All of this week stakeholders from more than 600 organisation will come together in Cape Town for the 5th international Adaptation Futures conference.
During the conference UNEP DTU Partnership will host a session focusing on how smaller businesses can be part of both climate adaptation and development action on June 21.
This is the first time the conference is held on the African continent. The aim is to use this setting to put in the foreground developing country adaptation issues and increase developing world and African participation.
1000 stakeholders in one place
Adaptation Futures is the world’s premier conference on climate change adaptation. Over 1000 scientists, practitioners, business leaders and policymakers from around the world will meet at the conference to connect, learn and inspire.
Adaptation Futures 2018 aims to facilitate dialogues for solutions between key actors from diverse perspectives and regions, and the conference has attracted the committed participation of over 600 organisations from around the world.
SMEs building resilience
UNEP DTU Partnership is organising a conference session together with GIZ on “Engaging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in building resilience to climate change – sharing perspectives and lessons from the Global South for accelerated adaptation investments” on June 21, 9:15 am to 11 am at Room 1.64 of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC 1).
The session will also feature presentations by the German Development Institute, GIZ, the International Trade Centre and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan. It will be chaired by Katharine Vincent from the South African KULIMA organisation.
SMEs have so far largely been overlooked as active drivers of private adaptation. New partnerships, approaches and tools are needed that give knowledge and confidence to small businesses to accelerate investment in adaptation.
The session intends to explore diverse perspectives on how SMEs in developing countries can be supported in dealing with climate risks and building climate resilience through, for example, the development of innovative tools and approaches to build resilience to climate risks and help communities adapt.
Looking to the future
Caroline Schaer, researcher at UNEP DTU Partnership, will present findings and perspectives on SMEs’ and even smaller micro enterprises’ role in climate adaptation during the session.
She will also look ahead to the future of adaptation action in developing countries by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and how to catalyse this action in terms of climate and development outcomes.