Over the last months, WMO has led sessions in a series of regional training workshops designed to support countries in advancing their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), key instruments for scaling up climate action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The WMO aims to help the countries to benefit from scientific information on climate variability, trends and extremes and to demonstrate how these can be imbedden in their sustainable development strategies, so that they serve as vehicles for implementing the climate services needed to achieve the best possible climate-related development outcomes.
The first workshop in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in September focused on mainstreaming climate change adaptation into water resources. Over 50 policymakers and technical specialists from 20 countries in Asia attended. “Asia is the world's most vulnerable region for water insecurity, impacting approximately 75% of the population. There is no doubt that climate change adaptation is crucial to water management,” said Young-hoon Kim, Director-General of Climate and Future Policy Bureau, Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea.
The second workshop was held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from 17 to 19 October to support their medium-to long term climate change adaptation planning processes. Over 20 delegates from 12 countries in Africa attended. In her keynote speech, Anne Desirée Ouloto, Minister for Urban Sanitation, Environment and Sustainable Development, emphasized the need for such capacity-building efforts in the region, “It is evident that successful climate resilience requires good planning and prioritization. However, our countries lack the technical, technological and financial capacity to effectively mainstream climate change into the national and local planning process.”
The workshops are part of the National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP), led by the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme, and financed through the Least Developed Country Fund of the Global Environment Facility. NAP-GSP assists countries with medium and long-term climate change adaptation planning and budgeting.
