The AIACC Project Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change

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The AIACC ProjectAssessments of Impacts and
Adaptations to Climate Change

• Ravi Sharma
• United Nations Environment Programme-Global
  Environment Facility
• UNFCCC Workshop, Manila
• 29 April 2004

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(No Transcript)
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AIACC Background

• GEF enabling project in climate change focal area
• Geographic scope Global
• Project period 2001-2005
• Implementing Agency UNEP
• Executing Agencies START TWAS
• Proposal developed as collaboration between
  authors of IPCC Third Assessment Report, UNEP,
  START, and TWAS

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AIACC Support
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AIACC Objectives

• Build scientific and technical capacity to
  support National Communications
• Advance scientific understanding of climate
  change impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation
  opportunities
• Link science and policy communities for
  adaptation planning

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AIACC Means for achieving objectives

• Implement regional VA assessments
• Learning-By-Doing capacity building
• Supplemented by mentoring, training, technical
  support, and networking
• Engage stakeholders in the regional assessments
• Work with National Communications teams
• Regional workshops, publications, participation
  in scientific and policy workshops, working paper
  series, newsletter, website, synthesis

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Regional VA Assessments

• Country owned
• Proposed, led and implemented by developing
  country proponents
• Endorsed by GEF National Focal Points
• Focused on generating knowledge capacity to
  support regional priorities for adaptation
• Stakeholder participation
• Each regional assessment engages stakeholders
  from a variety of institutions
• Selected through international review of 150
  proposals based on
• Scientific merit, regional significance, policy
  significance

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24 Regional Assessments Implemented

• VA being assessed in 46 developing countries
• More than 150 institutions from 50 developing and
  12 developed countries participate.
• More than 300 developing country scientists,
  stakeholders and students participate
• Africa 11 projects
• Asia 5 projects
• Latin America 5 projects
• Small Island Developing States 3 projects

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Topics of Regional Assessments(Number of
projects addressing each topic noted in
parentheses)

• Agriculture/food security (14)
• Water resources (13)
• Land use (7)
• Rural livelihoods (5)
• Coastal zones (5)
• Biodiversity (3)
• Aquatic ecosystems, fisheries (3)
• Human health (2)
• Extreme events (2)
• Tourism (1)

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AIACC Accomplishments (1)

• Contributing to goals of UNFCCC
• Established ties to National Communications
• Working with appropriate agencies/persons in
  participating countries
• Providing place specific VA info for national
  communications
• Will provide evaluations recommendations for
  adaptation actions
• Contributed to NAPA guidelines workshops
• Adding to UNFCCC VA methods/tools database
• Contributed to UNDPs Adaptation Policy Framework
• Contribute to UNEP projects

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AIACC Accomplishments (2)

• Advancing knowledge methods
• Participants published 5 papers in peer-reviewed
  journals
• more papers in pipeline
• AIACC Working Paper Series, a peer-reviewed
  electronic publication
• Advanced methods for
• climate scenario generation
• vulnerability indicators
• livelihood approaches
• integrated assessment modeling
• benefit/cost analysis of adaptation

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AIACC Accomplishments (3)

• Building capacity
• Capacity for scientific/technical VA assessment
• gt200 scientists and gt60 students in 46 developing
  countries have benefited from learning-by-doing
  and training activities
• Capacity to engage with stakeholders and
  formulate adaptation strategies and policies
• Have established networks that link science
  stakeholder institutions from 62 countries
• Stakeholder knowledge awareness
• Numerous local workshops with stakeholders
• South-south capacity transfers
• AIACC participants have conducted several
  successful south-south capacity transfer
  activities

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AIACC Accomplishments (4)

• Contributing to international science
• IPCC 4th Assessment Report
• Contributed to outline plans for 4th Assessment
  Report
• Anticipate invitation of many AIACC participants
  to be authors of IPCC AR4
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• 2 projects contributing to MEA reports
• Global Environmental Change Food Security
  (GECAFS)
• AIACC projects contributing to this joint project
  of IHDP IGBP
• Presentations in international science meetings
• Human Dimensions of Global Change Open Meeting,
  Montreal, Sept 2003
• UNEP/SEI Adaptation Research Workshop, New Delhi,
  Nov 2003
• Stanford University EMF Workshop on Climate
  Change Impacts Integrated Assessment, Snowmass,
  Aug 2003
• Many others

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Upcoming AIACC Activities

• 3 Regional Workshops in 2004
• Continuation and completion of regional
  assessments by late 2004/early 2005
• Synthesis of AIACC regional studies in 2005

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Regional Workshops in 2004

• Dates venues
• Dakar, 24-27 March
• Buenos Aires, 24-27 August
• Manila, 18-21 October
• Participation
• Regional assessment investigators
• Local, regional international stakeholders
• Purposes
• Share knowledge about regional activities, report
  progress
• Explore how to make AIACC assessments as useful
  as possible to stakeholders
• Plan for synthesis

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Completion of Regional Assessments

• Assessment activities will continue through 2004
• Finalizing vulnerability analyses scenarios
• Evaluating adaptation options
• Engaging stakeholders in evaluation of adaptation
  options
• Communicating progress, results to in-country
  National Communications teams
• Dissemination of information
• Regional assessments to be completed by late 2004
  or early 2005
• Final reports from regional assessments by mid
  2005

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Synthesis of AIACC Project

• Participants in AIACC will synthesize lessons
  that transcend contexts of individual assessments
• Nature and causes of vulnerability
• Effective adaptation and risk management
  strategies
• Methods for engaging stakeholders in generating
  and communicating information for decision making
• 2 workshops to be held in 2005 to facilitate
• Synthesis book volumes to be completed by fall
  2005

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Follow-up to AIACC

• AIACC partners planning activities to build upon
  successes of AIACC project
• Encourage regional assessment teams to
  extend/apply their work individually
• UNDP/GEF Small Grants Program
• Projects for piloting an operational approach to
  adaptation
• Develop new suite of global activities with
  partners

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A new global project

• Retain proven elements of AIACC but include
  innovations for greater impact
• Stronger policy implementation focus
• Broaden scope beyond climate change to include
  other focal areas
• Stakeholder engagement more integral
• Training and technical support to be lead by
  developing country institutions, organized
  regionally
• Provide for more uniformity of approach
• Develop, test, evaluate and document a protocol
  for participatory, policy-focused assessment

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Objectives of New Global Project

• Enhance capacities to evaluate, plan and
  implement adaptation strategies related to UNFCCC
  and other MEAs
• Advance knowledge needed to support adaptation
  decisions and implement actions
• Develop regional centers to provide training
  technical assistance in their regions
• Strengthen networks for collaboration among
  stakeholders scientists on global environmental
  problems