Climate Change and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

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Climate Change and Achieving the Millennium
Development Goals
Olav Kjorven Director, Environment and Energy
Group
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Overview of Presentation
Climate Change and Development

• Climate Change, Development and UNDP
• Achieving the Millennium Development Goals is
  UNDPs core commitment
• Sustainable development is the only path
• Overview of UNDPs Climate Change Strategy
• Adaptation and mitigation are equally important
  components
• Reducing human vulnerability is our main focus
• Building Partnerships within the UN System is
  Essential

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Climate change is a major development issue
Climate Change and Development

• It can no longer be considered just an
  environmental issue
• The vulnerability of the poor is increasing and
  millions are already at risk
• Climate change considerations must be
  mainstreamed into national development plans and
  policies but has yet to feature strongly
• How can we meet the development aspirations of
  the poor in a carbon constrained world?
• The Millennium Development Goals will be
  compromised
• Past development gains will be put in jeopardy

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Climate Risks to MDGs
Climate Risks
MDGs CLIMATE RISKS
MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Depleted livelihood assets, reduced economic growth, and undermined food security.
MDG 2 Achieve universal primary education Reduced ability of children to participate in full-time education by loss of infrastructure, loss of livelihoods (forcing children to work), and displaced families.
MDG 3 Promote gender equality and empower women Additional burdens on women's health and limited time to participate in decision-making and income-generating activities.
MDGs 4, 5 and 6 Reduce child mortality improve maternal health combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases availability of potable water. Greater prevalence of vector- and water-borne diseases, and heat-related mortality, declining food security, maternal health, and availability of potable water
MDG 7 Ensure environmental sustainability Negatively impacted natural resources and productive ecosystems
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Climate Exposure of Donor-funded Development
II. UNDP Strategy
Aid flows affected by climate risk in red Shaded
areas indicate uncertainty.
Fiji
Bangladesh Egypt Tanzania Uruguay Nepal
Fiji
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Exposure of donor-funded development activities
Low estimate(12-50)
High estimate(26-65)
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UNDP Climate Change Strategy

• A balanced mix of adaptation and mitigation
• Adaptation focus entails a multi-pronged approach
  
• Integrating adaptation into UN programmes
• Mainstreaming adaptation into development plans
• Piloting adaptation approaches
• It is about reducing vulnerability and climate
  risks
• Mitigation focus on achieving low greenhouse gas
  development pathways through market
  transformation
• Key elements include energy access for the poor,
  energy efficiency, land degradation/biocarbon,
  carbon finance, supporting technology diffusion
  and demonstration

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Adaptation Enabling Activities
II. UNDP Strategy

• National Communications (NCs)
• Report on programmes to facilitate adaptation
• Vulnerability and Adaptation assessment a
  starting point for formulating strategies, plans,
  projects

• National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs)
• Respond to vulnerability of LDCs and prioritize
  adaptation measures
• Integrating climate change into country
  programmes in collaboration with other agencies
• Water sector, land management, health, energy
  policy
• In some sector priority areas (health/agriculture)
  we work with partners (WHO/FAO/UNEP)

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II. UNDP Strategy
UN Priority Policy Responses for Adaptation
Agriculture and Food Security Food security and
food production maintained or enhanced
Water Resources and Quality Water availability
and supply maintained
Public Health Public health maintained or enhanced
Climate Change-Related Disaster Risk
Management Exposure and vulnerability to climate
change-driven risks and hazards reduced
Coastal Development Exposure and vulnerability of
population, infrastructure economic activity
reduced
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Mitigation Strategy
II. UNDP Strategy

• Energy access is critical to achieving the MDGs
• Two billion people still without access to modern
  energy
• Providing access to modern energy services
  essential to reducing land degradation and
  deforestation
• Important to achieving health and education MDGs
• Has important adaptation benefits and builds
  resilience
• But we must deliver these services while
  minimising GHG emissions

• Energy efficiency is essential to sustainable
  development
• Huge economic development benefits
• Enhances energy security
• UNDP is delivering a wide range of programs in
  this area
• Energy efficiency standards and labelling a key
  component

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Mitigation Strategy
II. UNDP Strategy

• Delivering sustainable technologies
• UNDP has a large portfolio of projects in
  renewable energy technologies and resource
  management
• Building technical and institutional capacities,
  creating and enabling environment, regulatory and
  legal essential to supporting these technologies
• Combining adaptation and mitigation (through
  community level forestry/land rehabilitation) can
  have important MDG benefits
• Building a sustainable and reliable energy system
  is essential to achieving the MDGs

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Mitigation Strategy
II. UNDP Strategy

• Carbon Finance has an important role to play
• Traditional ODA funds insufficient to meet the
  poverty and environment challenge
• Carbon finance could augment financial flows and
  assist with technology diffusion
• Biosequestration opportunities must be urgently
  explored
• The CDM has grown rapidly and offers much
  potential
• But the benefits are unevenly distributed and
  sustainable development has not featured strongly
  in the project mix
• UNDP CDM Assessment Report identified many
  constraints
• Our aim is to broaden the participation base,
  particularly for the least developed countries
• UNDP MDG Carbon Facility will target high
  sustainable development benefit projects
  deliver more MDG benefits

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Building Partnerships

• UNDP working with other agencies
• Delivering a comprehensive and integrated package
  of services essential
• UNDP is works in close partnership with UNEP
• We will continue to strengthen cooperation and
  integration of activities across all UN agencies
• Our global network of country offices provides an
  important delivery vehicle at the country level

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Conclusion

• We must maintain a focus on the MDGs
• Climate change represents an unprecedented
  development challenge
• Reducing the vulnerability of the poor will be
  UNDPs key focus
• The international community must respond to this
  challenge