 Welcome to confronting climate, COVID and conflict in a fragile context here at the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. This session here is a call to action. Gradual nations and communities, they have been more vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It's estimated to have thrown 95 million additional people into extreme poverty. Gradual communities as that are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Just last week, for example, many of you might have seen that the World Bank warned climate change could push more than 200 million people to leave their homes by 2050 unless urgent action is taken. So the big question here, the central question, which we will seek to tip away at a bit in this panel is what actions can governments and businesses take to help overcome these risks. Allow me to introduce our distinguished panel now. Kelly Clemens is joining us. She is Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the UNHCR. Dr. Beth Dunford is Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank. Rebecca Marmot is Chief Sustainability Officer at UNLiever and Ani Dasgupta is President and CEO of the World Resources Institute. Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. And I'd just like to make a quick note before we get started with the conversation that everybody who is watching us on live stream, you can feel free to weigh in and get involved. You can go to Slido.com. Again, Slido.com. I know many of you are familiar with this platform. When you get there, enter in S-D-I-S-21. Again, it's S-D-I-S-21 and find our panel, which is Confronting Climate, COVID and Conflict in a Fragile Context. There you can submit your questions for the panelists. You can also weigh in on two questions about newly displaced people and I will reveal those results or rather the answers during the course of our conversation. So now without any further ado, I'd like to begin the conversation with Deputy High Commissioner Clements and, you know, as we've been hearing, conflict, hunger, poverty, they have always been among the big factors, thriving displacement in vulnerable communities. Now we're hearing about these factors being compounded by COVID-19 by the climate crisis. At UNHCR, how do you see the situation and where is the most urgent need for action? Thank you. Thank you so much, Sarah, and it's really a pleasure to be joining you from the UN Refugee Agency. I may give the answer to one of your quiz questions, but we have 82.4 million forcibly displaced people in the world today. The 10th successive year where we've had increased displacement, you know, many of us for the last 18 months have almost felt like our lives have been put on pause, but unfortunately conflict, displacement, violence, persecution, all of that, in addition to the environmental impacts and climate, as you've mentioned, all of that has gone on on hyperspeed and we see this in really tough parts of the world. Most recently, I think the world's attention has been firmly focused on what's going on in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, what's happening south of the border here, Central America, Venezuela, all of these compound in terms of an environment now where we're dealing with a pandemic and in terms of COVID, we've seen the most vulnerable, the vulnerable really be hardest hit. And what we have strongly advocated now is this is not the time to walk away to turn away. Then in order for us as a globe, as an international community, we really need to include everyone and that includes displaced people. I was just in Jordan two weeks ago and I was in the Zaatri refugee camp, which is really a small city in some ways. And there was a beehive of activity in the vaccination center because Jordan had taken the extraordinary step of vaccinating refugees in addition to Jordanian citizens. Now, this is something that of course we would like to see across the globe. And we have 123 of 126 countries that have said they want to do just that. But what we don't see is enough vaccine to go around and the equality issues or rather the inequality issues in terms of making sure that COVAX and the humanitarian buffer really has enough to be able to include refugees and displaced as well as nationals in some of the poorest parts of the world. Nine out of 10 refugees in the world are in lower middle income countries. And this is why inclusion is a key watchword. We've seen on COVID, we've seen the private sector step up and I'm really pleased to be on the panel, of course, with Unilever. They've been one of the strongest supporters. We've been able to reach 13 million people through a variety of different engagements with information campaigns, soaps, hygiene products and the like. And this is the sort of private sector activity that is hugely important. I could talk more, of course, about climate and climate action. But let me leave that as a starter and hopefully we can come back to climate in a moment. Sarah, thank you. Absolutely. We're going to come back to climate. We're going to talk about what more you would like to see, especially from the private sector. And what we know for the United Nations is that the first year of what is supposed to be a decade of action. And in fact, so we're going to talk about how we can accelerate that throughout this conversation. But Beth, I'd like to turn to you first, specifically so that you can tell us what's going on in your region. We know that you're with the African Development Bank, that there you're working to achieve social and economic transformation on the African continent. It has been said that especially sub-Saharan Africa is among the most vulnerable areas to the impact of climate change. What is the continent facing not only in that context, but now also in the context of the pandemic? Great. Well, thank you for that question. And we know that 246 million Africans go to bed hungry every night. And again, a lot of that is driven by climate change and conflict, which are key drivers of hunger on the continent. And that's been, of course, the pandemic has come on top of that with related shutdowns and lockdowns. It's really disrupted the economy and it's really laid bare the fragility of the food system on the continent that's required to deliver safe, affordable, nutritious food to the people who need it when they need it. And so I just want to talk about a few ways that the international community, African governments, many actors on the continent, including the African Development Bank, are engaging in this. One way is to really, these