30 May 2017: Over the past few weeks, climate change adaptation received high-level attention from international actors ranging from the UNFCCC to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). The UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change Conference considered a number of adaptation-related issues in formal negotiations, as well as at side events.

FAO released supplementary guidelines to the UNFCCC technical guidelines for the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) process with a broad focus on agriculture. NATO issued two reports on food and water security, and the costs of climate change. The present update addresses these and other developments that contribute to achieveing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 (zero hunger), 13 (climate action) and 17 (partnerships for the Goals). It also includes a list of selected publications on matters related to adaptation and loss and damage.

Bonn Climate Change Conference Advances Work on Adaptation, Task Force on Displacement Holds First Meeting

In Bonn, the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) convened for their 46th sessions. The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) held the third part of its first session. SBI 46 adopted conclusions on NAPs and the third review of the Adaptation Fund. SBSTA 46 adopted conclusions on the Nairobi work programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change (NWP). APA 1-3 considered further guidance in relation to the adaptation communication, including, inter alia, as a component of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). [SBI In-session Documents] [SBSTA In-session Documents] [APA In-session Documents] [IISD RS Coverage of Bonn Climate Change Negotiations]

Numerous adaptation- and loss and damage-related side events were held on the margins of the formal negotiations, addressing topics such as climate risk management, adaptation innovation and finance, ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA), climate resilience, and loss and damage. These events included:

Immediately following the conclusion of the Bonn Climate Change Conference, the first meeting of the Task Force on Displacement (TFD) of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM) took place from 18-19 May 2017 at the same venue. The Task Force prepared its draft workplan, in accordance with its Terms of Reference (ToR). [Meeting Agenda] [TFD Handbook] [UNFCCC Meeting Webpage] [UNFCCC Adaptation Workshops and Meetings Webpage]

The 20 September 2017 deadline for three calls for submissions under the NWP issued by SBSTA 44 is approaching. Parties and relevant organizations are invited to contribute information on human settlements, economic diversification, and monitoring and evaluation. [SBSTA 44 Calls for Submissions under NWP] [NWP May 2017 Newsletter]

FAO Issues NAP Guidelines on Agriculture

FAO issued supplementary guidelines to the UNFCCC NAP Guidelines for ‘Addressing Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in National Adaptation Plans’ (NAP-Ag Guidelines) that aim to support developing countries in ensuring that agriculture is included in NAPs and made more adaptive and resilient. [Addressing Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in National Adaptation Plans] [Supplementary Guidelines Landing Page] [FAO Press Release] [UNFCCC NAP Guidelines Webpage]

NATO Assesses Regional Water and Food Security, Warns of Costs of Climate Change

Ahead of the G7 meeting held in Taormina, Italy, from 26-27 May 2017, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Science and Technology Committee issued a special report titled ‘Food and Water Security in the Middle East and North Africa,’ calling for increased international development support on water and food security in the region, including measures to stabilize availability and prices of imported food.

The Economics and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly released a report titled ‘Assessing and Mitigating the Cost of Climate Change,’ which explores economic costs and trade-offs associated with climate change, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. [Food and Water Security in the Middle East and North Africa] [Assessing and Mitigating the Cost of Climate Change] [NATO Parliamentary Assembly Press Release] [UNFCCC Press Release]

Initiatives Explore Risk Management Approaches

The UNFCCC Secretariat published a template for collecting feedback on a draft paper-based compendium on comprehensive risk management approaches. [UNFCCC Template] [UNFCCC Loss and Damage Webpage]

The UN Secretary General’s Climate Resilience Initiative: Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape (A2R) issued a briefing paper titled ‘Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape: Current Progress on Three Key Capacities for Climate Resilience,’ presenting key findings of a baseline analysis of progress of climate resilience capacities in SIDS, LDCs and Africa. The paper concludes, inter alia, that countries face challenges implementing comprehensive early warning – early action systems, and that in many developing countries, insurance markets to reduce risks associated with climate change and social protection mechanisms have limited reach.

A2R seeks to strengthen three key capacities for climate resilience: the capacity to anticipate and act on climate hazards through early warning and early action; the capacity to absorb shocks by increasing access to climate risk insurance and social protection; and the capacity to reshape development pathways by transforming economies to reduce risks. [Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape: Current Progress on Three Key Capacities for Climate Resilience] [A2R Website]

Urban Resilience in the Spotlight

The Eighth Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation took place in Bonn, Germany, from 4-6 May 2017, days before the Bonn Climate Change Conference. Organized by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Bonn, the Forum convened under the banner ‘Tracking local progress on the resilience targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.’ [Forum Programme] [Forum Website] [Climate-ADAPT Press Release]

A study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) titled ‘A Blue Urban Agenda: Adapting to Climate Change in the Coastal Cities of Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States’ evaluates lessons learnt from urban coastal adaptation programs in SIDS, provides policy recommendations to address city resilience to climate change, and estimates that climate change-related threatens 4.2 million people in SIDS in the Caribbean and the Pacific. [A Blue Urban Agenda: Adapting to Climate Change in the Coastal Cities of Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States] [IDB Press Release]

The Government of the Philippines launched a project titled ‘Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs’ seeking to enhance climate resilience in the country through urban plans and designs. [UN-HABITAT Press Release]

Reducing Climate Risks and Improving Livelihoods in Kenya

The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), UN Environment and UN-HABITAT, developed a project aiming to reduce Kenya’s vulnerability to climate risks and improve livelihoods among traditional pastoralist communities. This project is at the crossroads between SDG 13 …. [ILO Press Release]

Must Reads

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The SDG Knowledge Hub publishes Climate Change Adaptation and Loss and Damage updates that focus on news and reports on projects and other developments related to adaptation and loss and damage. Past Climate Change Adaptation and Loss and Damage updates can be found under the tag: Climate Change Adaptation Update.