Nairobi 19-20 January 2009. Regional Consultative Meeting of Global Climate Adaptation Network in Africa. The rapid escalation in demand for information on climate adaptation, building upon the many initiatives and actions underway was highlighted by Musonda Munda from UNEP, following up Jian Liu's summary of the state of planning of the network.The development and work of the UNEP network needs to build on UNFCCC activities, particularly those under Decision 1/CP.10 (Buenos Aires programme), NAPAs, Nairobi Work Programme and Bali Action Plan. Much work has been done as part of the UNFCCC process to identify adaptation needs and gaps, so this can be used as a starting point for informing the activities of the UNEP Network.
After 2 carrousel sessions and much discussions the critical next steps for the Africa network identified include:
- consider the establishment of a Steering Committee to drive the start up phase - making it owned and driven by African institutions - should include institutions / organisations on the the supply and demand ends of the spectrum
- start with a loose group of organisations and see who displays capacity to deliver services in demand who will then move into forming the core group of the network
make information on network available in French to give Francophone institutions the opportunity to input and get involved - define specific functions for network in Africa
- communicate outcomes of meeting widely to involve and include those organisations with capacity on supporting adaptation not able to attend (possibly including at the SBSTA meeting in June and presenting to the Africa Group in preparation for negotiating on adaptation at COP15)
- use outcomes from existing institutional mapping exercises on climate adaptation in Africa, including that of the Swedish Environment Agency
continue discussions with AU, AfDB and UNECA on ClimDev activities to avoid unnecessary duplication - clarify and articulate in the strategy document what exactly the intent/purpose of the network (or networked facilities) is and who the target group of users/beneficiaries/members are - in a general sense it is intended to support national governments and communities in adapting well to a changing climate, what does this mean in the African context
- develop communique containing key messages from this meeting for UNEP Governing Council meeting
- look for synergies between other such networks and initiatives including ATPS, ClimDev, weADAPT, etc.
- do something that can continue, not simply another pilot Reference: wikiADAPT
