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Wetlands International at COP27

Wetlands International at COP27

The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, beginning November 5th November – 18th November 2022 to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

More than ever, we are seeing the effects of climate change. As we head towards COP 27 against a backdrop of devastating heatwaves, wildfires, and droughts worldwide, now is the time to act.

The impacts of climate change and the stress on freshwater resources are to a large part due to the loss and degradation of wetlands. In turn, the changing As highlighted in the “Planetary Boundary for green water” (2022) paper we have exceeded the planetary boundary for freshwater and so we are effectively drying out the earth.

But water – and wetlands – are not just victims of the climate and nature crises, they are central to solving them.

What is COP27?

Every year, Parties to the UNFCCC meet to assess progress on the different streams of the Convention, enhance action, and agree on different rules, guidelines, implementation, among others. When the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 at COP21, every country agreed to work together to limit global warming to well below 2°C degrees and aim for 1.5°C degrees above pre-industrial levels, and agreed to a low carbon future (net-zero by 2050).

Countries committed to bring forward national plans setting out how much they would reduce their GHGs emissions, and enhance adaptation, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). They agreed that every five years they would come back with an updated plan that would reflect their highest possible ambitions. Unfortunately, countries’ NDCs are currently not ambitious enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The decade out to 2030 will be crucial as the window of opportunity is closing – and countries must be much more ambitious and rigid with their climate plans to turn things around.

Our sessions

Upscaling Community Resilience through Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction

Date: Saturday, 12th November
Time: 09.30 – 10.30 AM (GMT + 2) // 08.30 – 09.30 AM CEST
Details: This event will present some replicable, successful models from Africa and Asia of the EU- funded project ‘UpscalingCommunity Resilience through Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (2019-2022)’. The event aims to inspire the audience to replicate the models and interventions in other countries and settings to advance climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as development, disaster and biodiversity agendas.
Organisers: Wetlands International
Partners: Partners for Resilience (Netherlands Red Cross, Care Netherlands, Cordaid, Red Cross Climate Centre) & United Nations Environment Program
Speakers include: Malikah Amril, Field Project Coordinator EcoDRR, UNEP, Vincent van Haaren, Eco-DRR program manager, The Netherlands Red Cross, Sirak Temesgen, Integrated Risk Management Delegate, Netherlands Red Cross, Dhruv Verma, Senior Technical Officer, Wetlands International South Asia, Eko Priyanto Wetlands restoration, Wetlands International Indonesia, Jochen Luther, Scientific Officer, World Meteorological Organization, David Omega, CARE
Location: EU Pavilion
Event Link: https://app.swapcard.com/event/eu-side-events-cop27/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMTA1NTc3OQ==
Contact : Jeroen Jurrien – [email protected]

Peatlands’ role in climate change, and business’ role in protecting it

Date: Saturday, 12th November
Time: 1.30 – 2.30 PM (GMT + 2) // 12.30 – 01.30 PM CEST
Details: The event aims at shedding light on why peatland is key to achieving the mitigation and adaptation goals of the Paris Agreement, why peatland is material to business resilience and mitigation goals, and what action businesses can take to restore peatlands.
Organisers: Climate Catalysts
Speakers include: Julie Mulonga, Director, of Eastern Africa at Wetlands International
Location: We Mean Business Coalition Pavilion
Event Link: https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/cop27/

The power of water: reaching climate security through water by cross-sectoral, inclusive and ambitious action

Date: Monday, 14th November
Time: 10.00 AM – 12.00 PM (GMT + 2) // 09.00 – 11.00 AM CEST
Details: The event will showcase recent signals of change in water for climate from around the globe with a particular focus on the global south. By demonstrating tangible solutions through Nature-based solutions for water-resilient agriculture and urban city resilience the event seeks to inspire more ambitious water action.
Organisers: SIWI, WRI, IWMI, and High-Level Climate Champions
Speakers include: Julie Mulonga, Director, Eastern Africa at Wetlands International
Location: Action Room (Ibis)

Catalysing action on protecting our game-changing ecosystem: peatlands

Date: Monday, 14th November
Time: 01.00 – 02:30 PM (GMT + 2) // 11.00 AM – 01:30 PM CEST
Details: An estimated 10% of the planet’s freshwater is stored in peatlands, making the health of peatlands crucial for water security. The session will bring together businesses, investors, and policymakers with a desire to learn more about peatlands, and aims at demonstrating and elevating the role that key enablers can all play in unlocking action at scale to protect peatlands and boost our societies’ resilience to the worst impacts of climate change.
Organisers: Climate Champions Team, Climate Catalyst, the Global Peatland Initiative and other partners
Speakers include: Jane Madgwick, CEO, Wetlands International
Location: Lotus Action Room, Blue Zone

