Highlights and images for 12 March 2021

Mozaharul Alam, Head, Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN) Secretariat, and Regional Coordinator, Climate Change Programme, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), welcomed participants to the last day of the Forum. Desiree Llanos Dee, Co-Founder of Tofu Creatives, presented the artistic summary of the fourth day of the Forum. 
 

Participants joined a plenary session on “Finance and Investment,” which was followed by four parallel technical sessions. Antoinette Taus, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador for the Philippines and Founder of Communities Organized for Resource Allocation (CORA), moderated the closing session, including its three segments: Forum summary; high-level closing plenary; and APAN partner commitments.

Taus performed a song and rap about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Youseff Nassef, Director, Adaptation Division, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), then presented a summary of the Forum under five enabling conditions, including:

• On climate governance, the need for a whole-of-society approach to resilience; 
• On planning and processes, an emphasis on putting people at the center, political will and leadership;
• On science and assessment, the need for a bottom-up approach to innovation and solutions in adaptation and strengthening regional and transboundary cooperation; and
• On finance and investment, the need to integrate climate change into development finance and private sector investment.

During the high-level closing plenary, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity, emphasized that building resilience through nature-based solutions is critical. Tina Birmpili, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, stressed that “land is life.” Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, emphasized that the focus of the Convention in 2021 will be on implementation. 

Mozaharul Alam closed the Forum, thanking participants. 

Following the closure of the meeting, participants gathered for a virtual happy hour and karaoke.