Adaptation is a Design Decision: Put Landscape at the Heart of Climate Implementation

Join the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in urging Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to put landscape at the heart of adaptation, finance and delivery at COP31, and in the National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions that follow.

As delegations gather in Antalya for COP31 (9 to 20 November 2026), hosted by Türkiye with Australia leading the negotiations, the conference turns from ambition to implementation. COP30 in Belém called for tripling adaptation finance by 2035. The question now is where that money lands and what it builds. Climate impacts are felt in places, and this crisis is, at its core, a failure of design: a result of human systems built in conflict with natural ones.

The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) urges all Parties, non-state actors, and financiers to recognise a fundamental truth: LANDSCAPE IS LIFE. IT MUST COME FIRST. Without healthy, shaded, water-holding landscapes, there is no cool city, no safe neighbourhood, no secure water supply, and no adaptation that lasts for the communities most exposed.