Considerations for taking forward the UAE-Belém work programme on adaptation indicators

Established by the Paris Agreement, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) reflects the commitment of Parties to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability. The UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience specifies thematic and dimensional targets to achieve the GGA. It also established a process to identify indicators to guide assessments of progress towards the GGA. This paper explores issues to be considered as Parties agree on a GGA indicator set and examines the balance between ambition and feasibility in indicator operationalisation. Drawing lessons from other international frameworks, the analysis highlights the need for an iterative approach to measuring progress towards the GGA that facilitates adjustments to the indicator set over time and in response to evolving data and reporting capacities. The analysis underscores the potential of the GGA targets and indicators in channelling information from national to global reporting systems to ensure that global assessments of progress towards the GGA are informed by national experiences. Further, it notes that the GGA indicators provide an opportunity to enhance coherence across existing reporting instruments under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, supporting information collection for future global stocktakes.