IUCN events at COP24

Global Mangrove Alliance event

11:30 – 12:45    WWF Pavilion
In light of the inclusive, participatory and transparent approach of the Talanoa Dialogue, the submission by the Global Mangrove Alliance reflects on the science and economics of natural climate solutions, with an emphasis on mangroves, to further emphasize the mitigation potential of nature in answering all the three questions of the Talanoa Dialogue: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?, with a focus on the third.

Organisers: IUCN | WWF | CI | TNC
IUCN representatives: Stewart Maginnis, Dorothée Herr

Nature-based solutions for land, soil and water management: a new paradigm for sustainable agricultural development

14:00 – 15:00    Pacific and Koronivia Pavilion
This side event will focus on policy frameworks and management to integrate profitable farming practice with the preservations and use of ecosystems functions that are related to soil, land and water and improved catchment management consistent with SDGs 2, 6 and 15.

Organisers: FAO | UN Water
IUCN representative: Stewart Maginnis

Indigenous Peoples Leadership and Natural Climate Solutions

15:30 – 18:30    Room 24 - Area E
Natural climate solutions are critical to achieving the Paris Agreement goals. Protecting, sustainably managing, and restoring forests and natural ecosystems are an indispensable part of the solution to climate change, providing at least 30 percent of the mitigation needed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

As stewards of many of crucial ecosystems, indigenous peoples and local communities are on the front lines of climate change and increasing evidence keeps demonstrating the importance of their contribution to climate action.

This event includes a panel with the members of an innovative model for climate finance in which Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities lead the design, implementation, and governance of efforts to enhance the role of communities in forest management and climate action at local, national, and global scales.

Organisers: Conservation International | IUCN
IUCN representative: Kristen Walker Painemilla

Climate-Smart conservation - providing adaptation solutions for nature and people in Africa

15:00 – 16:15    WWF Pavilion
Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change in the world. From the recent IPPC 1.5°C special, many part of Africa countries have already experienced higher temperature than average and are going to continue in the future. There are urgent needs to address climate risks and impacts and where nature based solutions give us hope for the future. The Africa Adaptation Initiative is in its 2nd Phase which aims to minimize the impacts of climate related risks and disasters on vulnerable communities and ecosystems in 12 African countries where these are supported by WWF and to enhance social and ecosystem climate resilience. A seven years climate change adaptation strategy is currently being developed to limit climate impacts in Africa through climatesmart conservation work.

Organisers:  WWF 
IUCN representatives: Ali Raza Rizvi

LCIP Platform: a force for transformative change in raising ambition from natural climate solutions

11:30 – 13:00    Side event Room 4    
Panellists will share views on the UNFCCC Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples (LCIP) Platform and approaches to promote inclusivity, transparency and integration of diverse Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities knowledge, practices and innovations into relevant UNFCCC processes, with a focus on increasing ambition from natural climate solutions.

Organisers: Conservation International
IUCN representative: Kristen Walker Painemilla

Communities of Ocean Action: Tracking progress toward SDG 14

12:00 – 13:00    UN DESA Pavilion    
Together with the Special Envoy for the Ocean, Ambassador Thomson, we are planning to hold an event addressing ocean/climate linkages and showcasing the work of COAs in the morning of 7 December at that pavilion. We hope it would provide a good opportunity to raise awareness of COAs among COP participants and highlight the importance of ocean action in the context of climate action.

Organisers: UN DESA | Ramsar | IUCN  | TNC | FAO
IUCN representatives: Ali Raza Rizvi, Katherine Blackwood 

Marrakech Partnership - Ocean & coastal zones Action Event

10:00 – 13:00     Lubelskie Climate Action Room 3
The Marrakech Partnership Oceans Action Event highlights the major developments in the Ocean and Coastal Zone Thematic Area in 2018, and provides a vision and directions for the next phase.

Organisers: Global Ocean Forum | IUCN | other partners
IUCN representative: Dorothée Herr

Nature-based solutions and multi-level governance for climate-neutral and resilient cities and regions

12:30 – 14:00     EU Pavilion, Room Brussels   

Nature-based solutions (NBS) can provide an integrated approach to climate change mitigation & adaptation, simultaneously providing a range of co-benefits. Yet currently NBS are not being implemented to their full potential.

How do EU, national and local policy and funding instruments affect NBS implementation? How can governance innovation promote integrated climate action planning in cities and regions? These questions will be discussed in the context of efforts undertaken by local and regional authorities to develop, finance and implement ambitious integrated 2050 climate action plan, and the need for effective multi-level governance approach.

The event will address these questions and spark further debate by bringing research, practice and policy experts together for a lively discussion, drawing on insights from research projects and experiences from European cities and regions.

