Produced
by Inter-Agency Task Force Working Group on Climate Change and Disaster
Risk Reduction
In collaboration with the Vulnerability and Adaptation Resource Group
This issue is led by the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change
DRCCinfolink@un.org
Issue
6, May 2006
A.
UPCOMING EVENTS IN 2006
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24th
Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies to the UNFCCC
UNFCCC SB-24 will take place in Bonn 18-26 May 2006. The Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) will consider and further elaborate
activities for its five-year programme of work on impacts, vulnerability and
adaptation to climate change. A note containing proposed activities, including
modalities and timing for implementation, is available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2006/sbsta/eng/04.pdf SBSTA
schedule: http://unfccc.int/meetings/sb24/items/3648.php |
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Side
Events Related to Adaptation at SB-24
- New
Work from the Annex I Expert Group
This side event on new analyses of adaptation, the clean development mechanism
(CDM), sectoral crediting mechanisms and more will be presented by the Annex
I Expert Group, which is supported by the secretariats of the IEA and the
OECD. Wednesday, 17 May at 18:00
- Market
Mechanisms, Sustainable Development and Post-2012
International Institute for Sustainable Development presents this side event
on the role market mechanisms may play in a post-2012 climate regime that
fosters sustainable development. It will look at how opportunities such as
the CDM and markets for ecosystems services could contribute to mitigation,
adaptation and achieving sustainable livelihoods. Wednesday, 17 May at 18:00
- Climate
Change Research Achievements and Challenges: Priority
Goals for World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
The World Meteorological Organization presents this side event on WCRP
research in projecting human-induced climate change, detecting and attributing
climate
change and assessing the impact of mitigation measures. WCRP focuses on
research gaps for managing climate change impacts and facilitating adaptation
to future
climate change. Friday, 19 May at 18:00
- Mitigation
and Adaptation to Climate Change: the Role of Organic
Agriculture
The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements will present
this event on the role of organic agriculture in mitigating climate change
and helping communities absorb negative effects, while providing a sustainable
model of development for rural areas, and showcase a current project in Tanzania.
Wednesday, 24 May at 18:00
- Biodiversity
and Adaptation to Climate Change
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will present the main findings
of the report of the CBD Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on biodiversity and
adaptation to climate change. Thursday, 25 May at 13:00
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Vulnerability
and Climate Change: from Practice to Policy
Winrock International (India) in association with the Institute of Development
Studies (UK) will be hosting this international workshop on 11-12 May 2006
in New Delhi, India. The workshop will facilitate an interface between institutions
working on social and scientific issues governing the adaptation processes
at the global and country level in India. A major component of the workshop
will be to address the constraints in implementation and the capacity building
needs for mainstreaming adaptation concerns into planning processes. The
UNDP Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery will present its experience
in South Asia in institutionalizing disaster management for extreme climate
events in order to mainstream adaptation concerns into policy.
MORE: Kinsuk Mitra at winrock@winrockindia.org
Living
with Climate Variability and Change:
Understanding the Uncertainties and Managing the Risks
This conference will be held in Espoo, Finland, 17-21 July 2006.
