With the financial backing of international partners such as Green Climate Fund, The GEF and Adaptation Fund, UNDP is working hand-in-hand with countries to adapt and build coastal resilience to climate change.
Thematic Area
Promoting integrated, ecosystem-based, climate-resilient management of the world’s rivers, lakes and oceans is an essential component of UNDP’s climate change adaptation service offer. The main areas of work include watershed management and catchment rehabilitation, sustainable land management, coastline protection, and promoting integrated water resource management systems. Coastal cities, small island developing states, coastal habitats, and marine environments are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of rising seas, coastal degradation, salination, and other climate impacts. To address these interlinked challenges, UNDP’s urban resilience and ecosystem-based adaptation programming is also preparing coastal communities and coastal habitats to become more resilient to climate shocks.
Human stories
The GEF-financed ‘Coastal Resilience Program’ is Timor-Leste's largest ever effort to conserve coastal ecosystems, with a view to protect people's livelihoods and forge more resilient communities in the face of climate change.
With support from the Green Climate Fund and UNDP, Egypt is protecting its people and its economy from the devastating impacts of sea-level rise.
Resources
Social and Environmental Screening Procedure | September 2021
The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project's Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP), based on UNDP template.
Global Fund for Coral Reefs Investment Window
Coral reefs are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems by climate change impacts, with overfishing, agricultural run-off, sewage discharge, and unsustainable tourism degrading the reefs, further decreasing their chance of survival. Studies have shown that local management of such threats can alleviate the impacts of climate change on the coral reefs. Thus, supporting and providing capital to businesses and companies for the sustainable use of ocean resources can considerably improve the resilience of reefs and the communities that depend on them.
Environmental and Social Management Plan | September 2022
This document describes the plan to manage the environmental and social impacts of the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project.
A Blueprint for Ocean and Coastal Sustainability
A Blueprint for Ocean and Coastal Sustainability, jointly prepared by UNDP’s Water and Ocean Governance Programme, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and International Maritime Organization (IMO), contextualizes and sets forth a series of ten tangible proposals to shift the oceans management paradigm towards sustainability, and is intended to inform and influence possible Rio+20 outcomes on oceans.