Global Resilience Partnership
Although COP26 in Glasgow was a big highlight of 2021, there were several other noteworthy accomplishments as well
The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) – an SRC-hosted partnership/initiative for resilience and development – is currently working alongside a diverse group of organisations to bolster and share innovation, knowledge and policy aimed at creating a more resilient world.
The Seeds of Resilience for Peace and Stability project successfully collected and analysed a growing set of pilot resilience-building initiatives, referred to as seeds (including initiatives from Sudan, Mali and Bangladesh). These seeds are currently being cultivated in a database, where they will be analysed in collaboration with other partners to highlight the key features of resilience that these initiatives show.
As cohost of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), the GRP worked with AXA XL, a subsidiary of global insurance and reinsurance company Axa, and Ocean Unite to launch six projects for building coastal resilience and reducing ocean risk in vulnerable countries.
Through the Ocean Resilience Innovation Challenge (ORIC), four winning applicants were mentored for seven months and participated in a Leadership Academy.
Furthermore, a new ORIC challenge was launched at COP26 with funding from DEFRA and the Swiss Re Foundation.
The ORRAA also published a trio of reports by the GRP and SRC, highlighting the risks currently challenging our ocean economy.
In a combined effort with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the UN Development Programme, the GRP launched a call to scale and support innovative finance mechanisms to build resilience in fragile, conflict-prone regions.
Two organisations have been shortlisted for final endorsement by the GEF. The three-year support that these organisations will receive as a result will include low-value grants of US$200,000 to US$300,000, in addition to mentoring and skill-building support.
Shared learning and skills development
The GRP co-founded the Resilience Knowledge Coalition alongside the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and the Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).
This partnership aims “to come up with the best resilience-oriented knowledge and practices designed to shape policies, plans and investments, with a view to delivering a resilient future” through three areas of activity that enable collaboration, connection and application.
In June 2021, the GRP launched the Global South Talent Pool – an internship programme for graduates and young experts in the Global South. The programme includes skill building, experience exchange and support for the graduates and young experts involved.
The GRP also supported the implementation of the Voices from the Frontline initiative led by ICCCAD and CDKN, which documents the challenges and solutions emerging from community-led responses to the Covid-19 crisis, in addition to documenting lessons for building resilience.
The Voices for the Frontline digibook was launched at COP26. Similarly, in 2021, the GRP, ICCCAD and the Climate Justice Resilience Fund launched a catalytic grants pilot scheme to foster continuity between events and promote locally led adaptation.
There are currently eight teams supported by these catalytic grants.
Resilience academies
Finally, the GRP launched three South to South Resilience Academies – a series of collaborations that aim to amplify, leverage and coordinate leadership and expertise in small, developing island states and less developed countries.
The first of these academies, the Climate Resilience Academy for LDCs, is coordinated by ICCCAD and is approaching its final phase of knowledge-product generation (policy briefs, academic papers, blogposts, opinion pieces, for example) and dissemination of the same.
The second academy, the Southern African Resilience Academy led by the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, ran multiple workshops with its academy cohort on the theme “The future of food in Southern Africa”. It had strong connections to the UN Food Systems Summit held in September 2021.
The third academy will begin in 2022, coordinated by the University of the West Indies. It will focus on climate change and health across vulnerable demographics.