Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nearly three-quarters of the most climate-vulnerable countries suffer from conflict and fragility -- yet there has been a clear deficit in connecting climate action with action on conflict prevention and recovery. This is particularly important for parts of Africa like the Sahel and the Horn of Africa and for the broader Africa and Arab regions where communities face increasingly multi-dimensional crises.

The landmark COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace that we endorse as UNDP , embraces the complexity of addressing growing levels of fragility around the world, and brings climate and peace policy closer together. We hope in the same way, that the new loss and damage fund brings to bear new and additional financing for climate vulnerable countries not leaving behind those affected by conflict and insecurity.

Today, we are honoured to be joined by our close partners: CCCPA on behalf of the COP27 Presidency and the African Union Commission, as well as the policymakers from different countries responding to climate change on the frontlines of fragility and crisis.

UNDP Already Generating Results

As the largest implementer of climate change & peacebuilding programming in the UN family, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is providing communities with the critical support they need.

That includes our role as a partner of the COP27 Presidency’s “Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP)” initiative, which brought the sustaining peace agenda to a Climate COP for the first time.

Our Climate Promise initiative is also supporting 120+ countries across the globe to enhance & implement ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions, including 50 fragile and conflict-affected countries and territories. In Somalia, for example, UNDP helped enhance the NDC by mainstreaming climate security and human security as well as a focus on early warning systems as a means of taking preventive action. This aims to reducing the risks from more frequent and severe climate induced disasters, displacement, loss and damage, and loss of lives and livelihoods.

UNDP has also mobilized over $424 million in climate change adaptation financing for more than 40 countries affected by fragility and conflict -- with $573 million in the pipeline.3 In the Arab region, for example, new climate initiatives are now emerging along with partner UN agencies, the private sector and governments to support fragile and in-conflict countries like Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, with support of donors like the Adaptation Fund, the Green Climate Fund and the LDC Fund.

With millions around the world suffering both climate and conflict, we have enough evidence for action, and through our work, we also have “proof of concept” of innovative win-win solutions for climate, peace and security.

In breaking the vicious cycle of climate and insecurity, our investments in capacity development – the subject of today’s event, remain key to leveraging policy, action and financing.

- Through the global Climate Security Mechanism -- or CSM – we are proud to have seconded dedicated climate, peace and security expertise to regional entities like the Liptako Gourma Authority, Lake Chad Basin Commission and League of Arab States. For example, with the latter, UNDPs SDG-Climate Facility regional programme, in partnership with WFP, UNEP-FI, UNDRR and others has supported regional assessments and capacity development activities to enhance understanding of and action on climate security.

- Through our “Experts Academy”, together with the Egypt COP27 Presidency and CCCPA through this CRSP initiative, in just one year, our training on climate policy and finance for peace has reached 200 policymakers from 82 countries and territories, including those affected by conflict and fragility, (some 55% of them, women). Many are attending COP28 with us and you’ll get to hear from a few of them in the panel today, sharing practical experiences in innovative climate policies for sustaining peace.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of UNDP, as we celebrate the first anniversary of the CRSP, we would like to reiterate at COP28, as we did at CO27, that we are committed to working with our partners to advance climate action for sustaining peace.

Thank you.