{"id":27630,"date":"2021-01-27T09:38:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T09:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spain.climate-kic.org\/?post_type=news&p=27630"},"modified":"2021-01-27T09:38:42","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T09:38:42","slug":"boosting-climate-adaptation-with-innovation-an-opinion-by-dr-tom-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/spain.climate-kic.org\/en\/news\/boosting-climate-adaptation-with-innovation-an-opinion-by-dr-tom-mitchell\/","title":{"rendered":"Boosting climate adaptation with innovation, an Opinion by Dr. Tom Mitchell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/em><\/strong>
\nTom Mitchell, Climate KIC Chief Strategy Officer<\/em><\/p>\n

Innovation can help overcome the climate adaptation gap and create jobs in the new adaptation economy, but only if we seize the moment, writes Climate KIC Chief Strategy Officer Dr. Tom Mitchell.<\/span><\/p>\n

On January 25 and 26, 2021, world leaders address the Climate Adaptation Summit<\/a> against the backdrop of ever greater threats from climate change and a yawning gap in the money needed to address the adaptation challenge<\/a>. While COVID-19 has bumped climate disasters from the headlines, $US125 billion<\/a> worth of damages in 2020 and millions ofpeople plunged back into extreme poverty<\/a> are screaming warning sirens.<\/p>\n

Surviving and thriving in the face of extreme weather and climate is already a major challenge for many people around the world. But working on climate adaptation solutions today could create significant opportunities for improvements in health and wellbeing as well as for innovation and job creation globally. Whether growing crops in deserts, harvesting water from the wind, creating porous cities, or finding natural ways to cool our homes, the adaptation economy<\/a> is booming. The consultancy PWC estimates climate-focused start-up investment<\/a> has increased by nearly 3750 per cent in the last six years, and research commissioned by Climate KIC found the adaptation economy<\/a> in 2016 was already worth \u20ac279 billion globally and was forecast to grow at 11 per cent per year.<\/p>\n

To accelerate adaptation solutions to scale faster, UNDP, Climate KIC and partners are launching, on 25 January 2021, the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace (AIM)<\/strong>. It brings together funders, investors, entrepreneurs, as well as market catalysts and offers a place for governments to go if they want to capture a slice of the action. But world leaders can go further, seizing the moment to trigger an adaptation innovation wave and helping resilient economic recovery from COVID-19 at the same time, by:\u00a0<\/p>\n