Climate Change Adaptation Unit has been focusing on four priority areas.The first, UN Environment’s Ecosystem based Adaptation flagship comprises a portfolio of on-the-ground adaptation interventions across a variety of ecosystems - mountains, small island developing state coastal, periurban areas, etc.
- Designed to use ecosystem management to enhance human resilience to climate change. Global policy work fostering mainstreaming of ecosystem based solutions to climate change within national development plans and actions is underpinned by resolution 8 of the first United Nations Environmental Assembly in 2014.
- The second, the Global Adaptation Network (GAN) fosters exchange of knowledge in adaptation. GAN currently has four regional networks affiliated to it. These are Latin America (REGATTA), Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), West Asia Regional Network on Climate Change (CC-Warn) and Africa Adaptation Network (AAKNet). GAN is building stronger links with North America and with Europe. It is also working in partnership with a number of UNFCCC bodies and initiatives, including the Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI). This initiative prioritizes and catalyzes responses to sub-regional and theme-specific adaptation knowledge needs.
- The third focus is in Climate finance, where CCAU supports countries to gain access to Green Climate Fund finance and efforts to accredit with the Adaptation Fund. the unit also implements a significant portfolio of Adaptation Fund and Global Environment Facility projects.
- Fourth, CCAU undertakes analytic work, particularly through its on-going series of reports and briefings on the Adaptation Gap.
In brief within the Ecosystems division, the unit seeks to;
- Build the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable countries and promote the use of ecosystem-based approaches within overall adaptation strategies
- Reduce the risk of climate related disasters and conflicts
- Share knowledge for adaptation policy and planning
- Support developing countries to access adaptation finance
- Analyses key adaptation challenges and how to address them
