The Consultative Group of Experts on National
Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (CGE) held
three regional hands-on training workshops on identifying and reporting
adaptation actions in 2018 for Parties not included in Annex I to the
Convention. The first workshop, for the African region, was held in Lomé, Togo from 23 to 26 July, the
second, for the Latin American and Caribbean region, was held in Asunción, Paraguay, from 17 to 20
September, and the third, for the Asia-Pacific and Eastern European regions,
was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 8 to 11 October.
The workshops were designed based on the CGE’s assessment of the problems, constraints
and lessons learned and best practices in the preparation of national
communications (NCs) and biennial update reports (BURs), feedback from past
workshop participants, and surveys conducted with the national focal points and
NC and BUR coordinators. The CGE has identified that countries often
lack rigorous and scientific assessment of vulnerability and adaptation
(V&A), and thus the adaptation options/measures are generic. In most cases,
countries face challenges in selecting appropriate and practical methodologies
to their national circumstances and carrying out complete sectoral assessments.
Furthermore, while a few countries have explored the possibility of conducting vulnerability
and adaptation assessments in the context of preparation of NCs as an
opportunity to integrate climate change responses into relevant national and
sectoral policies, there is still a need to provide a broader picture of how
the assessment of impacts and vulnerability to climate change can lead to adaptation
options that can inform formulation of robust climate resilient sectoral
policies, plans or programmes.
Workshop Objectives
The objectives of the workshops were to enhance
the technical knowledge of national experts on the science, methods and tools
necessary for conducting vulnerability and adaptation assessments, translating
the assessment results into adaptation actions and reporting the actions in
their national communications. The workshops were similar in design and
structure and several sessions were conducted at each. The following topics
were covered through presentations and interactive hands-on exercises: 1) Big
picture: global landscape of climate change impacts and action, 2) General steps
in V&A assessments and frameworks, 3) Sectoral V&A assessment, planning
and implementation, 4) Translating sectoral V&A assessment results into
national policies and plans, 5) Reporting to the Convention, 6) Establishing or
enhancing national institutional arrangements and 7) Peer exchange.
For the session on sectoral V&A assessment,
planning and implementation, the following four sectors were presented: (i) water;
(ii) coastal; (iii) health; and (iv) agriculture. These sectors were chosen
through a survey amongst national focal points, NC and BUR coordinators to
identify the interest and need of the countries.
Each presentation was followed by
question and answer sessions and breakout group exercises based on case
studies. These exercises generated an exchange of views and lessons learned
during the process and allowed participants to gain a skill set for identifying
adaptation actions and reporting them in NC’s.
The workshops were designed to
allow for flexibility on the level of detail. Before each regional workshop commenced, a
pre-workshop survey was conducted to understand the level of experience of the
participants and their expectations for the workshop, with the organizers using
the findings to customize and adjust the level and approach of the
sessions. During the four days,
participants and resource persons reviewed these expectations to ensure that
the participants’ needs were
met.
Participants’ Assessment and Feedback
Overall, the participants of the
regional hands-on training workshops appreciated the opportunity to work with a
set of methods and tools necessary to conduct V&A assessments through
hands-on exercises. After each of the regional workshops, a post-workshop
survey was conducted to assess if the workshop met the objectives and
expectations of the participants as well as allowing the CGE to adjust and
improve the content and approach for the workshop. The assessment also allows the CGE to adjust
and improve the content and approach for the workshop. The response rates
for the workshops were 76 per cent for the African region, 63 per cent for the
Latin America and Caribbean, and 81 per cent for Asia-Pacific and Eastern
European regions.
Per the survey results, most
surveyed participants found the quality of the regional hands-on training
workshops to be either excellent (42%, on average) or good (54%, on average). Participants
found the content of the workshop to be either very relevant (41-48% for each
session) or relevant (40-47%) to their daily work
Workshops’ Success
In general, the workshops were
successful in several areas including: 1) Familiarization of the entire cycle
of planning and conducting a V&A assessment, identifying adaptation options, decision-making
and planning and reporting adaptation actions in NCs, 2) Serving as a platform
for sharing experience and lessons learned among national experts from the same
region, 3) Promoting networking among national experts, 4) Clarifying the
context and mandate for developing countries to report information on
adaptation in their NCs, and 5) Providing a platform for the CGE to interact
with national experts and gain first-hand insight into lessons learned and
experience as well as constraints and challenges countries are facing.
Appreciation
The CGE, the secretariat and participants
expressed their appreciation to the Governments of Nepal, Paraguay and Togo for
hosting the workshops. The CGE also extended its
appreciation to RCC Lomé and to the UNDP country offices in Paraguay and Nepal for organizing
the logistical arrangements for these workshops. The CGE thanked the resource
persons from Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), Deltares, the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the
Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II, the United
Nations Development Programme National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme
and the World Health Organization.The CGE thanked those developed country
Parties included in Annex II to the Convention and other developed country
Parties that provided financial resources for the workshops.
The full report on the regional
workshops is available here.
The CGE’s annual progress report to the Subsidiary Body for
Implementation can be found here.