GCA COP29 Leaders Event
Global Champions for Locally Led Adaptation
With the support of participating government Leaders, this COP29 GCA high-level event will showcase the potential offered by especially local, community and people- led climate adaptation in some of the world’s most climate threatened developing nations. With the heating of the planet set to close in on 1.5ºC of warming by the end of this decade, according to the latest IPCC findings, accelerating adaptation efforts in these regions is more and more important with communities across Africa, Asia, the Americas and small island developing states (SIDS) facing increasingly catastrophic impacts. This event will, therefore, also make the case for how much could be achieved with additional international support behind LLA efforts around the globe.
Event description
GCA FLAGSHIP COP29 EVENT
The Global Center on Adaptation hosts the Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which functions as a unique international platform to inform, connect and inspire local communities and practitioners around the world with the latest knowledge and solutions to continue to lead in adaptation on the frontlines of the global climate crisis.
As the international community gathers in Azerbaijan for COP29, connected to the work of this vital Hub, the GCA COP29 Leaders Event “Global Champions for LLA” is the Global Center’s flagship event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Baku. It will serve as a celebration of the possibilities of adaptation action led by, and for, communities most affected by the climate crisis. The event will also include the presentation of the 2024 Local Adaptation Champion Awards to four final laureates selected by a high-level jury from over 800 applications, showcasing outstanding examples of community action to adapt to climate shocks.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the Leaders’ event is to provide a focal platform at leadership level to bring to the attention of the international community at COP29 the vital importance of putting local communities and people at the center of the response to climate change and of efforts to accelerate adaptation at speed and at scale. This GCA event will also spotlight that for international adaptation finance to be effective, it must reach and empower local communities in climate threatened regions to take urgent adaptation action and measures, and it will highlight just how effective and innovative community-level action can be.
The event will serve to:
- Provide a leadership-level exchange on the critical priorities for scaling up locally led adaptation (LLA) on the frontlines of the climate crisis: finance, governance, technology, expertise and capacity building priorities, among others;
- Showcase some of the most innovative, leading examples of LLA from around the globe–across the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Americas; and;
- Present the 2024 Local Adaptation Champion (LAC) Awards to four final laureates.
With the support of participating government Leaders, this COP29 GCA high-level event will showcase the potential offered by especially local, community and people- led climate adaptation in some of the world’s most climate threatened developing nations. With the heating of the planet set to close in on 1.5ºC of warming by the end of this decade, according to the latest IPCC findings, accelerating adaptation efforts in these regions is more and more important with communities across Africa, Asia, the Americas and small island developing states (SIDS) facing increasingly catastrophic impacts. This event will, therefore, also make the case for how much could be achieved with additional international support behind LLA efforts around the globe.
Also serving as the 2024 LAC award categories, key focus areas of this COP29 event likewise include:
- Food security
- Local entrepreneurship
- Urban adaptation solutions
- Water security