On April 14th, at 12:30, leaders of regional governments gathered at the Prodigy Hotel Santos Dumont in Rio de Janeiro, alongside the VII World Summit of Regional Governments, organized by ORU-Fogar, to sign the first global commitment to support and report efforts on adaptation actions at the subnational level, the RegionsAdapt. 

The new signing ceremony gave continuity to the success of the launch during UNFCCC COP21 in Paris in 2015, which gathered 27 regions from all continents as founding signatories: 9 from Latin America, 6 from Africa, 5 from North America, 4 from Europe, 2 from Australia/Oceania, 1 from Asia). 

This time, regions from Africa and Latin America stood out, adding 19 regions as new participants of RegionsAdapt: 4 from Africa and 15 from Latin America. Besides 4 regional associations also signed the initiative. 

“We are pleased to see the progress of the initiative, specially the mobilization of regions from Africa and Latin America. We have emerging needs and that indicates the powerful potential of exchange and scope of RegionsAdapt.” said André Correa, Secretary for the Environment of Rio de Janeiro State Government. 

List of new participants:Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer (Morocco), Fès-Meknès (Morocco), Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab (Morocco), Kaffrine (Senegal), Chaco Tarijeño (Bolivia), Central Departament (Paraguay), Amambay (Paraguay), Cordillera (Paraguay), Santander (Colombia), Risaralda (Colombia), Caldas (Colombia), O’Higgins (Chile), Araucanía (Chile), Pastaza (Ecuador), Napo (Ecuador), Morona Santiago (Ecuador), Cerro Largo (Uruguay), Cusco (Peru), Roraima (Brazil). 

Regional associations who also signed: 

– AJUDEPA (Asociacion de Juntas Departamentales del Paraguay)
– ANCORE (Asociacion de Consejeros Regionales de Chile)
– ANGR (Asamblea Nacional de Gobiernos Regionales de Peru)
– CONGOPE (Consorcio de Gobiernos Autónomos Provinciales del Ecuador) 

List of founding regions: Australian Capital Territory (Australia), Azuay (Ecuador), Basque Country (Spain), British Columbia (Canada), California (USA), Catalonia (Spain), Ceará (Brazil), Fatick (Senegal), Goiás (Brazil), Gossas (Senegal), Jalisco (Mexico), KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Lombardia (Italy), Parana (Brazil), Prince Edward Island (Canada), Québec (Canada), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), Saint Louis (Senegal), São Paulo (Brazil), South Australia (Australia), Sud-Comoé (Ivory Coast), Tocantins (Brazil), Tombouctou (Mali), Vermont (Canada), Wales (UK), Western Province (Sri Lanka). 

RegionsAdapt is a global initiative for regional governments to take action, cooperate and report efforts in climate adaptation. Commissioned by the governments of Catalonia and Rio de Janeiro, it has the nrg4SD serving as its Secretariat, and CDP and The Climate Group as its endorsing partners. 

By signing the commitment, RegionsAdapt participants accept to: 

• Adopt a strategic approach to adaptation and prioritize adaptation actions within two years of joining the initiative;
• Take concrete action on adaptation in at least one of the key priority areas identified by the regions; and
• Report data on the progress of the adaptation actions on an annual basis through the risk and adaptation section of CDP’s states and regions platform. 

By joining the initiative, RegionsAdaptwill assist states, regions and provinces to:
• Track adaptation plans and strategies across the globe,
• Accelerate the adoption or revision of regional climate adaptation plans and strategies,
• Promote concrete actions,
• Cooperate and share best practices, and
• Report progress towards adaptation targets. 

Latest achievements 

In 2016, RegionsAdapt launched it´s Welcome Guide offering further background information on milestones of the initiative. Besides explaining its aims, the guide provides information on the implementation plan, services offered and the calendar until December 2017. Aside from this alignment material, founding participants were invited to choose one or more of the seven key priority areas of the RegionsAdapt initiative around each thematic working groups established. The priority areas are: 

1. water resources and management;
2. resilience and disaster risk reduction;
3. agriculture and zootechnics;
4. forestry, protected areas and biodiversity;
5. food security, infrastructure (including transport and the energy sectors) and territorial planning;
6. economic impacts and opportunities; and
7. social adaptation and impacts on living conditions. 

