Adaptation & Technology GapsAnne Olhoff

Head of Programme Climate Resilient DevelopmentUNEP Risø Centre

UNEP Adaptation Knowledge Day V, Bonn, 9 June 2014

Outline

Drawing on:• UNEP's forthcoming Adaptation Gap Report 2014 • Experience from Technology Needs Assessment project• Climate Technology Centre and Network involvement

• Adaptation gaps: why, what and where• Gaps in the context of technologies for adaptation• Adaptation technologies and country priorities

The concept of adaptation gaps• Broad: a lack of and need for, for example, additional

finance, policies and legislation, capacity, knowledge, and technology

• Precise: the difference between a climate resilience target and the level achieved with current adaptation efforts:– Targets or preferred levels of climate resilience and action

differ across countries, districts and communities– Have the potential to make adaptation more 'actionable'– Can support NAP and other country processes, UNFCCC

discussions (Global Goal for Adaptation and Loss & Damage)– At various levels: global, regional, national and sub-national– At various levels of detail: aggregate or specific

Conceptualising adaptation gaps: the IPCC

• IPCC WGII Glossary: Adaptation deficit defined as "the gap between the current state of a system and a state that minimizes adverse impacts from existing climate conditions and variability"

• IPCC AR5 WGII: Potential now and in the future for additional adaptation and mitigation to reduce risks compared to risk levels with current adaptation

Risk Level withCurrent Adaptation

Potential forAdditional Adaptation to Reduce Risk

Risk Level withHigh Adaptation

Risk-LevelVeryLow Med

VeryHigh

4°C2°C

Present

Long Term(2080-2100)

Near Term (2030-2040)

Source: IPCC WGII AR5 slides

Illustration of gaps: Key regional climate risks and risk reduction potentials

Africa: Key climate risks and adaptation risk reduction potential

Source: IPCC WGII AR5 SPM

Adaptation technology gap - Africa example on crop productivityThe part of an adaptation gap that can be filled through additional adaptation technology action, including:• Hard technology (physical elements, including machinery and

equipment): Drought tolerant crops; irrigation systems• Soft technology (information, knowledge and skills): Early warning

systems/weather forecasting; agricultural management practices• Organisational technology (re-organisation or establishment of

networks and institutions): Agricultural extension services

Definitions of technology and technologies for adaptation:"a piece of equipment, technique, practical knowledge or skills for performing a particular activity." (IPCC Special Report 2000)"The application of technology in order to reduce the vulnerability, or enhance the resilience, of a natural or human system to the impacts of climate change’"(UNFCCC, 2010)

Adaptation, technology and gaps

• Technology only one of the determinants of adaptive capacity and must be seen in the context of economic, social, institutional, and equity

• Broad perception of technologies for adaptation facilitates holistic approach but illustrates need for coordination across adaptation planning and implementation

Adaptation technology priorities of countries: The Technology Needs Assessment Project

• Country-driven activities to identify and determine the mitigation and adaptation technology priorities of countries– Technology needs assessment – Barrier and enabling framework analysis– Technology action plans – Training, methodology development, guidebooks,

'TechWiki'/databases

• 36 countries in Africa, Asia & CIS, and Latin America & the Caribbean (first phase 2009-2013); 24 new countries (second phase starting 2014)

• Key component of the Poznan Strategic Programme on Technology Transfer supported by the GEF and Implemented by UNEP Risø Centre and UNEP

Water35%

Agriculture31%

Coastal Zone9%

LULUCF & Forestry4%

Infrastructure4%

Observation, Measurement & Modeling

4%

Public Health4%

Tourism3%

Natural Disasters3%

Energy1%

Waste management1%

Biodiversity1%

Education1%

Adaptation technologies prioritised (by sector)

Adaptation technologies prioritised (by type)

Total distribution

• Adaptation and technology gaps are explicitly or implicitly related to targets or goals

• These can potentially be established at all levels ranging from local to global

• Technology needs assessment processes in countries illustrate gaps and potentials

• Addressing gaps requires careful consideration of all aspects of adaptive capacity

Summing up

http://tech-action.org/ Online database Guidebooks

Country information