GCA and Dubai Cares announce Partnership at the World Climate Action Summit
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ubai, United Arab Emirates, 2nd December 2023 – At the World Climate Action Summit alongside COP28, the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), Professor Patrick Verkooijen and the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares, Dr. Al Gurg, announced an institutional partnership to integrate climate adaptation into the education agenda. The announcement follows a visit by Dr. Al Gurg to the GCA Floating Office Rotterdam in June 2023.
Professor Verkooijen, speaking during the Youth & Education Presidency Session together with Dubai Cares CEO Dr. Al Gurg, the Green Climate Fund and UNICEF said:
“Young people have a critical role to play in transforming our societies to a climate-resilient and low carbon future. Effectively engaging them is critical because they will bear the brunt of adverse climate change impacts, though they have contributed so little to its causes. When young people are given the opportunity to understand climate adaptation, they get it. They grasp the cost of inaction; they see the positive payoffs from taking adaptation action and they engage. Through our partnership with Dubai Cares, we seek to include their voices into the discussion and educate them to lead on the solutions. We are pleased to work closely with Dubai Cares in this crucial mission, as both our organizations seek to actively contribute to the development of a more resilient global community.”
Dr. Al Gurg said: “Integrating climate adaptation into the education agenda is a key pathway to a sustainable future, as education is the foundation to nurture an empowered generation of children and youth who value, embrace and actively advocate for sustainability. Our partnership with the Global Center on Adaptation is a testament to our commitment to work hand in hand with global stakeholders that can accelerate progress towards our mission of positioning education transformation as a crucial solution for not only climate adaptation, but also climate action.”
The Youth and Education event at the WCAS brought together Heads of State, Heads of Delegation, non-state actors, youth and children, and educators from diverse backgrounds to establish mechanisms for upscaling the role and solidifying the vital voices of young people and educators in addressing the climate crisis. Youth and children shared their vision for climate policy and ambition for COP28 and beyond, including focusing on the Global Youth Statement. The event also spotlighted the need to fund climate education and build resilience in education systems and highlighted the importance of the education-climate nexus.
Notes to Editors
About the Global Center on Adaptation
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector. Founded in 2018, GCA operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Beijing, China.
About Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares is a civil society organization formally associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications. Dubai Cares is playing a key role in helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning by 2030, by supporting programs in early childhood development, access to quality primary and secondary education, technical and vocational education and training for youth as well as a particular focus on education in emergencies and protracted crises.
About RewirEd Summit 2023
RewirEd Summit is Dubai Cares’ flagship platform advocating for transformed education systems as the core enabler for a sustainable future for people and planet. Following a successful first edition held during Expo 2020 Dubai, the second edition of RewirEd Summit will take place at COP28 on the “Youth, Children, Education and Skills” Thematic Day on 8th of December, 2023, and focusing on placing education at the forefront of the climate agenda.
