22 May 2013: A stakeholder workshop on basin management and climate change adaptation in the Neman River Basin, shared by Belarus, Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation, presented a climate change pilot project and outlined results achieved so far to Lithuanian stakeholders from different sectors and municipalities.

The workshop, which took place on 16 May 2013, in Vilnius, Lithuania, was organized as part of the project, titled ‘River basin management and climate change adaptation in the Neman River Basin,’ which is carried out by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Belarus, under the framework of the international Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC).

The workshop provided a platform for discussion and feedback on the project results and a draft vulnerability assessment table and graph, and discuss future possible cooperation between Lithuania and Belarus in water management.

Participants heard presentations on project results, as well as activities at the national level in water and climate change. They them engaged in a roundtable on climate change-related activities of the different sectors and municipalities participating. Subsequently, stakeholders discussed the outcomes of the vulnerability assessment, the adaptive capacity and potential adaptation measures.

According to UNECE, the workshop raised awareness on the need for transboundary cooperation in the area of climate change adaptation in the Neman Basin region, and laid the basis for future project activities, in particular the development of a strategic framework for basin adaptation. The meeting concluded with a call for adopting a transboundary approach to adaptation to water management, in particular in the fishing, energy, transport and infrastructure sectors. [UNECE Press Release] [IISD RS Sources]