Development and Climate Days 2021 will take place on 9 and 10 November, and will see grassroots representatives, researchers, development practitioners and policymakers from all over the world discuss how to build a climate-resilient future for all.
Development and Climate Days (D&C Days) 2021 will be held during the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 9-10 November 2021.
This two-day digital event will span multiple time zones and aims to be the most inclusive D&C Days event yet. We’re bringing together grassroots representatives, researchers, development practitioners and policymakers from across the world to discuss how to work together to build a climate-resilient future for all.
D&C Days provides 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.
D&C Days 2021 – moving to a new format
D&C Days 2021 is a two-day digital conference that will bring together participants from all over the world to connect via our bespoke event platform – launching soon.
The aim is to make D&C Days accessible to all – not restricted to only those with access to the UNFCCC COP26. We want to build on the opportunities participants may have to make connections with others at COP26 online and in person. We want to create a digital space that allows participants to continue to harness these connections, expand their knowledge and continue to be a place to think out of the box.
To hear more about D&C Days, search #DCdays21 on Twitter.
Key messages and themes
D&C Days in 2021 will focus on five ‘evidenced themes’ that we have been building on since 2019. These themes will provide the backbone to the programme, with conference sessions strategically linked to one or more of the following. The themes are:
- Building resilient agriculture and food systems
- Early warning, early action to leave no one behind
- Financing a resilient future
- Establishing resilient cities and infrastructure, and
- Working with nature to build resilience.
Themes: five pathways to a climate-resilient future
- Building resilient agriculture and food systems (led by FAO/GRP)
Transformative actions are urgently needed within agriculture and food systems to tackle the colliding climate, biodiversity, pandemic and food crises. From smallholders to large agri-food businesses, field to fork, climate resilience actions must be just and include the entire food value chain.
This theme will explore food governance, locally-led climate and nature-friendly solutions, access to climate finance for the most vulnerable, and risk management capacities for building climate-resilient agriculture and food systems.
2. Early warning, early action to leave no one behind (led by RCCC)
Early warning early action (EWEA) is key to reducing the impacts of natural hazards, weather extremes and climate change more generally.
Recognising that too many people are left behind by global, national and subnational efforts to build EWEA systems, this theme explores how we can improve the framing, governance, financing and flexibility of EWEA to build equitable and effective disaster risk reduction locally and at scale.
3. Financing a resilient future (led by IIED)
Climate finance must address the demands of poor women and men at the frontline of climate impacts. This theme examines this demand side local focus combined with the need for a supply of climate finance provided by a combination of external financing, including debt restructuring linked to climate, as well as domestic public finance and private finance.
We will bring together key stakeholders from government, civil society, the private sector and international organisations to make commitments on how they can together finance a climate-resilient future.
4. Establishing resilient cities and infrastructure (led by IIED)
For the first time in the history of the planet most of the world is urban and cities are at high risk of experiencing the impacts of climate change.
Sessions in this theme examine how different shocks and stresses, such as those from COVID-19, and climate interact, showcase ways of forging novel partnerships and collaborations for enhancing resilience, and demonstrate innovative approaches for supporting adaptation to extreme heat – a major hazard increasingly impacting our cities.
5. Working with nature to build resilience (led by IIED/IFRC)
This theme explores the importance of working with nature to build resilience now and in the future, in the face of climate change.
As support for and uptake of nature-based solutions in climate policy and practice grows, we will look at widely shared challenges and opportunities faced by local organisations working in forest and farm landscapes to strengthen resilience, and specific contexts of climate-related hazards, such as droughts and floods.
About the organisers
This year’s event is organised by a partnership of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) and Zurich Flood Resilience Network.
With contributions from: Nourish Scotland.