MORE: http://www.livingwithclimate.fi/
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B.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND POLICY PROCESSES
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UNFCCC
COP-11, COP/MOP-1
The eleventh conference of the parties to the UNFCCC and the first conference
of the parties and meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol were held
in Montreal, Canada, 28 November – 9 December 2005. The COP adopted
the SBSTA five-year programme of work on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation
to climate change. The decision is available at: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_11/application/pdf/cop11_01_4e_i_adpatation_five_year_prog_sbsta.pdf |
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Reports
of COP-11 Side Events Related to Climate Change and Disaster
Risk
- Disaster
Risk Reduction Tools for Climate Change Adaptation
The
secretariat of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(ISDR) presented disaster risk reduction tools that can be
useful in adapting to climate change—work developed by
the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Working Group on Climate
Change and Disaster Risk Reduction with the Red Cross Climate
Centre and ProVention Consortium. The Red Cross Climate Centre
presented its initiatives to include climate change concerns
into disaster risk reduction efforts, and led an engaging discussion
on current collaborations between the disaster reduction and
climate change communities. MORE: Earth
Negotiations Bulletin report On the Side: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop11/enbots/enbots1703e.html
- Adaptation
Strategies: Multidisciplinary Approaches
Ouranos, a consortium on regional climatology and adaptation to climate
change, explained how it links climate modeling to impacts assessment
and adaptation. MORE: Earth
Negotiations Bulletin report On the Side: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop11/enbots/enbots1703e.html
- Adaptation
to Climate Change: Lessons Learned, Work in Progress
and Next Steps in Latin America
The event presented a brief overview of the work on adaptation to climate
change, already undertaken by the World Bank in the Latin American
region. It also summarized current initiatives in the portfolio and
presented recommendations for further work. MORE: Earth
Negotiations Bulletin report On the Side: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop11/enbots/enbots1702e.html
- Enhancing
Climate Knowledge to Improve Adaptation to Climate Variability
and Change
The World Meteorological Organization presented this session on how
enhanced climate knowledge can contribute to overcoming climate variability/change
by assisting stakeholders to be prepared to possible climate change
scenarios. MORE: Earth Negotiations Bulletin report On the Side: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop11/enbots/enbots1704e.html
- Development
and Adaptation (D&A) Days at COP-11
The D&A Days at COP-11 were held on 3-4 December. The third session
addressed disaster management and climate change. MORE: A full programme
of the event can be found here: http://www.iied.org/CC/documents/DA_Days_COP11.pdf
Earth Negotiations Bulletin coverage can be found at: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop11/dad/3december.html
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Other
Recent Meetings
- Third
International Conference on Early Warning (EWC III)
The EWC III was held in Bonn, Germany, 27-29 March 2006. Participants
called for more efforts on warning dissemination and response preparedness
and reiterated the need to actively involve the community (including
risk knowledge, monitoring and forecasting) to ensure that warnings
reach all those who need them and trigger appropriate actions. The
conference produced a compendium of selected early warning system projects
from around the world in need of funding, a checklist of key actions
for early warning systems, and the report of the Global Survey of Early
Warning Systems requested by UN Secretary-General. MORE: http://www.ewc3.org/
- Workshop
on Climate Change in Africa: Linking Science and Policy
for Adaptation
This workshop, organised by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
and the International Institute for Environment and Development, was
held at the Royal Society, London, on 30 March 2006. One session looked
specifically at ‘Learning from disaster management in Africa’ and
was facilitated by Red Cross Centre on Climate Change and Disaster
Preparedness. The session examined synergies between disaster management
and adaptation to climate change, the potential to link more effectively
the disaster and climate communities, and the existing constraints
to improving disaster management in Africa. MORE: Declan
Conway at Tyndall, d.conway@uea.ac.uk
- Climate
Adaptation Challenges: Building Capacity for African
Based Research
This workshop took place in Nairobi on 26-28 March 2006 and was organized
by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and ActionAid International
(AAI), as part of the Linking Climate Adaptation (LCA) project funded
by Department for International Development (DFID). The workshop included
discussion on disaster risk reduction tools for climate change adaptation
and an overview of disaster reduction initiatives in Africa, presented
by the ISDR secretariat. The workshop report is available at: http://www.linkingclimateadaptation.org/webx?293@880.xRhoa816kZG.0@.eecf427
- Disaster
Reduction and Global Environmental Change
The German Committee for Disaster Reduction organized jointly with
the Secretariat of the ISDR and UNEP a symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction
and Global Environmental Change in December 2005 in Bonn. The symposium
brought together representatives of five United Nations organization
and major related international and national scientific and research
institutes. The symposium developed a more common understanding of
recent trends and needs, and provided concrete recommendations to guide
policy work in the next biennium (2006-2007) including in the area
of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction. MORE: zentel@dkkv.org
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| FEATURE
SECTION
UNFCCC
Latin American Regional Workshop on Adaptation
The UNFCCC secretariat, in collaboration with the Regional
Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United
Nations Environment Programme, organized a Latin American
regional workshop on adaptation in Lima, Peru, 18 to 20 April
2006. The workshop included representatives from the countries
of the region and from other interested Parties that provide
support to adaptation-related activities, as well as representatives
of relevant international, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations that are active in the region. The workshop
aimed to provide an exchange of experiences on vulnerability
and adaptation in Latin America, as well as to identify gaps,
needs and concerns of countries in this regard.
