“Climate Change and Agriculture: setting the scene” was the first workshop organized by the Global Environment and Climate Change (GECC) Unit in the framework of its CLIMTRAIN project.
The workshop discussed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) context, the climate change science and the existing financial mechanisms to support climate change activities.
It provided information of relevance to PMD work and served as background for undertaking more detailed discussions on specific topics in the following CLIMTRAIN activities.
The main objectives of the workshop have been:
- to ensure a clear understanding of the climate change regime focusing on the framework provided by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- to give an overview of the existing climate change financing resources, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-managed funds for adaptation, including the Adaptation Fund, but also the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the recent initiatives undertaken by the European Union on climate change financing.
- to discuss relevant scientific findings of climate change impact on agriculture, as well as possible options for addressing it.
- to discuss possible options for mainstreaming climate change into development cooperation, including by learning from the experience of other donors.
The workshop has been facilitated by resource persons from the UNFCCC secretariat, the GEF secretariat, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the European Commission (EC), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the University of Florence and IFAD. It has been designed to engage all participants in interactive discussions with the resource persons, as well as to identify concrete options for designing effective climate change strategies in the context of IFAD’s operations.
The workshop contributed to enhance capacity to: identify/understand impacts, vulnerability and adaptation; select and implement adaptation actions; enhance cooperation among different actors to better address climate change; and enhance integration of climate change into IFAD’s operations.
The workshop has been articulated around five sessions:
- General introduction to the climate change context
- Climate change financing
- Climate change and agriculture: scientific background and discussion
- Brainstorming working groups
- Mainstreaming climate change into development operations
