BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The world is already experiencing changes in average temperature, shifts in the seasons and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events and other climate change impacts and slow onset events.

Accessible, adequate, and predictable finance is thus critical for developing and implementing adaptation action, from the local to the regional level, around the globe.

At the UN Climate talks in Bonn, leading authorities on adaptation and finance have convened for the 2019 Technical Expert Meeting on Adaptation (TEM-A) to survey the adaptation finance landscape and discuss concrete actions that can help it better serve adaptation action for vulnerable countries, groups and communities.  

Now in its fourth and penultimate year, this year’s TEM-A is focusing on the topic of Adaptation finance, including the private sector.

“Firstly, dedicating two days to this technical session on adaptation finance is a very progressive move,” says Augustine Njamnshi, Chair of Political and Technical Affairs of the , Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). “While it is good that experts are exploring all the possibilities including the private sector, our view is that focus should be so much on public financing. Adaptation remains key for Africa and this area has been struggling as far as finance is concerned. We hope the workshop will highlight concrete ideas that will revamp the operationalization of the adaptation pillar as we get to COP 25 later this year.”

According to available statistics, developing countries already face an adaptation finance gap, which will only grow in the absence of increased public and private adaptation finance, according to UN Environment.

The 2016 UNEP Adaptation Finance Gap Report estimated that adaptation finance costs in 2030 are likely to range from USD 140-300 billion per annum, requiring finance that is approximately 6 to 13 times greater than international public finance for adaptation as of now.

In the first week of the climate talks, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa urged action adding that “this was a climate emergency and that we must respond in kind.”
“Nations are not on track to achieving their goals. They’re not even close. We have one ultimate goal as a civilization if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change: to limit global temperatures to 1.5 degrees. We are dreadfully off course,” she said.

While industrialised countries immediate focus is mitigation—cutting their carbon emissions, the developing country parties are pushing for adaptation.

Thus, throughout the TEM-A, panelists and attendees are looking to guide policymakers and practitioners towards unlocking more of the required adaptation finance. Representing various sectors and regions, the experts are drawing out valuable insights and illustrative examples throughout seven sessions addressing topics from emerging sources of adaptation finance, to assessing the impact of adaptation finance, to financing the commercialization of adaptation technology solutions.

In recognition of the important role of the private sector, both to provide adaptation finance but also to seek and deploy it for its own adaptation needs, mobilizing the private sector forms an important thread of discussion running through all the sessions. Speakers and experts from the private sector are also in attendance to share their experiences and ideas.
It is however the private sector narrative that has not settled well with African Civil society and other like-minded campaigners from the global south.

They believe the heavy involvement of the private sector in climate finance mechanism especially for adaption waters down its essence, and is likely to further burden the poorest communities who are at the fore front of the climate crisis.

The TEM-A is the cornerstone of the technical examination process on adaptation, which was established in 2015 to identify concrete opportunities for strengthening resilience, reducing vulnerabilities, and increasing the understanding and implementation of adaptation actions.

Each year, the case studies and good practices from the meeting are reflected in a technical paper and summary for policymakers, and help sow the seeds of strengthening pre-2020 adaptation action.

The meeting is organized jointly by the Subsidiary Bodies, guided by the High-Level Champions, and conducted by the Adaptation Committee with the goal of bolstering adaptation action.

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The world is already experiencing changes in average temperature, shifts in the seasons and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events and other climate change impacts and slow onset events.

Accessible, adequate, and predictable finance is thus critical for developing and implementing adaptation action, from the local to the regional level, around the globe.

At the UN Climate talks in Bonn, leading authorities on adaptation and finance have convened for the 2019 Technical Expert Meeting on Adaptation (TEM-A) to survey the adaptation finance landscape and discuss concrete actions that can help it better serve adaptation action for vulnerable countries, groups and communities.  

Now in its fourth and penultimate year, this year’s TEM-A is focusing on the topic of Adaptation finance, including the private sector.

“Firstly, dedicating two days to this technical session on adaptation finance is a very progressive move,” says Augustine Njamnshi, Chair of Political and Technical Affairs of the , Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). “While it is good that experts are exploring all the possibilities including the private sector, our view is that focus should be so much on public financing. Adaptation remains key for Africa and this area has been struggling as far as finance is concerned. We hope the workshop will highlight concrete ideas that will revamp the operationalization of the adaptation pillar as we get to COP 25 later this year.”

According to available statistics, developing countries already face an adaptation finance gap, which will only grow in the absence of increased public and private adaptation finance, according to UN Environment.

