Champions group renews commitment to climate adaptation needs

Members of the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance – countries and multilateral bodies championing climate adaptation – have come together at COP27 to reiterate their commitment to work together with the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change to respond to their growing adaptation needs.

News, 13 November 2022
A group of men and women pose for a photograph in a line, with the words 'Resilience Hub' behind them.

Members of the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance renew their commitments at COP27 (Photo: Anne Schulthess, IIED)

The group has also called on other climate finance-providing countries who share their objectives, to join them as champions of climate adaptation finance.

During the course of UN climate negotiations (COP27), group members the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, the UK, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Iceland and Australia have announced funding for climate adaptation programmes. 

In addition, Finland has signed up to the principles of locally led adaptation, to help ensure that local communities are empowered to lead sustainable and effective adaptation to climate change at the local level.

September 2022 marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance

Canada also announced it will be giving its support to the Least Developed Countries’ (LDC) Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR). IIED has been supporting the LDC Group to develop the programme, which aims to put local people and communities at the centre of climate adaptation efforts in a shift away from ‘business-as-usual.’

IIED executive director Tom Mitchell said: “We are delighted to welcome Canada to the LIFE-AR partnership, which puts local community experts at the heart of decision making about the best ways to target climate finance for maximum impact.

"LIFE-AR also ensures outcomes are led by the people most affected by the impacts of climate change in the least developed countries.”

The champions group was launched at the UN General Assembly in September 2021.