People who run circuses tell ECO that it’s only after the show, when the real work starts. As tents are dismantled, the planning, training and checking the details start straight away for the next show to be perfect for its audience.
We all knew that COP28 was when the framework should have been ready. But there was no proper effort at actually working on the product until the middle of this year. And the decision makers were still less involved. So when they came to take a look here, it was as if they were back to the start. Let ECO remind you, that for the people engulfed by floods, parched by droughts, swept by hurricanes, and especially those with the least resources to respond, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) means the difference between life and death.
We cannot leave COP28 without any outcome on GGA. The GGA framework must have ambitious quantitative and qualitative targets with timelines and backed with finance and aligned with the NCQG and a clear roadmap on delivering the finace.
Adaptation funding that does not increase the debt burden must be defined and more than doubled from the putative levels of 2019. The Adaptation Gap report reminded us that the funding scale must be increased by 10 to 18 times from the current levels. Adaptation must be included in NDCs as well as NAPs. It must be inclusive to reflect the spirit of the SDGs and the parallel need for poverty reduction. It must embrace ecosystem based adaptation and nature-based solutions and recognise that people are already and always will be in the lead and at the centre of adaptation efforts. Targets for infrastructure adaptation must be closely monitored to ensure that the work is done efficiently and effectively where most needed.
They say that Azerbaijani circuses are the best in the world. ECO hopes that the clowning is restricted to the fringes, and at the centre of COP29 is a positive and realistic consideration of progress towards the comprehensive guidance and support that the global goal can offer in the world’s efforts to adapt to the climate crisis as it intensifies.
ECO repeats. Adaptation could not be more important. Let us all reach the Brazil show in 2025 properly prepared to make it happen. The work starts now.