Transcript climate change and adaptation in targeted mountainous sub

Climate change and resilience in the
Western Balkans – the latest from
UNEP
Western Balkans Climate Resilience Workshop
Vienna, 11 May 2016
UNEP Vienna Programme Office – Secretariat of the
Carpathian Convention
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Why mountains matter
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Environmental challenges in mountains
Extractive industries
Transport
Hydropower/
Infrastructure
Tourism
Climate change
Waste
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UNEP’s portfolio on mountains
Climate change
Env. Governance
EBA Mt. Flagship Project, REGATTA, Cc and adaptation in the
Alps, Climate change in the Carpathians etc.
Carpathian Convention, transboundary institutional mechanism:
Caucasus scientific network, ICSD (Central Asia), Africa
Ecosystem
Management
ECOPOTENTIAL – use of Earth of Observation in Protected Areas,
Great Apes Partnership Survival (GRASP)
Chemicals and
waste
Global Mountain Waste Outlook, extractive industries/mining
(South East Europe)
Environment
under Review
Assessments, Atlas, policy briefs, UNEP-Live, etc.
Global Mt. Partnerschip, SDGs/Post-2015 and mountains,
collaboration with global MEAs (UNFCCC,CBD,UNCCD)
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“Climate change action in developing countries with fragile
mountain ecosystem from a sub-regional perspective”
Duration: 2014-2017, Total: 1.75 Mio. EUR co-financed by Austria (UNFCCC FSF)
Objective: Support to mountainous developing countries to integrate mountain
specific climate change adaptation into relevant development
policies/plans/strategies  from a sub-regional perspective
- Understand climate change vulnerabilities and impacts (synthesize information)
- Analysis of relevant policies and frameworks and bottlenecks
- Trigger policy action from a sub-regional perspective
- Inter-regional exchange of experiences with other mountain regions (in
particular regional mechanisms: Alpine and Carpathian Convention and
HKH/HICAP)
Main Outputs:
 Participatory assessments (synthesis) related to climate change and adaptation
 Establish (inter)-regional cooperation platforms and support
development/review of sub-regional climate change action plans/strategic
agendas etc. in context of relevant institutional mechanisms
Targeted regions: East Africa, Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia, Andes
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Partners (not exhaustive):
Launch of
“Mountain Adaptation Outlook
series” high-level side event
COP21, Paris, Int. Mountain Day
Current state (synthesized) of knowledge and information related to climate change and
adaptation in targeted mountainous sub-regions:
2015: Balkan, Caucasus
2016: (Tropical) Andes, East Africa, Central Asia
2017 (planned): Hindu Kush Himalayas, Carpathians
UNEPs inter-regional project “Climate change action in developing countries with fragile
mountainous ecosystems from a sub-regional perspective” (funded by Government of
Austria)
Identified priority action towards promoting/development of mountain agenda on the
sub-regional level (implementation of Rio+ 20 outcome!)
Participatory governmentally owned approach (East African Community, Interstate
Commission for Sustainable Development, etc.)
With support of the Government of Austria and further cofinancing support by Government of Norway
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Objectives of the Assessments
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State and trends of climate change
Vulnerability of mountain ecosystems to climate change
Climate change adaptation policies and strategies
Policy gap analysis
Priority areas for future action
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Launched at COP21 in Paris, 2015
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The Western Balkan Mountains
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Climate change in the Western Balkan
Mountains
• Western Balkans Mountains a
hotspot for climate change
• Increase in temperature above the
world average
• Increase in extreme heat days
• Decreased precipitation
• Heat and less rain combine to make
the region drier
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Key risk sectors covered:
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Water
Land resources
Agriculture
Forests and biodiversity
Energy
Transport, infrastructure and communication
Mining
Tourism
Human health
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Key risk sectors: Water
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Key risk sectors: Agriculture
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Examples of policy coverage of sectoral risks
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Gap analysis
• Whether the policies adequately cover the climate
change risks
Findings:
• Lack of mountain focus
• Most sectors lack coverage on some or all scales
(local, national, sub-regional etc.)
• Need for increased coordination
• Lack of forward looking policy responses
• More Specific gaps are presented per sector
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Created through a participatory approach
National experts from the Western Balkans countries participated in
workshop in Budva, Montenegro 6-8 July, 2015
To validate findings and provide further input
Also, questionaires responded to by national focal points
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Next steps
Building on Series of Regional Mountain Adaptation Outlooks:
Interregional
Regional
Regional/
national
o Share of experience and knowledge between mountain regions
(following same methodology used for outlooks)
o Establish (inter)-regional cooperation and dialogue and foster
development of projects based on experience exchange:
Mountain cluster within GAN Network?
o Support development/review of sub-regional climate change
action plans/strategic agendas etc. in context of relevant
institutional mechanisms (e.g. High Andean Initiative, EAC, ICSD)
to guide further coherent development of activities & initiatives
o Catalysing concrete follow-up action (project ideas, etc.)
promoting climate change adaptation in mountains using financial
and technical assistance programmes and facilities
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Road infrastructure in the Western Balkan
Economic growth is expected to bring a massive growth in
infrastructure and transportation needs
• high vulnerability to climate change;
• high pressure on land usage;
• high fragmentation of landscapes;
Climate Change impacts on Road Infrastructure
Higher temperatures can cause pavement to soften and expand,
leading to rutting, blow-ups, potholes, stress on bridge joints;
Climate change expected to increase frequency of phenomena
that pose severe danger to road infrastructure such as:
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flooding
landslides
wash-outs
wildfires
The need for adaptation
measures, especially in
the transport sector, is
urgent;
In the pipeline
Project: “Enhancing Environmental Performance and Climate Proofing of
Infrastructure Investments in the Western Balkan Region from an EU integration
perspective”
Project Objective: To reduce vulnerability of road infrastructure to climate
change in the WB by mainstreaming EU best practices on climate proofing
infrastructure and green infrastructure
Total Budget: 1,7 Million
Expected Duration: 2016-2019
Planning and capacity
building for climate
resilient road
infrastructure in WB
The project aims to:
• Strengthen national capacities to understand and respond to emerging
climate related risks through strategic integration of climate proofing
measures and green infrastructure into infrastructure development;
• Establish regional and national frameworks for integrating climate
proofing measures and green infrastructure into infrastructure
development;
• Create an enabling environment for investments in and funding
opportunities for climate proofing and green infrastructure in the WB;
Adapting to present and
future climate conditions
Broad concept of climate
proofing- including green
infrastructure
Green Infrastructure as an
adaptation measure
Green infrastructure is multifunctional and can be a cost
effective tool for climate proofing
Environmental benefits
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Climate change adaptation and
mitigation benefits
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Ecosystem based risk reduction
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Safer and more resilient road
infrastructure
example: use of protection forests in Austria
Thank you for your attention!
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