Special Report on Selected Side Events at UNFCCC COP-10

La’avasa Malua, Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the side event aims to, inter alia, provide information on issues faced by five least developed countries in preparing their National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs).

El Hadrami Bahneine, Mauritania’s Director of the Environment, stressed that Mauritania was the first country to submit its NAPA, based on guidelines developed by the Conference of the Parties as adapted to national specificities. He stressed that civil society was involved in all stages of the preparation process, noted that the choice of experts and timeframes are crucial, stressed difficulties in selecting criteria for prioritizing adaptation needs, and said the process allowed Mauritania to complete information regarding vulnerability on a sectoral basis.

Jigme, Bhutan’s National Environment Commission, highlighted the multisectoral and participatory NAPA preparation process in his country, based on thematic assessments of vulnerabilities. He said climate change is integrated into other national policies and plans, and outlined adaptation measures, including early warning systems and disaster management. 

He said challenges include addressing limited awareness, a lack of technical capacity, and paucity of information and data. He stressed that delaying NAPAs’ adoption would have serious consequences due to the current weak capacity for adaptation.

R.P Kabwaza, Malawi’s Ministry of Mines, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs, said the objectives of Malawi’s NAPA are to identify priority activities and projects, formulate adaptation strategies, build capacity, and raise awareness. He stressed limited input from foreign experts, monitoring and evaluation by a steering committee, a multistakeholder participatory process, links with the First National Communication and other sectoral policies, and the need to address poverty alleviation. He noted that difficulties include a lack of information and problems in recruiting skilled experts for a short period of time.
Describing Mozambique’s NAPAs' preparation, Marilia Telam Manjate, Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs of Mozambique, highlighted the participatory and region-based assessment process, and said possible adaptation measures include improvement of early warning systems. She said NAPA’s benefits include increased access to drinking water and the creation of new income sources.

Gunnar Sjöstedt, Swedish Institute of International Affairs, stressed the value of social scientific expertise in facilitating political negotiations by offering ideas for restructuring the international policy process. He stressed the need to develop long-term strategies for structuring the negotiation process, and recommended using professional facilitators in future meetings, launching capacity-building programmes for delegates and NGOs in negotiation techniques, and using regional fora to promote political coordination and exchange of views.

Norichika Kanie, Tokyo Institute of Technology, advocated further strengthening vertical linkages between multilateral environmental agreements and domestic constituencies. Noting that while the number of NGO participants in climate meetings rivals that of government delegates, he said the decision-making process has not become more democratic or transparent. He proposed institutionalizing NGO participation in the climate process by creating multistakeholder dialogues and incorporating NGO representatives in government delegations. Kanie said some NGO representatives on delegations are former government officials and some delegations use confidentiality agreements to constrain the role of NGOs.
 

Margaret Skutsch, University of Twente, emphasized the role of deforestation in global warming. She explained that “avoided deforestation” projects are currently not eligible under the CDM, but the project “Kyoto: Think Global, Act Local” aims to provide scientific evidence for a policy change in the second commitment period. She said 25 community-based forest management projects in six countries are involved, with local communities trained to monitor forest areas and make standard biomass estimates.

Eliakimu Zahabu, Sokoine University of Agriculture, explained the methodology that local communities are trained to use in order to monitor carbon sequestration and assess the state of the community forest. He said the methodology aims to reduce transaction costs, be user-friendly and fulfill scientific requirements.

George Jambiya, University of Dar es Salaam/World Wildlife Fund for Nature – Tanzania, said the Kyoto project includes six sites in Tanzania and one planned for Uganda. He outlined results from a Tanzanian village including two forests, noting that these results indicate good forest management.