A. Vladimir Guevara Climate Centre - Institute of Meteorology Cuba vladimir.guevara@insmet.cu

1. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Cuba’s South-South cooperation and capacity building programs on climate change research and systematic observation A. Vladimir Guevara Climate Centre - Institute of Meteorology Cuba vladimir.guevara@insmet.cu

2. Outline • Country context and status of Cuban National Communication • National climate change priorities • Cuba’s programs on meteorological, climate and atmosphere pollution surveillance systems • Cuba contribution to the cooperation and capacity building programs on climate change research and systematic observation in Latin America and the Caribbean • Barriers and Constraints • Key Lessons Learned

3. Republic of Cuba Havana Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Country context and status of National Communication • The Initial NatCom: finished in 2001 • The 2NC is being prepared since 2008 (by GEF- UNDP Project) • National Circumstances and Greenhouse Gas Inventory have concluded in 2010 • Mitigation and Other information ... Planned for completion in summer 2011 • The entire document should be completed by mid- 2012

4. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Nationalclimate change priorities: Adaptation to the climate change • The rational use and protection of water resources • Reduction of the vulnerability of the coastal zone (coral reef, beaches and mangroves ecosystems) by means of protection and conservation measures. • Conservation and protection of forestry resources. Increasing of the forest cover. The protection of biodiversity and wildlife. • The improvement of Cuban agriculture, increasing the use of climate information and the agricultural climate predictions • The strengthening of human settlements and health systems, incorporating the main climate research results into their planning strategies.

5. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Why Adaptation? • Adaptation is an immediate action from which we can extract the necessary teachings to adjust to socioeconomic system in a progressive way. • To learnfrom the past and the current situation, the Adaptationcan mean a better preparation for the future. • Adaptation is a process that should begins with the reduction of vulnerability to current climate variability. Adaptation to climate change should incorporate a better understanding of the different actors of a country.Education of its inhabitants should be part of the adaptation strategy.

6. GCOS stations Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Cuba’s programs on meteorological, climate and atmosphere pollution surveillance systems • 68 meteorological&climatological stations – 11 of them with long climate data series • More of 1 000 pluviometers • 8 air pollution stations • 8 meteorological radar On this basis, different operative surveillance systems have been developed

7. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Cuba’s South-South cooperation in climate change Some examples What is PRECIS? ProvidingREgional ClimatesforImpact Studies • Development of future climate scenarios using regional climate models, particularly PRECIS, from the Hadley Centre, UK. This action is not only an example of South-South cooperation, but also of South-North cooperation. • Capacity building in the Caribbean countries regarding the use of future climate projections in impact assessments of climate change. • Actions made in order to assimilate methods and tools for assessing the impact of climate change on agriculture by using crop biophysical models.

8. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Cuba’s South-South cooperation in climate change • Support in the development of NatCom at Latin America, the Caribbean and in Africa (Equat. Guinea), ensuring the generation of regional climate scenarios and preparation of Greenhouse Gases Inventory in several countries. • Support for studies of V&A taking place in the overseas territories, which are coordinated through Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5C) • Joint actions to support V&A assessment to climate change in human health sector (Panama, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador) including capacity building.

9. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Barriers and Constraints • Lack of financial funds and material resources to support the technical knowledge transfer among our countries. • The wide range of fields implicated in the training activities, with very little time allocated to each specific sector; the wide set of professionals attending these; the no-continuum in the projects and personnel involved in the climate change activities; and the little stability of the national team composition in many countries. • General guidelines or handbooks for participants contain only superficial description of approaches, but does not include real and deep knowledge on the methodologies and tools used specifically in Non – Annex 1 Parties. The language could also be a major barrier sometimes.

10. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Barriers and Constraints • The impossibility to use the expertise of certain national individual experts or groups, because of they have not contributed to capacity building efforts in their own countries. • Difficulties in obtaining adequate and updated national data sets, along with other relevant information needed to develop assessments. • Lack of previous experiences at regional or local levels. Few possibilities to compare the results obtained from the cooperation actions with some national antecedents. • Weak integration of countries with similar problems and challenges in a region.

11. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Key Lessons Learned • Activities and workshops organized by international agencies and bodies (UNEP, UNDP, UNITAR, CGE) can be an effective way to raise the awareness and understanding on climate change issues in non - Annex 1 countries. • The experiences show that the more successful training workshops and other activities of the South - South cooperation are those that focus specifically to one or two sectors or products (agriculture or human health / Greenhouse Gases Inventory, etc) • Joint projects and activities based on the priorities of climate change should be promoted as an effective way to ensure the continuity of actions initiated previously.

12. Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention” Key Lessons Learned • Regional centers and associated networks are critical in the cooperation efforts. They are a natural part of the process and can serve as important nexus among the country (countries) that provide the assistance and the beneficiaries. • A great effort should be made in order to compile or produce the adequate bibliography, software and other support materials. They should be focused to local level, based on previous researches, with an important role of traditional and native knowledge. Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre

13. WE ARE SURE THAT …… The knowledge has not borders and the cooperation is the best strategy to reach the success. Thank you for your attention!!! vladimir.guevara@insmet.cu