Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery: Uniting Efforts at COP29

As the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29),in Baku approaches the end of its first week of negotiations, we see how the focus on finance remains central. Climate finance is vital in supporting climate adaptation and resilience initiatives, particularly in countries affected by conflict and highly vulnerable to climate change. Insufficient climate action exposes communities to climate-related shocks such as droughts and floods.

Trillions of dollars are needed to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect vulnerable populations from the worsening impacts of climate change, and build resilience. Resilient systems are able to maintain essential services and functions, such as food production, water supply and healthcare, even in the face of climate disruptions

Today's thematic focus on Relief, Recovery, and Peace represents the growing importance of peace and security within the COP architecture. Through initiatives like Climate Resilience (ClimBeR) and Fragility, Conflict, and Migration (FCM), CGIAR is at the forefront of research and innovation that addresses the intersection of climate change, conflict, and fragility. These efforts aim to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers in fragile and conflict-affected regions-populations highly vulnerable to climate impacts yet essential to building sustainable solutions. Strengthening their resilience is a cornerstone for post-conflict stabilization and recovery.

The Baku Call on Climate Action for Peace

As part of today's activities, the COP29 Presidency has officially launched the Baku Call on Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery (BCCAP), a cooperative platform endorsed by member states such as Germany, Italy, Chad, Somalia, the UK, and Ireland. BCCAP seeks to foster collaboration between national, regional, and international peace and climate initiatives, ensuring peace-sensitive climate action within and beyond the COP framework. The Call emphasizes accelerating technical and financial support for climate-vulnerable countries affected by conflict and fragility.

In addition, the Presidency introduced the Baku Climate and Peace Action Hub, a coordination platform designed to unify previous peace-focused initiatives, such as the Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP) by the Egyptian Presidency at COP27. The Hub prioritizes action by connecting stakeholders across climate, peace, and security sectors. It will facilitate technical capacity building and technology transfers between countries and between experts, governments, and local communities; and amplify efforts to unlock climate finance for fragile and conflict-affected statesA key focus is removing barriers to access and strengthening national institutions' capacity to absorb available financing.

A Framework for Effective Climate Finance

Launched at COP29, CGIAR also endorsed the Common Principles for Effective Climate Finance and Action for Relief, Recovery and Peace. This practical framework aligns with the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery, and Peace, offering guidance to optimize climate finance and ensure conflict-sensitive responses. These principles aim to rectify current gaps in climate finance, where fragile and conflict-affected countries receive disproportionately low funding.

The need to move from pledges to action is clear in settings where the overlap between conflict and climate risks is increasingly apparent. For instance, in 2020, countries experiencing high-intensity conflict received a mere $3 per capita in adaptation funding, compared to $5 for fragile countries and a global median of $84 per capita. These figures reveal a significant imbalance in the global financial architecture, which often prioritizes feasibility over need.

CGIAR's Role in Bridging Climate Resilience and Peace

As a co-lead of Pillar 2 of the CRSP initiative-focused on sustaining peace through climate-resilient food systems-CGIAR is well-positioned to drive change. By leveraging agri-food system science and innovations, CGIAR aims to stabilize rural livelihoods and value chains, critical to post-conflict recovery. Working with partners to develop bankable adaptation projects that produce co-benefits for peace and security is therefore critical.

However, addressing these complex challenges requires more than technical solutions. Building innovative partnerships between climate science organizations and humanitarian-development-peace actors is essential. Such collaboration ensures that responses to conflict and displacement remain sensitive to evolving climate trends.

The recent launch of a flagship joint report by CGIAR, UNHCR, IMPACT, and IDMC is a significant step in this direction. This report integrates climate change evidence into strategic and operational responses, impacting over 90 million people globally.

Centering Fragile Settings in Climate Negotiations

Looking ahead, it is crucial to more effectively link the interconnected global goods of climate resilience and peace. As negotiations advance towards the New Collective Quantified Goal, fragile and conflict-affected settings must not be sidelined. These regions should take center stage, demonstrating that sustainable peace and recovery are indispensable to global climate action.

By turning pledges into action and prioritizing those most vulnerable, COP29 offers an opportunity to rewrite the narrative-ensuring that the path to climate resilience is inclusive, equitable, and peace-driven.

COP29 Reflections by Frans Schapendonk, CGIAR Climate, Peace, and Security Specialist with the FOCUS Climate Security team at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and Sara Rabie, CGIAR Climate, Peace, and Security Specialist with the FOCUS Climate Security team at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT

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