Methods for Identifying Urgent Adaptation Needs and Actions under the LDC NAPA

1. Methods for Identifying Urgent Adaptation Needs and Actions under the LDC NAPA Dr. Paul V. Desanker Vice-Chair, UNFCCC LDC Expert Group Miombo AIACC Project AF38

2. Outline • Policy Intervention and Policy Development to address Climate Change • What are NAPAs? • Adaptation Funding • Overview of Methods for NAPA • Results • Problems and Next Steps

3. UNFCCC Support for adaptation in developing countries Article 4.4: Developed countries shall assist the developing countries in meeting costs of adaptation to Climate Change. Relevant issues under negotiation include: • National Communications • Capacity Building • Technology Transfer • Financial Mechanism through GEF • Article 4.8 and 4.9 • Methodologies

4. UNFCCC support forLDC needs • Article 4.9: Parties shall take full account of the specific needs and special situations of the least developed countries in their actions with regard to funding and transfer of technology.

5. Marrakesh Accords, 2001 • Decision 5/CP.7: Support for adaptation in developing countries. Establishment of an LDC work programme. • Decision 27/CP.7: Guidance on LDC Fund. • Decision 28/CP.7: NAPA Guidelines. • Decision 29/CP.7: Establishment of the LDC Expert Group (LEG).

6. Important timelines: • First LEG meeting (Arusha) Feb 2002 • GEF operational guidelines on LDC Fund Mar 2002 • SBI 16 endorsement of LEG programme of work June 2002 • Second LEG meeting (Bonn) July 2002 • Review of NAPA guidelines at COP 8 (SB 17) Nov 2002 • Further guidance on LDC Fund at COP 8 Nov 2002 • Third LEG meeting (Samoa, last week) • COP 9 to review progress, need for continuation, revised TORs of LEG • COP 9 to provide guidance on funding of NAPA activities

7. National Adaptation Programme of Action • Objective: Serve as a simplified and direct channel of communication for information relating to the urgent and immediate adaptation needs of the LDCs • Needs addressed through projects and activities that may include capacity building and policy reform • Confidence about need for action based on strong results from IPCC that climate change is happening

8. IPCC TAR has concluded that available observational evidence indicates that regional changes in climate, particularly increases in temperature, have already affected a diverse set of physical and biological systems in many parts of the world.

11. “There is emerging evidence that some social and economic systems have been affected by the recent increasing frequency of floods and droughts in some areas”, IPCC TAR.

12. Mozambique floods in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 wet seasons highlighted the need for urgent action, and the need for a mechanism for communicating those needs

13. www.grida.no/climate

14. “Those with the Least Resources have the Least Capacity to Adapt and are the Most Vulnerable” • Ability of human systems to adapt to and cope with climate change depends on such factors as wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities. • There is potential for developed and developing countries to enhance and/or acquire adaptive capabilities. • Populations and communities are highly variable in their endowments with these attributes, and the developing countries, particularly the least developed countries (LDCs), are generally poorest in this regard.

15. Goals and Objectives • The goal of NAPA is to lay out a plan of action about how to build capacity to adapt to climate change and how to enhance coping strategies to adverse impacts of climate and climate change • An important characteristic of NAPAs is the emphasis on rural communities, and the use of traditional knowledge about coping strategies, and the need for the process to be bottoms-up so it can capture most important vulnerabilities of stakeholders • Critical for NAPAs to including major stakeholder groups, and to be coupled to national development plans and activities

16. What is the end product? • Not simply another lengthy document to join the ranks of important national action plans • Not simply an opportunity to get ‘busy’ with yet another enabling activity • NAPA should be a bottoms-up action plan that has broad acceptance and is action-oriented. • While the process will be comprehensive to arrive at the NAPA, the final product should be a concise and well justified list of actions and projects to address priority vulnerabilities for the country, or at least to build the capacity to address those vulnerabilities

17. The NAPA • The NAPA would thus be a concise document that would communicate those urgent needs that a country may have, and a ranked list of actions to address these needs, including project briefs. • NAPA is not an obligation – it is an opportunity for those that have urgent needs • NAPA is a bottoms-up approach, designed to build enable communities of stakeholders in countries to have an active role in enhancing their adaptive capacity

18. How about the National Communication (NC) as a mechanism for expressing adaptation needs in LDCs? • The NC is a top-down, obligation for parties to communicate their emissions and plans for mitigation, and some statement about mitigation and adaptation needs • LDCs are not required to submit a NC within 3 yrs, although at least 20 of them have submitted their first national communication • These NCs do not address urgent adaptation needs to the level of detail that would be easily translated into an action. • The long time required to produce a NC is not suited for addressing and communication urgent and immediate needs

19. Participatory Rapid Integrated Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment (PRIVA) in Support of NAPAResources:- NAPA Primer- Annotated Guidelines for NAPA Preparation- PRIVA Tool on CD

20. Overall Approach • The steps are divided into three levels of effort depending on quality of available information • Level I: present assessments adequate to assist in identifying NAPA adaptation activities using participatory approach • Level II: hazards, risks and coping known, but assessments of vulnerability and adaptation not available. Adequate to conduct a one-pass participatory rapid assessment and result in adaptation options • Level III: hazards, risks and coping unspecified, so some assessment of these required before adaptation options can be derived

25. Research Questions • What are rapid assessment methods for identifying urgent and immediate needs for adaptation? What criteria to rank urgency and ensure equity amongst most vulnerable groups in country? • How engage multiple stakeholders and communities in selection of options and ranking of priorities? • What international policy interventions are needed to address special needs of LDCs? • How should adaptation activities in LDCs be funded? • What are data and capacity needs in LDCs to implement NAPAs?

26. Approach • International policy development and negotiation • Process for NAPA development at national level that promotes mainstreaming of climate change in development planning • UNFCCC LDC Expert Group to provide advice to LDC parties

27. Major Problems & Solutions • Uncommon understanding • Non-Obligatory nature of NAPA: NAPA an opportunity • Relationship with National Communication • Home for NAPA: environment ministry versus broader • Methods for Ranking Needs and Activities • Country-drivenness • Intervention: • Regional workshops by LEG to interact with parties