The 2016 UNEP Adaptation Finance Gap Report estimated that adaptation finance costs in 2030 are likely to range from USD 140-300 billion per annum, requiring finance that is approximately 6 to 13 times greater than international public finance for adaptation as of now.

In the first week of the climate talks, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa urged action adding that “this was a climate emergency and that we must respond in kind.”
“Nations are not on track to achieving their goals. They’re not even close. We have one ultimate goal as a civilization if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change: to limit global temperatures to 1.5 degrees. We are dreadfully off course,” she said.

While industrialised countries immediate focus is mitigation—cutting their carbon emissions, the developing country parties are pushing for adaptation.

Thus, throughout the TEM-A, panelists and attendees are looking to guide policymakers and practitioners towards unlocking more of the required adaptation finance. Representing various sectors and regions, the experts are drawing out valuable insights and illustrative examples throughout seven sessions addressing topics from emerging sources of adaptation finance, to assessing the impact of adaptation finance, to financing the commercialization of adaptation technology solutions.

In recognition of the important role of the private sector, both to provide adaptation finance but also to seek and deploy it for its own adaptation needs, mobilizing the private sector forms an important thread of discussion running through all the sessions. Speakers and experts from the private sector are also in attendance to share their experiences and ideas.
It is however the private sector narrative that has not settled well with African Civil society and other like-minded campaigners from the global south.

They believe the heavy involvement of the private sector in climate finance mechanism especially for adaption waters down its essence, and is likely to further burden the poorest communities who are at the fore front of the climate crisis.

The TEM-A is the cornerstone of the technical examination process on adaptation, which was established in 2015 to identify concrete opportunities for strengthening resilience, reducing vulnerabilities, and increasing the understanding and implementation of adaptation actions.

Each year, the case studies and good practices from the meeting are reflected in a technical paper and summary for policymakers, and help sow the seeds of strengthening pre-2020 adaptation action.

The meeting is organized jointly by the Subsidiary Bodies, guided by the High-Level Champions, and conducted by the Adaptation Committee with the goal of bolstering adaptation action.

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - An array of experts, political leaders, NGOs and indigenous peoples and communities have agreed to a rights approach as a crucial step in confronting the global climate crisis.

Dubbed the ‘gold standard’, the methodology emphasizes rights for Indigenous peoples and local communities.

It aims to strengthen respect, recognition and protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities as stewards and bearers of solutions to landscape restoration, conservation, and sustainable use; end persecution of land and environment defenders; build partnerships to enhance engagement and support for rights-based approaches to sustainable landscapes across scales and sectors; and, scale up efforts to legally recognize and secure collective land and resource rights across landscapes.

At the Global Landscapes Forum, held alongside the UNFCCC’s Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB50), the ‘gold standard’ approach was formally presented to kick-start consultations with Indigenous peoples’ organizations and NGOs from 83 countries around the globe who gathered at the summit.

The Forum, which every year carries a different theme through its series of events, news, workshops, community outreach and online courses, is focusing 2019 on rights—giving land rights the visibility they need to leapfrog to the top of global discussions, and frame rights as a solution to the climate change crisis.

The new standard, developed by the Indigenous People’s Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG), working with the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), will support the vital work Indigenous peoples and communities are already doing to adapt to global warming, threats to the world’s biodiversity and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Presentations and expert analysis during the two day summit showcased evidence from around the globe that when the authority of local communities over their forests and lands, as well as their rights, are legally recognized, deforestation rates are often reduced.

“By implementing a gold standard, we can both uphold and protect human rights and develop conservation, restoration and sustainable development initiatives that embrace the key role Indigenous peoples and local communities are already playing to protect our planet,” said Joan Carling, co-convener of IPMG.

IPMG recognizes that Indigenous and local communities are bearers of rights and solutions to common challenges.

“This will enable the partnership that we need to pave the way for a more sustainable, equitable and just future,” added Carling.
It is expected the consultations on this ‘gold standard’ will continue until year-end.
 
“It’s clear that when rights of local communities and indigenous peoples are recognized, there are significant benefits for the fight against climate change and environmental degradation,” said Robert Nasi, Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), which jointly coordinates GLF with UN Environment and the World Bank.

“Whoever controls the rights over these landscapes has a very important part to play in fighting climate change,” he said.

According to the United Nations, Indigenous peoples make up less than six percent of the world’s population but account for 15 percent of the poorest people. They live in some 90 countries, representing 5,000 different cultures and speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 6,700 languages.

