The dust seems to finally have settled, giving us space to reflect on New York climate week. We’re not here to tell you about the weather, but we do want to highlight the stark difference between our New York reality and the following week's terrible flash flooding in the city.
These increasingly common, devastating weather events are a warning of what will become our norm if we do not make drastic changes to the way we are living - and during climate week there was an undeniable and overwhelming appetite and energy for change, for action and clear implementation plans rather than more and more commitments.
Democratizing data Restor kicked off the week by participating in a design sprint co-hosted by Google.org and the High Level Champions team, exploring how to enable communities from informal settlements to better access information on climate risks and solutions. The event began with a discussion with 30 women from West Africa. Three key challenges were highlighted:; (1) access to relatable, relevant, and well communicated data, (2) lack of social and economic data (focus on environmental data), and (3) the application of cookie cutter solutions, that are not informed by local context or local realities, often exacerbating challenges.
This conversation and these challenges set the stage for creative problem solving and discussion. It was a brilliant moment of collaboration, and a great learning for Restor in how to better provide the hundreds of thousands of projects on the platform with the transparency, data, and connectivity they require to accelerate their work.
Systemic change
The Global Stocktake has shown that there is a massive climate action gap. Countries need to enhance the ambitions of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to trigger wide-scale system transformation. This must be combined with the re-direction of financial flows away from harmful industries and incumbent actors, towards the policies, innovations, and actions required to achieve the Paris goals. But, this must be done transparently.
The launch of the Task Force for Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) final recommendations during New York climate week wasis yet another call for a reconsideration of how nature is valued within our economies. Both TNFD’s final recommendations and a recent report by the High Level Champions are among the growing clammer of voices highlighting the need for more data, transparency, and trust to accelerate investments into nature.
Restor is leading the way when it comes to world-class, global coverage of nature data. Restor is an effective tool in supporting the enhancement of NDCs, NBSAPs, and disclosures, facilitating transparent, open source, reporting of progress.
Collective action
Connecting with our collaborators and partners at Earthshot Prize, Coleman Family Ventures, Nature Finance, Google, Salesforce, Nature4Climate, Nature Metrics, TNC, Rainforest Connection, and others, it’s clear that Restor is increasingly being viewed as the go-to hub for anyone taking action on nature. A platform where projects can access funding and data;, where governments can track their NDCs and NBSAPs;, where companies can transparently disclose their supply chains;, and where everyone, anywhere can engage with the restoration movement. For example, Restor is collaborating with the government of Costa Rica to monitor their award winning network of reforestation projects. Check out Prince William giving us a shout out at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit during climate week.
And finally…
We are lucky enough to interact on a daily basis with the Restor community - people who live with and amongst nature, who directly rely on biodiverse ecosystems for their survival and therefore, choose to live in ways that allow nature to thrive. We shared their stories with the people we met and during at the events at which we spoke at. It is because of these stories of unwavering commitment, bravery, and ingenuity that we choose to stand optimistic. It is the people, places and projects on Restor that are a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and determination that can help us get out of this mess.
Written by Restor Team
Published in
Community stories
on
24 de setembro de 2023
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