Business statement: Accelerating climate adaptation for every child
COP27: Businesses signal ambition, prioritize immediate climate action for every child
GENEVA, 23 November 2022 – Leaders of the business community issued a statement during COP27 emphasizing the critical role that business plays in addressing the devastating effects of climate change on children's lives and well-being, calling for a "fundamental change in the course of climate action.’
Business signatories acknowledged that child rights and climate action are inextricably linked, and called on businesses and governments to develop solutions that can help children and their communities adapt to the worsening consequences of climate change.
“The climate crisis is accelerating, and children and young people are the most affected- 2 billion children today, 4.2 billion in the next 30 years if decisive action is not taken. Achieving net-zero is undoubtedly the long-term solution, but the world is still failing to deliver transformative mitigation action,’ said Carla Haddad Mardini, UNICEF’s Director of Private Sector Fundraising and Partnerships.
“Investing in climate adaptation and effective measures to integrate this with humanitarian and disaster response is a critical solution to immediately reduce children’s overall climate risk, reduce the loss and damage of climate change, increase communities’ resilience to current and future shocks, and deliver economic benefit,” she added.
Many businesses are pledging to deliver aggressive carbon mitigation goals, transition to clean energy sources, build the adaptive capacity of children, and accelerate investments in climate adaptation and resilience for children. They are also signalling their climate stewardship, urging governments to provide immediate funding for climate action and to uphold their obligations under the Paris Agreement with the goal of achieving "net zero" emissions by 2050.
More importantly, they are calling on all decision-makers to take immediate, collective action to protect every child, prepare them to live in a climate-changed world, and prioritize them as the most important stakeholders in climate funding and policymaking.
The business statement was issued during the International Chamber of Commerce’s Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum during COP27. The Forum brought together experts from over 70 organizations across the global business community, governments, and international agencies including the UN. It aimed to catalyze peer-to-peer discussions and exchanges on critical issues such as climate adaptation and resilience building for children, climate change education, green skills training, and decarbonization strategies.
Following two weeks of discussions and negotiations, COP27 came to an end with some significant gains for children and young people. It delivered a historic breakthrough in establishing a fund for loss and damage, a step toward climate justice children and youth have been calling for in earnest. A G7-led plan called the Global Shield Financing Facility was also launched to provide funding to countries suffering from climate disasters.
On climate adaptation, negotiators agreed to work throughout 2023 toward the Global Goal on Adaptation and adopt a framework at COP28, considering the need to adapt and protect essential systems providing water, food and health services among others.
UNICEF also welcomes the explicit recognition of the global right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and the formal recognition of children and youth as agents of change, encouraging parties to include children and youth in their processes for designing and implementing climate policy and action.
However, COP27 fell short in delivering more ambitious, accelerated energy transition targets to keep the 1.5-degree temperature limit within reach – a c, to increase climate financing for developing nations to $100 billion a year, and to double support for climate adaptation to $40 billion a year by 2025. The gap between current levels of adaptation finance and the scale of need remains great, and at a time when more ambition is needed to protect children and young people from climate impacts and prepare them to survive and thrive in a climate-changed word.
UNICEF welcomes the commitments made by business leaders at COP27 via the business statement and calls on all parties to take urgent action to PROTECT children from climate devastation, by adapting critical social services, PREPARE children to live in a climate-changed world by providing climate change and disaster risk reduction education, green skills training and ensuring they can meaningfully participate., and to PRIORITIZE children and young people in climate finance and resources.
The full Business Statement on accelerating climate adaptation for every child and the signatory companies can be found here.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Sohini Roychowdhury, UNICEF Geneva,
Tel: +41 79433 5264, sroychowdhury@unicef.org
About The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the institutional representative of more than 45 million companies in over 100 countries. ICC’s core mission is to make business work for everyone, every day, everywhere. Through a unique mix of advocacy, solutions and standard setting, we promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation, in addition to providing market-leading dispute resolution services. Our members include many of the world’s leading companies, SMEs, business associations and local chambers of commerce.
www.iccwbo.org
About UNICEF
UNICEF is the world’s largest children’s organization, working in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, they work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org
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