Results area 3: Informed decision-making, awareness and advocacy

Awareness-raising and capacity-building

As part of its support to the Government of Liberia, the African Climate Policy Centre supported the development and drafting of a national climate change policy, strategy and action plan. This concluded a series of activities carried out in Liberia to help the country mainstream climate change into development and enhance the country’s capacity to build resilience against its adverse impacts. The completion of this climate change strategy provides an opportunity to integrate climate change into the national development programmes by domesticating the Paris Agreement and ensuring alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063.

During the ninth Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, two policy dialogues were convened to underscore the importance of climate change in Africa’s growth and development. The first was on greening Africa’s industrialization, which provided space for advocating that Africa should adopt the green pathway towards sustainable and inclusive development. The second was entitled “After Paris: Implications for green growth in Africa”

and discussed climate finance, transparency and accounting mechanisms, loss and damage, technology transfer, growth and industrialization. It also emphasized the importance of nationally determined contributions for limiting global warming to well below 2°C.

The African Climate Policy Centre organized capacity-building activities for community radio stations and staff on climate change, development and analytical reporting in Cabo Verde, Cameroon and Rwanda. These stations produced more than 160 radio programmes as well as dozens of bulletins to better inform citizens about climate change.

• In Cameroon, Bonakanda Community Radio in Bueaand Menji produced and broadcast radio programmes that helped to: enhance community-based solutions to the water problem, including the formation of more than two dozen water

management committees and activities aimed at protecting water catchments;

increase in irrigated vegetable farms through augmented rainwater harvesting activities; and increase beekeeping activities to support community livelihoods on the slopes of Mount Cameroon.

• In Rwanda, Radio Huguka and Radio Ishingiro produced and aired a series on “Our Environment, Our Future” which contributed to the campaign to keep plastics out of the country. In addition, in Gicumbi, Developing Radio Partners raised public awareness on sanitation that led to biogas production initiatives as a way to achieve sustainable sanitation solutions.

• In Cabo Verde, three stations (Radio Voz d’Bubista, Sodade FM and Espargos Radio) helped the island nation to share information on environmental issues relevant to its communities, including the threat of the Zika virus and eradication strategies for the virus. The Cabo Verde weekly bulletins have also put greater emphasis on farming, fishing, trash collection, beach erosion, water resources, dam management and deforestation.

In addition, key awareness-raising events organized included: the sixth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa, 18–20 October 2016, and the Africa Pavilion at the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 7–18 November 2016. At the former, over three hundred participants urged Africa to engage fully in the Paris Agreement and requested the African Climate Policy Centre to consider supporting member States in implementing nationally determined contributions to ensure proper alignment with national and regional developmental goals.

Publications

The following 2016 publications are available on the ClimDev-Africa website in both English and French:

• The African Climate Policy Centre contributed to the research and drafting of the Economic Report on Africa 2016: Greening Africa’s Industrialization, which advocates Africa’s adoption of a green pathway towards sustainable and inclusive development.

• It also made significant contributions to the publication entitled Africa’s Blue Economy Policy Handbook. The book is in line with the Centre’s small island developing States programme and the African leaders’ emphasis on blue economy development in the Agenda 2063.

• Two policy briefs entitled The Paris Agreement:

The future relevance of UNFCCC-backed carbon markets for Africa and Transforming Africa’s Transport Sector with the Implementation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

Figure 5

Policy brief on transforming Africa’s transport sector with implementation of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

• Three information sheets entitled African youth and empowerment for climate change dialogue and response action, Driving Africa food trade in a changing climate, and Africa partnership facility for Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

• Technical paper entitled Non-carbon Benefits of REDD+:

The Case for Supporting Non-carbon Benefits in Africa Web engagement

New content is regularly posted on the ClimDev-Africa website, including new documents, stories and event information. Below are highlights of recent engagement:

• Dissemination of ClimDev-Africa outputs continued on social media during the reporting period. The number of Twitter followers increased by 56 per cent from 791 to 1240 and the number of likes of the ClimDev Africa page on Facebook held steady at 4612.

• A newsletter covering the Africa Pavilion at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the fifth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa, and recent publications was disseminated in March 2016 to over 850 subscribers.

