Questions and answers regarding the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021, 25-26 January.
CAS 2021 background and deliverables
The Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS 2021) 2021, to be held on 25-26 January, is an online global conference to accelerate, innovate and scale up the world’s efforts in adapting our societies and economies to the inevitable effects of climate change over the coming decade.
CAS 2021 is a multi-stakeholder event, with participation by governments from all continents as well as business leaders, mayors, international organisations, academia, civil society, and youth representatives.
CAS 2021 represents a unique moment in time to connect initiatives, solutions, and challenges to build back better and accelerate adaptation action.
At UNCAS 2019, the Global Commission on Adaptation presented its flagship report ‘Adapt Now’ and announced additional action to accelerate climate adaptation along Action Tracks outlined in the report. CAS 2021 concludes a Year of Action launched by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2019.
Building on the work of the Global Commission on Adaptation, led by Ban Ki‑moon, Bill Gates, and Kristalina Georgieva, the Dutch government aims to use this moment to deliver an Adaptation Action Agenda for a transformational decade towards 2030.
CAS 2021 follows the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit (UNCAS) and will sustain momentum through to UNFCCC's COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 and beyond, by delivering an Adaptation Action Agenda for a climate-resilient future by 2030.
The Summit will deliver an Adaptation Action Agenda, an instrument to accelerate action on climate adaptation by promoting, guiding, monitoring and sharing experience on climate resilience, and building together.
It will be an integral framework, bringing together individual actions and coalitions to achieve the ambition of a climate-resilient future by 2030 (as stated in the SDGs).
The Adaptation Action Agenda (AAA) is an instrument to accelerate action on climate adaptation by promoting, guiding, monitoring and sharing experience on climate resilience, and building together. It offers an integral framework in which individual actions and coalitions are brought together to reach the ambition of a climate-resilient future by 2030 (as stated in the SDGs). Therefore, it is an instrument at the interface of adaptation efforts, ensuring cross-cutting resilience initiatives and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
The agenda will provide added value by showing what can and will be done to accelerate adaptation action, informing all partners (states, non-state actors etc.) about potential gaps and areas in which we still need to catch up or change course. We don’t expect stakeholders to sign up, but hope they will embrace the AAA and recognise their part in it.
We don’t expect stakeholders to sign up, but hope they will embrace the AAA and recognise their part in it. The AAA will be the outcome of the Summit and we hope to work with many other key drivers in moving the agenda forward – at the COPs, the Food System Summit, etc.
In 2018 the Netherlands, joined by 22 other countries, convened the Global Commission on Adaptation in order to put adaptation on the global and political agenda. The Netherlands also hosts the Global Center on Adaptation, an international organisation that shares the Commission’s ambition and works to accelerate adaptation by connecting solutions to challenges.
The Netherlands is hosting the Summit, supported by the GCA, to highlight the deliverables of the Commission, which will be dissolved after the Summit, and to sustain momentum for adaptation action towards a climate-resilient future by 2030.
CAS 2021 is a global effort, facilitated by partners worldwide. The Action Track coalitions consist of various multi-stakeholder partners. We are also grateful to our partners worldwide for organising the various Anchoring Events, making this a truly global event.
The Global Center on Adaptation is supporting the Netherlands in organising the Summit and delivering the Adaptation Action Agenda and support mechanisms to sustain momentum after CAS 2021.
CAS 2021 is taking place at the beginning of the new year, with a view to building momentum for COP26 later in 2021. It will jumpstart a year of climate-related events and will also link up with the WEF Davos Agenda Week, starting 26 January.
CAS 2021 is an important milestone in further accelerating climate adaptation globally through joint ambitions and actions. But the work will continue after CAS 2021.
Looking ahead to 2025 and 2030 coalitions of partners from the private sector, civil society, knowledge institutions, governments and youth movements will continue working on joint initiatives in the context of the Adaptation Action Agenda, in line with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
These efforts will evolve between CAS 2021 and COP26 and beyond, facilitated by the GCA and partners.
CAS 2021 programme
The Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021 will highlight adaptation action in 10 thematic areas during Anchoring Events that will address the theme-specific challenges presented by climate change.
The 8 Action Tracks (as well as a few other key themes) are fundamental to the work of the Global Commission on Adaptation. CAS 2021 will showcase the deliverables of these Action Tracks and guide further action through the Adaptation Action Agenda, ensuring the Action Tracks’ continued contribution to the global ambition.
During CAS 2021, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag will chair a special Anchoring Event aimed at galvanising solutions to significantly scale up adaptation efforts in Africa.
Africa is on the frontline of climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), increasing temperatures, heat waves, droughts, floods, and sea-level rise will heavily affect the continent during this century, amplifying existing stresses in the areas of water availability, food security, and economic growth. At the same time, the continent has inherent strengths and vast adaptive capacity. Many innovative and creative solutions already exist, but more urgency, innovation, and scale are needed.
Examination of the risks identified by the IPCC’s fifth assessment report shows that the sectors of food security, water, and infrastructure are particularly vulnerable to climate change. This event will therefore focus on rural economic growth and food security, urban resilience and water, as well as nature-based solutions. It is often the most vulnerable who are hit hardest by the negative consequences of climate change. At the same time, communities have demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of COVID-19 and other hazards. Locally Led Adaptation is therefore a cross-cutting theme.
Based on the above, emphasis will be on the following regions: West Africa (particularly the Sahel), the Horn of Africa, and parts of Central and Southern Africa.
The ‘Accelerating African Adaptation’ event aims to raise ambition and unlock action to accelerate African adaptation. To this end, the event will bring together a wide range of African stakeholders, including ministers, policymakers, private sector, civil society, and youth representatives, to share their vision on accelerating adaptation action, discuss adaptation challenges and opportunities, and showcase inspiring, on-the-ground initiatives.
