UNITAR Climate Change Programme : Capacity development to reach national development goals November 2008

UNITAR Climate Change Programme : Capacity development to reach national development goals

November 2008

…is driven by UNFCCC Decisions on capacity building:

Decisions 10/CP5 recognizes the need for training and support for capacity building

Decision 2/CP7 outlines the needs and areas for capacity building in developing countries

The UNITAR Climate Change Programme

...is targeting three Capacity Development levels

►At the Institutional level

C3D - Climate Change Capacity Development

► At the local level: Pilot actions

ACCCA - Advancing Capacity to support Climate Change Adaptation

► At the national level

NAPA - National Adaptation Programme of Action



Concept : a three pillar approach => national development first!

Climate Change Capacity Development

Institutional Capacity development through:

• A network of five interacting universities / research institutes;

• With funding from donors via UNITAR to implement the UNFCCC Decisions/ to deliver targeted training and capacity development at the national and regional levels

Advancing Capacity to Support Climate Change Adaptation

Strategic Objectives

• Collaboration with the stakeholders to identify local and sector specific climate risks

• Collection of relevant existing knowledge on adaptation options

• Development & sharing risk communication materials

• Development & promotion of recommendations for adaptation -- critical knowledge gaps & design activities to fill those gaps

Local Pilot Actions• 19 adaptation pilot projects in 17 countries in

Africa and Asia.

• Wide range of projects, from dryland agriculture to coastal livelihoods to control of malaria.

• Linking scientists and policy-makers

• Scientists are supported / guided by the UNITAR network with training and grants

• National scientists engage local stakeholders on collaborative analysis of local climate threats

• Clear elaboration and communication of climate risks

weADAPT Collaborative Platform

• Supports technical assistance for the ACCCA projects:

- Development of tools

- Guidance on risk communication

- Bringing lessons and experience from other projects together to support ACCCA teams.

- Collaboration from Northern and Southern partners

- www.weADAPT.org

National Adaptation Programme of Action


Technical support / capacity development at national level

• Targeted countries: All Least Developed Countries (LDCs) according to a UNFCCC Decision

• To identify urgent and immediate needs and to improve their capacity: – To adapt to the present/future threats from

climate change with the formulation of priority project profiles

– To facilitate access to funding institutions for implementation (GEF among others)

– To improve coordination between NAPA and national strategies - NAPA formulation is a “process” (link with MDGs etc…..)


• Participation of all stakeholders: focus on local needs and capacities

• Multidisciplinary & complementary– sustainable development context; – connection with national action plans & Rio

Conventions

• Help for self help: support countries to develop their capacities themselves a country driven process supported by technical assistance and training.

APPROACH and METHODS


The NAPA database – Knowledge sharing


Recent Results

• Regional hands-on Workshops :– in Honiara, Solomon Islands for the SIDS (March 07)– in Dakar, Senegal for Francophone African LDCs (Aug. 07)– in Yogyakarta, Indonesia for Asian LDCs (Oct.-Nov. 07)

• Continued online support to NAPA teams (e.g. data analysis, guidance sheets).

• Led to an increased number of NAPA formulation• 40 of the 50 LDCs have now submitted their

NAPA to the UNFCCC secretariat


Lessons learned• Project profiles were sometimes not focused in terms of

“specific vulnerable areas” , therefore• Do not fit as an appropriate response to climate change

impacts or climate change variability;• Data to support experiences on climate change were

sometimes either absent or inadequate;• The importance of concentrating on urgent and immediate

needs is often not taken into consideration;• In some cases, there was insufficient information about NAPA

guidelines and acquiring further NAPA project funding;• The need for additional technical sheets to further support some

steps in the NAPA process was recognized

TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING

16 training events held in eight developing countries last year

Over 280 Southern stakeholders (government officials, national experts, civil society…) from over 30 countries were trained last year

More than 70 individuals of Southern institutions directly received funding as a part of UNITAR-CCP’s Institutional Capacity Building approach last year;


Global Outcome (1)

Global Outcome (2)

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Innovative technologies and research:

- Development of online collaborative planning, training materials and project management/implementation

- Internet based tools developed by CCP are now being used in over 50 countries.

- Over 25 developing country case studies and pilot projects. Lessons lead to new, locally-contextualized knowledge about mitigating and adapting to contribute to the UNFCCC process and inform adaptation policies and projects


Global outcome (3)

Outreach / Contribution to the International Climate Change Process

“Delivering as One”: Direct collaboration and resource-sharing with UN agencies (UNFCCC secretariat, UN, UNEP, UNDP, World Bank and major NGOs such as IISD) for project support / capacity development.

CCP: An active / recognized member of the international network fighting against climate change: at UNFCCC Conference of Parties, technical meetings on tools & methods & capacity development (Bali, Indonesia, Mexico, Paris) etc...


Consolidate the Training Network:

Active role of UNITAR CCP in the weADAPT group sharing lessons learned and contributing to tool and method development with key partners. www.weADAPT.org

Leading role of UNITAR CCP in managing a new initiative “Capacity Development for Adaptation to Climate Change & GHG Mitigation in Non Annex I Countries” (to start in July 2008, to last over 3 years);

to stimulate coordination and synergies among partners

and bring coherence among several donors initiatives in the UNFCCC context.


Going forward

http://www.weADAPT.org/

Lessons Learned:

• Capacity building and training require trust, time and enduring partnerships.

• There is huge value in sharing information between groups, and UNITAR have developed several ways of doing this.

• Tools and technology are useful, but above all it is the people who matter; training and building a strong network is vital.

• None of this is easy, but effective adaptation projects can and are being done!

THANK YOU

Contacts UNITAR:

Mamadou Moussa Diakhite: [email protected]

Sharon Oseku: [email protected]

weADAPT:

Ben Smith: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]




Documents

UNITAR Climate Change Programme : Capacity development to reach national development goals November 2008