Organisers: Ecologic Institute | ICLEI Europe | IUCN | other partners
IUCN representatives: Risa Smith, Sandeep Sengupta

Building on Synergies of the Rio Conventions to Implement Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change

14:00 – 15:45     Rio Conventions Pavilion   

At the Rio Conventions Pavilion at CBD COP14 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, participants at the “Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change” thematic day concluded that: “Without investing in biodiversity, climate goals cannot be achieved. We have to move from “building in nature” to “building with nature.”

This session further explores the theme of ecosystem-based adaptation with a focus on how synergies can be achieved for the climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development agendas by implementing ecosystem-based approaches.

Organisers: GEF | CBD | IUCN | Birdlife | WWF
IUCN representative: Ali Raza Rizvi

Marrakech Partnership - Forest & Land-Use Action Event: Building low-carbon and climate resilient landscapes

15:00 – 18:00    Lubelskie Climate Action Room 3    
Land use practices and loss of ecosystems are a major source of emissions, but also key to achieving the Paris Agreement. This event will showcase how conservation, restoration and improved land practices can build low-carbon and resilient landscapes, delivering 30% of the mitigation needed by 2030.

Organisers: Climate Advisers | Environmental Defence Fund | Meridian Institute | FAO | Norway | IUCN | UNDP | UNEP | WWF
IUCN representative: Maria Garcia Espinosa

Forest Landscape Restoration and Climate Change Ambition

All Day    Global Landscapes Forum  - Room TBD  
Restoration of forest landscapes and improved land stewardship are together being recognized as the most cost effective climate solution. Political ambition on forest landscape restoration, which includes restoration in peatlands, mangroves and agricultural lands, is reflected in a growing number of restoration pledges around the world towards the Bonn Challenge and New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) and supported by regional initiatives. Many countries have included restoration in their NDCs but surprisingly the level of commitment does not equal that of Bonn Challenge pledges. This discussion forum will explore practically how to close this gap to ramp up land-based climate ambition and action as countries enhance their NDCs through 2020.

Organisers: IUCN
IUCN representative: Maria Garcia Espinosa

Development & Climate Days - Linking science, practice and policy: How can we scale up ecosystem based approaches to development and climate change adaptation? 

11:30 - 13:00  Kirasjerow Room, Hotel Diament Arsenal Palace, Paderewskiego 35, 41-500 Chorzów, Poland  
The session aims to bring together policy makers, practitioners and researchers to (1) share scientific evidence and practical experiences on how ecosystem-based approaches contribute to better development and adaptation outcomes from the IIED-IUCN-UN Environment WCMC project ‘Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy’ and the assessment results of The New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF); and (2) discuss how to up-scale ecosystem-based approaches to development and adaptation. For example: How can we maximize the uptake of evidence from research into development and climate change policymaking and implementation? How can we leverage finance at scale to support ecosystem-based approaches to development and adaptation? What tools exist and what can existing evidence and experiences teach us about ways to integrate ecosystem-based approaches into complex social, cultural and political-economic systems?

Organisers: IIED | UNEP- WCMC | IUCN | NYDF Assessment Partners
IUCN representatives: Ali Raza Rizvi, Katherine Blackwood

Integrating Gender into NDCs and national climate actions in Africa

Morning    African Development Bank (AfDB) Pavilion
The event will explore entry points and best approaches of integrating gender equality into NDCs and other relevant national planning and budgeting processes in Africa; highlight how gender-responsive climate policy and action can enhance climate resilience and provide economic benefits to communities, especially women and girls; and identify partnership opportunities with other development partners to identify investment and technical assistance opportunities.

Organisers: African Development Bank
IUCN representative: Ana Rojas

Scaling up investments in climate resilience to meet the needs of vulnerable people: Resilience Roundtable of Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action

13:15 - 14:45    Climate Action Room 2
This diverse roundtable convenes individuals from Prime Ministers to grassroots organisers, from developed and developing countries. Through this dialogue, participants will share, listen, and learn about successful actions, across sectors and scales, on putting communities at the heart of actions and increasing investment into climate resilience to support the most vulnerable.

Organisers: The Climate Resilience Group ^(*)
IUCN representatives: Ali Raza Rizvi, Katherine Blackwood
^(*) Current members include: UN Climate Resilience Initiative (A2R), Global Resilience Partnership (GRP), Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Global Adaptation and Resilience Investment (GARI) Working Group, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), ICF, ICLEI – Local governments for sustainability, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Lightsmith Group, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII), NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, Red Cross Climate Centre, SwedBio at Stockholm Resilience Center, UN Environment, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Wetlands International, Willis Towers Watson, World Bank, World Economic Forum.

Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility - advancing financially viable coastal climate resilience projects

15:00    Luxembourg / NL / B / EIB Pavilion  
Coastal and marine ecosystems are crucial for the well-being of coastal communities and play a key role in mitigating and adapting to climate change.  IUCN, with the support of the Government of Luxembourg, initiated the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF). This side event will present the aims of the BNCFF, namely to close a gap in the market by transforming coastal nature-based projects for climate adaptation and mitigation into investor portfolios. The BNCFF assists project partners with funds and expertise in assessing, preparing and structuring opportunities into bankable investments that are characterized by an attractive risk/return profile.

Organisers: IUCN | Government of Luxembourg
IUCN representative: Dorothée Herr

Gender Day

All Day    Marketplace  
Organisers: UNFCCC Secretariat
IUCN representative: Ana Rojas

Inclusive Policies & Finance for Sustainable Energy Access

16:30 – 18:00    African Development Bank (AfDB) Pavilion    
During this session governments, entrepreneurs, multilateral organizations, civil society organizations (CSOs) and financial institutions will discuss how finance can be more inclusive in terms of reaching underserved areas and local (women) entrepreneurs. Panellists, discussants and the audience will discuss different approaches to channelling financing to where it is needed and in the form that is needed (e.g., financial instrument, terms of financing), as well as policy and institutional changes to scale-up finance and reach local (women) entrepreneurs.  

Organisers: Hivos | African Development Bank | World Bank | GWNET
IUCN representative: Ana Rojas

Urban-Rural Linkages to Advance Integrated Territorial Development: Guiding Principles and Framework for Action

10:00 – 13:00    PCCB Capacity-Building Hub / RYSY Meeting Room 24 - Area E 
Historically, cities and rural areas formed part of a single eco-system which meant that food produced in the nearby rural areas would be traded in the nearest town fostering economic, trading and social exchanges. In many countries, this relationship has lost its strength. The speed of increased urbanisation is impacting hinterlands and rural areas. Migration trends from rural to urban areas combined with globalisation and the adverse effects of climate change pose challenges to urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

Organisers: UN-HABITAT | Urban-Rural Linkages Team | 3 ideas
IUCN representative: Lorena Martínez Hernández

Raising the bar on nature-based solutions in NDCs

15:00 – 16:30    Side event room Bug, Area G 
A number of UNFCCC Parties have included a range of ecosystem-based mitigation and adaptation measures within their current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in support of the Paris Agreement. This event will take stock of these and present key recommendations to help strengthen the inclusion of nature-based solutions in the next round of NDCs. The panellists will also demonstrate the valuable contributions that healthy ecosystems such as forests, peatlands, and coastal wetlands make towards both carbon storage and sequestration, and in building the resilience of vulnerable communities around the world.

Organisers: IUCN | Rare | TNC | Wetlands International | WCS
IUCN representative: Sandeep Sengupta

The role of agriculture in the EU Long Term Strategy

18:30 – 20:00    EU pavilion, room Vienna 

This session is part of the high level event on the EU Long Term Strategy for 2050 and consists of a panel discussion moderated by the European Commission DG CLIMA.

This session focuses on agriculture, specifically reflecting on the role of agriculture and land use for decarbonisation providing various perspectives: mitigation in the land sector, role of land as carbon sink and negative emissions through Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). 

Organisers: European Union
IUCN representative: Luc Bas

High-Level Segment of the ‘4 per 1000 Initiative on Soils for Food Security and the Climate’

08:00 - 11:00 University of Silesia, Katowice    
The ‘4 per 1000’ initiative was launched by France at COP 21 in 2015 to demonstrate that agriculture, and in particular agricultural soils, can play a crucial role for addressing food security and climate change. The 2^nd « 4 per 1000 » Initiative Day, organised together with the University of Silesia, will bring together members and partners of the initiative to take stock and identify priorities for the future.

Organisers: 4 per 1000 initiative
IUCN representative: Sandeep Sengupta

Ten Years of Ecosystem-based Adaptation

17:45 - 19:00 Japan Pavilion    
2018 marks ten years since the term “Ecosystem-based Adaptation” was coined by IUCN, its Members and partners at UNFCCC COP14 in Poznan, Poland. On December 13, 2018 we convene Ministers, UN Ambassadors, and high-level representatives from the governments of Guatemala, the Seychelles, Viet Nam, Uganda, and Pakistan to reflect on the successes and setbacks in mainstreaming EbA into worldwide adaptation and development implementation.

Organisers: Friends of EbA | IUCN CEM | The Mountain Institute
IUCN representatives: Ali Raza Rizvi, Katherine Blackwood and Angela Andrade