Download South-South Cooperation and Capacity

Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Cuba’s South-South
cooperation and
capacity building
programs on climate
change research and
systematic observation
A. Vladimir Guevara
Climate Centre - Institute of Meteorology
Cuba
[email protected]
Outline
 Country context and status of Cuban National
Communication
 National climate change priorities
 Cuba’s programs on meteorological, climate and
atmosphere pollution surveillance systems
 Cuba contribution to the cooperation and capacity
building programs on climate change research
and systematic observation in Latin America and
the Caribbean
 Barriers and Constraints
 Key Lessons Learned
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Country context and status of National Communication
Area
110 860
km2
Length of
coasts
5 746 km
Climate
Temp. &
Rainfall
Population
(2008)
Population
density
Life
expectancy
Tropical Aw
Af, BS, Cwa
24 – 26ºC
≈ 1 300 mm
11 239 043
inhabitants
101,3
inhab./km2
78 years
 The Initial NatCom: finished in 2001
 The 2NC is being prepared since 2008 (by
GEF- UNDP Project)
Republic of Cuba
Havana
 National Circumstances and Greenhouse Gas
Inventory have concluded in 2010
 Mitigation and Other information ... Planned for
completion in summer 2011
 The entire document should be completed by mid - 2012
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
National climate change priorities: Adaptation to the
climate change
 The rational use and protection of water
resources
 Reduction of the vulnerability of the coastal
zone (coral reef, beaches and mangroves
ecosystems) by means of protection and
conservation measures.
 Conservation and protection of forestry
resources. Increasing of the forest cover.
The protection of biodiversity and wildlife.
 The improvement of Cuban agriculture, increasing the use of climate
information and the agricultural climate predictions
 The strengthening of human settlements and health systems,
incorporating the main climate research results into their planning
strategies.
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Why Adaptation?
1. Adaptation is an immediate action
from which we can extract the
necessary teachings to adjust to
socioeconomic system in a
progressive way.
2. To learn from the past and the current
situation, the Adaptation can mean
a better preparation for the future.
3. Adaptation is a process that
should begins with the reduction
of vulnerability to current climate
variability.
Adaptation to climate change should incorporate a better understanding of
the different actors of a country. Education of its inhabitants should be part
of the adaptation strategy.
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Cuba’s programs on meteorological, climate and
atmosphere pollution surveillance systems
GCOS
stations
 68 meteorological&climatological
stations – 11 of them with long
climate data series
 More of 1 000 pluviometers
 8 air pollution stations
 8 meteorological radar
On this basis, different
operative surveillance
systems have been
developed
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Cuba’s South-South cooperation in climate change
Some examples
 Development of future climate scenarios
using regional climate models, particularly
PRECIS, from the Hadley Centre, UK. This
action is not only an example of South-South
cooperation, but also of South-North
cooperation.
 Capacity building in the Caribbean countries
regarding the use of future climate projections
in impact assessments of climate change.
 Actions made in order to assimilate methods
and tools for assessing the impact of climate
change on agriculture by using crop
biophysical models.
What is PRECIS?
Providing
REgional
Climates for
Impact Studies
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Cuba’s South-South cooperation in climate change
 Support in the development of NatCom at
Latin America, the Caribbean and in Africa
(Equat. Guinea), ensuring the generation of
regional climate scenarios and preparation
of Greenhouse Gases Inventory in several
countries.
 Support for studies of V&A taking place
in the overseas territories, which are
coordinated through Caribbean Community
Climate Change Centre (5C)
 Joint actions to support V&A assessment to
climate change in human health sector
(Panama, Guatemala, Dominican Republic,
Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador) including
capacity building.
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Barriers and Constraints
 Lack of financial funds and material resources to
support the technical knowledge transfer among
our countries.
 The wide range of fields implicated in the training
activities, with very little time allocated to each
specific sector; the wide set of professionals
attending these; the no-continuum in the
projects and personnel involved in the climate
change activities; and the little stability of the
national team composition in many countries.
 General guidelines or handbooks for participants contain only
superficial description of approaches, but does not include real
and deep knowledge on the methodologies and tools used
specifically in Non – Annex 1 Parties. The language could also be
a major barrier sometimes.
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Barriers and Constraints
 The impossibility to use the expertise
of certain national individual experts
or groups, because of they have not
contributed to capacity building efforts
in their own countries.
 Difficulties in obtaining adequate and
updated national data sets, along with
other relevant information needed to
develop assessments.
 Lack of previous experiences at regional
or local levels. Few possibilities to
compare the results obtained from the
cooperation actions with some national
antecedents.
 Weak integration of countries with similar
problems and challenges in a region.
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Key Lessons Learned
 Activities and workshops organized by
international agencies and bodies (UNEP,
UNDP, UNITAR, CGE) can be an effective way
to raise the awareness and understanding on
climate change issues
in non - Annex 1
countries.
 The experiences show that the more
successful training workshops and other
activities of the South - South cooperation
are those that focus specifically to one or
two sectors or products (agriculture or human
health / Greenhouse Gases Inventory, etc)
 Joint projects and activities based on the priorities of climate
change should be promoted as an effective way to ensure the
continuity of actions initiated previously.
Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in the future
revision of the UNFCCC “Guidelines for the preparation of national communications
from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”
Key Lessons Learned
 Regional centers and associated
networks are critical in the cooperation
efforts. They are a natural part of the
process and can serve as important
nexus among the country (countries) that
provide the assistance and the
beneficiaries.
 A great effort should be made in order to
compile or produce the adequate
bibliography, software and other support
materials. They should be focused to
local level, based on previous
researches, with an important role of
traditional and native knowledge.
Caribbean
Community
Climate
Change
Centre
WE ARE SURE THAT ……
[email protected]
The knowledge
has not borders
and the
cooperation
is the best
strategy to reach
the success.