risks that are inherent with climate change, with these economic shocks such as pandemic, such as COVID-19, is to really transfer such risks to the international market through ex ante approaches such as insurance. So payouts from these insurance products can be really an effective way of providing a social safety net protection and support to communities that are impacted by disasters. For instance, last year following a devastating drought in the south of the country, Madagascar called its drought insurance policy that's taken out through the bank's African Disaster Risk Financing Initiative. And Madagascar received 2.13 million payout from this African risk capacity. And so the funds are being used to help 600,000 vulnerable people who are affected by this climate disaster. This is some cash for work schemes, nutritional support, water supply, et cetera, water for livestock. But again, it's an insurance that the government can take out to help its people in times of disaster. So another way I think that is very, very important is to really think about strengthening food systems. Again, the weaknesses of these food systems has really been laid there. So we know that this has got to be integral and it's a very complicated food system with many, many actors. But just to give sort of a couple of things that we're doing focusing on climate smart agricultural practices, these technologies we're working through our African Agricultural Transformation Program or the TAT Initiative, which is working with millions of smallholder farmers across 27 low-income countries. And we're providing a diversity of climate smart agricultural technologies for livestock soil, for livestock soil, aquaculture and crops. This is things like heat tolerant wheat, so you can grow wheat even in a changing environment. There are many, many such technologies. They've been well researched. But again, they're not out necessarily at the scale we need with farmers, so they can actually grow with the changing climate. So just to give an example of how this has worked in Sudan, despite numerous lockdowns and restrictions, it recorded its largest wheat harvest ever in 2020 with the 1.5 million ton harvest, which really is putting Sudan on the path to self-sufficiency in wheat. Thank you so much, Beth, for filling us a little bit there. And we're going to drill down actually into more of those examples because we certainly want to highlight some of them throughout the course of our conversation. But Rebecca, I'd like to turn to you because you're bringing the private sector perspective here. And at Unilever, in fact, you have an ambitious plan to take the company to net zero by 2039. Beyond that, we also know that you're partnering with the public sector, including with UNHCR, we have to mention, on hygiene initiatives for vulnerable communities. Let me ask you, what more do you think the private sector could do and should do to help mitigate the compounding effect of climate change and coronavirus for the world's most vulnerable? Thanks, Sarah. And thanks very much for inviting me to join the panel today. I think we all knew that climate change and sensational equity were the two biggest problems across the world. And then the pandemic hit. And so many developing countries and communities then were even more vulnerable than they had been before. And I think actually the solution to that is public and private collaboration. We're all, unfortunately, hugely familiar with all the stats and the terrible data coming out around the number of people free in 10 don't have access to hand washing facilities in the home. It's two and three people in the least developed countries. So when the pandemic hit, we launched two big initiatives that we felt made the best of what Unilever had to bring to try to help solve the problem. One was around product donations. We donated 100 million of products, soaps and sanitizers, surface cleaners, et cetera. But what we also did was work together with the UK government with the FCDO and what we call the Hygiene and Behavior Change Coalition, which is I think a good example of how from a private sector perspective, we brought expertise around behavior change and capacity building. So lots of work around running hygiene awareness programs, for example, improving access to things like water and hand washing facilities, but working in partnership with people like Kelly and UNHCR plus UNICEF, other UN agencies and 20 different NGOs so that we could really take the best of what the private sector had to offer, but areas where we don't have that expertise, working with our partners in the UN and in the NGO world and NGO communities. Then I think ahead of that as well, we've really tried to then look at what other things can the private sector do in terms of job creation and employment opportunities, really trying to boost economic opportunities. So for example, we've been working with people like the IRC and TENT in recent years on job training and employment opportunities for refugees. We've just actually with TENT launched a special program focused on LGBTQ refugees through our own LGBTQ community proud at Unilever. And we're now mentoring refugees who've come to the UK and really helping them with things like writing CVs, interview techniques, networking, trying to find job opportunities. And I think if we think outside of COVID, you've heard already and Beth talked about it just now, this displacement of communities as a result of conflict or climate events is having such a major impact on everything right across from the sourcing of food, the growing of food, the access to water, and of course that in itself then has impacts on access to things like education. So we've been trying again where we can to bring in private sector expertise. So for example, we work with Oxfam on a program called Mum's Magic Hand. So looking at behavior change programs which are around access to water for hand washing, really thinking about how can we bring some expertise and some skills from what Unilever has to offer. But I think beyond that, if we look more widely, you talk Sarah about some of the commitments that we've made around net zero. But I think what's really, really important is it's great to have those targets in place, but you've got to have interim short term targets in place as well because a lot of these targets, not just from Unilever, but many countries and other in the private sector are 2030 targets and beyond. So we launched a climate transition action plan earlier this year which maps out our trajectory