Innovative solutions and finance that promote community resilience

Innovation is crucial in tailoring adaptation strategies to specific local needs and is essential for effective resilience building. To discuss Innovative Solutions for Community Resilience: A Partnership between “Doers” and “Funders,” COP 28 will receive nonprofits/entrepreneurs, donors, and impact-oriented investors/ philanthropies in the Climate Action Stage, Innovation Zone next 4 December, including four grantees from the UNDP-Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) and the Her Royal Highness (HRH) Princess Lamia bint Majid Al Saud. 

The Climate Action Stage is an immersive theater at the heart of the Innovation Zone, exploring how to move from promises to progress and deliver a net zero, nature-positive, equitable future. UNDP hosts this session under the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace (AIM) strategic platform, which promotes scaled-up adaptation at the local level and was launched by UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner in January 2021.  

UNDP-AFCIA is a 16 million USD programme that counts with financial contributions from the Adaptation Fund and the European Union. It is designed to accelerate innovative technologies, practices, and business models for local adaptation by tapping into the incredible potential of NGOs, civil society, women, and young innovators. 

Four UNDP-AFCIA local partners (Dipayan Dey, Chair of the South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE); Sylvia Maeght, Project Development Manager, Association la Voûte Nubienne (AVN), West Africa, André Luiz Rodrigues Gonçalves, Director of Centro Ecológico, and Vincent Mariadho, National Coordinator of Prolinnova Kenya) will showcase in this session, their scalable innovative solutions in India, West Africa, Brazil and Kenya respectively.  Srilata Kammila, Head of Climate Change Adaptation at UNDP, will open the session by highlighting the 22 new climate action grants issued in 2023 by the UNDP-AFCIA program (approximately 2.5 million USD).  

In this conversation, that will count with the participation of Her Royal Highness (HRH) Princess Lamia bint Majid Al Saud, a Saudi royal and philanthropist who is Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, the panelists  will share their perspectives about sustainable finance for climate innovation programmes, how the promotion of sustainable business models and value chains contribute to building resilience locally, and discuss the common principles that should guide a meaningful collaboration between donors, impact investors, nonprofits and entrepreneurs on the ground.

The session will also count with high level representatives from the European Union  (Jose Carlos EDO MONFORT, Head of sector for Climate Change, DG INTPA), Leapfrog Investments (Nakul Zaveri, Partner and Co-Head of Climate Investment Strategy), EIT’s Climate KIC (Andy Kerr, Chief Strategy Officer) and the Adaptation Fund Board Secretariat (Saliha Dobardzic, Senior Climate Change Specialist).   

The aim of this session is to analyze various approaches to ensure climate finances effectively reach the deserving local champions to fight against the effects of climate change, which are often experienced most acutely at the local level.  

 UN climate conferences are government-level, large-scale annual gatherings focused on climate action. They are also called COPs – Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which entered into force on 21 March 1994 to prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system. Today, ratified by 198 countries, it has near-universal membership. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, is an extension of that convention.  

Over 60,000 people are expected to attend COP28 from 30 November to 12 December, including delegates from member states of the UNFCCC, industry leaders, youth activists, representatives of indigenous communities, journalists, and other stakeholders. 

Session: Innovative Solutions for Community Resilience:  A Partnership between “Doers” and “Funders”

When: 4 December 2023, 10:30-11:15 

Where: Climate Action Stage, Innovation Zone - Madinat Jumeirah Conference Centre, Dubai

*Registration in person: https://www.cop-28.org/registration/innovation-zone-eb?discount=IZPartner-Guest

*Registration online: https://www.cop-28.org/climate-action-innovation-zone-live

*Learn more about the session and the programme here: https://www.cop-28.org/whats-on/climate-action-stage