HI at COP31: Putting People at the Heart of Climate Action

From 12 to 18 November 2026, Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion (HI) will once again take part in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, to promote inclusive climate action, strengthen partnerships and advance access to climate adaptation finance.

Why COP31 matters

The 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), taking place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026, comes at a critical moment for international climate action. With climate impacts intensifying worldwide, the challenge is no longer simply to agree on ambitious commitments, but to turn them into tangible action that protects people, communities and livelihoods.

Adaptation and climate finance will be particularly important areas of discussion. Key issues include implementing the Global Goal on Adaptation, including making the Belém Adaptation Indicators operational, and scaling up access to climate finance, particularly for developing countries and communities most exposed to climate risks.

A central challenge is ensuring that adaptation finance reaches those who need it most, including people with disabilities and other groups facing heightened barriers to participation and protection.

Watch this short video on adaptation finance - a humorous introduction to a serious challenge: making sure climate adaptation receives the financing it needs.

HI's delegation and priorities

HI will be represented by two colleagues from its Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation team:

• Valentina Evangelisti, Unit Manager, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.

• Jennifer M'Vouama, Global Technical Specialist, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.

Throughout the week, the delegation will engage with institutional partners, donors, climate finance actors and civil society organisations. A key priority will be to promote inclusive climate action, ensuring that communities most exposed to climate risks, including people at risk of being left behind, are meaningfully involved in shaping solutions and benefit from the resources allocated to address climate change.

In particular, HI will engage in COP discussions and spaces focusing on:

• Disability-inclusive climate governance: ensuring that people with disabilities are recognised and meaningfully included in climate policies and decision-making, in close collaboration with the Disability Climate Caucus. Disability inclusion must be recognised as an essential component of climate resilience.

• Climate-smart disaster risk reduction (DRR): promoting inclusive approaches to addressing escalating disaster risks driven by climate change, which disproportionately affect developing countries and marginalised groups. This includes strengthening preparedness, expanding early warning systems and promoting anticipatory action.

• Climate, fragility and conflict: highlighting the links between climate vulnerability, fragility and conflict, and advocating for climate finance to reach fragile and conflict-affected contexts, which are among the most vulnerable yet often receive the least funding for climate resilience.

• Locally led climate adaptation: promoting community-driven approaches, including ecosystem-based adaptation, that harness the power of nature to strengthen climate resilience.

Putting People First: HI will showcase its ecosystem-based adaptation experience in Asia

A key moment of HI's participation will be its contribution as a speaker to a regional side event showcasing the organisation's experience with ecosystem-based adaptation. Together with Forest Foundation Philippines and Parabukas, HI has joined forces to organise a panel discussion entitled:

Putting People First: Advancing Social Inclusion in Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) in Asia

Wednesday, 18 November 2026

6:30-8:00 PM (Antalya time, UTC+3)

Side Event Room 9, Blue Zone

The event will explore how NbS can advance climate adaptation and mitigation while ensuring equitable benefits for all. It will showcase co-created knowledge, launch a partner's new regional report and examine approaches to strengthening gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) in NbS across Asia. Drawing on HI's experience in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the discussion will highlight why social inclusion, accessibility and the meaningful participation of diverse communities must be integral to the design and implementation of nature-based climate solutions.

For HI, this is also a strategic opportunity to raise its profile in the emerging field of socially inclusive ecosystem-based adaptation and strengthen its positioning in climate adaptation programming and finance.

If your partners are attending COP31, please feel free to share the event invitation for them to join us!

Building partnerships and opening new opportunities

Beyond its technical contributions, COP31 will provide an important opportunity to strengthen HI's institutional relationships and explore new avenues for engagement.

The delegation will connect with partners at the Resilience Hub, participate in Development and Climate Days - an FCDO-sponsored thematic gathering bringing together humanitarian and development organisations - and attend relevant side events to exchange experiences and identify opportunities for collaboration.

The delegation also plans to meet with key disaster risk reduction counterparts, including the new Head of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and engage with potential donors and partners. Engagement at the BENELUX-EIB Pavilion, including with Luxembourg representatives, will provide an opportunity to explore emerging climate finance partnerships.

Engagement with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the biggest climate donor globally, will also be a priority. Following HI's submission of a pre-assessment application in October as a first step towards hopefully becoming a GCF accredited entity, COP31 offers an opportunity to connect with GCF representatives, further communicate HI's added value and explore the next steps in the accreditation process.

Similarly, the delegation will seek to connect with the Santiago Network, as HI explores the possibility of becoming a technical assistance provider to governments seeking support in addressing climate-related loss and damage. This would offer another pathway to bring HI's expertise in disability inclusion, climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction to countries and communities facing climate-related challenges.

Turning climate commitments into inclusive action

At COP31, HI will contribute to collective efforts to ensure that growing global momentum around climate adaptation translates into more inclusive policies, stronger partnerships and accessible financing. Because climate resilience can only be achieved when everyone is included!