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OECD: Integrating 'adaptation' into development co-operation

24 September 2009, OECD/Inter Press Service
URL: http://www.global-perspectives.info/news/news.php?key1=2009-09-22%2008:00:01&key2=1

Brussels: Tackling climate change is perhaps the greatest environmental challenge we face today. If more ambitious policies are not introduced, the OECD projects world greenhouse gas emissions to increase by about 70% by 2050, with severe consequences: destructive sea level rise and storm surges, more frequent and intense heat waves, and agricultural yields declining in many parts of the world.

And even if we take actions to combat climate change, some degree of global warming from past emissions is already locked in, posing a serious challenge to social and economic development in all countries. Therefore, it is imperative that we adapt to the already changing climate.

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of their high dependence on natural resources and their limited capacity to cope with these impacts. They will have to ensure that their development policies and strategies are resilient to a changing climate. International donors have a critical role to play in supporting such efforts.

It is within this context that the OECD Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) and the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) have combined their expertise to develop this Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Cooperation. The product of over two years of close collaboration between these two committees, this policy guidance reflects the state of the art in confronting the challenge of integrating adaptation within core development activities.

Thus, the policy guidance outlines a number of priorities for governments and international donors. It recommends moving the co-ordination for implementing adaptation activities into powerful central bodies, and integrating consideration of long term climate risks in national planning processes as well as in budgets.

It also highlights the need to boost the capacity of sectoral Ministries, local governments, project planners and donor agencies to better assess the implications of climate change, and to examine existing policies and frameworks as to whether they might be resilient in the face of future climate change.

Implementation of such an integrated approach as outlined by this policy guidance would require close co-ordination across government agencies, across government levels, between governments and donors, and with civil society and the private sector. We hope that this policy guidance will be a fundamental resource for both international donors and developing country partners alike.

- Policy Statement on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation -

I. CONTEXT: CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IS A CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUE

In 2006, OECD Development Co-operation Ministers and Heads of Agencies and OECD Environment Ministers met jointly to identify ways to address common challenges.

They agreed that climate change is a serious and long-term threat that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect developing countries, especially the Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, and poor and vulnerable people within those countries. In some countries and sectors, the impacts of climate change are already being felt and responses are urgently needed.

Climate change will exacerbate impacts such as droughts, floods, extreme weather events and sea level rise, which may contribute to food shortages, infrastructure damage and the degradation of natural resources upon which livelihoods are based. This may also jeopardise development gains achieved through development co-operation and make it more difficult to reach our development objectives including those agreed at the Millennium Summit that are described as the Millennium Development Goals. Adapting to the impacts of climate change is therefore critical. It is not just an environmental issue but also affects the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development.

"Development as usualö, without consideration of climate risks and opportunities, will not allow us to face these challenges. Although a range of development activities contribute to reducing vulnerability to many climate change impacts, in some cases, development initiatives may increase vulnerability to climatic changes. For example, coastal zone development plans which fail to take into account sea level rise will put people, industries and basic infrastructure at risk and prove unsustainable in the long term. In addition, climate change considerations may raise the importance of supporting such sectors as agriculture, rural development and water resource management.

Climate change risks will need to be considered systematically in development planning at all levels in order to build in adaptation measures. There is an urgent need to work with Ministries of Planning and Finance in partner countries to integrate climate change considerations into National Development Plans including Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs), joint assistance strategies as well as associated programmes and projects in order to enhance climate resilience. The focus should be on those communities, sectors or geographical zones identified as most vulnerable to climate change.

Particular attention should also be paid to policies and projects with long-term consequences. These include, in particular, large-scale infrastructure projects, transport networks, major land use planning initiatives, urban development master plans and others, which play a key role in underpinning economic development and poverty reduction. Building in timely climate change adaptation measures will greatly enhance the benefits and sustainability of many development initiatives.

We recognise the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the political forum to agree international action on climate change. Fully meeting the challenges of climate change will require action at many levels and through many channels. The following commitments are based on those set out in the 2006 OECD Declaration on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation by laying out specific priorities on how we can support our developing country partners in their efforts to reduce their vulnerability to climate variability and climate change and to identify and prioritise adaptation responses.

II. PRIORITIES AND COMMITMENTS

Our support to developing countries to address the new challenges of climate change adaptation will be guided by the commitments of the Monterrey Consensus, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.

Country ownership is key. Consequently our assistance for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development co-operation will be aligned to partner countries' long-term visions and their development plans and programmes. The majority of Least Developed Country Parties to the UNFCCC have or are developing National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs). These and similar plans and strategies developed by other countries can provide a useful starting point.

To the maximum extent possible we will seek to use our partners' own systems and harmonise our approaches. Our assistance should accordingly be administered by the relevant national authorities in partner countries. It will be accompanied by capacity development support to enable our partners, at various levels, to lead and manage all aspects of climate change adaptation.

We will use a variety of aid modalities, considering each country's situation, and will make the maximum use of programmatic instruments such as programme-based and sector-wide approaches.

We will provide our assistance in an efficient and effective manner in line with the principles of Aid Effectiveness and we will mobilise private sector support.

We will ensure that climate risks are adequately taken into account in the programmes which our agencies support and we will work to harmonise our approaches towards addressing climate risks at this level.

In addressing adaptation issues, we will pay specific attention to those with greater vulnerability across regions and countries:

• between geographical areas: those areas most at risk to the impacts of climate change need special attention;

• between countries: Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and African states affected by drought, floods and desertification are particularly vulnerable and need special attention;

• within each country: particularly vulnerable communities and groups, including women, children and the elderly, need special attention.

Recognising that there will always be uncertainties regarding long-term climatic trends and their impact, we will seek, whenever possible, to identify and implement winwin adaptation-development solutions.

Similarly, we will explore all the possibilities for synergies between climate change adaptation and mitigation, notably in sectors such as energy, agriculture and forestry. Improved access to clean energy, for example, can support poverty reduction and adaptation to climate change as well as climate change mitigation. We will also enhance synergies with the other Rio Conventions on Biological Diversity and Desertification to identify areas where multiple benefits can be achieved.

In addition, we will reinforce the links between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and management, notably in the context of the implementation the Hyogo Framework for Action.

The Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate Change into Development Co-operation which we are endorsing today will provide a key reference for our Development Cooperation and Environment Ministries and Agencies in their co-operation with developing country partners in support of adaptation to climate change. This will include maximising synergies and complementarities with the various mechanisms established under the framework of UNFCCC. The policy guidance will provide an important input to the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009.

We will make special efforts to share experience and monitor progress towards implementation of the policy guidance and the results achieved, including through the OECD's Peer Review mechanisms.

*  Note: Following is OECD Secretary-General's foreword to 'Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation - Policy Guidance' adopted by the OECD Development Assistance Committee and the Environment Policy Committee at the joint high-level meeting in Paris on May 28-29 and published Aug. 2009. It is available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/9/43652123.pdf