Once a year, the 198 countries that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) come together to outline key points on the global climate agenda. Since its inception, the aim of the Conference of the Parties (COP) has been to mitigate the consequences of human activities on the climate by fostering dialogue among governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society. This enables monitoring the effects of measures adopted by the involved Parties, i.e., the participating countries, and assessing progress. Typically, each COP concludes with the ratification of an agreement, such as the one signed in Paris in 2015—the comprehensive framework for managing global efforts to limit temperature increases and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In the recently concluded COP28, discussions were broadened to include the themes of biodiversity and landscape resilience across various panels. Biodiversity plays a pivotal role in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change, underscoring its significance for our survival. The Nature Positive Pavilion took the lead in bringing this discourse to Dubai, gathering diverse organizations committed to building a nature-positive future with three crucial demands:
– Halting deforestation and preventing the degradation of terrestrial, freshwater, and oceanic ecosystems.
– Ensuring the stewardship and protection of the territories of indigenous and local communities.
– Urgently mobilizing resources and financial mechanisms to bridge the nature funding gap.
In the face of climate change challenges, landscape resilience emerges as a critical asset, fostering adaptive capacity and ensuring the sustained functionality of ecosystems, ultimately contributing to global efforts in climate mitigation and adaptation.
The Wildfire-Resilient Landscapes network: a landscape resilience initiative promoted at COP28.
An example of an initiative promoting landscape resilience showcased at COP28 is the Wildfire-Resilient Landscapes network.
The Wildfire-Resilient Landscapes network converges indigenous and scientific expertise to establish Living Labs, illustrating strategies for cultivating resilient landscapes in regions susceptible to escalating wildfire challenges. This groundbreaking initiative is poised to collaborate with the financial sector in crafting innovative financial instruments, such as those associated with emerging Nature markets, to mobilize essential investments for transitioning towards resilient landscapes. The network’s inception drew inspiration from The King’s commitment to fostering connections between Australia’s indigenous fire experts and their Canadian counterparts, aiming to share best practices in the aftermath of Canada’s devastating fire season.
Innovative financial tools must play a pivotal role in addressing the current challenges associated with wildfire prevention and landscape management. Public subsidies, the current funding source, fall short in addressing the global scale of the issue. To address this, private-public partnerships and private finance are deemed essential, offering a means to deploy investments at scale, leveraging new technologies and paving the way for a transformative model in designing robust and resilient landscapes. In this context, the carbon market and potentially emerging biodiversity markets present intriguing opportunities for private finance.
A shining example of the potential lies in the savanna fire management program in northern Australia, where indigenous knowledge serves as the foundation for groundbreaking financial tools. These tools not only generate income for Indigenous Communities but also contribute to the resilience of landscapes through participation in carbon markets. Drawing inspiration from the International Savanna Fire Management Initiative, which has successfully harnessed traditional fire management approaches for generations, the application of these methods not only yields carbon credits but also fosters additional benefits. These include the creation of market-based jobs in remote and vulnerable communities, advancements in biodiversity, enhanced food security, and improved health.
The forthcoming network, established under the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, will be strategically coordinated through partnerships with the International Savanna Fire Management Initiative (ISFMI). ISFMI will contribute invaluable indigenous knowledge and experience in wildfire risk management, complemented by the scientific expertise of FIRE-RES. Together, they aim to pave the way for innovative solutions and resilient landscapes.
ResAlliance, for Mediterranean landscape resilience
Fires, along with drought, are at the forefront of the solutions that ResAlliance aims to identify and share to enhance landscape resilience in the Mediterranean basin. During the summer of 2023, wildfires crippled not only countries like Australia and Canada but also many nations along the Mediterranean, adversely affecting agriculture and forestry.
The appreciation of local and indigenous knowledge, championed by the Living Labs of the Wildfire-Resilient Landscapes network, mirrors the LandLabs promoted within the ResAlliance project across five nations: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Cyprus. While climate change is a global phenomenon, its effects are localized and specific, intricately linked to the characteristics of the terrain.
This emphasizes the significance of understanding the local landscape and engaging with those who work and steward the land and forests in a given region, a crucial aspect in identifying effective solutions. Stay tuned to the ResAlliance website for updates on project activities and our ongoing LandLabs!