Reflections on Glasgow and COP26

Reflections on Glasgow and COP26

promoting development and trade. A further £65 million will support a ‘Just Rural Transition’ to help developing countries shift policies and practices to more sustainable agriculture and food production. • Commitments made by countries today will help to implement the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use which is now endorsed by 134 countries covering 91% of the world’s forests. The Declaration aims to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. Adaptation • Global leaders commit to a shift towards locally-led adaptation through over 70 endorsements to the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation and over $450m mobilized for initiatives and programs enhancing locally-led approaches • Race to Resilience campaign brings together initiatives that are strengthening the urban, coastal and rural resilience of 2 billion people worldwide. • Australia, New Zealand, Italy and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have committed to a balanced approach to climate finance and joined the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance. • $232 million has been committed to the Adaptation Fund, the highest single mobilization to the Fund and more than double the previous highest collective mobilization with a $20m contribution from the UK. Commitments came from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Germany, Norway, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the Quebec and Flanders governments. • The UK has announced £290 million in new funding for adaptation today, including £274 million for the Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) program. • 88 countries are now covered by Adaptation Communications or National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) to increase preparedness to climate risks, with 38 published in the last year. Finance Finance has been a key topic at COP26 as it is a key enabler for pledges to become actions. Many initiatives provide a boost to energy transition in itself but further new expertise and funding is expected to leverage more finance for low carbon, resilient development. $100 billion commitment for financing adaptation • Countries made new commitments to increase finance to support developing countries to deal with the impacts of climate change, including a commitment from Norway to triple its adaptation finance, commitments from Japan and Australia to double their adaptation finance, and commitments from Switzerland, the US and Canada for the Adaptation Fund. • This included the largest US adaptation finance commitment to date, to reduce climate impacts on those most vulnerable to climate change worldwide. While Canada committed to allocate 40% of its climate finance to adaptation. • New commitments for climate financing also came from the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Australia, Norway, Ireland and Luxembourg, that build on the plan set out ahead of COP26 to deliver the $100 billion per year to developing countries. • To combat the difficulties many countries face with the bureaucracy of securing climate investment, £100 million in new funding from the United Kingdom was announced to support the approach of the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance, co-chaired by the UK and Fiji.