Eleven frantic days of negotiations at the Bonn climate talks this June yielded an important breakthrough: agreement on how to define 100 indicators for measuring global progress on adaptation.
Reaching consensus was by no means easy. Adaptation is complex. After all, climate risks manifest in many, many ways and affect economic sectors, geographies, and populations differently. Political squabbles between countries also threatened to derail the process. Developing nations want indicators to track rich countries’ financial contributions to adaptation — something the latter group would rather avoid.
In this episode, Debbie Hillier of Mercy Corps — who was on the ground at Bonn — joins to talk us through the negotiations’ many twists and turns, and to unpack the value of the indicator workstream to global adaptation progress. She also gets into the weeds of the long-running — and always contentious — debate on adaptation finance, and why we must hold fast to the Paris Agreement principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” if climate justice is to be realized.
In addition, Debbie describes her role with the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance — a coalition of nonprofits working to improve preparedness against flooding, extreme heat, and other climate shocks — and the projects in Indonesia, Jordan, and Nepal she’s been working on with the group.
It’s a wide-ranging conversation perfect for you policy wonks out there, and to all those curious about how adaptation planning and finance is being thought about at the highest levels.
Listen below, download from the Podcasts page on Climate Proof, or tune in via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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We talk about:
👉 The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance and how it has expanded from an initial focus on flood risk to tackle another deadly hazard: extreme heat
👉 Mercy Corps’ engagement in community- and national-level resilience in Indonesia, Jordan, and Nepal
👉 The fraught negotiations at Bonn that eventually led to agreement on a streamlined set of global adaptation indicators
👉 The ongoing push for international climate adaptation finance and the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” that should guide countries’ contributions
👉 Why we may have to face an uncomfortable truth when it comes to private finance for adaptation
Thanks for listening!
Louie Woodall
Editor