Alain Frechette, of Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), saidthe rights approach has been proven to be an essential condition for sustainable development projects to succeed.
“Rights – the ability of people to make basic decisions about their needs, the use of their lands, their ambitions and their hopes or aspirations – invariably determined social-ecological outcomes, including economic security, wellbeing and livelihoods.”

The basic principles of a gold standard already exist, such as free, prior and informed consent, according to Frechette. What has been lacking is the application of principles which would be boosted by high-level statements that could “spur a race to the top”.

The Forum heard that the lands of the world’s 350 million Indigenous peoples and local communities already act as powerful shields against climate change, holding 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity and sequestering nearly 300 billion metric tons of carbon. Over 80 percent of biological diversity is found on local peoples’ lands.

“Our identity is being threatened, and we need to avoid it being completely eradicated,” said Diel Mochire Mwenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to his testimony during the summit, Mwenge, who leads the Initiative Programme for the Development of the Pygme, witnessed more than a million people evicted from their traditional land to make way for a national park and given no benefits from the ecotourism industries brought in to replace them.

In the climate and development arenas, the most current alarm being sounded is for rights –securing the land rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples, local communities and the marginalized members therein. How can these custodians ofa quarter of the world’s terrestrial surface be expected to care for their traditional lands if the lands don’t, in fact, belong to them? Or, worse, if they’re criminalized and endangered for doing so?

This year’s Global Landscapes Forum, which attracted over 600 delegates from across the globe was therefore convened to define a new ‘gold standard’ for rights, with the hope of securing the rights of these important but marginalised groups in the management of forests.

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The African Group of Negotiators has expressed concern at the waning commitment in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process by Developed countries.

Briefing African Civil society delegates at the on-going Mid-Year session climate talks in Bonn, AGN Chair Mohamed Nasr said little progress has been made this far.
After some key issues such as loss and damage and adaptation were deferred from COP 24 in Katowice, and agreed to be dealt with by constituted bodies at the SB50, Nasr said, the expectation was that much progress would have been made by now.

“What happened in Katowice was that some elements like article eight on loss and damage, and adaptation and resilience, were pushed forward to the constituted bodies while the elements that relate to transparency, there was nothing constituted. We are fine with that, but what happened in the constituted bodies was really troubling because on loss and damage for example, there are struggling, some partners are renegotiating what we had already agreed; the same is happening with finance, adaptation…so we are concerned thatthis delicate balance that we have isbeing challenged due to changes in the geopolitical dimensions,” said Nasr.

He disclosed that the stance on climate finance especially on the replenishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) by some countries from the global north such as Australia, is not particularly encouraging.

“Australia is saying they are not going to put in money because they are already doing a lot of activities on their own while the US are playing the game of in and out,” said the AGN Chair.
And it seems, according to Nasr, there is an emerging dilemma from Africa as well—the discovery of oil and gas.

This, Nasr said, has created a complication for the countries that have discovered oil and gas whether to proceed and explore to lift their people out of poverty or forget it for the sake of keeping the world safer.

“Coming back to our continent, a lot of countries are discovering oil and gas reserves, for example in East Africa, from Somalia all the way down, countries have discovered huge reserves of oil and gas. In terms of environmental protection, this is very polluting, so the question is what are you going to do with this discovery? So, when we deal with the issue of response measures, this is a challenge we are facing,” explained Nasr.

The AGN Chair was however quick to state that there is a lot of commitment from African countries on moving their economies to low carbon pathways but for funding, and recurring climate crises such as the cyclone that hit Southern Africa earlier in the year and the worst drought experienced in East Africa among many others that force them to divert resources meant for development to cope with disasters.

It is for this reason that the AGN has consistently been pushing for the adaptation narrative at the climate talks.

“We are in this process for two reasons, and this is very clear from our side as AGN. First is to enhance global ambition to tackling climate action, but also to secure the adaptation dimension which is by the way, different from resilience as our partners are trying to portray in the talks. And the GCF is the financial package…but from our partners, the developed countries, the big picture is notwhat we expected, it seems the appetite, the commitment in the UNFCCC process needs to be revitalised, and we need a strong voice from CSOs; need to be very strong on what they are saying, in understanding the package that we agreed to,” he emphasised.

The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) was established at COP1 in Berlin, Germany in 1995 as an alliance of African member states that represents the interests of the region in the international climate change negotiations, with a common and unified voice.
It is the technical body of the three-tier African negotiating structure that engages in the technical negotiations during the Conferences of the Parties and the intercessional negotiations. The AGN prepares and drafts text and common positions, guided by decisions and key messages from Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), and the African Ministerial Conference on Environment and Natural Resources (AMCEN), and prepares text for adoption by Ministers during the COPs.