• Eighteen press releases were produced and posted on the ClimDev-Africa website.

Climate Change and Desertification Unit

To enhance the knowledge of beneficiaries and member States on climate change and desertification, the following activities were undertaken:

• An expert group meeting was organized to review the draft regional strategic plan for the sustainable production and marketing of gum Arabic for climate change adaptation and poverty alleviation in the drylands of Africa. The strategy was reviewed and adopted by 43 experts from member States.

• A high-level political dialogue was convened for African Ministers and senior government officers to discuss strategies and collaboration in the effective implementation of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative and other major African initiatives in combating desertification and climate change.

• During the twentieth session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission in Nairobi, the Climate Change and Desertification Unit contributed to the review of support provided by FAO to African countries in the last biennium and agreed on further areas of support and collaboration.

• Support to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment continued during the sixth special session of the Conference held in Cairo, Egypt. The meeting concluded with key recommendations related to sustainable development, desertification, climate change, and the sustainability of the Conference. Prior to

Figure 6

Pull-up on renewable energy

the meeting, the Climate Change and Desertification Unit organized an expert group meeting to review the draft African Union strategy on climate change.

• In collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Climate Change and Desertification Unit organized the first regional coordination meeting of the African Group of Negotiators to develop a work programme for the effective implementation of the Convention in Africa.

• In implementing the declaration of the Conference of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change with a particular focus on young people and women, the Climate Change and Desertification Unit organized a meeting in Nairobi to adopt a strategy to jump-start the effective implementation of the framework and to promote a unique platform for women and young people in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The women and young people plan was agreed.

• The Climate Change and Desertification Unit provided financial and technical backstopping to the African Group of Negotiators during the forty-fourth session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation and the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement.

• In collaboration with WMO, experts from national meteorological and hydrological services were brought together to review and validate guidelines for the development of national strategic plans on meteorology and hydrology services. The meeting approved the template for the strategic plan and adopted guidelines for integrating weather and climate services in national and regional development programmes.

• The Climate Change and Desertification Unit organized the third Africa Drylands Week and, in collaboration with the Government of Namibia, the First African Drought Conference. It also participated in the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the validation of the draft Africa regional framework on sustainable forest management. The Unit was also involved in the sixth Session of the Africa Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Mauritius.

ClimDev Special Fund

Activities implemented by the ClimDev Special Fund under this results area cover two domains: factoring climate change information into development policy; and supporting dialogue among government institutions, private sector, civil society and vulnerable communities.

Development policy support

The Special Fund launched 2 projects, appraised 13 and approved 7 projects for funding. The following two projects were launched in 2016 and are currently being implemented:

(a) Flood disaster risk reduction in Bunyala, Kenya, implemented by Maseno University, Kenya. The project will enhance the capacity of Busia County government

institutions, community organizations and other stakeholders to better manage risks and disasters associated with floods in the Budalangi area of western Kenya.

(b) Strengthening climate information and early warning systems for climate-resilient development and adaption to climate change in Ethiopia. The project is executed by the National Meteorology Agency. It aims to improve socioeconomic development, address climate variability, and build resilience to climate change for Ethiopia through high-quality weather and climate services.

The following 13 projects were appraised:

 Community-based adaptation to climate change through climate-smart agriculture in Adiyakulu, Southern Region of Eritrea. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Land, Water and Environment. Its objective is to increase community resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change through integrated climate-smart agriculture.

 Capacity enhancement of policymakers and policy support institutions for climate information generation, management and integration into development plans and programmes, United Republic of Tanzania.

Implemented by the Division of Environment in the Vice President’s Office, the project seeks to enhance the capacity for quality analysis and produce evidence on climate change for use in development planning.

 Climate data rescue and database enhancement for improved climate information services in national meteorological and hydrological services in Djibouti, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. The project will be executed by the WMO representative for Eastern and Southern Africa. It seeks to improve climate data availability for climate change analysis and adaptation for improved climates services and food security in the four countries.

 Climate change best practice award. The project, which aims to promote climate resilient best practices and innovations, will be implemented by the National Environment Trust Fund, a semi-autonomous government agency within the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in Kenya.

