Regional perspectives on policy and planning for climate change

Mr. Franklin McDonald

Conference on Climate Change Impacts on the Caribbean

June 15th - 17th, 2007

POLICY RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS & CHALLENGES

F J McDONALD UNEP CEP/RCU & UWI ISD fjm.uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com

Consensus? Climate change is a significant environmental, economic and

social issue in the Wider Caribbean Region. Its direct impacts include changes in temperature; rainfall

intensities, distribution and amounts; and sea level. Indirect impacts from severe weather and drought, etc are not yet fully understood but are likely to be negative.

Societal implications for public health, crop yields, food security and the performance of economic sectors such as tourism, agriculture, financial services are poorly understood. Its implications for livlihoods and revenue generation at the local, national and regional levels and for critical sectors is also not fully understood.

Caribbean societies have demonstrated limited capacity for assessing and responding to such emerging issues and trends hence Climate Change presents a special cluster of challenges to the public good and the strategists, policy and decision making communitty at regional, national and sectoral levels.

GLOBAL - LOCAL Issues GLOBAL

UNFCCC / IPCC + MEAs Hyogo Framework on Risk Reduction MDGs + SIDS BPOA / Mauritius Strategy Issues / Challenges: ST Contribution .. Peer

Review Process .. Model Building capacity .. Knowledge Demands on Climate and Global Systems .. Misinformation campaign by Fossil Fuel players .. SIDS / Group of 77 Tensions .. “Canary” Consortia (AOSIS Re Insurers Arctic collaboration)

Significant capacity challenges have been addressed. Increased consensus regarding the CRISIS!

Regional – National Rollout HEMISPHERIC / REGIONAL

Facilitating Actions Incongruence in Hemispheric / Regional / Political /

Technical Organs

REGIONAL CAPACITY Evolution DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS Support WMO + Academic + Research Networks structures STRATEGIES Based on Shared Risk Exposures

CPACC / MACC Focal Activity ISSUES

Further policy initiatives via ACS / ECLAC etcFurther policy initiatives via ACS / ECLAC etc National (in)security, trade, migration, livelihoodsNational (in)security, trade, migration, livelihoods Convergence of Risk Reduction AgendasConvergence of Risk Reduction Agendas

National – Local Rollout STATUS of NATIONAL Strategies, Policies,

Programmes and Projects, ACTION Plans? Capacity Issues – ST; Governance; Resarch Scale Issues

Scaling down GLOBAL SYSTEMS / MODELS Resilience

TOURISM, Agriculture, Energy Supply, Revenues, Livlihoods, Coastal+ Infrastructure

Mainstreaming Investment, Development, Culture Private Sector, Civil Society and Societal norms Hyogo Risk Reduction Framework

National and Local Action

Public Awareness Partnerships Policy and legislation Resource Mobilization incl Funding Institutional Arrangements Benchmarks and Indicators Implememtation / Enforcement Application of Studies

UNEP 1989 Climate Change Review as an example National Communications

2: Rhetoric/ BawloutAdvcacy

3 Logic +AnalysisST Inve- stment

4:

Policy +Laws +Implemen- tation

1:Inception Public outcry After incident/ disaster)

Developing / Evolving Risk Averse Disaster (Sensitive) Culture (nb High Social Science role And interdependency!)

5: Mainstreaming via Culture +Enforcement

Planning Processes must …• Cover credible scenarios, events and incidents, their

mitigation and their potential consequence(s)– Large, medium and small scale– Natural / Man induced / High / Low Probability– Effects on Human, Natural, Social and Economic

systems (not just Capital Assets)• Include “Extension” style Communication and Information

Management catering to all levels• Protect people, property, natural resources, physical

assets• Be based on systematic planning and a phased response• Cover all phases including return to ‘normalcy’• Be part of MAINSTREAM / CORE Functions of government

and its Private / Civil Society Partners in Small Island States

New Challenge:Reducing Climate Change Risk = Protecting the SOCIETY / Livelihoods / the ECONOMY

• TOURISM / AGRICULTURE / REVENUE STREAMS

• CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .. Sea Defense Works

• FINANCIAL SECTOR

• MARINE SERVICES

• GLOBALISED WORLD .. Manage Chain of Supply Issues including INFORMATION / PERCEPTIONS

Sensitisation / Vulnerability Awareness / Capacity Building systems must involve a chain of actors and processes Narrow “technical” conceptions of such systems leave weak links in the chain where failures occur (eg Warning System failures in Haiti 2004, Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004?) “Mainstreamed” = ‘infused’ into education and culture as well as the business and livelihood related societal value systems.

Shared Societal Knowledge of the risks faced by Communities = Risk ‘Culture’

‘Technical’ awareness = zoning, safer built env; & monitoring + Alert / Warn’g Services

Wide Formal and Informal Diffusion/ Dissemination of Useable risk info products

Knowledge and capacity for timely threat adaptation, mitigation, loss reduction action (pre, during, post incidents) at appropriate levels

Effective coping systems

RESILIENCE BUILDING: A Societal Safety Chain?

Challenges

Knowledge Gap Continued need for Research and Knowledge at all

scales Capacity Gap

Climate Change challenge for Public Policy, Social and Resource Management Agencies

Enterprises and Private Sector Managers Implementation Gap

Are we fully utilising ALL the existing knowledge regarding Climate Change Impacts to increase RESILIENCE at all levels in all sectors?