Key Recommendations of CVF Regional Activities

Transcription

1 Key Recommendations of CVF Regional Activities The Forum is currently meeting through regional-level activities since 2014, which produce recommendations in preparation for the UNFCCC Conference of Parties taking place in November in Paris. Latin America and the Caribbean (23-25 April 2015 at San Jose, Costa Rica) Enabling Conditions 1) Incorporate climate change within regional issues such as fishing, risk, environment, health and tourism 2) We need to define nationally appropriate adaptation strategies taking into account regional strategies such as the Regional Agri-Food Strategy and Regional Climate Change Strategy 3) Develop training programs and strengthen central government ministries or departments including environment, public works, transportation and finance 4) Strengthen the capacity of local governments 5) Analyze the need for regional climate change policy to include marine spatial planning 6) Promote the installation of a platform for the exchange of information, experience and capabilities at regional level 7) Identify gaps in vulnerability diagnosis of central government legislation on climate change and promote harmonization 8) Create different types of financial mechanisms at national and local level to help reduce vulnerability to climate change in coastal areas 9) Evaluate adaptation measure alternatives from an economic perspective based on their viability (costbenefit) 10) Promote dissemination of the evaluation of adaptation programs, including for the fisheries sector 11) Create mechanisms for coordination between regional bodies like COCATRAM, and on tourism and agriculture 12) Promote the coordination of international cooperation to avoid duplication and so that countries have records of where they are investing 13) Stipulate the inclusion of coastal and marine issues in action plans and risk management policies 14) Document, organize and disseminate lessons learned from projects that are running 15) Standardize principles, objectives, policy mechanisms and instruments based on regional priorities 16) Identify and economically evaluate the ecosystem services of coastal marine resources for the generation of financial mechanisms and other management tools that could promote the reduction of vulnerability to climate change in coastal areas Capacity building in vulnerability information management 1) Expand monitoring systems to include the Caribbean throughout the isthmus and the Pacific 2) Feed the Regional Network with monitoring data 3) Provide access to information produced in the framework of vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation of climate change in the coastal marine area 4) Adopt a regional vision with local actions 5) Share experiences and multiply actions to restore coastal marine ecosystems 6) Unify the information platform for vulnerability assessment through matrices and indicators 7) Use the information productively based on records and monitoring of environmental parameters (ecosystem) produced by the studies and assessments in the countries and the region on various platforms online to avoid duplication of effort 8) Coordinate with international cooperation to avoid duplication by gathering data by the countries investing 9) Focus international resources in priority areas defined by vulnerable countries 10) Strengthen the regional Cousteau Observatory 11) Regional training programs for information management for vulnerability

2 12) Propose standards for structuring the management plans of AMP, highlighting the Adaptive Management and Management of Invasive Species 13) Promote the exchange of experiences (e.g. the case of El Salvador) 14) Support programmes for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in the coastal zone in each country s approved and programmatic / regulatory framework - realizable at different scales 15) Promote projects on vulnerability / coastal sensitivity with emphasis on systemic ecosystem connectivity and transboundary marine resources. (Components: mapping ecosystems zoning / planning at different scales) 16) Need to produce accurate and timely information for decision-making at different levels 17) Workshops or regional centers for the dissemination of recent research results to decision makers and technical specialists 18) Standardize criteria for collecting, reading and interpreting / evaluating regional data 19) Install database images or historical time series (a virtual photo archive with descriptions) 20) Establish a regional geo-environmental monitoring system with homogenous indicators managed by each country: prioritizing key indicators 21) Adopt a regional vision with specific local actions 22) Improve access to information in Spanish 23) Allow for a continued strengthening of human resources to generate an expert databank. 24) Promote twinning between neighboring countries (e.g. for the recovery of mangroves) Scientific and technical information transfer to local contexts and vice versa 17) Strengthen political support for ongoing efforts to systematize information on coastal vulnerability to climate change 18) Manage/ rescue local and ancestral knowledge on successful climate adaptation options 19) Promote the implementation of regional information centers 20) Manage the generation of information that promotes the conservation of coastal habitats and relationship between these actions and the livelihoods of local people 21) Generate a virtual regional information center where countries can share information generated 22) Develop inventories for transferring sectoral information that can be shared regionally 23) Translate technical and scientific language that can contribute to the analysis of the economic impacts of vulnerability 24) Promote the design of awareness campaigns for coastal inhabitants on climate risk and vulnerability to climate change 25) Incorporate the health sector in all analytical processes of coastal vulnerability 26) Strengthen regional bodies for greater, more informed representation in global forums 27) Establish consultative processes for the formulation of policies, plans and strategies to address the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change 28) Promote awareness campaigns on the interpretation of scenarios and their uncertainties 29) Achieve greater integration of information between the institutions associated with coastal areas to avoid any duplication of effort Successful local adaptation measures 1) Promote regional legal frameworks that allow the implementation of adaptation measures 2) Promote the management of shared basins between countries 3) Strengthen regional monitoring systems 4) Promote the development and implementation of projects in those areas where an exchange of experiences have been carried out 5) Systematize the existing body of experience on the implementation of adaptation measures in coastal areas 6) Use existing regional institutions to share experiences and develop regional projects jointly 7) Continue the promotion of regional workshops to build capacity in the understanding of marine coastal vulnerability 8) Integrate early warning systems at the local level 9) Promote the establishment of criteria to select regionally successful adaptation measures on the basis of existing experience in the regio 2

