Download 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
1
Why mountains matter
2
Environmental challenges in mountains
Extractive industries
Transport
Hydropower/
Infrastructure
Tourism
Climate change
Waste
3
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)
4
“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
5
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
6
Objectives of the Assessments
•
•
•
•
•
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
7
Launched at COP21 in Paris, 2015
8
The Western Balkan Mountains
9
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
10
Key risk sectors covered:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Water
Land resources
Agriculture
Forests and biodiversity
Energy
Transport, infrastructure and communication
Mining
Tourism
Human health
11
Key risk sectors: Water
12
Key risk sectors: Agriculture
13
Examples of policy coverage of sectoral risks
14
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
15
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
16
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
17
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:
•
•
•
•
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
+
Climate change adaptation and
mitigation benefits
+
Ecosystem based risk reduction
=
Safer and more resilient road
infrastructure
example: use of protection forests in Austria
Thank you for your attention!
23