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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
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/ |
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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