Leaders Group of Global Organizations to issue climate emergency call today

A group of global leaders composed of the heads of key international organizations – including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and African Development Bank – will gather in Rotterdam on Monday 6^th September following an invitation from Ban Ki-moon, 8^th Secretary-General and Chair of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and Patrick Verkooijen CEO of GCA to participate in a High-Level Dialogue on Climate Adaptation.

The Dialogue, taking place just weeks before the COP26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow, will hammer out a clear call to action for governments, policy-makers and the public on what COP26 must deliver if communities are to be kept safe from the accelerating climate impacts in the coming decade.

Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chair of the African Union will deliver a keynote address during the Dialogue.

Announcing the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) High-Level Dialogue on COP26, Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA commented: “The IPCC’s new finding that warming is accelerating faster than we thought leading to earth reaching the crucial 1.5℃ warming limit in the early 2030s, a decade earlier than expected, puts Hurricane Ida in a painful new light. It’s clear that we are now living in the eye of the storm –. adapting the world to our climate emergency is essential for our safety even as we continue to tackle a global pandemic. COP26 in Glasgow will fail if it does not put adaptation on an equal footing with emission reductions.”

Following the Dialogue, the Global Center on Adaptation’s new floating office in Rotterdam moored at Rijnhaven, a historical port on the south bank of Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Maas River will be inaugurated by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. This will be followed by a press conference where a communique will be issued be issued by Ban Ki-moon, 8^th Secretary-General and Chair of the GCA, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the GCA. Global leaders including Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organizations and Feike Sijbesma, UN High-Level Climate Champion on Private Sector for COP26 will also speak during the press conference.

The GCA’s new floating global center is emblematic of the future solutions that will need to be implemented to cope with the climate crisis. Off grid and carbon-neutral, the building is designed to showcase innovative architectural solutions to urban planning that accommodates rising sea levels. With its own solar energy source and water-based heat-exchange system, it’s completely self-sufficient. It is also an outstanding example of circular design with all the materials used in its construction completely reusable and recyclable.