Join SIWI at the Climate Adaptation Summit

Water and climate

2021 will be an important year for climate action as the Paris Agreement enters its implementation phase, and it is time for countries to begin delivering on their climate promises. In the lead up to the international climate conference COP26 in Glasgow in November, the coming months should bear witness to a global transformation toward a resilient future.

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The first major opportunity this year will be the Climate Adaptation Summit, organized by the Government of The Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation. The online Summit will take place on 25 and 26 January, starting at 13.30 CET. Heads of State and other prominent leaders will be present to voice their support to adaptation measures in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Summit will consist of several high-level segments addressing areas such as water, agriculture, nature-based solutions, and finance, showcasing solutions to our most immediate climate challenges. It will also put the spotlight on some of the gamechangers with dedicated segments for city leaders, youth representatives, artists, and other public figures.

The Water Anchoring Event, an official part of the Summit that focuses on water’s importance for adaptation, will take place between 18.00 and 20.00 CET 25 January. The event will showcase projects and best practices for water resilience, address how water can be a tool to fulfilling our global goals, as well as emphasize the need to accelerate and scale up actions to adapt to climate change through water solutions.

Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director of SIWI, will be speaking alongside partners such as Carolina Schmidt, Minister of the Environment in the Government of Chile, Nigel Topping, High-Level Champion for COP26, and Peter Thomson, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. In addition, Maggie White, SIWI’s Senior Manager for International Policy, will be participating in two side-events broadcasted during the Summit, on sustainable rivers and deltas for the future and youth innovation solutions to climate adaptation challenges.

“It is through water that we feel the effects of climate change, and this means that climate adaptation requires that the water community joins forces with other stakeholders in areas such as agriculture, industry, energy, landscapes and city planning to succeed in climate action,” Torgny Holmgren says.