Development and Climate Days 2025
Development and Climate Days 2025 (D&C Days 2025) was a two-part conference combining digital and in-person events. The digital event took place in October and the in-person event on 15 November at COP30.
Farmers in Nigeria are improving productivity through sustainable farming methods (Photo: UNDP Climate, via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
The first stage of D&C Days 2025 took place on Thursday 30 October and was a day of online dialogue, interaction, difficult conversations and solution-focused sessions. The event brought together climate thought leaders that discussed the real issues that should be tackled at COP30.
This digital version of D&C Days was hosted in advance of COP30 to bring everyone together online and create a set of key messages and asks that can now be taken to COP30 to influence climate decisions that recognise the most vulnerable people and parties at the front lines of climate change.
The D&C Days online event provided a space for networking and exchange, and for honest and open discussions on cutting edge climate work with the goal of enhancing understanding of climate risk and creating accessible and actionable strategies for climate resilience.
The key messages from D&C Days were then shared with experts and negotiators from the UNFCCC COP process at an in-person reception in Belem to help ensure these were voiced during COP30. Watch a recording of the event at COP30.
- For more information, check out the D&C Days 2025 website.
Event coverage
A comprehensive list of key messages from D&C Days highlighted the urgency to empower local actors and foster continuous learning, showcased how innovative insurance mechanisms could be game-changers for climate adaptation, and emphasised that unlocking private finance for action on climate and nature requires trust, transparency, and a shared understanding.
You can also watch a playlist of recordings of each session.
An illustration by Jorge Martin also showcases the conversations that took place throughout the day of online dialogue.
Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed, a professor at the School of Environmental Science and Management at the Independent University in Bangladesh, told a closing plenary session that countries need to see progress at this year’s climate talks.
“If you can’t show any significant impact on adaptation financing, there will be countries who will not see any benefit in going to COP. They will gradually lose interest in participating in COP.”
Read a report of the online event, published by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and the climate centre also published a report of the in-person event.
You can watch a slideshow of photos from previous D&C Days events that was shown in the first session, and follow activities and messages from D&C Days on social media via #DCDays25.
Organising partners
This year’s event is organised in partnership by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC) with DanChurchAid, the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) and the Wellcome Trust, with additional support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands via the Generating Ambition for Locally Led Adaptation (GA-LLA) programme.
Contact
Clair Grant-Salmon ([email protected]), head of marketing and events, Communications group
