Save the date for 2020 Development and Climate Days

This year’s climate change summit may be postponed, but the 18th annual D&C Days will go ahead in an online format at the start of December.

News, 09 November 2020
Groups of people gather around tables and talk

Organisers of the 2020 Development and Climate Days will be replicating the interactive nature of the event online as part of this year's Understanding Risk Forum (Photo: Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, via FlickrCC BY-NC 2.0)

As 2020 nears its conclusion without a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate change summit and the need to wait until COP26 in November 2021, when the world expects to hear how nations will meet their Paris Agreement commitments, urgent climate action cannot be on hold.

We are therefore delighted to announced that this year’s COP-less Development and Climate Days is moving to an entirely digital format, continuing to explore the ambitious actions and transformational systems that countries are using – or should be using – in order to meet their Paris commitments.

The event will bring together thinking from various sectors – food and agriculture, finance, cities, infrastructure, biodiversity, disaster risk reduction – that are seeking coherence and cross-cutting collaboration to ensure climate resilience for all.

As part of the Understanding Risk Forum 2020 (UR2020), the world’s primary event bringing together experts and practitioners in the field of disaster risk assessment and risk communication, D&C Days has the digital platform for two days of discussion and dialogue.

On 2 and 3 December, we will use digital technologies to share learning experiences by engaging, being productive and having fun.

Event details

The dynamic format used by D&C Days encourages dialogue on a range of issues that link policy, knowledge and practice. Innovative virtual approaches encourage participants to interact, challenge existing thinking and generate new ideas, leaving no one behind.

We welcome everyone at the frontline of sustainable development and climate agendas to join us at this year’s D&C Days, including practitioners, NGOs, grassroot organisation representatives, national climate leaders and policymakers at all levels.

More information on the programme sessions and how to register will be announced shortly.

However, the previous themes of D&C Days – building resilient food and agriculture systems; early warning, early action to leave no one behind; financing a resilient future; establishing resilient cities and infrastructure; and working with nature to build resilience – will continue to be explored and developed. Read the key messages from last year’s event: five pathways to a climate-resilient future.

Background to D&C Days

Usually held each year alongside the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC, D&C Days is developing as a strategic partnership platform, with the host partners aiming to influence the ‘ambition mechanism’ processes under the UNFCCC.

D&C Days started in 2002, and has since become a popular part of COP, providing an opportunity for researchers, practitioners and negotiators to meet informally for honest and open discussions on news, ideas and solutions on climate change and development.

About the organisers

This year’s event is hosted in partnership by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) with EIT Climate-KIC, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA), Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).