Earth is a living world. When we talk about “the planet”, we are not talking about some marginal part of human existence that interests scientists and climate advocates. We are talking about everything human beings depend on and aspire to. Nothing is possible without the living systems that make Earth hospitable to human existence.

The costs of climate disruption and Nature loss are human costs. Even when we look beyond the balance sheet, to consider non-financial ‘hidden costs‘, the very idea of cost tends to come back to what it means for the prospects of human security and thriving. Many costs are not built into the prices we see on products we purchase; instead, they filter through the economy, compounding each other’s effects and undermining security and wellbeing.

The costs of unsustainable practices are estimated to exceed $15.4 trillion per year, when focusing only on food and agriculture and their ripple effects. The intersecting and compounding risks some call the polycrisis are now generating costs across the everyday economy, in all regions around the planet.

While some nations are pulling back funding for international aid and development efforts, it remains the case that the biggest opportunities for thriving in a secure and sustainable way are linked to climate-resilient development and locally relevant implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The SDGs are not a global regime; they are a list of priorities that people everywhere not only share, but have a right to see advanced in good faith. How they are implemented must depend on local and regional context, and will be limited by national policy and agency structures.

As 195 nations gather in Bonn for the mid-year meetings on implementation of the UN Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement, delegates are weighing preferred options for advancing climate-resilient development and, ideally, doing so in cooperation with other nations.

What should successful climate cooperation look like? That is the ever-present question, and vast industries are arrayed against the best outcome, simply because they profit from practices that are destructive of irreplaceable natural goods and unsustainable.

This question is at the heart of negotiations around:

• Cooperative, phased reductions of global heating emissions;
• Transformation of agricultural practices and restoration of living landscapes;
• Strategies for locally relevant adaptation measures to reduce risk and harm;
• The co-design of investment approaches to build long-term resilience;
• Sharing of information—science data, new technologies, precision performance metrics;
• How to evolve financial institutions and arrangements;
• Protection of human rights and the rights of Nature—including health of watersheds and ocean ecosystems.

In each of these areas, the Paris Agreement invites nations to actively cooperate to improve the chances for successful climate-resilient development for local communities. The mechanisms are not set in stone; like the SDGs, climate cooperation is not a global regime, but a voluntary sharing of insights, opportunities, investments, and breakthroughs.

While negotiations focus on how insights, technologies, and evidence can best be shared, and how to finance best-case development, the following priorities can deliver real-world benefits that make future choices more attractive:

1. Focus on food – Climate-resilient development requires regenerative, agroecological food systems that restore and protect Nature and improve lives and livelihoods. Treat human and ecosystem health as a continuum.
2. Diversify decision-making – Too much needs to be done too quickly to leave decisions of multigenerational consequence to just a few high-ranking officials; invite stakeholders to co-design policies and investment arrangements.
3. Localize financial innovation – Evolving financial institutions and arrangements to support successful climate-resilient development naturally suggests a wider base of financial actors and activities. Support local MSMEs to expand opportunity.
4. Build better infrastructure – Climate-resilient infrastructure can include roads and bridges, trains and ports, but also coastal flood management systems, science observation capacity, and telecommunications. Invest for the best outcomes.
5. Incentivize zero pollution – Most industries can now operate without polluting; the obstacles tend to be access to capital, transition risk, and habit. Public incentives can help eliminate pollution and spur innovation.

One example of how to act on all of these priorities is the emerging Co-Investment Platform for Food Systems Transformation.

• The CIP will allow co-investors from the public and private sectors, with support from philanthropy and multilateral agencies, to access capital, restructure existing financial arrangements, and invest to motivate a transition to regenerative and agroecological practices and related job creation in services, infrastructure, and data.
• To optimize the flow of capital to local needs, local MSMEs will play a critical role, acting as translators and aggregators, matching data and performance to capital and credit. This is what makes the CIP a platform—the cooperative, mutlidimensional approach, including insight-sharing and non-financial contributions.
• Not only are local intermediaries crucial, but so are stakeholder insights. It makes little sense to make a big bet on one approach to a diverse range of conditions. Instead, the CIP will leverage local insights about needs, capacities, and aspirations, to build an ever more solid foundation for sustainable food systems.
• Infrastructure that supports everyday development can be optimized to support health-building, climate-resilient, sustainable food systems. This has the effect of de-risking related investments, so de-risking can be coordinated and cooperative.
• Regenerative and agroecological food systems, lower risk and cost for infrastructure and public budgets, and sustainable opportunity for communities large and small, all require elimination of pollution and protection of natural systems, including watersheds, ecosystems, and the broader climate system. Public incentives can address all of these goals together, while helping to reduce pollution, diversify local investment opportunities, and secure food supplies.

Finally, for the SB64 round of negotiations, we recommend:

• Integrating these kinds of cooperative innovations into insight-sharing platforms, indicators of progress on mitigation and adaptation goals, and financial arrangements.
• Openly calling for a transition to climate-smart trade, to facilitate the flow of resources to each of these layered and intersecting areas of interest.
• Supporting first movers and first followers in shifting to regenerative, resilience-building, sustainable practices, with existing and novel approaches.