Technologies for adaptation to climate change under the UNFCCC process

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Technologies for adaptation to climate change
under the UNFCCC process

• Iulian Florin Vladu
• Technology Sub-programme
• Sustainable Development Programme
• UNFCCC

Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
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OUTLINE

• Technologies for adaptation under the technology
  agenda item
• Some reflections based on the work done
  (technical papers, scoping paper, regional
  workshop)
• What are technologies for adaptation to climate
  change?
• What technologies are reasonable for climate
  change?
• Analysis of needs and setting priorities
• Integration with sustainable development
• Examples of technologies by sectors

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TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION UNDER THE TECHNOLOGY
AGENDA ITEM

• Article 4.5 of the Convention The developed
  country Parties and other developed Parties
  included in Annex II shall take all practicable
  steps to promote, facilitate and finance, as
  appropriate, the transfer of, or access to,
  environmentally sound technologies and knowhow to
  other Parties, particularly developing country
  Parties, to enable them to implement the
  provisions of the Convention
• Environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) under
  Article 4.5 of the Convention, includes both
  technologies conducive to mitigation of and
  adapting to climate change

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TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION UNDER THE TECHNOLOGY
AGENDA ITEM

• Examples of requests from COP and SBSTA
• Prepare an inventory and assessment of
  environmentally sound and economically viable
  technologies and know-how conducive to mitigating
  and adapting to climate change
• Prepare progress reports on activities of Annex I
  Parties relating to the introduction of
  adaptation technologies
• Compile a catalogue of adaptation technologies
  and know-how
• Survey technology needs
• Provide support to Parties to assess their
  technology needs
• Synthesize and disseminate information on
  adaptation technologies
• Prepare technical papers and organize this
  seminar
• EGTT included also activities on technologies for
  adaptation in its work programme for 2004 and 2005

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TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION UNDER THE TECHNOLOGY
AGENDA ITEM

• Prepared a number of reports and technical papers
  which are directly or partially relevant to
  adaptation
• Initial report on technology inventory and
  assessment
• Technical paper on Adaptation to climate change
  options and technologies
• Technology and technology information needs
  arising from the survey of developing country
  Parties
• Technical paper on Coastal adaptation
  technologies
• Technical paper on Enabling environments for
  technology transfer
• Compilation and synthesis of Annex II National
  Communications, with specific reference to
  adaptation technologies
• EGTT scoping paper on Basic concepts of
  adaptation relevant technologies
• Background paper on Technology to understand and
  manage climate risks (prepared for this seminar)

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TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION UNDER THE TECHNOLOGY
AGENDA ITEM

• Access to information - the secretariat has
  established a technology information clearing
  house (TTCLEAR) which includes following
  elements relating to adaptation
• Inventory of existing adaptation centres.
  Experts and organizations
• Cooperation projects on technology for
  adaptation (mainly from national communications
  of both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties,
  technology needs assessments and NAPAs)
• Case studies
• Access to information - a pilot network of
  technology information centres was established.
  The pilot network will be extended this year to
  include three centres from developing country
  Parties, one for each geographical region

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TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION UNDER THE TECHNOLOGY
AGENDA ITEM

• Provided support to non-Annex I Parties to
  conduct technology needs assessments (TNAs)
• Some 80 TNAs conducted with support from UNDP
• Some 15 TNAs conducted with support from UNEP
• UNDP prepared a guidebook on Conducting
  technology needs assessments for climate change
• Started to work on summarizing the results of the
  TNAs completed so far

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• Many technologies have been used to adapt to
  contemporary climate variability and extremes.
  Examples of existing a technologies for
  adaptation include air conditioning,
  flood-defence systems and irrigation, but also
  monitoring, forecasting and early-warning systems
  for natural hazards
• These technologies can also be used to adapt to
  climate change, although they may need to be
  improved and new technologies may need to be
  developed because climate change is likely to
  impose new and higher standards of reliability
  and performance

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• Attempting a definition of technologies for
  adaptation to climate change poses significant
  challenges
• Adaptation is a very broad term alluding to many
  diverse sectors and systems, including human and
  natural systems and their interrelationships, on
  which climate change impacts are dependent on
  other considerations such as vulnerability,
  sensitivity, resilience etc.
• In contrast, for mitigation, greenhouse gases are
  emitted largely as a result of the application of
  technology itself, so possible solutions already
  have a teological baseline
• A definition of technology for adaptation that
  can adequately capture the multitude of
  situations to which it can, or ought, to apply
  would be difficult. Such a definition would need
  to incorporate the concepts of adaptation and
  technology

