate change on vulnerable people across the globe, the COP27 Presidency on Tuesday launched the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda outlining 30 outcomes to enhance resilience for 4 billion people living in the most climate vulnerable communities by 2030.
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.
These actions will be taken across five impact systems: food and agriculture; water and nature; coastal and oceans; human settlements, and infrastructure. The actions will include enabling solutions for planning and finance across these sectors.
The countries will jointly work on mobilising $140 billion to $300 billion across both public and private sources annually as part of the agenda. They will also spur 2,000 of the world's largest companies to integrate physical climate risk and develop actionable adaptation plans.
“The Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda is a critical step at COP27...We are determined to develop a governance arrangement that secures continuity in scope, priorities, and reporting, while increasing action on the ground that accelerates system interventions, and the adaptation and resilience outcome targets identified by the High-Level Champions,” said COP27 President and Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs, Sameh Shoukry.
The 30 adaptation outcomes under the agenda include 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 of farmers.
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 is also one of the key outcomes of this agenda.
Spread over India and Bangladesh, the Sundarban region, home to 7.2 million of the world’s most vulnerable people and the single largest mangrove forest in the world, will be benefited from the adaptation efforts.
“India is committed to conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems; and has strong commitments towards conservation and management of mangroves,” said India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav while speaking at the launch of the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) on the sidelines of COP27.
He said, “We see the tremendous potential mangroves have for mitigation of growing GHG concentration in the atmosphere. Studies have shown that mangrove forests can absorb four to five times more carbon emissions than landed tropical forests.”
Other key outcomes of the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda
*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.
*Protecting 3 billion people by installing smart and early warning systems
*Expanding access to clean cooking for 2.4 billion people through at least $10 billion/year in innovative finance.
*10,000 cities and 100 regional governments have evidence-based, actionable adaptation plans.