The High-level Climate Champions hosted a Marrakech Partnership meeting where stakeholders from the Asia Pacific region as well as international organizations attended. The one-day workshop went through the Marrakech Partnership activity plans for the year, key milestones of the process where they can engage in and held deep-dive discussions per sector (Energy, Industry, Finance, Land Use and Oceans and Water) on opportunities and challenges surrounding the Asia-Pacific region in scaling up climate action. A summary will be shared soon and the outcomes will be incorporated into the future Marrakech Partnership planning.

During the following days of the Climate Week, the Marrakech Partnership hosted four events with the collaboration of stakeholders:

• High-level event on Transport in Cities: SLOCAT was the lead. ICC CCAC, CDP, UITP, UNEP supported the organization. The Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE presented Vision 2021 as well as the National Climate Change Plan 2050 and the impressive progress UAE is making. Other high-level representatives such as ASEAN Secretary-General, Chairman of TailG, Vice President of Michelin, Secretary General of UITP all highlighted the importance of greater collaboration between the private sector and civil society and the governments to complement policy incentives, investor confidence, technology leverage and policy analyses in accelerating transformation of the transport sector. The panel discussed the state of play in the Asia Pacific in terms of economy-linked demands for transport and rapid urbanization, the need for enhanced measures for transport in national plans, and the need for innovative financing solutions.
• Regional TEM-M on Enabling Waste-to-energy, Reuse and Prevention Solutions to Achieve Circular Economy and Boost Climate Action. The lead organization was UNIDO supported by BASWAC, FAO, ICC. Kicked-off by the high-level Climate Champion, the discussion centered around the current perception of recycling, which needs to be evolved beyond mitigation and incorporate a human dimension. The session concluded on the consensus that there needs to be a fundamental behavioural shift, whereby people understand that they are helping themselves – helping their family – by virtue of using resources responsibly.
• Workshop on Data to Drive Climate Action and Energy Transitions in Cities was organized by CDP supported by IEA and ICC. IEA started with an overview of how technologies are enabling cities’ energy transition, the Panel discussed the importance of data in assessing the status quo and in sharpening the decision making on how to scale up climate action that is tailored to the cities’ social, economic and environmental circumstances. While the ‘death by data’ was pointed as something to be aware of, lack of data for some of the SDG indicators for cities was flagged as an example of how critical data can be to assess and drive climate action.
• Strategies to Reach Scale: Adaptation and Climate-Resilient Initiatives in Coastal Zones was organized by IFRC with the support of BAWC and WMO. The panel discussed success scenario of adaptation measures on coastal zones through empowerment of the local communities and the pitfalls of scaling up action that works at the local level. Numerous examples highlighted that stakeholder participation in the vertical integration of adaptation measures and capacity-building programmes is critical in bringing coastal zone communities’ resilience action to scale.