On September 10th, 2018, Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) announced the inauguration of the Ban Ki-moon Centre’s Co-chair Ban Ki-moon as Chair of the Global Commission on Adaptation, which will take place in The Hague, the Netherlands on October 16th, 2018. Three global leaders, Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will head the commission which will be co-hosted by the GCA and World Resources Institute.
The GCA will gather experts and professionals from various different sectors to discuss solutions to the climate pressures increasing casualties and economic loss around the world, Ban said. “This Global Commission will play a vital role in elevating the political importance of adaptation, and also in making the case that greater resilience is achievable – and that is in all our interests.”
The commission planned to deliver a flagship report at a UN climate summit this month to make the climate change adaptation receive international and political attention it deserves. The commission addresses the need of more necessary funding for the climate adaptation that could help the world keep the pace with reaching global solutions for climate change. In a 2017 report, the Climate Policy Initiative said emissions-reduction activities accounted for an average of 93 percent of climate finance from 2015-2016. Looking only at public sources of funding, adaptation received just 16 percent.
The GCA brings together governments, the private sector, civil society, intergovernmental bodies, and relevant institutions that can address the obstacles slowing down adaptation action. The challenges the center stipulates are:
- Scaling up ecosystem-based adaptation
- Integrating climate adaptation into financial decision-making
- Measuring effective adaptation
- Creating climate resilient cities
- Leveraging deltas to address climate change
CEO Patrick Verkooijen of the GCA said his organization would promote “much bolder, bigger approaches.” He emphasized on the importance of sharing expertise and knowledge in the field and having it implemented in correct methods that can be used in every place throughout the world. He mentioned that new technologies and funding options were also needed to meet challenges at the local level.
“That will happen when there is a push to put adaptation on the global agenda equal to other critical issues,” said Verkooijen.
The Global Commission on Adaptation, thus, should be able to include the perspectives of marginalized people living in vulnerable regions affected by natural disaster and to address their issues, including but not limited to lack of fund and expertise to the international community. The commission will roughly consist of 20 commissioners, including some world leaders, and 10 convening countries, which will be unveiled on October 16th, 2018.
Source: https://gca.org/home