About the summit
The online international Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021 on January 25th and 26th, hosted by the Netherlands, convened global leaders and local stakeholders. It saw the launch of a comprehensive Adaptation Action Agenda with clear commitments to deliver concrete new endeavors and partnerships to make our world more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Over the course of 24 hours a range of events streamed from time zones across the globe aimed to inspire change and support tangible solutions to the problems of a warming world, showing how we can achieve a climate-resilient future. This included 10 Anchoring Events, focused on the CAS 2021 Action Themes, that allowed stakeholders to share best practices and coordinate actions, combining the knowledge and needs of different regions.
See the full program.
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CGIAR @ CAS 2021
CGIAR launched its new 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy during the summit, with a formal announcement on the second day, during the Anchoring Event on Agriculture and Food Security hosted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution Africa and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
| Name: | Anchoring Event on Agriculture and Food Security |
| Date: | Tuesday, January 26 |
| Time: | 9:30–11:30 CET |
| Livestream: | CAS Channel 4 |
| CGIAR speakers: | Claudia Sadoff, CGIAR Executive Management Team Convenor and Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact |
| About: | In this event, several organizations and governments announced commitments and launch initiatives to enhance the resilient agriculture of over 300 million small-scale food producers in the face of mounting climate impacts. These included:
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You can watch the recording below:
CGIAR Centers, Research Programs and Platforms are leading and participating in a wide range of additional events, including other Anchoring Events, Side Events and Supporting Events. Details below:
| Name: | Youth for Climate Adaptation |
| Date: | Friday, January 22 |
| Time: | 14:00–14:45 CET |
| CGIAR speakers: | Bruce Campbell (CCAFS) |
| About: | Prior to the start of CAS 2021, the Dutch city of Groningen will host the Youth for Climate Adaptation Conference as part of Groningen Adaptation Week. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) will link youth from all around the world to inspire a new generation to take up and utilize cutting edge science to meet the challenges of climate change, agriculture, and food security. In the interactive workshop, we will debate how to collaborate and face up to huge challenges in food security and climate change globally, pinpointing actions for young people with youth movement leaders drawn from Latin America, Africa and Asia. |
| Details: | Click here for more information. |
| Name: | Two Degree Initiative for Food and Agriculture: Stakeholder Voices and Global R4D Topics |
| Date: | Monday, January 25 |
| Time: | 13:00 CET |
| CGIAR speakers: | Bruce Campbell (CCAFS), Ana María Loboguerrero Rodríguez (CCAFS), Inga Jacobs-Mata (IWMI) |
| About: | The Two Degree Initiative (2DI) is a coalition of hundreds of like-minded partner organizations from around the world with a single unifying vision — to transform the global food system for a climate-smart future. 2DI’s ambition is to reach 200 million farmers through ten participating Regional Challenges that include projects in low- and middle-income countries. In this event, the World Resources Institute (WRI) will present the preliminary findings of a forthcoming report summarizing key outcomes of the 2DI Listening Sessions. Together, CCAFS, WRI and all 2DI partners hope to chart a roadmap for future engagement opportunities, explore ways to raise awareness of the coalition’s objectives and encourage more partners to join the coalition. |
| Details and registration: | Click here for more information. Register through CAS 2021. Video available in the CAS Cinema for registered participants here. |
| Name: | Three Short Answers to Water’s Big Questions |
| Date: | Monday, January 25 |
| Time: | 13:00 CET |
| CGIAR speakers: | Mark Smith (IWMI) and Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu (IWMI) |
| About: | Climate adaptation challenges us to break down barriers between silos in our solutions and thinking. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the management of water, one of the most impacted areas of climate change. With agriculture the biggest user globally, it is important that we bring together solutions that tackle both water and food insecurity. In this video, we highlight how solutions can bring adaptation across multiple action tracks for water, food security and rural livelihoods, disaster risk management, and resilient cities. |
| Details and registration: | Register through CAS 2021. Video available in the CAS Cinema for registered participants here. |
| Name: | Water and Heritage for Climate Adaptation |
| Date: | Monday, January 25 |
| Time: | 13:00 CET |
| CGIAR speakers: | Barbara von Koppen (IWMI) |
| About: | Our complex relationship with water is embodied in tangible and intangible heritage, with material and spiritual dimensions. This relationship has been a source of inspiration and a wellspring for innovation and creativity, for both present and future challenges, including adaptation to climate change impacts. This event will present practical examples from around the world at very local levels, as well as initiatives of cooperation among national and international water institutions and cultural heritage organizations. |
| Details and registration: | Register through CAS 2021. |
| Name: | Transforming the Sahel’s Blue Lifelines for Peaceful and Resilient Communities |
| Date: | Monday, January 25 |
| Time: | 13:00 CET |
| CGIAR speakers: | Olefunke Cofie (IWMI) |
| About: | Wetlands play a crucial role as lifelines for communities in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, but are in rapid decline due to a combination of upstream water diversions and climate change. The Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel (BLISS) integrated solution package has the potential to restore wetlands in the Sahel and enhance community resilience and reduce conflict. It is a practical example of what can be done to achieve the Global Commission on Adaptation’s Water Action Track goal of ensuring the resilience of natural and managed freshwater systems and of the critical human systems dependent upon them. This side event will present inspiring cases, evidence from Mali and South-Sudan, and a high-level dialogue with key multilateral initiatives and donors on resourcing the revival of Sahelian wetlands to accelerate adaptation. |
| Details and registration: | Register through CAS 2021. |
| Name: | Anchoring Event on Accelerating African Adaptation: Unlocking Action |
| Date: | Monday, January 25 |
| Time: | 16:00–18:00 CET |
| Livestream: | CAS Channel 2 |
| CGIAR speakers: | Bruce Campbell (CCAFS) and Dawit Solomon (CCAFS) |
| About: | This anchoring event aims to raise ambition and unlock action for accelerated African adaptation. In the lead up to this event, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), together with Wageningen University & Research, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, held a series of virtual dialogues in January on how to make African food systems more resilient to climate change; the key findings of these dialogues will feed into this event. |
| Details and registration: | Register through CAS 2021. |
| Name: | Anchoring Event on Water |
| Date: | Monday, January 25 |
| Time: | 18:15–20:15 CET |
| Livestream: | CAS Channel 2 |
| CGIAR speakers: | Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu (IWMI) |
| About: | This Anchoring Event features an IWMI video on water-fish-rice systems, highlighting how solutions can bring climate adaptation across the action tracks for water, and food security and rural livelihoods. By using water efficiently in two linked food systems — rice and fish — in the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar, we can bring increases in agricultural production while limiting water overuse. |
| Details and registration: | Register through CAS 2021. |
Header image: Ethiopian farmers in Hosana use technology and sustainable land management practices to regenerate their lands and boost crop productivity. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE