Stockholm policy forum 2009: climate smart disaster risk reduction
The Government of Sweden has been pushing for policy and action to support the poor in adapting to a changing climate and has also been a strong supporter of mainstreaming effective disaster risk reduction into development efforts. As chair of the Consultative Group for the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), the Government of Sweden is hosting a policy forum on Monday, October 26, Climate Smart Disaster Risk Reduction, with the objective of forging stronger policy and practical linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
Objectives
Disaster risk management and risk reduction strategies were identified by UNFCCC Parties in the Bali Action Plan of 2007 as a key negotiation element for an agreement to be reached at the COP-15. The reduction of disaster risk has been recognized as a core component of adaptation to climate change. And while there are many assumed synergies between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, these are not yet in place. There are also signs of competition that has the potential to delay and derail implementing critical action on the ground.
Climate Smart Disaster Risk ReductionThe Copenhagen meeting is nearly upon us. The Stockholm Policy Forum will serve to bring together country representatives, practitioners and experts from both the disaster risk management and climate change adaptation communities to focus on what principles and support needs to be secured in Copenhagen, and perhaps more importantly, identify promising practices and critical actions for post-Copenhagen implementation of adaptation efforts.
Format
The Stockholm Policy Forum aims to share examples of promising practice and identify key recommendations around challenges identified for DRR and CCA. The forum is a day-long event on Monday, October 26, where approximately 100 government representatives, development and humanitarian action practitioners and select experts will address the questions detailed above.
The day will be highlighted with several keynote interventions to layout issues and provoke discussion, but the main work will take place in three work groups to focus on the following aspects:
1. Regional cooperation: There is wide recognition that regional policies and cooperation on issues such as shared water are vital to adapting to climate change. There are a number of existing models to learn from, such as the Nile Basin Initiative, and the Niger Basin Development Authority, and the Mekong River Commission. This working group will provide for an exchange of experience on good practice on regional cooperation and explore such questions as: How can river basins cope with the cross-sectoral challenges that a changing climate implies? How can national governments support institutional adaptation and strengthen regional adaptation strategies? How can regional climate models be integrated into adaptation policy frameworks and sectoral strategies? How can greater sharing of adaptation experience be facilitated to strengthen the development and implementation of regional adaptation strategies and NAPAs? How can regional level interventions facilitate the participation and empowerment of local communities? What role can regional political bodies play in order to promote and strengthen disaster and climate risk management efforts?Climate Smart Disaster Risk Reduction
2. Local dimensions: As already mentioned, local communities have been adapting to shifting risk for centuries. Their autonomous adaptive capacity will depend, however, on the capacity of planned adaptation at different levels. This working group will look at good examples of local communities and authorities working with higher level entities to affect positive, sustainable change on the ground. Questions to be explored include: How can local initiative for disaster and climate risk management be supported in a sustainable manner? What are the necessary components of an enabling environment at national level to support local scale action? How can climate change adaptation financing support be appropriately targeted to empower local actors? How best can this be done to ensure accountability?
3. Private markets: The private sector will be critical in addressing adaptation needs. The poor depend on markets for their labor, products and services. How will climate change affect both formal and informal markets? How can national governments ensure the appropriate regulatory and enforcement environment to support private sector initiative in addressing climate change adaptation? How can national level regulation be used to effectively guide private development of effective risk reduction and adaptation measures? How can international support, private sector activity, public sector financing, and tools like insurance, and social protection mechanisms work together to finance effective climate risk management?
The working groups will come together in plenary towards the end of the day to share their findings and reach a consensus on practices and recommended actions. The findings will be used to develop a briefing note to be submitted to the UNFCCC for the climate talks in Copenhagen, and a fuller publication for beyond Copenhagen to support the implementation of effective adaptation action.