About APAN

The Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), developed and launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) in 2009 under the Global Adaptation Network (GAN), is the first regional adaptation network.

APAN is an open network that strives to equip adaptation actors in the region with knowledge for designing and implementing adaptation measures, building capacity to access technologies and finance, and integrating climate change adaptation into policies, strategies, and plans towards building climate change resilient and sustainable human systems, ecosystems, and economies. APAN has established close partnerships with key sub-regional organizations and has become an important adaptation knowledge mobilizer in Asia and the Pacific region.

About the Forum

The Asia-Pacific Adaptation Forum, the flagship event of the APAN Network,is the primary regional platform for adaptation practitioners to meet, share their learning and experiences, and work together towards the pertinent outcomes and practical solutions that are needed to address the challenges of climate change.

Since the first event in 2010, the APAN Forum has grown to become the venue for scientists, donors, youth, and representatives from over 50 countries to meet, converse, and work together for adaptation action partnerships.

About the 7th APAN Forum

The 7th APAN Forum will be held virtually on 8-12 March 2021 under the theme: Enabling Resilience for All: The Critical Decade to Scale-up Action, sharing learnings from actions towards climate-resilient development. Resilience is the unifying theme of the Forum, which is structured around four thematic “streams” focusing on (i) inclusive resilience; (ii) nature-based resilience (iii) economic sector resilience; and (iv) communities and local resilience, respectively.

Hosted by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MoEJ) , Government of Japan, together with the APAN secretariat at UN Environment, the Forum is the largest gathering of adaptation practitioners in the Asia and Pacific region.

Resilience embodies the desired end-point of adaptation, applicable to natural, human, economic and engineered systems. For this Forum theme, adequate enabling conditions and access to support through which resilience may be built, maintained, and strengthened are identified as a) climate governance; b) planning and processes; c) science and assessment; d) technologies and practices; e) finance and investments.

Objectives of the 7th APAN Forum

The 7th APAN Forum aims to:

• Address the capacity building needs and priority issues in the Asia-Pacific region that would enable the scaling of tools and the means to resilience and to equip human systems and communities with the capacity to withstand and moderate adverse impacts arising from climate change;
  
• Act as a platform for discussions to accelerate action and facilitate the “how” part of adaptation knowledge and programmes, with actionable, scalable “next step” guidelines for communities, stakeholders, and governments;
  
• Report on the specific actions taken and progress made since the last APAN Forum on addressing the identified priority knowledge, policy and funding gaps;
  
• Formulate a set of recommendations on how to magnify current efforts on adaptation in the Asia-Pacific region and provide the basis for the Asia-Pacific region contributions to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom and the 2021 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Kunming, China.
  

Forum Participants

The forum expects attendees from:
Multilateral and regional organizations;
Government agencies (e.g. environment, planning and finance ministries);
Academia;
Engineering and other professional associations;
Donor and financing institutions;
Relevant private sector and business;
Non-governmental organizations;
Media;
Youth and community-based practitioners.

Virtual Dialogue Series for Enabling Resilience and Scaling-up Action on Climate Change Adaptation

In preparation to the main Forum, the APAN Secretariat and Partners will organise a series of five dialogues designed as a precursor to the major event, covering the four streams on: a) inclusive resilience; b) nature-based resilience; c) economic sector resilience; d) communities and local resilience. Conducted over four weeks, from 19 October to 12 November 2020, the dialogue series will to bring perspectives from stakeholders from different sectors across the Asia-Pacific region in support to climate change adaptation and resilience.

The virtual dialogue series will be held from mid-October to mid-November 2020.