Official Side event ‘Enhancing climate action through peatlands’

Date: Monday, 14th November
Time: 04.45 – 06.15 PM (GMT + 2) // 03.45 – 05.15 PM CEST
Details: The session aims at demonstrating how countries have integrated, enhanced, or are implementing peatland-related climate commitments, in particular those contained in NDCs, sharing multi-stakeholder and innovative collaborative management approaches and inspiring countries to consider or further enhance climate action in peatland landscapes.
Organisers: Wetlands International, Global Environmental Centre, UN Environment Programme – Global Peatland Initiative, FAO, RAMSAR, GMC
Speakers include: Sri Parwati Murwani Budisusanti, Indonesia, Milagros Sandoval, Director General for Climate Change and Desertification – Peru, Shaq Koyok, Indigenous Peoples’ representative, Malaysia, Hanna Kekkonen, Natural Resources Institute, LUKE, Finland, Jane Madgwick, Wetlands International, Faizal Parish, Global Environmental Centre, Tiina Vähänen, Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Location: Room 1: Akhenaten, Blue Zone
Event Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJiQPdtLAPw

Recommendations for Delivering the European Green Deal through holistic landscape restoration: inspirational, social, natural, and financial returns

Date: Tuesday, 15th November
Time: 10.00 – 11.00 AM (GMT + 2) // 09.00 – 10.00 AM CEST
Details: This interactive roundtable will convene EU actors to exchange policy recommendations to effectively deliver on the ambitions of the European Green Deal. Putting forward holistic landscape restoration as a solution to equip the EU to meet its 2050 climate-neutrality goals, based on the 4 Returns Framework.
Organisers: Wetlands International, Commonland, Landscape Finance Lab
Type of event: In-person (invite only)
Speakers include: Paul Chatterton, Founder, Landscape Finance Lab, Victoria Gutierrez, Head of Global Policy, Commonland, Michal Nekvasil, Climate Change Adaptation Expert, DG CLIMA, European Commission, Jesus-Maria Alquezar Sabadie, Socio-economic Analyst, DG Environment, European Commission, Chris Baker, Programme Head – Water Resources, Wetlands International
Location: Boardroom, Nature Zone Pavilion
Event Link: https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/cop27/

Ecosystem Restoration for Climate Resilience

Date: Tuesday, 15th November
Time: 03.30 – 4.30 PM (GMT + 2) // 02.30 – 03.30 PM CEST
Details: This session will focus on freshwater ecosystem restoration at the landscape level as a nature-based solution to climate change. It will provide examples of restoration at scale as well as discuss geographical, policy, and investment priorities to enable the restoration of freshwater ecosystems.
Organisers: Wetlands International, UAC, FAO, French Water Partnership, Ministry of Agriculture, GIZ, WWF, TNC, IUCN
Speakers include: Chris Baker, Head of Programme and Strategy Wetlands and Water Resources, Wetlands International
Location: Water pavilion

Inviting everyone to the table: How a diversity of nature-inspired food solutions and stakeholders can enable a global recovery for biodiversity

Date: Wednesday, 16th November
Time: 01.15 – 02.00 PM (GMT + 2) // 12.15 – 01.00 PM CEST
Details: It is impossible to protect and restore lands and waters—and the biodiversity they support—without rethinking the way we grow and produce food. But while agriculture today is the biggest driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss, it’s also our biggest opportunity. The event will shed light on how agriculture can be regenerative. The event will also invite discussions on how agriculture can help rebuild precious soil, soak up carbon, restore watersheds, revitalize rural communities, and infuse much-needed crop diversity and resilience into our global food system.
Organisers: Good Food Institute and Food Systems Pavilion partners
Speakers include: Jane Madgwick, CEO, Wetlands International, Bruce Friedrich, Founder & President, The Good Food Institute, Nura Aman, Programme Manager, Ethiopia Country Office, Farm Africa, Arjun Hausner, Impact Strategy Manager, Impossible Foods, Rupa Marya, MD, Executive Director/Farming is Medicine Director, Deep Medicine Circle
Location: Food System Pavilion
Event Link: https://foodsystemspavilion.com/thematic-day/16-nov-protect/

Implementation Lab on Blue Carbon

Date: Wednesday, 16th November
Time: 03.00 – 4.30 PM (GMT + 2) // 02.00 – 3.30 PM CEST
Details: Focus on Blue Carbon Ecosystems. Roundtable discussions around finance, how to achieve high-quality blue carbon outcomes, the role of Blue carbon in NDCs, and on-the-ground implementation.
Organisers: Ocean & Climate platform
Speakers include: Julie Mulonga, Director, Eastern Africa at Wetlands International
Location: Lotus Room, Climate Action Zone, Blue Zone
Event Link : https://unfccc.int/global-climate-action-at-cop-27