 Ethiopia gender, climate change and agriculture support programme will improve the livelihoods of smallholder women farmers, pastoralists, young people and other vulnerable communities. The project will be executed by the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs.

 Satellite and weather information for disaster risk reduction in central African countries. Through the establishment of an Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) centre in Cameroon, the project aims to enhance the generation of weather forecasts to support disaster risk management in central African countries.

 Mainstreaming climate change into innovative value chains of smallholder agriculture and wild collection in dryland areas of Zimbabwe and promoting best practices across Southern Africa. The project will be implemented in two

districts by Hilfswerk Austria International Zimbabwe (HWA-Zimbabwe) and seeks to enhance smallholder farmers’ adaptation capacity and build resilience to climate change.

 Enhancing the resilience of vulnerable local communities to extreme weather events and climate vulnerabilities in Mauritius. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and Disaster and Beach Management in the Grand Port District.

 Disaster risk assessment and climate change adaptation in Somalia project will build capacity in early warning and demonstrate the benefits of applying climate information for adaptation. The project will be implemented by ICPAC in collaboration with the IGAD Somalia Office and Somalia Meteorological Service.

 Bridging climate information gaps to strengthen capacities for climate informed decision-making in Africa. The objective of this project is to reduce vulnerability and foster food security through strengthening capacity to understand and deploy appropriate climate information and best practices. It will be implemented in five countries (Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Tunisia) by the African Technology Policy Studies Network in collaboration with the following institutions: Stockholm Environment Institute - Africa Centre based in Kenya; ICPAC based in Kenya; the Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel based in Tunisia; the AGRHYMET Regional Centre based in Niger; and the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development based in Kenya.

 Amélioration de la résilience des populations par l’accès à l’information climatique pour une meilleure intégration du changement climatique dans les politiques nationales et sectorielles de développement en Côte d’Ivoire. The project, which will be implemented by the National Climate Change Programme (Programme National Changement Climatique), seeks to improve access to climate information for better integration of climate change into national and sectoral development policies to build resilience to climate change.

 Renforcement des investissements pour un developpement resilient au changement climatique dans le complexe Lac Nokoué- Lagune de Porto Novo, Benin. The project, which will be implemented by National Water Partnership of Benin (Partenariat National de l'Eau du Bénin), seeks to increase investments for climate-resilient development.

 Adaptation au changement climatique et reduction des risques cotiers dans onze pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest: Development de la Mission d’observation du Littoral Ouest Africain (MOLOA). The project, which will be implemented by Centre de Suivi Ecologique and co-financed by the ClimDev Special Fund, the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, aims to strengthen regional cooperation in costal risk management.

The following seven projects were approved (three from regional climate centres, three from national centres, and support for the Africa Pavilion), and their details are provided in Annex 2:

• Satellite and Weather Information for Disaster Resilience in West Africa (SAWIDRA-WA)

• Satellite and Weather Information for Disaster Resilience in Africa (SAWIDRA)

• Satellite and Weather Information for Disaster Resilience in Eastern Africa (SAWIDRA-EA)

• Improved Climate and Weather Information to Increase Resilience of Senegalese Communities

• Satellite Based Water Monitoring and Flow Forecasting System in Niger River Basin

• Meteorological Observation Network Improvement in Mali for Climate Change Resilience

• Africa Pavilion at the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Marrakech, Morocco Policy and outreach

The ClimDev Special Fund provided support to the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support for the preparation of submissions on behalf of African countries to identify adaptation measures and enhancement of productivity in agriculture and in the development of a note used by the African Group of Negotiators in the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice negotiations on agriculture.

Africa Ministerial Conference on Water, 2016 – The ClimDev Special Fund, in partnership with the African Water Facility, convened a joint session on “Infrastructure for water and climate change resilience: design and financing”, to discuss a common understanding of policy for design and financing requirements and options for practical implementation of climate change resilience projects in the water sector.

The Fund contributed to work on sovereign risk insurance – The Fund undertook a scoping mission to the African Risk Capacity to establish the governance, structure and operations of that agency and to discuss the management of weather index-based sovereign risk insurance.

3.4 Africa Pavilion at the twenty-second session of the Conference of the