ICID+18 - Mudança Climática, vulnerabilidade e adaptação

DISCUSSIONS ON THE FORTELEZA DECLARATION AND CLOSING PLENARY

LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SESSION: Antônio Magalhães, Director ICID 2010, opened the plenary session on Friday by inviting the panel to reflect on the key recommendations emerging from the Conference.

Octavio Pérez Prado, UNCCD Bureau, on recommendations from discussions between participants from Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasized that sustainable development policies should recognize that land is a bio-productive unit that is important for alleviating poverty and of critical importance to the issue of food sovereignty (the right to produce food). He stressed the need for synergies between national- and local-level projects to harmonize public policy and promote unified management programmes at the local level.

ChristianLeduc, IRD, France, proposed observation systems to better characterize climate change and to provide the necessary data to create development policies, creating a database of dryland environmental conditions, and using the term “global change” rather than climate change to embrace a holistic view that considers all elements of environment and society.

Peter Roche, IRD, Burkina Faso, presented the recommendations from discussions on climate evolution in West Africa. He called for: equal rights and resource distribution at the local level; better-formulated policies to represent all groups in the drylands, including the most vulnerable; implementation of policies on social justice and land rights; and the translation of global policies to implementable actions at the local level.

Egon Krakhecke, Ministry of Environment (MMA), Brazil, noted proposals on the need for solidarity among dryland countries, use of effective monitoring and control systems in the Caatinga Biome, knowledge sharing and information sharing, and stronger implementation policies. He also called for stronger political will and financial support in the fight against desertification.

Renata Marson Teixeira de Andrade, Catholic University of Brasilía, Brazil, emphasized recommendations on using social sciences to: address climate change-created vulnerability, as well as build capacity and strengthen institutions for adaptation; conduct vulnerability assessments in adaptation and mitigation project sites; create effective mitigation and adaptation policies; and draw attention to the complex nature of socioeconomic systems and the communities within them, and their role in promoting resilience and improving adaptation strategies.

Togtokh Chuluun, University of Mongolia, recommended: merging community- and ecosystem-based adaptation to address sustainability effectively; technological transfer to people in remote areas within drylands; and the inclusion of an environment dimension to the human development index, based on per capita emissions.

Xu Xiuli, China Agricultural University, emphasized that climate change must be examined at both the micro and macro levels and called for: safeguarding community rights; fostering local collective community action through policy; mainstreaming social protections for vulnerable groups in environmental policies; and fostering innovation in social science research methodology with the aim of aiding collective action at the local, government and regional levels.

Mutizwa Mukute, Rhodes University, South Africa, stressed that social ecology needs to be given greater attention, be better-understood and fitted into climate change adaptation. He noted recommendations including focusing climate change work on changing behaviors vis-à-vis the environment and listening to communities through stronger practice-oriented ways of learning in higher education, as well as the promotion of trans-disciplinary learning.

Eduardo Martins, FUNCEME, Brazil, called for: focusing on local adaptation; recognizing the broad knowledge base in non-governmental organizations and communities; strengthening or rethinking institutions related to semi-arid areas; producing scientific information on the scale needed to make informed regional and local decisions; generating lessons learned from successful experiments; and promoting stronger cooperation between arid regions around the world.

Michael Hall, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), US, called for: revisiting the research agenda, seeking truly integrated cross-disciplinary research aimed at providing useful information to decision-makers; greatly increasing the time-scale focus and spatial resolution of model projections; and understanding the human dimensions in climate change research and decision-making.

Analysis of the Meeting: Jesse Ribot, University of Illinois, US, noting the emergence of the term “adaptation to climate change” over the last 18 years, observed that while this brings attention to development, it might be at the cost of mitigating the vulnerability and risk of communities. On the outcomes of the conference, he noted three key themes: unequal power balances that still exist within countries and regions, with drylands receiving little economic or political support; the marginal focus on drylands within the context of the global climate debate; and that traditionally drylands are poor producers and hard to govern, with little investment from central governments.

FORTALEZA DECLARATION: This session began with a brief speech by Celso Jaque, Governor, Mendoza, Argentina, who emphasized the extreme importance of linking scientific knowledge and decision-making and called for holding “ICID 2011” in Mendoza, Argentina.

John Redwood, World Bank read out the Fortaleza Declaration to plenary. In the ensuing discussion, participants requested the Fortaleza Declaration include: an increased focus on different energy sources; a greater emphasis on the sustainable use of resources; reference to strategies for using biomass, particularly in the Brazilian northeast; provision for regulations, limits and governance for payments for ecosystem services; and a stronger emphasis on cooperation amongst communities.

