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Adapting · Paris Agreement agenda, item 9, part a · Paris Agreement agenda, item 9, part b

How do we know if the world is protecting itself from climate impacts?

Global goal on adaptation

The has a goal for cutting emissions that everyone can measure in tonnes. Its goal for protecting people from climate impacts was much vaguer.

At COP30, countries agreed a list of 59 ways to measure it, such as how many people have early warning systems or safe water. Using them is voluntary. Now they have to agree how the list is actually put to work.

Follow-up to the Belém Adaptation Indicators adopted at CMA 7, including work under the two-year Belém-Addis Vision on Adaptation.

CMA 7 adopted 59 of the 100 indicators proposed by experts, concluding the UAE–Belém work programme on indicators. The indicators are voluntary.

The decision acknowledged gaps in data, baselines and methodologies.

Talks resume on 9 NovemberResumes at COP31, 9 November

Why it matters

Heatwaves, floods and droughts are already here. This decides how progress on protecting people gets measured.

How we got here

2015
COP21, Paris
The Paris Agreement creates a , but without a way to measure it.
2023
COP28, Dubai
Countries adopt a framework with targets for water, food, health and other areas, and two years to find .
2025
COP30, Belém
59 indicators are adopted out of 100 proposed by experts. Using them is voluntary.
2026
June talks, Bonn
Bonn could not agree how to put the indicators to work, or whether to mention the pledge to triple finance. The unfinished text was passed on to COP31. Source

Where COP31 picks up: COP30 agreed 59 voluntary indicators. Bonn could not agree how to use them; COP31 picks up the unfinished text.

Have COPs worked? The bigger picture →

What they will argue aboutOpen issues

How to use the measures? Countries have to agree how the 59 indicators are applied and reported at home.
Who helps with the data? Many countries do not have the data or the methods to track them yet.
Is money part of it? Whether measuring adaptation also means measuring the money that pays for it.

Operationalisation. Guidance on applying and refining the indicators in national contexts.
Means of implementation. Treatment of finance-related indicators and support for data systems.
Process. Workplan and timeline of the Belém-Addis Vision.

Agenda items

Paris Agreement agenda, item 9, part aGlobal goal on adaptation

Paris Agreement agenda, item 9, part bReport of the Adaptation Committee

From the provisional agendas, FCCC/CP/2026/1 and FCCC/PA/CMA/2026/1. Draft texts, versions and bracket counts appear here once talks open.

What has happened so farStatus log

This question carries on from COP30 (see How we got here, above). Talks resume on 9 November: from then, every new draft and every change of status is listed here, with the time and a link to the document.

Only on WhatTheCOP

Want to hear it discussed? Pavilion sessions on this

Mon 9 Nov · 10:15SS1 – MINISTERIAL SESSION STRENGTHENING CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND SHARED PROSPERITY THROUGH COLLABORATIVE ACTION
Indonesia Pavilion Mon 9 Nov · 12:30Closing the Climate Loss Gap: AI Early Warning and Instant Parametric Relief for Anatolian Agriculture
Türkiye Pavilion Mon 9 Nov · 13:30Science and Leadership for Climate-Resilient Health Systems
Türkiye Pavilion Mon 9 Nov · 14:00Healthy Cities, Resilient Communities: Local Climate Action Through A One Health Lens
Health Pavilion Mon 9 Nov · 14:30From Global Indicators to Local Resilience: Making adaptation work for most vulnerable communities
German Climate Pavilion Mon 9 Nov · 15:30Unlocking private investment to scale health resilience
Health Pavilion

The whole programme →