+ Visit the web coverage for Wednesday, 9 October 2019

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ meeting coverage, provided daily photographic coverage and a summary report from ACRC 2019. The summary report is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

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Delegates raise their hands during an interactive session to share their opinions of ACRC 2019.

Ernest Afiesimama, WMO

Christopher Jack, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Frank Rutabingwa, UN ECA

Robbie Redda, SouthSouthNorth (SSN)

Delegates applaud the work done by the ACRC as the conference is closed.

Interactive poster sessions were held throughout the day covering six thematic areas: latest research on climate science of Africa; latest research on the science and projections of future climate change in Africa; evidence for action: climate change risk analysis; delivering resilience in the face of climate change uncertainty; co-production of knowledge between science, business, policy, practice, and local communities; and cross-cutting issues: water-energy-food-health nexus.

Highlights for Tuesday, 8 October 2018

Delegates speak informally on the second day of ACRC 2019.

The African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) 2019 continued on Tuesday, October 8, with a heavy agenda, including plenary and thematic parallel sessions as well as panel discussions, workshops, and seminars.

In the morning, two plenary sessions focused on the state of climate research for development in Africa and on linking new science to application. In a keynote speech, Joseph Mukabana, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), highlighted that scientific research in Africa is hindered by inadequate funding and insufficient research infrastructure, as well as a lack of strong intra-regional collaboration. Focusing on the Climate Research for Development (CR4D) in Africa initiative, he outlined programmes aimed at addressing existing research gaps.

During the panel discussion on the state of climate research in Africa, Oluyede Ajayi, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), the Netherlands, highlighted the increasing recognition of the development aspect of the CR4D initiative, emphasizing the co-production of knowledge by different disciplines. Jane Olwoch, Executive Director, Southern Africa Science Service Center for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL), focused on engagement with stakeholders; advocated multi-disciplinary research teams; and presented SASSCAL research projects. Bruce Hewitson, University of Cape Town, South Africa, highlighted the need to prioritize knowledge gaps, scaling research to match capacities, and emphasized that knowledge products should also reach relevant stakeholders, who cannot access face-to-face engagements.

Regarding linking new science to application, Tazen Fowe, International Institute of Water and the Environment (2iE), Burkina Faso, provided an overview of a pilot flood risk management project in Ouagadougou. Emma Visman, Kings College, London, highlighted an AMMA 2050, pilot pearl millet project in Niakhar, Senegal, developed because climate change is affecting crop yields and millet tolerates higher temperatures. Declan Conway, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK, outlined the challenges in constraining model uncertainty in rainfall projections for the Lake Malawi and Shire River systems in Malawi and the Rufiji River basin in Tanzania, stressing the need to focus on responses that work well across a range of future scenarios.

Throughout the day, parallel thematic sessions focused on:

• Latest research on climate science in Africa, covering a variety of issues;
• Delivering resilience in the face of climate change uncertainty, using various case studies from different African regions; and
• Cross-cutting issues, addressing the water-energy-food-health nexus.

The second day of ACRC 2019 also included two panel discussions, focusing on stepping up resilience and on multi-level governance in enabling climate resilient development. Three workshops addressed the co-production of weather and climate services, putting principles into practice; how social protection services can become more adaptive; and the long-term sustainability of water and energy nexus in Tana River Basin, Kenya. Two seminars discussed cities and climate risks, and lessons learned from the Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) High Impact Weather Lake System (HIGHWAY) project. The official conference dinner took place in the evening at the Zoma Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

More than 15 presentations are made throughout the day sharing information about the latest research on climate science.

Judy Omumbo, African Academy of Sciences, and Climate Research for Development (CR4D) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), Kenya

Jane Olwoch, Southern Africa Science Service Center for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL)

Participants attending the panel discussion 'Multi-level governance in enabling climate resilient development: Tackling it in Africa.'

Tazen Fowe, International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE), Burkina Faso

Mercy Mwaniki, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya

A delegate participates in the interactive survey board, where thoughts and interests about the conference are shared using different colors of thread.

Delegates speak informally between sessions.

Highlights for Monday, 7 October 2018

Delegates gather for the first day of the African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) held at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The first African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) opened on Monday, October 7, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aiming to offer a robust platform for sharing the latest African climate research.

The meeting kicked off with a high-level opening session under the overarching theme: “Dismantling barriers to urgent climate change adaptation actions.” Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner, Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Commission, Ethiopia, noted that while Africa's contribution to GHG emissions is negligible, it is heavily impacted by climate change, thus rendering climate adaptation a necessity. Joseph Mukabana, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Office for Africa, highlighted the conference as a space for coordinating efforts to optimize resources and avoid duplicating efforts, and noted the need for technology, capacity building, and finance. Drawing attention to various climate change-related challenges affecting Africa, Fetene Teshome, National Meteorology Agency, Ethiopia, noted that climate variability is a threat to agricultural production, compromising development.

Julius Kabubi, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, urged the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the African programme of action for the implementation of the Framework. Filipe Lúcio, Global Framework for Climate Services, drew attention to the damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai, noting that drainage systems provided by mangroves and wetlands serving the city of Beira, in Mozambique, had been degraded by human settlements and charcoal production. Rosalind West, Climate Science and Services Advisor, Department for International Development, UK, stressed the meeting as an opportunity to: listen and learn; collaborate; and scale up efforts by transitioning from research into action.

Before breaking into parallel thematic sessions, participants heard presentations, in plenary, on findings from the Future Climate for Africa Programme. Various projects were outlined on, inter alia, rainfall trends, rainfall paradoxes in different African regions, and future resilience for African cities and lands.

Parallel thematic sessions were held throughout the day, including:

• An impressive array of presentations on the latest research on climate science in Africa;
• Different approaches, including multidisciplinary ones, on climate change risk analysis;
• Two sessions on co-production of knowledge between science, business, policy, practice, and local communities; and
• A session devoted to information distillation and communication.

The dense first day of ACRC also included two panel discussions, focusing on the agricultural and water sectors, respectively; two workshops on climate information distillation, focusing on constructing climate messages for decision making, and on collaborative resilience-building through Theatre Forum; a training session on the messages of the 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special reports for sub-Saharan Africa; and a seminar examining climate change adaptation.

Delegates gather for the opening session of ACRC 2019.

Julius Kabubi, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

Joseph Mukabana, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Delegates listen to more than 20 presenters discussing the latest research on climate science.

John Marsham, University of Leeds, UK

Richard Washington, University of Oxford, UK

Delegates attend the discussions on 'evidence for action - climate change risk analysis'.