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• In the climate change context, adaptation has
  been defined as the adjustment in natural or
  human systems in response to actual or expected
  climatic stimuli or their effects, that moderates
  harm or exploits beneficial opportunities
• Technology has been defined as a piece of
  equipment, technique, practical knowledge or
  skills for performing a particular activity

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• An operational definition of technology for
  adaptation could therefore be
• Any application of equipment, techniques,
  practical knowledge or skills that would allow
  natural or human systems to adjust to actual or
  expected climatic stimuli or their effects, by
  moderating harm or exploiting beneficial
  opportunities or in simpler language
• The application of technology in order to reduce
  the vulnerability, or enhance the resilience, of
  a natural or human system to the impacts of
  climate change.

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• This definition would also incorporate the use,
  development or adoption of innovative approaches
  to achieve the same end, such as the management
  of natural and human systems, or components
  thereof
• It also implies human intervention in the
  adaptation process, contrasted to autonomous
  adaptation
• Most adaptations will be done in reaction to
  climate change (e.g., farmer switches crops -
  autonomous adaptation). We are focusing on
  anticipatory or purposeful adaptation -
  deliberately done to anticipate effects of
  climate change (may also be to address current
  needs)
• See also next presentation..

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• Technological approaches to anticipatory and
  planned adaptation may include both soft
  technology and hard technology
• Hard technology also called capital goods,
  hardware or embodied technology refers to tools,
  machinery, equipment and entire production
  systems (what we traditionally think of as
  technologies, e.g., equipment, structures)

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WHAT ARE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES?

• Soft technologies also called software or
  disembodied technology concerns the knowledge of
  methods and techniques for the production of
  goods and services, or for choosing optimal
  courses of action
• Soft technologies enable hard technologies to be
  applied
• Analogous to adaptive capacity
• Includes such elements as education, training
• Can also include approaches to overcome barriers
  to adoption of technologies (e.g., market,
  economic, institutional, cultural)?

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WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE REASONABLE FOR ADAPTATION
TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

• The development and deployment of either type of
  technology requires the right economic, legal and
  institutional contexts. Therefore, an effective
  adaptation strategy will comprise a mix of
  various adaptation approaches
• Do we invest now in technologies to anticipate
  climate change? Does it make sense to deploy them
  now?
• Benefits are too far in future to justify large
  investment solely for climate change..
• Too many uncertainties about local climate
  change. However, RD may make sense..

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WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE REASONABLE FOR ADAPTATION
TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

• What technologies for adaptation do we invest in?
• Basically, ones that are needed for todays needs
  and are further justified by consideration of
  climate change..
• Means that technologies do not address climate
  change alone?

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WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE REASONABLE FOR ADAPTATION
TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

• Timing
• Should consider these technologies when
  adaptations will be needed?
• Because of barriers or length of investments,
  some adaptations could take many years to
  implement. Therefore it may make sense to
  address barriers for long-term adaptations now so
  implementation is shortened

• Agriculture vs. water
• Many agriculture investments take 5 to 30 years
• Water investments such as supply can take 50 to
  100 years
• Different timing of investments may be justified

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WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE REASONABLE FOR ADAPTATION
TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

• Technologies which help reduce the impacts of
  climate change can themselves cause other
  problems
• Coastal zone adaptation technologies are a good
  example. Many of the technologies incorporated
  within, or needed to implement, managed retreat
  from, accommodation of, or protection against,
  rising sea levels can have adverse social,
  economic or environmental consequences, often
  even when diligently executed (e.g., most hard
  structures such as sea walls have deleterious
  effects upon local ecosystems, including, in the
  case of many small islands, for example,
  fisheries and coral reefs)
• Few, if any, coastal adaptation technologies have
  no negative side-effects. Under certain
  circumstances these unintended side-effects can
  outweigh the benefits of a particular coastal
  adaptation technology

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WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE REASONABLE FOR ADAPTATION
TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

• Analyze vulnerability and adaptation needs
• Need to understand vulnerability to current
  climate and climate change
• Need to address climate change adaptation needs
• Challenges of assessing vulnerability
• Difficulty in comparing across sectors because of
  differences in impacts human life, income, well
  being, ecological impacts (adaptation does not
  have equivalent of /TC)
• Uncertainties about climate change
• Time frame
• UNDP Adaptation PolicyFramework (scope project
  assess current vulnerabilitycharacterize
  future, climate-related risks develop
  adaptation strategycontinue adaptation process)

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ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND SETTING PRIORITIES

• Vulnerability assessment is a natural prelude to
  technology assessment in the context of
  adaptation. An assessment primarily involves an
  analysis of the vulnerability of sectors and
  systems and the approaches (technologies) that
  can be applied to reduce the identified
  vulnerability or enhance resilience
• The actual on-the-ground implementation of any
  technology would have to be a decision based on
  the TNA process, involving inter alia, technology
  assessments, stakeholder consultations, analysis
  and removal of implementation barriers, enabling
  environments, implementation plans, etc.