Participants noted that the Declaration did not include explicit reference to adaptation in semi-arid areas, general notes on education and capacity building, or examples of how urgent food security is in drylands.

Among the ideas and concerns raised by participants were: exercising caution in adaptation efforts to ensure they do not create unintended adverse consequences; considering the role of markets in responding to climate variability; including communities in policy formation, as well as in implementation and monitoring; and valuing the role of women, workers and local agricultural knowledge in semi-arid lands.

Redwood explained that ICID 2010 organizers would review the draft Declaration and the suggestions offered, and “probably incorporate some.” He suggested some of the issues raised, such as gender and generational dimensions, could be topics for panels to explore more fully at the ICID 2011 conference being planned. He explained that the Declaration, along with the record of the suggestions offered and all the rapporteur reports from thematic panels and roundtables, will be posted on the ICID 2010 website.

The Fortaleza Declaration: On the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development and climate change, the Declaration calls for:

• better governance of the drylands, representation of their populations and enhanced livelihoods;

• the enhancement of climate-sensitive sustainable development interventions in drylands;

• recognition of potential synergies to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience for the poor;

• the creation of favorable conditions for sustainable development in drylands through integrated actions to fight land degradation, mitigate drought effects, conserve biodiversity and adapt to climate change; and

• investment opportunities to exploit the comparative advantage of drylands in renewable energy production.

On political representation on multiple scales, the Declaration urges:

• enhanced representation of dryland populations in local, national and international policymaking and in the implementation of development activities;

• strengthening the capacity of dryland nations to influence the global environment and development agenda;

• the UN to consider the plight of dryland nations;

• preparatory meetings of Rio+20 be organized on a global ecosystem basis, to highlight issues pertaining to communities living in, inter alia, the drylands and tropical forests; and

• development and implementation of community-level information strategies to educate people on the implications of climate change.

On synergies among global environmental and development initiatives, the Declaration emphasizes:

• prioritizing sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity; and

• creation of synergies between local, national and global interventions to mitigate and adapt to climate change, conserve biodiversity and curb desertification.

On financing climate-sensitive sustainable development, it calls for:

• absorption of costs related to sustainable development by national economies;

• honoring previous financial obligations to support sustainable development by industrialized countries, the expansion of existing financial instruments, and acceleration of the disbursement of the Climate Investment and Adaptation Funds to local and national capacities; and

• including dryland regions in financial innovations to advance sustainable development under climate change conditions.

On education for sustainable development, the Declaration calls for the prioritization of education for communities in dryland areas.

On knowledge and information exchange, it recommends:

• the design and implementation of an integrated climate research, observation, modeling and applications programme to inform the policy process;

• greater inputs from the social sciences on the causes and effects of climate change and variability;

• bridging the gap between scientific information and political action; and

• expansion and strengthening of knowledge networks.

On integrated planning and implementation of development strategies and programmes, the Declaration calls for increased convergence in development strategies and programmes, especially relating to land and water resource management, forestry and the fight against desertification.

Finally, on responding to urgency, the Declaration calls for decisive action from the international community on climate, development and sustainability challenges.

CLOSING CEREMONY: ICID 2010 Director Antônio Magalhães convened the closing plenary session. A 16-year old environmentalist, João Pedro Gurgel, urged participants to focus on teaching the young proper practices in their home and personal lives to make a difference in environmental protection in the future. Maria Theresa Farias, COMPAM, emphasized that the environment is a public good and stressed that actions undertaken to protect it need to be done daily.

René Barreira, Secretary for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Ceará State, Brazil, stressed the importance of involving government and mobilizing civil society to act in preserving the environment, especially in implementing the Fortaleza Declaration.

ICID 2010 Director Magalhães, with Jean Loup Guyot, IRD, thanked organizers and participants for their support of the conference. He closed the conference at 5:38pm.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

XXIII IUFRO World Congress: The theme for the 23rd World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is “Forests for the Future: Sustaining Society and the Environment.” dates: 23-28 August 2010 location: Seoul, Republic of Korea contact: Korea Forest Research Institute phone: +82-2-961-2591 fax: +82-2-961-2599 e-mail:iufrococ@forest.go.krinternet:http://www.iufro2010.com/

Workshop on Forest Governance, Decentralization and REDD in Latin America: This country-led initiative in support of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) by Mexico and Switzerland, is expected to discuss how decentralization and forest governance contribute to sustainable management of forests. dates: 31 August - 3 September 2010 location: Oaxaca, Mexico internet:http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/Events/Oaxaca/decentralisation-redd.htm

