Managing Risk of a Changing Climate to Support Development: Asia Regional Workshop, 23-26 April 2007, Kathmandu, Nepal

UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) have framed a strategic approach to climate Risk Management (CRM). This partnership seeks to identify anticipatory strategies for managing both short term climate variability and longer term climate change impacts across regions. In view of the objectives of this strategic partnership, the Regional Workshop will commence the development and implementation of a joint portfolio of CRM projects for Asia. The workshop will bring together staff from UNDP/GEF, BCPR, IRI, eight UNDP Country Office environment and disaster risk management units, and relevant government line agencies along with technical specialists from the region. The workshop hopes to achieve an Asia-wide partnership for adopting a CRM approach which will be instructive to other regions adopting an integrated adaptation approach in the near future.

The regional workshop is intended to help develop a joint portfolio of climate risk management projects in Asia.  Addressing country-based stakeholders climate risk management priorities, the projects will be formulated to demonstrate improvements in managing climate risks for the benefit of socio-economic development and in facilitating the development of body of learning on enhancing resiliency to climate change.

The specific objectives of the regional workshop are:

• To share the state-of-the-art thinking on adaptation to climate change and CRM

• To formulate ideas and approaches for potential national adaptation projects incorporating CRM in the countries

• To formulate a cogent work plan for the successful development of the projects demonstration of project results.

Key outputs of the workshop

• A dossier of concept notes for projects on climate change adaptation using a CRM approach

• A broad work plan for the development of these projects

Proposed Structure

The proposed workshop would be structured in three parts over four days:

• Managing climate risks for adaptation (1 day)

• Adaptation project formulation clinics (2.5 days)

• Workplan formulation for moving forward (0.5 days)

Participation

The focus countries for the proposed workshop include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Vietnam.  The participants to the workshop will be: disaster risk management program officers and environment program officers (in-charge of adaptation portfolio) from the UNDP Country Offices; working-level government counterparts; representatives from select institutions who have relevant expertise in the thematic areas; and a team of resource persons from UNDP-GEF, UNDP-BCPR and IRI. 

Workshop Venue and Timing

The workshop will be held at the Hotel Park Village in Kathmandu, Nepal from 23-26 April 2007.  

Activities in the pre-workshop phase

In order for the workshop to lead to the development of high quality adaptation and CRM projects, the following activities will need to be undertaken prior to the workshop:

• Constitute an organizing committee with membership from UNDP-BCPR, UNDP-GEF, and IRI that will design the workshop

• Stocktaking of ongoing activities at the Country Office level in the areas of climate risk management and adaptation to climate change including relevant past or on-going projects and relevant institutions and policies

• Engage with the Country Office to identify possible the matic areas/ project ideas with potential for formulating into adaptation projects