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ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND SETTING PRIORITIES

• A complete assessment of adaptation options would
  include an analysis of adaptive capacity,
  cost-benefit analyses, effectiveness, and
  efficiency etc. that may or may not fall within
  the purview of technology per se
• Technology itself can have adverse impacts of its
  own and technology as applied to adaptation may
  also need to be assessed for these adverse
  impacts, either on natural or human systems (see
  above example on coastal zone technologies)

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ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND SETTING PRIORITIES

• Identify broad adaptation needs first. What is
  really needed?
• Set priorities
• Policy reforms may be most important
• Do not assume technology is the answer use it
  as needed
• Recognize that many adaptations are on an ad hoc
  basis. Do not ignore these opportunities

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ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND SETTING PRIORITIES

• It is important to rank technologies in terms of
  priorities. No right or wrong way to do it be
  consistent and transparent
• TNA process suggests priority setting involve
  stakeholders and be comprehensive
• Can consider criteria such as most
  cost-effectively reducing current risks or
  addressing urgent climate change needs (e.g.,
  where vulnerability or costs of response could
  increase if not addressed)
• The TNA process is country driven and include
  national priorities. Nevertheless, common grounds
  can be defined that might be useful to other
  countries in dealing with adaptation issues
• Information generated by other processes such as
  National Communications, NAPAs, UNDP APF etc.
  should also be taken into consideration

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ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND SETTING PRIORITIES

• TNA example - Mauritius

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INTEGRATION WITH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

• Address current problems that can be made worse
  by climate change
• Consider future development paths
• Identify where these paths
• Exacerbates existing problems
• Eases existing problems
• Creates new problems
• Identify linkages with climate change

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EXAMPLES WATER RESOURCES

• Options can involve actions on both the demand
  and supply sides
• Supply side adaptations increasing flood
  defences, building weirs and locks to manage
  water levels and modifying or extending
  infrastructure to collect and distribute water to
  consumers
• Demand-side adaptive techniques water-efficient
  irrigation such as drip-irrigation technology,
  water conservation techniques, land use
  management technology
• Water conservation for potable use would be of
  high importance for countries projected to have a
  decrease in annual rainfall
• Protection of surface and ground water reserves
  can employ pollution prevention technology in
  sectors that give rise to water pollutants such
  as industry and agriculture

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EXAMPLES WATER RESOURCES

• Limited water supply
• Already a problem because of overuse, pollution
• Higher population, economic growth could
  exacerbate problem by increasing demand
• Climate change risks reducing supply
• Salt water intrusion from sea level rise
• Reduced runoff/infiltration
• Identify technologies that address water supply
  needs e.g.,
• Increase efficiency of use
• Reduce losses
• Increase supply

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EXAMPLES - AGRICULTURE
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EXAMPLES - AGRICULTURE

• Chemical pollution from agriculture.
  Agricultural activity can affect water quality
  through run off from fertilizers, pesticides and
  soils into surface and groundwater. A logical
  approach would be to prevent/reduce the amount of
  chemicals used. Two such approaches can be
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) involves pest
  control methods including growing pest-resistant
  cultivars, crop rotation and tillage techniques.
  Efficient and proper application of pesticides
  can reduce chemical loads
• Integrated Plant Nutrition Systems (IPNS)
  involves the efficient use of nutrient supply to
  crops helps to improve productive capacity of
  soils timely and sufficient use of on- and
  off-farm nutrient supply can reduce run-off to
  surface-, and leaching to, groundwater

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EXAMPLES HUMAN HEALTH
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FINAL THOUGHTS

• Knowledge of adaptation technologies and
  practices is limited and the work of the EGTT on
  this topic just started. Nevertheless, a wide
  range of sector-specific ESTs that can function
  as adaptation technologies are available
  depending on the vulnerability of a particular
  sector
• A main challenge remains to identify these
  technologies, assess them, adapt them to local
  conditions and deploy them
• Need to begin with present-day needs and to
  consider development paths. What problems are
  made worse, eased or introduced and add in
  climate change as a consideration
• Technology can be an answer but is not always the
  answer

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Thank you!