Workshop
participants discussed a background paper produced
by the secretariat for this event, entitled “Impacts,
vulnerability and adaptation to climate change
in Latin America”; country progress developing
vulnerability and adaptation assessments; climate
methods and tools including availability, applicability,
accessibility and training opportunities; practical
aspects of adaptation in the region; as well as
regional collaboration and existing initiatives.
Through breakout group discussions, participants
proposed workshop outcomes and recommendations
to address the gaps, needs and concerns identified.
Country
presentations and ensuing discussions on vulnerability
assessments in Latin America reflected a relatively
well-advanced process of assessment and scenario/model
usage. However, participants noted a significant
lack in socio-economic assessment, which is an
important complement to existing assessments. Poverty
was recognized as a major factor of vulnerability.
Where possible, a quantification of potential losses
arising from the adverse effects of climate change
was deemed to be useful and policy-relevant. The
use of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
as a backdrop to assessing socio-economic vulnerability
was perceived to be a useful entry point in this
regard.
A
number of countries use the Adaptation Policy Framework
developed by UNDP in conducting their adaptation
assessments. The framework has been tailored to
the specific circumstances of individual countries.
However, the results of these assessments are still
at a preliminary stage. Participants also emphasized
education and public awareness as important catalysts
for the success of the vulnerability and adaptation
assessment process. These should include policy-level
decision makers, as well as other stakeholders
affected by climate change. Communication of successes
and failures of existing experience is also in
need of enhancement.
The
coarse resolution of existing models, and the disparity
of their outputs, makes the use of these results
as a basis for action very difficult. Some countries,
such as Peru, include very different ecosystems
(coastal zone, Andean mountainous region, and Amazon
forest) within a span of just 200 kilometers.
Hence
the development of higher resolution models is
needed. Efforts are underway to produce such higher
resolutions in the near future. In addition, the
use of multiple models and an analysis of the disparity
of their outcomes would help enhance the capacity
for reaching informed decisions on vulnerability
and adaptation to climate change. To this end,
capacity building and training for model development
and use is needed in order to help understand model
logic, inherent assumptions and sources of uncertainty.
A
number of countries have developed vulnerability
indices for their different regions, based both
on exposure and on adaptive capacity. While the
geographic units are too coarse for the indices
to provide detailed information on community-level
vulnerability, these efforts still provide a useful
addition to the visual information base of vulnerability
and adaptation assessment.
Despite
positive efforts in the assessment of vulnerability
and adaptation in the region, the movement from
adaptation assessment and planning to implementation
is not well developed. A number of countries are
developing adaptation plans, however, resource
needs for implementation of adaptation plans remain
unfulfilled.
On
the other hand, in spite of the uncertainties inherent
in the assessment process, participants agreed
that there is sufficient information on current
climate variability and extremes to take prompt
action on adaptation.
Participants
highlighted the importance of traditional adaptation
knowledge and noted that more integration of such
knowledge should take place in the assessment process,
particularly through partnerships with grassroots
organizations. There are some initiatives in existence
to support this area (e.g. one World Bank project
supported by the government of the Netherlands
in Peru, and the UNFCCC secretariat’s database
on local coping strategies available on the UNFCCC
web site).
The
ISDR secretariat represented the disaster risk
reduction community at the meeting and outlined
opportunities for collaboration as well as current
efforts to reduce climate risk in the region. Participants
recognized the usefulness of incorporating disaster-risk
information in climate change vulnerability assessments,
as well as in collaborating in climate-risk reduction/adaptation
projects.
The
UNFCCC secretariat is planning additional regional
workshops for Africa, Asia and Small Island Developing
States during 2006 and 2007.
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C.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
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Publications
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D.
