1. Context

Accelerating adaptation action and strengthening climate resilience, particularly for vulnerable countries and communities, are central to implementing the Paris Agreement. Alongside finance, technology and capacity, effective adaptation requires timely, context-specific and actionable knowledge and know-how to anticipate evolving climate risks and scale up adaptation action. Many of these climate risks transcend national boundaries and affect shared ecosystems, calling for subregional cooperation that draws on diverse knowledge, expertise and partnerships to address common challenges.

The Nairobi work programme (NWP), the UNFCCC knowledge-to-action hub for adaptation and resilience, engages diverse knowledge holders and thematic experts to deliver timely, understandable and actionable knowledge and know-how. This support responds to Parties evolving needs, particularly those of developing country Parties, and helps scale up adaptation action across systems and communities.

2. Mandate

The NWP Focal Point Forum is mandated to be regularly organized during sessions of the Conference of the Parties, with participation from representatives of interested Parties. Its modalities include enhancing the engagement of experts and expert organizations, including from developing countries; providing an interactive space for information-sharing and informal exchange among Parties, NWP partner organizations, experts and other relevant organizations; and facilitating collaboration and partnerships among these actors¹.

The NWP supports the scaling of adaptation action across thematic areas and at the subregional level by building a diverse global network of expertise and experience, strengthening institutional linkages, and collaborating with thematic expert groups, subregional partners, networks and Parties to identify and address adaptation knowledge and know-how needs in countries².

3. Objectives

Organized under the guidance of the Chair of the SBSTA, the 19th Focal Point Forum will bring together Parties, NWP partners and diverse knowledge holders to share practical lessons and identify ways to scale up adaptation action. It will explore how knowledge, expertise and partnerships can address current and emerging adaptation knowledge and know-how needs across thematic areas and support context-specific, actionable solutions for countries and communities at the subregional level. The concept note is available here.

The Forum will:

• Share practical experiences and lessons learned on how knowledge and know-how can accelerate adaptation action at the subregional level, highlighting successful approaches, enabling factors and opportunities for replication and scaling up;
• Identify current and emerging adaptation knowledge and know-how needs across thematic areas, and explore how expertise and partnerships can address critical gaps by generating new knowledge or translating existing knowledge into accessible, context-specific and actionable solutions ;
• Explore how NWP’s, subregional work, can respond to the knowledge needs of Parties, including those arising from the implementation of the United Arab Emirates Framework for Global Climate Resilience.

4. Expected outcomes

• A shared understanding of practical experiences, successful approaches and lessons learned in using knowledge and know-how to accelerate adaptation action at the subregional level, including enabling factors and opportunities for replication and scaling up;
• Identification of priority adaptation knowledge and know-how needs across thematic areas, and opportunities for collaboration to address them through new knowledge or context-specific and actionable solutions;
• Identification of opportunities for the NWP’s subregional work, to respond to the knowledge needs of Parties, including those arising from the implementation of the United Arab Emirates Framework for Global Climate Resilience.

5. Agenda

[1] FCCC/SBSTA/2017/7. 

[2] For mandate on the LAKI, see FCCC/SBSTA/2022/6. For mandates on thematic areas, see FCCC/2026/5, FCCC/SBSTA/2022/6, FCCC/SBSTA/2019/2, FCCC/SBSTA/2018

[3] FCCC/SBSTA/2026/5.