Inside Global Adaptation Negotiations and the Last-Minute Race for a U.S. National Adaptation Plan
In episode 264 of America Adapts, host Doug Parsons welcomes Meredith Ryder-Rude, Associate Vice President for Global Engagement and Partnerships at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and former U.S. State Department climate negotiator. Meredith takes listeners behind the scenes of international climate adaptation negotiations, exploring how countries negotiate adaptation priorities, why adaptation has historically taken a back seat to emissions reductions, and how global agreements translate into action. She also shares the remarkable story of a last-minute effort to develop a U.S. National Adaptation and Resilience Planning Strategy in the final weeks of the Biden administration, including an unexpected America Adapts connection. Doug and Meredith discuss why adaptation remains underfunded despite its economic benefits, EDF's efforts to make adaptation more visible, valuable, and investable, and the challenges of scaling successful solutions. They also challenge common misconceptions about adaptation, explore the importance of building public demand, and consider what a more ambitious national adaptation agenda could look like in the future.
Transcript of episode available here.
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Links in this episode:
US National Adaptation and Resilience Planning Strategy 2025
NAP Central Home | NAP Central - UNFCCC site for all things National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), including a repository for completed NAPs (including the US NARPS).
30 years of Adaptation under the Convention and the Paris Agreement | UNFCCC - a report produced by the Adaptation Committee chronicling the evolution of adaptation in the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement.
Climate adaptation can’t wait: Making resilience visible, valuable, and investable - Climate 411 - This is the blog you previously referenced and we briefly discussed on the needed market shift for adaptation, including the India dairy case study.
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