INITIATIVES
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Advancing
Capacity to Support Climate Change Adaptation (ACCCA)
The ACCA project, which is seeking proposal outlines for partnerships by
22 May 2006, will bring together stakeholders and scientific communities
in the developing world to enable and support effective adaptation decisions
that would reduce vulnerability to climate and environmental change while
also promoting sustainable development. The project is jointly funded by
the European Commission EuropeAid Cooperation Office and the UK Department
of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is managed by UNITAR in partnership
with the International START Secretariat, the Stockholm Environment Institute – Oxford,
the Climate System Analysis Group of the University of Cape Town, Environnement
et Development du Tiers Monde, the Southeast Asia START Regional Center
and the Temperate East Asia START Regional Center. MORE: www.accca.unitar.org |
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Climate
and Risks from Infectious Disease
WMO’s World Climate Programme and the Commission for Climatology
launched a new initiative at the fourteenth session of the Commission (3-10
November 2005, Beijing, China): to study the role of climate in the spread
of infectious disease. The work in progress will be published in the June
2006 edition of the World Climate News, which will be available electronically
at: http://www.wmo.int/web/catalogue/New%20HTML/frame/engfil/wcn.html
WMO also issued a statement on its contribution to the fight against infectious
diseases, on the occasion of World Health Day 2006. MORE: WMO Press Release
No. 749 at: http://www.wmo.int/web/Press/PR_749_English.doc |
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Bridging
the Language Gap: DRR and CC
The IATF/DR Working Group on Climate Change and Disaster Reduction is developing
a booklet on terms and concepts relevant to the disaster risk reduction
and climate change communities. The booklet seeks to clear up confusion
on a few key terms so as to bring the two communities together, overcoming
the technical language divide. An accompanying CD-ROM will compile documents
that detail DRR and CC concepts. The booklet will be launched at COP-12
in November 2006. MORE: shefali.juneja@undp.org |
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The
Global Risk Identification Programme
The Global Risk Identification Programme (GRIP), a UNDP-BCPR project in
collaboration with various partners, will assess, identify and analyze
information on disaster risks and losses for hazards including flood, earthquake,
cyclone and drought. GRIP will provide capacity development support to
local groups and integrate where appropriate, all existing disaster databases.
For more information, contact: carlos.villacis@undp.org |
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Sub-regional
Initiative on Disaster Risk Management
UNDP Iran, in collaboration with UNDP-BCPR is supporting a preparatory
assistance project for the establishment of disaster risk management across
ten south-west and central Asian countries. The project will compile information
on existing disaster risk management capacity in the region for drought.
MORE: Victoria.kianpour@undp.org |
E.
ONLINE AND INTERNET RESOURCES
F.
SUPPORTERS
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DR+CC
Infolink is a product of the IATF/DR Working Group on Climate Change
and Disaster Risk Reduction. The IATF/DR is the principal body
for the development of disaster reduction policy within the United
Nations system, which includes UN, international, regional and
civil society organizations. At its ninth session, the IATF/DR
established the Working Group on Climate Change and Disaster Reduction
toward the goal of greater integration between approaches to climate
change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
DR+CC Infolink
is produced in collaboration with the VARG, an informal network
of bi- and multilateral institutions, which aims to facilitate
the integration of climate change adaptation in the development
process through the sharing, assessment, synthesis, and dissemination
of existing knowledge and experience. This issue is led by
the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Thank You
to this Issue’s Contributors
Particular
thanks to Youssef Nassef, UNFCCC, Shefali Juneja, UNDP BCPR
Delhi, Amir Delju, WMO, and Lisa Schipper.
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CONTACT
US
To
contribute to next issue of DR+CC Infolink, please send
brief updates and information to DRCCinfolink@un.org.
Issue 6 editors – Lisa Schipper and Silvia Llosa.
Production – Carolin Schärpf.
For more information: Silvia Llosa at UN/ISDR (llosa@un.org).
The information and opinions expressed in DR+CC Infolink do not
necessarily reflect the policies of the IATF Working Group on Climate
Change and Disaster Risk Reduction
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