Sustainable Land Management Enhances Water Availability and Quality: The UNCCD Secretariat is organizing this Seminar at the 2010 Stockholm International Water Week. date: 5 September 2010 location: Stockholm, Sweden contact: Emmanuel Chinyamakobvu, UNCCD Secretariat phone: +49-228-815-2819 fax: +49-228-815-2898/9 e-mail:echinyamakobvu@unccd.intinternet: http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/announce/seminar_water_desertification.php

UNFF Ad Hoc Expert Group on Forest Financing: This meeting will be the first open-ended intergovernmental ad hoc expert group on financing for sustainable forest management, as part of the UN Forum on Forest’s strategic plan on forest financing. dates: 13-17 September 2010 location: Nairobi, Kenya contact: UNFF Secretariat phone: +1-212-963-3401 fax: +1-917-367-3186 e-mail:unff@un.orginternet: http://www.un.org/esa/forests/

Global Expert Workshop on Biodiversity Benefits of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries: This workshop is to support the efforts of parties in addressing reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) in the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in a way that contributes to the implementation of the CBD programme of work on forest biodiversity. dates: 20-23 September 2010location: Nairobi, Kenya contact: CBD Secretariat phone: +1-514-288-2220 fax: +1-514-288-6588 e-mail:secretariat@cbd.intinternet: http://www.cbd.int/

International Scientific Conference on Advanced Scientific Tools for Desertification Policy: This conference aims to “set up a discussion on the scientific research tools and results, recently achieved at the European and international levels addressing desertification assessment and mitigation.” dates: 28-29 September 2010 location: Rome, Italy contact: Maurizio Sciortini phone:+39-06- 8535- 5590 fax: +39-06-8535-6060 e-mail:desurvey@enea.it internet: http://www.noveltis.net/desurvey/conference/

20th Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO)/ 2nd World Forest Week: The biennial sessions of COFO bring together heads of forest services and other senior government officials to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and to advise FAO and others on appropriate action. dates: 4-8 October 2010 location: Rome, Italy contact: FAO Forestry Departmentphone: 39-06-5705-3925 fax: 39-06-5705-31 52 e-mail:COFO-2010@fao.org internet: http://www.fao.org/forestry/cofo/en/

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP 10: The tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is expected to, inter alia, assess the achievement of the 2010 target to reduce significantly the rate of biodiversity loss. dates: 18-29 October 2010 location: Nagoya, Japan contact: CBD Secretariat phone: +1-514-288-2220 fax: +1-514-288-6588email:secretariat@cbd.intinternet: http://www.cbd.int/cop10/

Land Day 3: Land Day 3 is to meet in parallel with the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10). date: 23 October 2010 location: Nagoya, Japan contact: UNCCD Secretariat phone: +49-22-8815-2800 fax:+49-22-8815-2898 e-mail:secretariat@unccd.int internet: http://www.unccd.int/secretariat/docs/workplan/workplan2010eng.pdf

Global Forum on Salinization and Climate Change: The Global Forum on Salinization and Climate Change will be an opportunity to discuss the problems associated with salinization and climate change. dates: 25-29 October 2010 location: Valencia, Spain contact:Jorge Batlle-Sales, University of Valencia phone: +34-96-354-4289 e-mail:Jorge.Batlle@uv.es internet:http://www.uv.es/jorba/GFSCC2010

Third International Conference on Drylands, Deserts and Desertification: The theme for the third International Conference on Drylands, Deserts and Desertification is “The Route to Restoration.” dates: 8-11 November 2010 location: Israel contact: Dorit Korine phone: +97-28-659-6781 fax: +97-28-659-6722 e-mail:desertification@bgu.ac.il internet:http://cmsprod.bgu.ac.il/Eng/Units/bidr/desertification2008/

Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and Sixth Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol: The 33rd meetings of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Boday for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) will also take place concurrently. dates: 29 November to 10 December 2010 location: Cancún, Mexico contact: UNFCCC Secretariat phone:+49-228-815-1000 fax: +49-228-815-1999 email:secretariat@unfccc.int internet: http://unfccc.int/

Ninth Session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF 9): The theme for UNFF 9 is “forests for people, livelihoods and poverty eradication.” dates: 24 January - 4 February 2011 location: New York, US contact: UNFF Secretariat phone: +1-212-963-3401 fax:+1-917-367-3186 e-mail:unff@un.org internet: http://www.un.org/esa/forests/

UNCCD COP 10: The tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is expected to take place in October 2011. dates: 10-21 October 2011 location: Changwon City, Republic of Korea contact: UNCCD Secretariat phone: +49-228-815-2800 fax: +49-228-815-2898 e-mail:secretariat@unccd.int internet: http://www.unccd.int/