COP27 in Egypt hosted the event ‘A spotlight on states and regions contributions to the Global Stocktake’ – ‘getting it done’. It has been organised by Regions 4 and the Under2 Coalition, with the support of the Scottish Government, with the aim of demonstrating the role of sub-national governments and other non-state actors in climate processes and driving progress on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Regions4 is actively participating in COP27 in Sharm El Sheik with a delegation of some thirty member regions from around the world. There, they seek to call on key political leaders to recognise the key role of sub-national governments in responding to the climate and biodiversity crisis, and the need for urgent action to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as to ensure the conservation of nature and ecosystems. Adaptation and resilience are two of the main themes of this COP: while COP26 focused largely on actions concerning climate change mitigation and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, this year one of the main priorities will be to boost global adaptation efforts, which puts the focus on increasing resilience as a response to climate challenges.
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the RegionsAdapt 2021-2022 Progress Report. RegionsAdapt is the first global initiative for regional governments to plan, take concrete actions, cooperate and report on their progress in terms of climate change adaptation. Led by the governments of Rio de Janeiro and Catalonia, it was launched in 2015 at COP21 in Paris and currently involves more than 70 regions from five continents and impacts around 300 million people.
This campaign facilitates access to the latest innovations, tools and best practices that are developed and implemented at regional level on climate change, with a focus on adaptation. In this way, through knowledge sharing, lessons learned and capacity building, it catalyses climate action, drives…