The GCCA+ ACP

The intention was building a platform for dialogue, exchange and cooperation to respond to the combined challenge of the fight against poverty and climate change. The lines of action include:

1. Mainstreaming climate change into poverty reduction and development efforts in national development planning, from policymaking and budgeting to implementation and monitoring.
2. Facilitating knowledge about the effects of climate change and the design and implementation of appropriate adaptation actions to reduce the vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, building on National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs) and National Determined Contributions to UNFCCC.
3. Building Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) helping countries to prepare for climate-related natural disasters, reduce their risks and limit their impacts.
4. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), supporting solutions to reduce carbon (CO2) emissions from deforestation and create incentives for forest protection, while preserving livelihoods and ecosystems depending on forests.

OIKO in partnership with AECOM was appointed by the European Union to conduct the policy dialogue with governments and regional institutions to formulate the new GCCA+ ACP Support program to further foster policy dialogue and exchange of experiences by implementing the recently developed knowledge management and communication strategy and informing European Union positions in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The GCCA+ ACP Program provides technical and financial support to climate vulnerable developing countries and regions, with a focus on LDCs and SIDS.

Stakeholders:

• The Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme of the African Union Commission (AUC),
• The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
• Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
• The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
• The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA
• The East African Community (EAC)
• The SADC Secretariat
• The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)
• CARICOM
• The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP),
• The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and
• The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)

Swapping Climate Services Knowledge · Evaluation of GIZ South-South Cooperation Program · Morocco

Morocco has, over the centuries, gained experiences with water scarcities, drought and combating desertification due to its natural semiarid-arid climatic conditions.

Highly efficient management techniques have been developed for watershed areas in Morocco developing high resilience to rainless periods under severe climate conditions. Recently Morocco has developed a climate service application for an efficient approach to prevent and combat forest fires under climate uncertainty. This climate application is relevant for Costa Rica. On the other hand, Morocco is facing the challenge to formulate a comprehensive mainstreaming of climate change into the National Strategy for Protected Areas, in order to preserve natural and cultural heritage with a wider vision of sustainable development.

Facilitated by the German International Cooperation Agency GIZ a triangular cooperation was stablished between the Republic of Costa Rica, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Federal Republic of Germany to engage in a policy dialogue to improve climate services for the sustainable management and use of forest, protected areas and watersheds in the context of Climate Change.

The High Commission on Water, Forests and Combating Desertification in Morocco was strengthened through a communication and awareness program to build climate dialogue with relevant institutions and organizations active in climate services – sustainable forest management and sustainable use of forest goods.

OIKO facilitated the cooperation, advice and learning processes to maximize use of climate services open new perspectives, extended options and scopes for action and alternative solutions in the four thematic areas for involved partners in Morocco and Costa Rica:

• Based on the successful Moroccan experience for watershed management, conducted the implementation of a climate information application in Costa Rica.
• Consolidation of two climate services applications to combat of forest fire in Costa Rica, based on Moroccan experience.
• Ecosystem Valorization of protected areas: Development of two protected areas pilot projects, supported by climate services information sharing of Morocco, based on a successful Costa Rican experience, in order to valorization of biodiversity, through sustainable tourism and development of value chains for the socioeconomic benefits of the local communities.

Nature is Wise Enough · EBA in The Seychelles

In response to global climate change impacts, most countries have focused on ‘hard’ or ‘grey’ infrastructure options such as embankments for flood control or new reservoirs to cope with water shortages. These options can be costly to build and maintain, and generally do not take the benefits of natural ecosystem flows into account.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) is an climate adaptation alternative approach routed on conservation, sustainable management and restoration of ecosystems. Examples of such nature-based solutions to climate change include sustainable agriculture, integrated water resource management and sustainable forest management. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) favours natural cycles and nature-based solutions that harnesses biodiversity and ecosystem services to reduce vulnerability and build resilience to climate change.

The climate change projections in the Seychelles show that rainfall will increase in amount and will become even more irregular. Today, much of the precipitation in the Seychelles is falling in sharp bursts, creating heavy flooding in the wet season, while imposing extended period of drought during the dry season. As the country does not have a large water storage capacity, and the topography of the islands constrains such infrastructure, water supplies are heavily dependent on rainfall. Furthermore, the coastal zone is vulnerable to flooding as a consequence of rising sea surface levels, and increased storm surges from cyclonic activity in the Western Indian Ocean.

OIKO formulated a UNDP EU supported project to reduce climate vulnerabilities: The “Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA) to Climate Change in Seychelles”, financed by the Adaptation Fund for 6.5 M. US$ over 2014-20 to enhance freshwater security/flood control, reduce the risks of coastal flooding and mainstream EBA into development planning and financing resilience and sustaining watershed and coastal processes in order to secure critical water provisioning and flood attenuation ecosystem services from watersheds and coastal areas.

Does Nature have a price?

We must put a price on nature if we are going to save it! The North East Iyanola is a laboratory for Ecosystem Service Valuation.

The North East Coast of Saint Lucia is an isolated pristine coastal area, a remaining boundary with a mixture of rare and endemic flora and marine fauna species, landscapes of outstanding natural beauty and quality, ecosystems rich in biodiversity and unique dry scrub forests in Saint Lucia. Dangerously adjacent to world famous tourism site, Pigeon Island & Castries, the Iyanola region is threatened by unsustainable pattern of tourism development and urban sprawl. The Global Environment Fund (GEF) launched a project to ensure the effective management and sustainable use of the natural resource base of the Coast.

The NE Iyanola Project promotes the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem goods and services in representation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and threatened species.

OIKO mobilized a team of professionals to work with the Department of Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Forestry to conduct a biodiversity mapping of the 4 main ecosystems. Followed by an Ecosystem Services Valuation exercise providing a comprehensive analysis on the economic value of natural resources within each of the uniquely biodiverse regions on the NE Iyanola of Saint Lucia. This work helped to establish the value of potential and realised services in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. In conjunction with local partners, we developed tailored economic / ecological scenarios using Driver Pressure State Response Monitoring (DPSRM) methodology to enhance the capacity of local leadership to undertake environmental considerations within their own land development and decision-making processes.