Rotterdam and Groningen, the GCA host cities in the Netherlands have offered to add momentum to CAS 2021 by organising Supporting Events prior to the Summit. These are high-level events that further emphasise the narrative of climate adaptation and will deliver Declarations at the Summit’s Opening Session.
The Supporting Events will mostly be online. Learn more.
Interested parties have contributed their own pre-recorded Side Events in great variety. It is no longer possible to submit new contributions.
All Summit sessions will be in English, with simultaneous translations available into Spanish, Chinese, and French as conference platform features.
Check out our landing page on the subject, which features an entertaining explainer and some links to explore.
CAS 2021 participants
CAS 2021 will bring together key actors and stakeholders from around the world, representing institutions, governments, cities and communities, the private sector, and civil society, including youth movements.
CAS 2021 will serve as a platform for governments, business, civil society, and science.
For the Opening Session, the Dutch prime minister has invited heads of state/heads of government of countries that share the Netherlands’ ambition for adaptation action, including the convening countries to the Global Commission on Adaptation, and a select number of VIPs.
Leaders of the following countries have confirmed their participation: Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Grenada, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, Senegal, South-Korea, Vietnam, and the UK. We are currently in close contact with Denmark and South Africa, and in a preliminary conversation with the incoming US administration. Furthermore, we have received confirmations from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Ban Ki-moon (Chair of the Global Commission on Adaptation), IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, EU Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and Feike Sijbesma, who heads the WEF Business Climate Leaders. Bill Gates will also participate in the Opening Session of CAS 2021.
Various groups are invited to participate in the online Climate Adaptation Summit 2021:
- Heads of Government and Heads of State of countries who share our ambition for adaptation action, in particular the 23 GCA convening countries.
- Members of the Global Commission on Adaptation.
- Ministers responsible for climate adaptation worldwide.
- Mayors of the C40 and 100 Resilient Cities Network.
- CEOs and business representatives.
- International organisations, knowledge institutions, NGOs, youth representatives, and civil society organisations.
The online format offers the opportunity to realistically represent the joint ambitions and actions of partners around the world and facilitate participation by all.
The Heads of State and Heads of Government have been invited to contribute to the Opening Session: the stage where the most ambitious statements will be made and the Adaptation Action Agenda is to be launched.
Please check our the list of confirmed headliners regularly for an up-to-date overview.
Businesses can participate in all parts of CAS 2021, from the Opening Session to the Anchoring Events and Side Events. They are invited to share their expertise, present best practices and inspire ambition for the coming decade.
We are building on the multi-stakeholder dimension of the Global Commission on Adaptation, recognising that adaptation must be tackled from different perspectives: from government to private sector.
Knowledge is key to understanding the effects of a changing climate on our environment, as well as acting as an enabler for effective action and realistic ambition. Therefore, knowledge institutions are very much involved in the work of the Global Commission, the GCA and the Summit.
For example, to underline the importance of scientific insights, the city of Groningen will host a major Supporting Event in the run-up to CAS 2021, in collaboration with the University of Groningen, which will include a Nobel Laureates Ceremony on 22 January 2021, the presentation of the State &Trends Report by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the Science Statement on behalf of the scientific community worldwide.
The State & Trends Report is an annual flagship report that will provide a comprehensive overview of the latest patterns and status of adaptation efforts around the globe.
The report will identify key obstacles to adaptation action and adaptive capacity, examine progress on the enabling environment for action, and recommend actions that can be taken to further accelerate adaptation.
A new global information and knowledge exchange platform will serve as a key repository, linking reference climate adaptation information, however disparate, in a single accessible online tool that will also serve as an online community of practice for adaptation globally.
Joint action is required to accelerate climate adaptation globally. Young people in particular will feel the consequences of climate change. Their action and commitment to further climate adaptation are key to acceleration. Therefore, youth engagement is one of the focus points of CAS 2021.
There will be dedicated youth events during the Road to CAS and CAS 2021, for example the Youth for Climate Adaptation Conference. Throughout the conference, a Youth Newsroom consisting of 20 international youth reporters will be very active producing content for all Summit participants.
Registering for and accessing CAS 2021
No, participating in CAS 2021 is free of charge.
Yes. To gain full access to the online conference platform, with all the features CAS 2021 has to offer, including participating in sessions and meeting other participants, you need to register in advance.
After registration, you will receive credentials to log in on the conference platform. Check your email and your spam folder regularly.
It is also possible to follow the conference by viewing recordings of sessions afterwards via CAS TV, Twitter, and Instagram.
The online conference platform has the look and feel of a ‘real’ conference venue as much as possible. It features a central lobby, an information desk, conference rooms, exhibition spaces, a cinema, meeting points, and breakout rooms where you can network with other conference visitors. It is already open now; use the credentials you have received by email to login.
Not registered yet? > Registration is still open.
CAS 2021 will be designed to provide easy access for all those interested in taking part. The conference can be followed on a desktop computer or mobile device.
All Summit sessions will be in English, with simultaneous translations available into Spanish, Chinese, and French as conference platform features.
CAS 2021 press coverage
This is possible after you have registered as ‘press’.
Please contact our press officer, Miranda Mens.
Miscellaneous
Learn more about CAS 2021 and get the latest updates on our website and social media:
You can follow CAS 2021 discussions on social using the hashtag #AdaptationSummit and #AdaptNow. Check out our social media page for suggestions.
Check out our landing page on the subject, which features an entertaining explainer and some links to explore.
If you have any questions or remarks, please use our contact form.