Following on from COP 26, where pledges were made to strengthen adaptation, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) co-convened a
Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI) meeting on December 1st 2021. The LAKI addresses knowledge barriers that impede the implementation and scaling up of adaptation action. It is a recognized global initiative to close adaptation knowledge gaps for targeted users in countries and subregions.
The objectives of the meeting were to:
- Update subregional coordination entities and partners on the progress and strategic priorities for the LAKI, and relevant outcomes from COP 26 on the LAKI.
- Gather feedback on what the outcomes of the initiative have been so far and to generate ideas on how to scale up the LAKI building on the progress to-date.
At the COP, Parties welcomed the continued collaboration of partner organizations in the context of the LAKI. In the decision text, Parties emphasized how important it is to understand the needs of knowledge users in all countries. Consequently, they requested the UNFCCC secretariat and UNEP to continue to implement actions and mobilize resources to close priority knowledge gaps in all Parties, in particular developing countries, including the LDCs and SIDS.
Partners provided several activities that have been undertaken in their respective subregions to close priority knowledge gaps, including:
- Undertaking concrete actions in closing knowledge gaps, such as scaling up of mangrove carbon sequestration studies through existing methodologies (from the United Arab Emirates to Oman) to support adaptation, developing capacities on analysis and development of a smart agriculture application (mobile app) in Jordan;
- Collaborating in the context of UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme in closing priority knowledge gaps (e.g. collaboration of ICIMOD with Harvard University on community-based early warning systems in Hindu Kush subregion);
- Mapping of projects and stocktaking of initiatives (this was done as a part of phase II in GCC and North Africa subregions)
Partners highlighted the following reflections and lessons learned on the outcomes and progress to-date:
- The importance of long-term partnerships and regular interaction with subregional coordination entities and partners to ensure that the scope of the partnership is aligned with their institutional mandates and needs of knowledge users in respective subregions.
- Provision of adequate human and financial resources in enhancing adaptation action through provision of relevant information to target knowledge users
- The need for a coherent monitoring, evaluation & learning framework to document and assess the progress in closing knowledge gaps and assess the impact of provision of relevant information on enhanced adaption action by target knowledge users
- The need for targeted outreach and engagement with knowledge users and the importance of enhancing the engagement of national governments through national focal points.
Furthermore, partners also suggested areas where the LAKI process could be strengthened. These areas include: a systematic approach to identifying and characterizing target knowledge users, a systematic financial resource mobilisation plan to support partners to enhance access to financial resources, and align resources and efforts of partners with needs of targeted knowledge users, a coherent monitoring and evaluation framework to assess progress in closing adaptation knowledge gaps, and a robust communication and outreach strategy to diffuse relevant information among networks of target knowledge users.
Next steps:
UNFCCC and UNEP will refine the operational strategy for the LAKI based on feedback from this meeting.
The below visual provides an overview of key priorities of the LAKI in next two years:
More information:
For more information on engaging with the LAKI, visit the
LAKI page.