3 Pacific (26-27 February 2015 at Apia, Samoa) 1) Accelerate progress towards Green Climate Fund readiness. 2) Enhance private sector involvement in realizing action to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions. 3) Promote evolution in climate financing approaches to suit the special case of Pacific SIDS. 4) Increase support for national institutional capacity to take action on climate change. 5) Ensure national action plans are developed and reviewed on a bi-partisan, national stakeholder consensus basis, and in dialogue with development partners. 6) Embed life-cycle sustainability into all climate projects, addressing long-term maintenance challenges. 7) Systematically review possibilities to combine national projects into multicountry initiatives Sub-Saharan Africa (7-8 May 2015 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) 1) Priority of building stronger institutions and structures supported by policies and legal frameworks for climate change as a core economic development issue 2) Importance of a strategic framework for generating greater levels of awareness of climate change at different levels, including all relevant sectors and down to communities 3) Increased local technological research and development, harnessing South-South national and community knowledge 4) Improved access and capacity to manage external sources of finance, in particular from major international funds including through facilitated modalities 5) Increased levels of participatory monitoring and evaluation of climate actions essential to effective responses and implementation 6) Mainstream gender-responsive climate change actions cross-sectorally into economic development for a Green Economy approach 7) Reinforce infrastructure for renewable energy, transportation and water 8) Boost involvement of private sector in climate action through incentives and adapted communication 9) Establish robust cross-sectoral and vertical coordination systems, including for policy implementation and legal frameworks 10) Reinforce vital capacities both institutional and at local levels which are indispensable to achieving action on the ground 11) Ensure increased financing for adaptation for African countries 12) Put climate change policy into action Asia (20-21 May 2015 at Manila, Philippines) 1) Strong national coordination among institutions and departments as well as vertically within national structures and at the different governance levels 2) Mobilization of community and civil society in climate action and knowledge exchange between governments, experts and communities 3) Reinforce national institutional capacity and human resources for realizing climate action 4) Increased transfer, exchange and diffusion of technologies and expertise between and among developed and developing countries and South-South 5) Enhanced balance, access to, and coordination of, international climate finance, and institutional capacity for national and international financial responses to climate change 6) Greater regional cooperation and coordination (knowledge sharing, information management, technology transfer and development, policies) 7) Promoting understanding and awareness among communities and the private sector including through an enhanced role of the media 8) Providing more effective enabling conditions for greater private sector engagement in driving climate action 3

4 9) Accelerate climate-smart industrial development essential for diversifying vulnerable sectors of economies 10) Enhanced infrastructure, research funding, and capacity for hydro-met and socioeconomic data and scenarios for more accurate and robust policy-making The Asia regional event also held national and international consultations on the creation of a new Centre of Excellence for climate information and services for Climate Vulnerable Forum countries. Middle East & North Africa (28-29 May 2015 at Geneva, Switzerland hosted by Lebanon) 1) Address climate change adaptation as a priority since MENA is a region that is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, specifically in terms of water, food production, drought and slow-onset events including sea-level rise and desertification. 2) Acknowledge that climate change exacerbates existing environmental, economic, social and security challenges and increases competition over already scarce natural resources. 3) Highlight the efforts undertaken by the countries of the region in mitigation and adaptation and stressing the need to provide appropriate means of implementation to unlock the potential of the region and complement existing national actions. 4) Account for the special needs of the region and its population in climate change responses, in particular people living under military foreign occupation and highlight the importance of empowering full control over their natural resources, and further acknowledging other underlying factors adding to the vulnerability of populations of the region. 5) Develop needs assessments for adaptation and mitigation, in particular for the development and implementation of national adaptation plans and disaster risk reduction responses. 6) Ensure the transfer of the latest technologies on preferential and concessional terms enabling adaptation and mitigation, especially in the areas of land and water management, agricultural production, coastal and marine protection, drought management and health, in addition to energy in the industrial and transport sectors, and renewable energy. 7) Harness the region s abundant, largely untapped resources of renewable energy, in particular solar energy, to serve countries inside and adjacent to MENA. 8) Scale-up international finance targeting adaptation in particular for the implementation of the urgent concrete activities and projects of the region, taking into consideration the existing and shortterm challenges and limited financial resources of the MENA region. 9) Improve access to international climate finance that is free of conditionalities such as co-financing requirements, while ensuring its adequacy, sustainability and predictability, and highlighting the principal role of public finance. 10) Encourage the engagement of the private sector in support of MENA climate action, including through public-private partnerships. 11) Highlight the expected role of multi-lateral funding entities, in particular the Green Climate Fund, in supporting MENA region countries both on adaptation and mitigation. 12) Ensure North-South transfer of technical know-how and knowledge through joint research on climate change, most specifically for prediction models to assess future climate change impacts on the region, and taking full advantage of intergovernmental information networks, among others, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). 13) Enhance institutional capacity, and legal and institutional structures to support the proper implementation of adaptation and mitigation activities. 14) Promote greater regional cooperation and collaboration including through regionally shaped responses to national climate change challenges, and the exchange of best practices in adaptation and mitigation across the region to harness existing knowledge South-South, in particular through the development and promotion of scientific networks within MENA. 4

5 About the CVF The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) is an international partnership of countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet. The Forum serves as a South-South cooperation platform for participating governments to act together to deal with global climate change. The 20 participating countries are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Viet Nam. Contact Climate Change Commission, Office of the President of the Philippines (as Climate Vulnerable Forum Chair) (CCCPH, CVF) Ms. Joy Goco Assistant Secretary joy.goco@yahoo.com Ms. Helena T. Gaddi Officer anagaddi@yahoo.com 5