New contest on reshaping development pathways in LDCs
What are the most innovative, scalable solutions and best practices to restore degraded landscapes (agro-, silvo-, pastoral and natural ecosystems), helping vulnerable communities in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to become more climate resilient?
We’re excited to announce that the Global Resilience Partnership, UK aid, and UN Climate Resilience Initiative A2R have launched a new contest on MIT Climate CoLab!
To reshape development pathways for the overall achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development they are calling for innovative, scalable solutions and best practices to restore degraded ecosystems, helping vulnerable communities in LDCs become more climate resilient.
Background
Climate change, population growth, conflicts, and food and nutrition insecurity are linked with ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. Climate change is projected to exacerbate the process of ecosystem degradation through the intensification of extreme weather events, undermining the resilience and sustainability of agriculture and food systems and further endangering livelihoods of already vulnerable communities.
With the increasing threats that climate shocks and stresses present, there is an urgent need to reshape development pathways into prioritizing proactive disaster risk reduction instead of reactive measures in the devastating aftermath of the event. Particularly the poorest and most vulnerable countries such as the LDCs suffer the worst effects of climate change and experience the highest rates of damage and loss to their natural ecosystems. To foster the climate resilience of these countries, incremental measures must give way to concerted efforts fostering transformation if we are to solve the root causes of vulnerabilities.
New contest now open for proposals
Given this, there is a call for innovative, practical proposals that use nature-based solutions for land restoration to help in reshaping development pathways and especially vulnerable communities in LDCs to adapt to climate change and reduce risks. Proposals can take the form of new solutions or methodologies or they can build on existing approaches.
Prizes
The UN Climate Resilience Initiative and Global Resilience Partnership will provide the Judges’ Choice Winner with funding for capacity development in the amount worth USD 10,000. The Judges’ Choice Winner will also be invited to travel (expenses-paid trip, including flight, accommodation, and meals) to the UN SG Climate Summit in September 2019 in New York to present their winning proposal.
The Popular Vote Winner–selected by the global community through popular vote–will win an expenses-paid trip (including flight, accommodation, and meals) to attend selected events at and around COP25, where the winner will be given the opportunity to present the proposal to a community of practitioners, policymakers and private sector representatives.
The global community is invited to submit proposals until July 1, 2019 at 11:59 PM (ET)!