APRIL 2018 - The UN Climate Resilience Initiative has been chosen as one of 12 UN initiatives to contribute to the Talanoa Dialogue on Sunday 6 May at the UNFCCC SB48 meetings in Bonn. Structured around sharing of ideas, skills and experience through storytelling, the dialogue addresses three key questions relating to climate action: 1) Where are we? 2) Where do we want to go? 3) How do we get there?

Talanoa is a traditional word used in Fiji to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good.

APRIL 2018 - A2R facilitated a meeting on the establishment of a potential learning platform on climate risk insurance for Africa at the 2nd Global Adaptation Network Forum in Abu Dhabi on 19-20 March. Hosted by UN Environment and Zayed University, the Forum addressed some of the most pressing challenges for climate change adaptation, including ensuring adaptation action reaches the most vulnerable. Attended by the Fiji high-level Climate Champion, the Forum was the first event to contribute to the Talanoa Dialogue and featured a regional Technical Expert Meeting on Adaptation under the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee.
 
The meeting convened by A2R and the Africa Adaptation Initiative considered the establishment of a potential learning platform on climate risk insurance for Africa. It brought together representatives from Malawi, Senegal, Africa Risk Capacity (ARC), African Development Bank, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, UNFCCC and IIASA. Participants discussed the lessons learned from implementing ARC on the African continent and in Malawi and Senegal and identified some of the political, technical, operational and financial challenges faced. Participants agreed that there was a need for targeted, Africa-specific information sharing on climate risk insurance and that much remained to be done to sensitize relevant stakeholders including governments, beneficiaries, civil society and the private sector. A further discussion based on the outcomes of the meeting will be convened at the margins of the UNFCCC SB48 meetings in Bonn, hosted by Munich Climate Insurance Initiative.

APRIL 2018 - In collaboration with the MIT Climate CoLab, the UN Climate Resilience Initiative and the InsuResilience Global Partnership launched a contest on absorbing climate impacts at COP23 in Bonn. The contest seeking new, innovative solutions to help vulnerable communities better absorb climate-related impacts through insurance and social protection, has now advanced to the first round of judging. 72 proposals were received and judges from the Asian Development Bank, BMZ, FAO, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative and UNEP-FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance have now choosen semi-finalists to further develop their proposals. The contest forms part of a GIZ-funded project on links between climate risk insurance, implemented in collaboration with InsuResilience.