The Race to Resilience is the UN-backed global campaign to catalyse a step-change in global ambition for climate resilience, putting people and nature first in pursuit of a resilient world where we don’t just survive climate shocks and stresses, but thrive in spite of them.
Led by the High-Level Climate Champions for Climate Action, the Race to Resilience aims:
Urban: Cities, industrial communities and informal settlements become healthy, safe and thriving spaces that support resilient livelihoods and allow for green recovery post COVID-19.
Rural: Smallholder farmers, rural entrepreneurs, and industries across food and agricultural supply chains are adaptive and are equipped to thrive in the face of climate change whilst protecting nature.
Coastal: Safeguard coastal and riverine cities, communities and businesses through increased investment in adaptation and resilience and protection of natural ecosystems that support those livelihoods and economies.
The Race to Resilience has 28 Partners, representing over 2,000 organisations, delivering action in over 100 countries.
The High Level Climate Champions Race to Resilience was launched at the Climate Adaptation Summit on January 25 2021 by Alok Sharma, COP26 President designate, after an opening statement from Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary General of the United Nations.
Action to date
What have Race to Resilience partners done so far?
The Race to Resilience is supporting locally-led adaptation where actors work from the ground up with local, indigenous communities to catalyse climate resilience across urban rural and coastal areas.
The Race to Resilience has broadened the scope of the campaign to invite Partners advancing Transformations that are making significant and innovative systemic changes by altering the structural conditions and processes we currently operate in.
Examples include:
DARAJA : The Inclusive City – Community Forecasting and Early warning Service
DARAJA, which means ‘bridge’ in Swahili is a service that aims to improve weather and climate information services. DARAJA builds operational partnerships between the actors critical to the co-design of the products, dissemination channels and feedback loops. It is delivered via a range of digital and analogue tools, apps and resources hosted on a digital platform. Pilots in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam have shown strong impact results and a 20:1 benefit cost ratio in enhanced productivity and avoided climate related damage. The Service is also being adapted for deployment into Small Island States.
BFA Global’s DF4CR
To understand the opportunity for digital finance and fintech to power greater climate resilience, BFA Global convened a Task Force of climate and financial service experts, including World Resources Institute, CGAP, PayPal, and the team of the UN Race to Resilience campaign. Together, the Task Force developed a Digital Finance for Climate Resilience (DF4CR) solutions map to provide an actionable way for stakeholders to understand the DF4CR opportunity and the concrete solutions that can grow climate resilience among vulnerable people in emerging markets
For details of how to join or to find out more, please click here.
The Climate Champions invite you to participate in the Sharm Adaptation Agenda Public Survey. Your insights will be instrumental in assessing the progress we’ve made across key areas.
This nature-based solution involves creating up to 20 acres of engineered oyster reefs and up to 30 acres of salt marshes to help protect the vulnerable coastline of Florida’s Apalachicola Bay.
Discover how Race to Resilience partner, Build Change, empowers people in the Philippines with resilient housing, leveraging microfinance solutions to address disaster risks and improve lives.
Resilience experts and members of Race to Resilience’s MAG advisory group, Anand Patwardhan, Emilie Beauchamp, Ana Maria Lobo-Guerrero, and Paulina Aldunce, underline the transformative impact of the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda in driving collaboration and fast-tracking action to bridge the adaptation gap and support the world’s most vulnerable communities.
