Climate Resilience Moves to the Forefront of the Global Agenda
As the world prepares for COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the spotlight is shifting to adaptation, a key focus of 2025 as nations confront the escalating impacts of climate change.
The lasting impacts of climate change intersect with existing challenges among communities internationally such as poverty, displacement, and inequality. Across both California and Southeast Australia in early 2025 bushfires swept through the regions. With the immediate destruction of houses and communities, these events also displaced thousands of people, strained public health care systems, and disrupted the local economies dependent on agriculture and tourism. Simultaneously local ecosystems were decimated, from the forests to biodiversity, which has caused long-lasting impacts that could only heal with long-term recovery. The frequency and cascading impacts show that protecting lives, sustaining economies, and safeguarding vital ecosystems are inseparable challenges, resilience in one depends on resilience in all.
At COP30 this year climate resilience has been pushed to the forefront of the conversation with a major need to address it. Adaptation strategies are as diverse as the challenges themselves. From coastal defences in small island states to drought-resistant agriculture in Africa and climate-resilient infrastructure in Asia, the examples of progress and success are emerging worldwide. Scaling this success remains a global challenge, requiring knowledge sharing, government reform, and long-term financing that bridges public, private, and philanthropic capital. Equally important, Indigenous knowledge systems offer vital insights that can strengthen adaptation both locally and nationally, ensuring solutions are rooted in lived experience as well as innovation. By convening such a diverse group of decision-makers and experts this year at COP, the discussion is shaping to move adaption from promise into practice, setting the tone for how resilience strategies can be implemented worldwide.
An event to look out for is the Sustainable Innovation Forum 2025 on 6-7 Nov, Climate Action Innovation Zone, São Paulo. A key agenda highlight is the panel ‘Building Climate Resilience: Advancing Adaptation Strategies Globally,’ featuring experts including Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director of the Climate Policy Initiative, and Monika Froehler, Chief Executive Officer of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. The discussion will focus on collaboration, global best practices, governance reforms, and financing for adaptation.