to reaching those targets with interim three year goals in place so that we're really sure that we're able to keep the momentum going and make sure that we're making progress in the short term as well as the long term. And I think with COP just around the corner now, really super, super important for all governments to align their national climate plans with the one and a half degree goal and business as well to set the same science-based targets for reducing emissions in line with that target. Thank you so much, Rebecca. And we're going to follow up on that, of course, throughout the conversation as well. But first, and before I get to Ani, Ani, I have, sorry, I have a long question for you and it draws on basically what the Deputy High Commissioner Clements gave us a hint about a little bit earlier, the questions that we were supposed to answer. And despite your clues, Deputy High Commissioner, I have to say we did not perform well on the polls. So let me just walk through the results. Of course, this is no laughing matter. But we asked the first question in 2020, how many millions of new internal displacements were caused by disasters and conflict? So 75% of you said 20 million people. In fact, it was double that. So 40 million people, new internal displacements caused by disaster and conflict. The statistic that I find particularly shocking is the one that comes next. And this is what really relates back to our panel as well. Of those new displacements, what percentage were caused by weather-related disasters such as drought, extreme temperatures, wildfires, floods or storms? The vast majority of you answered to that 25% or 50%. It's dramatically higher. 75% are due to those reasons. So, I mean, we have a lot to talk about. Ani, this is the question that's now coming to you because I know you're our data expert. So you're very much as an organization, as a global research organization, you're working with public and private sectors to develop practical solutions that improve people's lives. So when we're looking at the data regarding climate change impacts on populations, how can that really help in the design of adaptation strategies and policies? And also just to encourage this action that we're talking about, this dramatic action that is indeed necessary in order to get us to the goals. Sorry. Thank you. First of all, it's a privilege. An absolute privilege to be on this panel. Thank you for including me. I want to answer the question that just best data can help Kelly make better decisions about what she's doing. So if you let Kelly speak for two more minutes, she'll not only tell you the size of the problem, but the resources that's available to our disposal to solve the problem is actually very scarce. So we want to make sure every resource that's available goes to the right place. What can data do about it? I think data can do two things. One, at a macro level, a global level, imagine if Kelly knew where the next crisis would be, where the next climate crisis would be, not after it happened, but before it happened. A global data architecture can help. I can give you examples of how that can happen on what's happened to the ecosystem, what's happening to forests, what's happening to water, what's happening to land. The modern data architecture, the sum of we are part of very much of, we can measure every hectare of forest, for example, or forest as well. But that tells you one side of the story. But for us to be really, really effective, we need to know what's happening to people who are getting affected by these crises. So the other side of the data architecture is actually more understanding. So people themselves can help themselves and all the global community can help other people. So I want to highlight one example of the kind of thing that needs to happen about more understanding of what's happening to families, what's happening to people. Because without understanding what vulnerability of drivers are going to do you're facing, you can't actually be very effective or what kind of solutions or what kind of support that you. So we launched something called a blueprint for building climate resilience for 300 million smallholder farmers until 2030. And this, not just by us, but with us, we're building a business WB, a CSD Gold Business Council for Sustainable Development, the World Food Program, the International Research Institute of Climate and Society, and the Global Center for Adaptation. And the goal here is to get data and that will have more improved data governance, more focus and equity. So we are not only understanding the macro, but the micro, but also enhance financial stability for data collection in a business model. So for us to answer your question, to get to the data, we need both sides of it. We need to be having systems data that what's happening and this is becoming better and better. But the second part is not happening enough. Much more detail, the segregate understanding of population, what families are facing, what drives them, and how much resilience they already have and what resilience support they put. Fantastic. Thank you so much. Deputy High Commissioner, indeed, I'm going to give you a chance to weigh in on that. And because I have my eye, unfortunately, on the time, we don't have so much of it. I'd also ask you to potentially, you know, here elaborate on really what the central question is that we have been asking here in this session, which actions must the international community take now to mitigate future protection needs and prevent further climate cause displacement, particularly in the world's most fragile contexts. And I know, you know, one of one of your big asks is really especially for the private sector. So perhaps you'd like to leave us with whatever your message might be in this decade of action. Thanks. Thanks. I want to come back to on each point because data indeed is so important. Let me give you a couple of other data points on the climate issues. 20% of the world's population live in the most highly climate vulnerable areas. 