G78 Recommends Action to Adapt to Climate Change in Letter to the Prime Minister

The following letter was sent to the Prime Minister as well as the Ministers of Global Affairs, Finance (& Deputy Prime Minister), Environment & Climate Change, International Development, Trade Agriculture, Health, Infrastructure, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Natural Resources Canada, requesting action with the recommendations from our 2021 Annual Policy Conference.

October 25, 2021

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,                                           

We at the Group of 78 are writing to you about the urgent need for a funded, coordinated adaptation implementation plan for Canada and significantly increased funds for adaptation in the least developed countries.

The Group of 78 has for 40 years convened recognized progressive thinkers on global problems and brought the results to the attention of decision makers, at home and abroad.

Just two weeks ago we held a conference on “Adaptation: Building Resilience in the Climate Emergency” because we were concerned about:

1. the lack of coordinated, funded, national adaptation plans here in Canada despite the damage to homes, infrastructure, food production and health due to fires, floods, and weather changes; 
2. the insufficient funding for adaptation in the developing countries which are massively losing lives and livelihoods to climate disaster despite the fact that they bear very little responsibility for the problem. 

The key recommendations coming from the experts (see attached conference program) include the following:

1. In Canada, we must go beyond devising a national adaptation strategy by the end of 2022. Canada needs a national climate adaptation plan, detailing out how we will reach our objectives, to be announced publicly in early 2022.
2. Canada and other countries should adopt a “One Health” approach and policy framework for the well-being of people, animals and the ecosphere.
3. Agroecology (or regenerative agriculture) should provide the framework for transformation of Canadian and global agriculture for food security and sustainable food production. 
4. Globally, Canada should take leadership in the IMF and other multilateral institutions to adopt a basket of measures to create more fiscal space for the Global South to address the pandemic and the global climate emergency.
5. As part of its global plan, Canada should quadruple its annual commitments to climate financing for developing countries, to $2 billion per year, and allocate at least 50 percent to adaptation initiatives.

Please find attached a document containing the Key Messages and Recommendations which we believe warrants your government’s careful consideration. Bold action would confirm your global leadership in adaptation policy and planning at this crucial time. We might add your leadership would be further strengthened if Canada enhanced its performance on mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, augmented its provision of COVID vaccines to the developing countries, and increased its level of development assistance. 

Yours sincerely,

Susan Tanner
Vice-Chair, Group of 78
Chair, Group of 78 Working Group on Climate Change

Roy Culpeper
Chair, Group of 78

*Attached

Key Messages and Policy Recommendations from the Group of 78’s 2021 Annual Policy Conference / Messages Clés et Recommandations Politiques de Conférence Politique Annuelle du Groupe des 78, 2021

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