Opening Plenary: Setting the Scene for Climate Adaptation and Development

Tuesday 19 June 2018

9h15 – 11h00

We start with a welcome from the conference hosts, the University of Cape Town’s African Climate & Development Initiative, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the UN Environment’s Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA).

This is followed by a welcome from Mayor De Lille, on behalf of our host city, Cape Town.

The European Commission Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation will then hand over the conference mandate from Rotterdam 2016 to Cape Town 2018.

Our first keynote address is from the South African Deputy Director-General of Climate Change and Air Quality at the Department of Environmental Affairs, Tlou Ramaru, who will provide a South African perspective on climate change adaptation, and the opportunities for driving social and economic development through adaptation.

This is followed by short statements from representatives of vulnerable communities in South Africa, where they present the challenges their communities face.

The second keynote address is from Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Secretary, UNFCCC, who will present the UNFCCC’s view of the priorities for adaptation research, policy and practice.

The opening plenary will be followed by a short press conference.

Plenary: Resourcing Adaptation

Wednesday 20 June 2018

11h30 – 13h15

The focus of this plenary is to explore how to resource adaptation, especially in developing countries.  While financing and the economics of adaptation is important, we wish to go beyond finance to explore other resourcing issues, including knowledge resources, human resources and capacity, and enabling institutional and governance arrangements.

We start with a keynote address by Stephane Hallegatte, Lead Economist, World Bank, who will provide insights from many years of World Bank activities in support of climate resilience and climate adaptation.

This is followed by a panel discussion where panellists reflect on issues of resourcing from different perspectives:  business, climate funds, capacity building, direct access mechanisms, and commercial banking.

The plenary closes with the announcement of the Burtoni Award, recognising a lifetime contribution to adaptation research, policy and practice.

Closing Plenary: The 2020s Adaptation Agenda

Thursday 21 June 2018

16h30 – 18h15

This session aims to synthesise key issues emerging from Adaptation Futures 2018: what have we learned, what challenges have been raised, what should we be doing in research, policy and practice to deliver on adaptation needs of society?

We start with a brief reflection on how science and practice explored at the conference can contribute to the evidence base for the IPCC 6th Assessment.

This is followed by a panel discussion where participants from policy, research and practice reflect on what they see as novel – what has shifted for them over the last three days – and what should the adaptation community be taking away with them as challenges and ideas that might lead to faster, and more pervasive action?

The session finishes with the announcement of the best poster award and the hosts for Adaptation Futures 2020.