40% of the refugees are hosted in those same areas. Look at a couple of specific examples and I want to come back again to on each point. Bangladesh, 900,000 people in a part of the country that is hugely immune, not immune rather, but susceptible to cyclones to flooding and so on. So a clear impact in terms of displacement. Second on the Sahel and Burkina Faso, Ani mentioned issues about being able to predict where are people going to be displaced. This is exactly what we're trying to do in terms of matching data and particularly predictive analytics to see where are those friction and flashpoints. We know, for example, that armed groups are taking advantage of tensions over scarce water and in these drought conditions, this exacerbates conflict and increases displacement. So there's definitely a clear impact in terms of the broad array of reasons for people to move and climate being one of the principal ones. As you've mentioned, we're trying to do a couple of things on climate and I'm going to come back to your last point, Sarah, in terms of how the private sector can help. First, it's making sure that we are environmental impact is as minimal as possible, environmental degradation in terms of displacement, trying to look at things like reforestation, for example, good, smart cooking, trying to look at alternative cooking fuels and the like. UNHCR's own environmental sustainability. We want to be and we have been carbon neutral since 2018, but we want to keep that up. So greening the blue becomes something that's very important across the system, especially for us. We're doing something very unique with a green financing facility for $60 million, basically looking at a renewable capital fund, for example, making sure we're 60% more efficient in terms of how we deliver what we deliver. But this is where we really see the marriage, the partnership between the private sector and the public sector. And Rebecca is absolutely right on. She gave you several of the points there. What can the private sector help us do? One, you can help continue to advocate in terms of inclusion, changing the narrative, looking at open and inclusive societies. We're not going to move the needle on the sustainable development goals unless everyone is included. Second, it's innovation. In Ozrock refugee camp, we opened in 2017 with Ikea, the first solar farm in a refugee setting. This is the sort of innovation we couldn't have done by ourselves, but we needed the private sector to help us. This supports refugees, but also posts. And third, supporting inclusion in employment. And this is something that Rebecca mentioned, jobs to make it possible for refugees to support themselves and contribute to the economy. And finally, perhaps the least interesting, but still hugely important, financial support for humanitarian response, including some of the actions we've talked about today. So thank you so much, Sarah. And thank you to the fellow panelists. Thank you. And I'm sure all of you are also looking at the clock. We have so much more actually to say and only three to four minutes to do so. So Rebecca, I'm going to come to you and we're just going to do a really quick rapid fire around 30 seconds. If you can just tell us for the world's most, I know there's a lot to say, but just reduce it if you can. For the world's most fragile communities, what action would you like to see, especially when it comes to public-private partnership? So I'll try to be as brief as I can. We talked already about the necessity of setting net zero targets aligned to 1.5, so I won't go back to that. I think it's about taking a look right the way across if you're in the private sector, your supply chain and your entire value chain of the business. So we set targets around climate, nature, plastics, paying living wage across all of our supply chain, diversity with our procurement spending, thinking how can we spend our money to bring in supplies from different, different more diverse communities, really thinking about deforestation free supply chains and commodities like palm and soy, much greater dietary diversity. We've got targets in place, business targets in place around, for example, sales, billion in sales of meat and dairy alternatives. So really I think taking a look at how can you in both the economic and the social and in the environmental areas reorient your business in order to be able to achieve the SDGs and to do that, you need to partner with others outside of the private sector to bring in the expertise that perhaps the private sector doesn't have itself. I think that's my best go in this, Sarah. It was great. It was great. Beth, your quick 30-second thoughts. I'll go back to, thank you very much. I'll go back to strengthening the food system to deliver safe, affordable, nutritious food in a sustainable matter. And that the private sector has to drive that. Seed companies to get out climate smart technologies, funding producers, processors, aggregators, transporters to really add value, to make, create more jobs, increase value for farmers. And what we're doing is we're standing up a financing facility for food and nutrition and partnership with EFAD and we're looking at how we can increase public sector investment for this and de-risk private sector investment to build the capacity of investment in these areas, especially in fragile contexts. Ani? Just want to point out that we, the climate change is here and it's basically hurting the most vulnerable and the poorest. So just now the world across the world, $15 trillion was put in to recover from COVID countries across the world. So we looked into 66 of them, G20 and the vulnerable and how much money was put in. I'm sorry to say only 18% of this resource has gone to adaptation, resilience and things that we're talking about. So we asked this exactly the question you asked, what's the world doing? The point is the world's not doing enough. We have to move away from our mitigation bucket to the adaptation resilience bucket in a very, very serious way. I hope next month and call that happens. It's not that none of the countries, I want to tell you Bangladesh actually put money in exactly what you just heard on crops, on resilient crops and what can be done. Kenya put, Nigeria put money in solar. But here what these countries are, these are all global South countries that impacted by this today. We want all countries to actually focus on it. So my message as we close this is we need to actually recognize the size of this issue and meet with the response that is required. Okay. So confronting climate, COVID and conflict in a fragile context, I feel like we just sort of chipped at this a little bit here, but of course the conversation is continuing on top link for those of you who are joining us there. Do you feel free to keep weighing in actually via that platform? It's also continuing on social media as well for those of you who are participating on social media. So thank you so much to our panelists and we very much hope to see this action now going forward and to continue the conversation.