Climate Impact Platform Webinar #2

The planet has already warmed by approximately 1.1°C due to human-induced climate change. Every region of the globe is affected, and millions of people today are facing the negative impacts of higher temperatures, less predictable rainfall, rising seas and fiercer storms. As a weather-dependent system, the agrifood sector – and the 3.83 billion people whose livelihoods it supports – is particularly vulnerable.

Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mitigation) is critical to limit temperature rise and secure a liveable future for us all. Action must also be taken to protect communities from the worsening impacts of climate change and build resilience (adaptation).

Yet, collective efforts to curb emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change are not currently enough to tackle the speed and scale of climate impacts — meaning that some losses and damages from climate change are inevitable. We are witnessing dangerous and widespread losses and damages today, and we anticipate that future loss and damages will rise with increased global warming.  

How we handle these losses and damages is a key climate justice concern.

Dr Animesh Kumar (Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) will present diverse perspectives on loss and damage and analyse the many approaches taken to avert, minimize and address them. He will offer insights from the disaster risk reduction field, and explore if similar structures can be used for financing loss and damage as for humanitarian action. Dr Kumar will identify the key challenges in closing the finance gap for addressing loss and damage and examine the emerging solutions.

Dr Teresa Anderson (Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International) offers an NGO perspective, based on the devastating realities that communities face due to climate-related loss and damage. She will unpick how we can approach tackling these issues, as well as what ActionAid and the NGO sector more broadly are hoping to get from the UNFCCC. 

Facilitator:

Dr Aditi Mukherji (Director of CGIAR’s Climate Impact Platform)

Panellists:

Dr Animesh Kumar (Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction)

Dr Teresa Anderson (Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International)