The series is designed to support the ambition of the International Panel on Deltas and Coastal Areas - to build capacity for effective adaptation planning, governance and finance – through online knowledge sharing and creation. This series of four webinars consists of sharing good practices, panel discussions and interactive community dialogues.  

The first webinar, “Mobilizing Finance for Climate Adaptation in Deltas," illustrates how deltaic countries leading in climate adaptation have used high-ambition decision-making and large-scale investment to prepare for future challenges.   

The second webinar, " Resilient Delta Cities," shares cases of good adaptation practices in urban deltaic regions. 

The third webinar, “Integrated Coastal Zone Management for Climate Resilience” shares the need and complexity of integrated coastal zone management plans. 

The final, “The climate emergency on Small Islands – Challenges and Opportunities " highlights the unique climate adaptation challenges that small islands face and will share some hands-on opportunities that have proven successful to deal with these challenges.  

Upon concluding this series of webinars, a community dialogue will be organized for participants and presenters to further discuss emergent and cutting-edge knowledge identified during the webinar series 

PROTECTING COASTAL ECONOMIES COASTAL REGIONS AND CLIMATE CHANGE 

Some 40%+ of the global population lives on the coast, coastal areas are concentrations of economic activities, employing 58.5 million people globally in the fishing industry alone. In addition, marine transportation and ocean tourism are trillion-dollar industries (1). Without climate adaptation measures, damage to infrastructure, losses in crop production, and reduced fishing yields could cause average GDP losses of up to 19.5 percent in the world's deltas (2) similarly, it is estimated that 20% of the global GDP could be affected by flooding due to climate change (3).  

As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify, flooding risk will increase, putting infrastructure valued between US$7.9 and US$12.7 trillion at risk, as well as the lives of hundreds of millions of people. With 40% of the global population living within 100 km of the coast and 11% living in low-lying coastal areas, the impacts of sea level rise could be felt as soon as 2050 (4).  Accelerating adaptation efforts is essential to protect people, landscapes, economies, and even the very existence of some islands and deltaic coasts. 

INTERNATIONAL PANEL ON DELTAS AND COASTAL AREAS AND THE WATER ADAPTATION COMMUNITY 

Knowledge-sharing of good adaptation practices, in assessment, planning, financing and implementation, can accelerate adaptation efforts. The GCA’s Water Adaptation Community is connecting and supporting a wide range of practitioners to accelerate water and climate adaptation globally. The members are individuals working in various roles, from city planning to climate change management, and from water governance to water for food, drinking, related economics, and financing.