COP30: Why Ecosystem-Based and Locally Led Adaptation Matters

BY MARY KYANYI 

As negotiations continue at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, they offer an opportunity to showcase the critical contribution of ecosystems in addressing the impacts of climate change. That this summit is taking place in the Amazon, a world-famous natural carbon sink, couldn’t have been more symbolic.     

For Africa, home to some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, this is an invaluable learning opportunity. Our homeland boasts natural ecosystems such as the vast savannah grassland in Kenya, coral reefs in East Africa, swathes of coastal mangroves in West Africa, and complex natural ecosystems such as the Congo Basin.  

Africa’s rich carbon sinks   

Every year, these ecosystems absorb billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. With them, our contribution to global efforts to slow down climate change cannot be overstated. Despite contributing less than 4 percent of all historical global emissions, Africa is contributing more than its fair share to global emission reduction efforts and enhancing both mitigation and adaptation efforts.  

Besides absorbing emissions from the atmosphere, natural ecosystems enhance flood resilience in coastal and urban settings as an adaptation and response measure, ensuring that human habitats are protected.  

By 2050, more than 70 percent of cities globally will be exposed to the threat of climate impacts, including floods. Halting deforestation and the destruction of these natural buffers is, therefore, key to reducing vulnerabilities and improving the quality of life, especially among urban populations in countries on the climate frontline. 

Applying Ecosystem-Based and Community-Driven Adaptation Strategies holds immense potential in moving the continent towards low-carbon economies. To achieve this, African governments must consider identifying and adding costs of ecosystem restoration to their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), and development frameworks, including approaches to reduce human-caused emissions.    

Incorporating ecosystems into country-level planning instruments enhances synergies and can lead to effective, cost-efficient, and impactful results. This is a powerful way of acknowledging ecosystem integrity, protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as linking climate-resilient and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to global climate fight.     

Africa must never allow its natural ecosystems to be pawned in the false market of carbon credits, which puts the power to control nature in the hands of foreign entities at the expense of its custodians: local communities.  

Instead, the continent should focus on identifying, developing, and domesticating coastal zones and deploying protection technologies such as the Living Shorelines in Kenya’s Wasini Island and the Saly Portudal Island in Senegal. These technologies use natural matter, including plants and shellfish, to enhance biodiversity restoration and reduce erosion.   

To deploy and scale such technologies, resources are key. That’s why Africa continues to demand adequate financing and other Means of Implementation (MoI), to enhance the conservation and management of marine ecosystems. Funding these efforts would ensure that support gets to vulnerable areas, communities, and countries along coastlines and ecosystems whose economies and their natural disaster defense systems depend on them. 

By providing these Means of Implementations, developed countries would help their poor and climate-vulnerable counterparts to withstand pressures of the onset of sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and prevent the irreversible loss of marine biodiversity and ecosystems.   

This support should encompass capacity-building, particularly technical support for African countries that often lack institutional and structural capacities. Training, research, and technology transfer are necessary to strengthen the management, monitoring, protection, and restoration of marine environments.  

Additionally, the provision of remote sensing technology can greatly help in mapping out spatial extents and loss of mangrove forests, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs, which serve as crucial nurseries, habitats, and food sources for marine species.  

Deploying this technology would ensure timely information and data to help curb deforestation and habitat loss, thus promoting long-term conservation, management, and restoration efforts.  

Equally critical, technological interventions would facilitate risk assessment during the slow onset of disasters, track environmental impacts, and monitor these ecosystems and environmental changes over time.  

Developing and reinforcing community-based and national institutions that support the conservation of natural ecosystems can be a strong driver of Locally Led Adaptation and climate action. It also encourages co-ownership of adaptation outcomes. 

The outcomes of the ongoing COP30 negotiations should highlight the importance of climate and nature collaborations. This is critical in closing existing gaps in ecosystem adaptation.  

 Mary Kyanyi is a Climate Adaptation and Resilience Fellow at Power Shift Africa