Global Stocktake highlights the urgent need for systems transformation approaches 

The first UN Global Stocktake confirms what countries already knew: They aren’t doing enough and the world is on track to warm beyond the trajectories set under the Paris Agreement in 2015. The report particularly emphasises the opportunities offered by systems transformation approaches and the need for more inclusive policymaking. 

Released last weekend by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose role is to provide governments with scientific assessments of the drivers and impacts of climate change, the Synthesis Report of the first Global Stocktake evaluates the world’s progress in slashing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience against catastrophic climate impacts, and securing finance and support to address the climate crisis. It is also aimed at paving a strategic path ahead and informing the forthcoming round of climate commitments or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), slated for presentation in 2025. 

The report recognises that the Paris Agreement has inspired significant progress in global mitigation and adaptation action and support, which contributed to reducing forecasts of future warming, but it also confirms that the world is still off track to meet the long-term goals of the Agreement. It comes in a particular context as a new analysis by Climate Central concluded that more than 3.8 billion people (almost half the world’s population) experienced extreme heat between June and August of this year.  

Responding to the report, EIT Climate-KIC CEO Kirsten Dunlop said: “While this report highlights the challenges in our climate fight, it also illuminates a path forward through actions like the mobilisation of global climate finance and the inclusion of non-party stakeholders in decision-making processes. We are working with institutions and habits that are not fit for the poly-crisis world in which we now live. But we have the power to change that. At EIT Climate-KIC, we’ve embraced systems transformation as the key to achieving ambitious and collective climate objectives. As the report underlines, addressing the climate crisis means reshaping societal systems for equity and justice and reshaping economics to achieve sufficiency. We’re innovating with a large variety of stakeholders across all industries to meet these unique needs and ensure fairness. Join us on this journey as we navigate towards a sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient future for all.” 

IPCC recognise that systemic approaches are key to achieving climate goals 

The report underscores the necessity for the systemic transformation of every facet of society to counteract the unceasing surge in emissions. This aligns closely with EIT Climate-KIC’s approach, which focuses on implementing systems innovation to assist cities, regions, countries, and value chains in achieving net-zero emissions and meeting other ambitious climate goals. 

“Key finding 2: To strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, governments need to support systems transformations that mainstream climate resilience and low GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions development. Credible, accountable and transparent actions by non-party stakeholders are needed to strengthen efforts for systems transformations.” 

“Key finding 3: Systems transformations open up many opportunities, but rapid change can be disruptive. A focus on inclusion and equity can increase ambition in climate action and support.” 

“Key finding 6: Achieving net zero CO2 and GHG emissions requires systems transformations across all sectors and contexts, including scaling up renewable energy while phasing out all unabated fossil fuels, ending deforestation, reducing non-CO2 emissions and implementing both supply- and demand-side measures.” 

“More effective international cooperation and credible initiatives can contribute to bridging emissions and implementation gaps.” 

EIT Climate-KIC’s Deep Demonstration programmes take a comprehensive systems transformation approach to drive innovation in support of cities, regions, countries, and industries to achieve their climate goals. We recognise that combatting the climate crisis goes beyond simply reducing carbon emissions. It involves reshaping the fundamental systems, structures and behaviours within society to achieve sustainable ways of living while promoting fairness and equity.  

To achieve this, our programmes engage with a diverse range of stakeholders and communities to understand their local needs and concerns. We then orchestrate a holistic set of innovation actions, building connections and integrating solutions across sectors and domains using different levers for change, including policy measures, financial and social innovations and well as technologies, materials and nature-based solutions. These activities are co-designed together with the actors involved, are designed to accelerate learning and enable choice making, ensuring that the benefits and costs of the changes are distributed fairly. 

For example, in Ireland, we’re collaborating with farmers, businesses, policymakers and researchers to come up with tailored solutions to environmental challenges. Our partnership with the national Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine is helping the entire Irish farming and food industry find and put into practice eco-friendly methods. This way, farming communities can prosper, and the food industry can shift towards sustainable ways of doing business, all while meeting ambitious climate goals. We’re also making sure we learn from one another and work together to make progress on climate issues.

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Climate adaptation efforts must be integrated and driven by local contexts 

The IPCC report also points out that adaptation efforts, while becoming more mainstream, remain fragmented, incremental, and unevenly distributed. It emphasises the need to tailor these efforts to local needs and priorities so that they truly benefit the communities that are least prepared for change and least able to recover from disasters.  

“Key finding 10: Collectively, there is increasing ambition in plans and commitments for adaptation action and support, but most observed adaptation efforts are fragmented, incremental, sector-specific and unequally distributed across regions. Adaptation planning is the first step in an iterative cycle to enable moving swiftly from understanding risks to more ambitious and effective adaptation action and support, the implementation of which must now be accelerated to increase adaptive capacity, support greater resilience gains and reduce vulnerability.” 

“Key finding 11: When adaptation is informed and driven by local contexts, populations and priorities, both the adequacy and the effectiveness of adaptation action and support are enhanced, and this can also promote transformational adaptation.” 

EIT Climate-KIC Innovation Clusters actively engage local communities, uniting diverse stakeholders like businesses, universities, citizens, investors, governmental agencies, and NGOs. This approach systematically activates entrepreneurial activities, constructing a robust, locally rooted innovation ecosystem. Our efforts, including acceleration activities, ecosystem development, and capacity development, aim to catalyse the creation of a self-sustaining climate innovation ecosystem.  

In agriculture-dependent Tanzania, our Adaptation Innovation Cluster specifically targets reducing climate vulnerability and enhancing rural community resilience, recognising the importance of bridging the gap to ensure adaptation solutions effectively reach the most vulnerable rural populations and are integrated into their communities. This includes strengthening smallholder farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change, whilst reducing the risk of climate-related factors exacerbating poverty and food insecurity.

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In Nairobi and Bengaluru, our Circular Economy Innovation Clusters are creating self-sustaining innovation ecosystems designed to generate solutions for waste prevention through circular economies while also benefiting marginalised communities.  The approach focuses on activating entrepreneurial activities in a cohesive and systemic way, building a locally embedded innovation ecosystem that includes entrepreneurs as well as other key stakeholders such as local government and businesses, policy makers and investors.