Each working group allows participants to cooperate and share best practices, as well as learn from expert organizations, through webinars, workshops and publications. New RegionsAdapt participants will be offered the possibility of joining these groups as they commit to the initiative. 

To know more about how to join RegionsAdapt, please get in touch with regionsadapt@nrg4sd.org or go to the website.

Ends 

Media contact
Thais Ferraz, Communications Officer, nrg4SD
M: +34 633 235 432
tferraz@nrg4sd.org 

About nrg4SD 

The Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development – nrg4SD is a non-profit international organization representing subnational governments and associations of subnational governments at global level. Established in 2002 at the World Summit of Johannesburg, today nrg4SD totals 50 states, regions and provinces from 30 countries and 7 associations of subnational governments. nrg4SD campaigns internationally for the recognition of the role played by subnational governments in ensuring more effective sustainable development models. The network also focuses on climate change and biodiversity, fostering the dissemination of members’ innovative actions, and encouraging cooperation and partnership programmes for the exchange of best practices. 

nrg4sd.org | @nrg4SD | #RegionsAdapt | #Regions4Climate 

About The Climate Group 

The Climate Group is an award-winning, international non-profit. Our goal is a prosperous, low carbon future. We believe this will be achieved through a ‘clean revolution’: the rapid scale-up of low carbon energy and technology. We work with corporate and government partners to develop climate finance mechanisms, business models which promote innovation, and supportive policy frameworks. We convene leaders, share hard evidence of successful low carbon growth, and pilot practical solutions which can be replicated worldwide. The Climate Group also convenes Climate Week NYC. The Climate Group States & Regions Alliance brings together subnational government leaders from around the world in a powerful, high-profile network that shares expertise, demonstrates impact and influences the international climate dialogue. Our 35 members represent some of the most economically powerful regions in the world and include governments from across Europe, the Americas, South Asia, Australia and Africa, collectively accounting for 340 million citizens, 11% of global GDP and approx. 2.8 GtCO2e.

 TheClimateGroup.org | @ClimateGroup | #StatesandRegions 

About CDP 

CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the only global system for companies, cities, and states and regions to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information. CDP works with market forces, including 822 institutional investors with assets of US$95 trillion, to motivate companies to disclose their impacts on the environment and natural resources and take action to reduce them. CDP now holds the largest collection globally of primary climate change, water and forest risk commodities information and puts these insights at the heart of strategic business, investment and policy decisions. 

CDP.net | @CDP 

About ORU Fogar 

United Regions / Forum of Regional Governments and Global Associations of Regions (ORU Fogar) is a worldwide association, which aims at bringing together regions from all over the world and being their voice before the international organizations, promoting a global policy of balanced development and territorial cohesion. Its main objective is to seek the intermediate governments’ recognition as major players in the global governance. It defends that the decentralization of the national states’ power towards other actors accelerates development; consequently fostering democracy by the proximity between these new actors and the citizens. ORU Fogar promotes a model based on a strong regional government, with capabilities and legally recognized powers and budgets. The organisation has regional governments and regional networks from all five continents as members. 

regionsunies-fogar.org |@ORUFogar 

VII World Summit of Regional Governments 

On the 14th and 15th April 2016, the United Regions Organisation (ORU Fogar) holds the VII World Summit of Regional Governments, an international meeting that will gather regional stakeholders the world over in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Untitled “Regional governments, how can we become more effective?”, the Summit offers an advocacy platform for intermediate governments to counter the recentralising trends arising from the recession. 

The Summit will gather regional leaders from all five continents and it will be structured along six thematic roundtables that will discuss topics such as the sustainable territorial management, the regional powers, the regional governments funding, the keys to a successful relationship with the nation-states and the local levels, as well as the protection of cultural diversity.