Strengthening climate adaptation and resilience UN CC: e-Learn course
- Level: Introductory
- Time commitment: 3 modules, approximately 4-5 hours
- Learning product: online course (free, self-paced)
- Sector: climate change, resilience, finance
- Language: English
- Certificate available: Available from UN CC:e-Learn website
- Hosted by: UN CC:e-Learn
Introduction
The course ‘Strengthening Climate Adaptation and Resilience’ focuses on the importance of adaptation to climate change. The course provides a comprehensive learning pathway starting with climate change fundamentals, including climate risks and vulnerabilities assessment. Building on that, it continues with the integration of adaptation to climate change considerations into governmental planning and budgeting processes, and finally, it delves into the diverse financial mechanisms, tools, and strategies critical for effectively funding climate change adaptation initiatives.
Institutional partners and contributors
The “Strengthening Climate Adaptation and Resilience (SAR)” project supports the full adaptation planning cycle—from climate risk assessments to piloting financing instruments. It contributes to the National Adaptation Plan (NAP), the Global NDC Partnership, and promotes both local implementation and international upscaling through climate finance.
As part of SAR, UNITAR’s Green Development and Climate Change Unit is delivering this online, self-paced course to build capacity in climate adaptation and resilience. The course includes core content aligned with the UNFCCC and features case studies from Pakistan and other Asia-Pacific countries.
The development of the e-course was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Who is this course for?
Although the course was developed in the context of provision of support to the Pakistan government to improve the conditions for climate adaptation and resilience, the course is addressed to any:
- Civil servants in planning and development departments of various line ministries such as environment, agriculture, industry, finance, development, etc., at the local and national levels, and
- Stakeholders from non-governmental organizations and community groups focused on climate change adaptation and resilience.
Course at a glance
The e-course is self-paced and adapted to the schedule of full-time working professionals. The e-course is structured in three modules, with each module including several lessons. The delivery format interactive lessons, videos, reflective questions, formative quizzes and practical exercises.
- Module 1: Climate Change Adaptation: the basics:
- Introduces fundamental concepts of climate change adaptation.
- Module 2: Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation into Planning, Budgeting and Decision-making: Looks into the integration of adaptation to climate change considerations into governmental planning and budgeting processes.
- Module 3: Financing for Climate Change Adaptation:
- Covers diverse financial mechanisms, tools and strategies critical for effectively funding climate change adaptation initiatives.
Learning outcomes
On completion of Module 1, participants will be able to:
• Define key terms related to climate change and adaptation
• Analyse climatic data for informed decision-making
• Identify risks associated with climate change
• Examine the specific adaptation needs across different government sectors, e.g. agriculture, infrastructure, public health, etc.
• Recognize the gender-specific impacts of climate change
• Describe methods to gather information on gender disparities in climate impacts
• Discuss the importance of policy frameworks in climate adaptation
• Describe the elements of effective climate change policies
• Outline key legal and regulatory frameworks that guide government action on climate change adaptation
On completion of Module 2, participants will be able to:
• Describe the role of NAPs in fostering climate resilience
• Identify the key phases of the NAP process
• Explain vertical and horizontal integration in aligning national and local adaptation priorities
• Highlight the value of inclusive and gender-responsive planning
• Identify the role of the public finance in climate adaptation
• Discuss tools and strategies for embedding climate goals in budgeting
• Analyze barriers and enablers for effective climate financing
• Evaluate the benefits of Climate Budget Tagging (CBT) for tracking expenditures and mobilizing funds
On completion of Module 3, participants will be able to:
• Define the role of climate finance in supporting adaptation and achieving global climate goals
• Describe the current state of climate finance flows, including gaps and barriers
• Identify the key actors, sources, and challenges in the global climate finance landscape
• List the key features of international climate finance frameworks, including those under the UNFCCC
• Categorize the sources of public finance and their applications in climate adaptation
• Recognize strategies for mobilizing private sector investments in climate adaptation
• Differentiate between public, private, and international finance mechanisms
• Recall the purposes and features of innovative financing instruments such as thematic bonds and blended finance
• Identify examples of how innovative tools can attract private capital and support adaptation goals
Further resources
Explainer: What are National Adaptation Plans and why do they matter?
Understanding the Paris Agreement’s ‘Global Goal on Adaptation’
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