The international community is in the process of elevating global ambition to address climate change in line with the Paris Agreement. At COP25, we will further operationalize the guidelines for implementation of this ambitious agreement. I commend the work of the Global Center on Adaptation in contributing to furthering adaptation ambition, and I look forward to GCA China playing a key role in further galvanising support for adaptation. Building on China’s leading role in climate response, I am confident that its wealth of experience and insight in building resilience will provide a significant value addition to GCA China.

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC

Bangladesh is already dealing with the disastrous effects of climate change. Although progress has been made to protect our communities much more must be done. Global cooperation is critical to ensure we accelerate progress and action. We look forward to working closely with GCA China to accelerate our collective efforts to adapt, improve knowledge exchange, and to make our communities safer for the future.

Sheikh Hasina, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh

The private sector has a vital contribution to make for advancing climate adaptation. Businesses in China can provide the world with many positive examples of how to adapt to make the world more resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis, but they can also benefit from lessons learned elsewhere in the world. GCA China is a great example of the benefits of collaboration and exchange.

Feike Sijbesma, CEO, Royal DSM

We welcome the launch of GCA China and look forward to working closely together to scale up action and find new solutions to the climate crisis. We need a new way of thinking about adaptation that is bold, politically ambitious and taps into the ideas and resources from both the public and the private sector. We need to take a more proactive, systems-based approach to long term planning for how we manage natural environments, build cities and feed growing populations. The GCA can help achieve this.

Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility

This is an important development to accelerate adaptation worldwide, and to support China as a leader in this critical area. We need to act now, otherwise the costs will be astronomical. If we do, we can grasp an opportunity and make a positive difference. The collaboration represented by GCA China is a model for our collective future.

Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary UNFCCC

China has in recent years become the electric vehicle, renewable energy, and cycle-hire capital of the world – part of President Xi’s drive towards an “ecological civilisation”. Chinese cities are now rapidly embracing action to make their cites climate resilient. C40 is proud to work with the Global Center on Adaptation to support the uptake of climate adaptation in China and to share the best practices coming out of China with the rest of the world.

Kevin Austin, Deputy Executive Director, C40

GCA China represents an important step forward in helping develop green growth policy. By enhancing knowledge sharing on adaptation, GCA China can help create a better environment for learning. Providing the tools to give emerging economies better programmes and services to foster economic growth and build greater resilience.

Frank Rijsberman, Director General, Global Green Growth Institute

ADB welcomes the opening of the Beijing office of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), its first in Asia and the Pacific, and looks forward to collaborating with the GCA to make the region more resilient to the world’s climate crisis and to secure a prosperous future.

The Asian Development Bank

While different in size, Grenada and China both face massive risks as a result of our rapidly changing global climate. We share the challenge therefore of accelerating adaptation to ensure our communities have a safer and more prosperous future. We look forward to working closely GCA China to share learning and implement solutions to the climate crisis facing us all.

Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada

In Africa, rising temperature due to climate change often signals drought and other extreme weather events that put the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers at greater risk, increasing their vulnerability to famine and diseases. While the farmers are doing everything in their power to adapt to these unprecedented changes, they need support from all of us. The launch of GCA China is a welcome development that will facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration to help smallholder farmers across the world adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis.

Dr. Kalibata, President, AGRA

The Philippines looks forward to productive collaborations with GCA-China in finding urgent and effective solutions to this climate crisis. International cooperation on global adaptation action needs to be much more pronounced than it already is. The problems we encounter due to climate change go beyond country borders. So are the solutions to address them.

Loren Legarda, Chair, Senate Finance Committee, Philippines