1. No category

“Building Resilience and Decreasing Vulnerability through Climate Change
Adaptation”
30 March 2015, Sofia, Bulgaria
Objectives of the Assessments
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State and trends of climate change;
Vulnerability of mountain ecosystems to climate change
Concrete adaptation experiences (sub-national/local level)
Experiences from other regions (e.g. Alps, Carpathians, Central Asia)
Climate change adaptation policies and strategies;
Policy gap analysis;
Priority areas for future action (governmentally reviewed);
Environment and
Security dimensions
environmental risks & problems
Threat
can threaten security
environment is often forgotten
Damage
Opportunity
where ‘hard security’ matters
environmental cooperation and management can
help improve security and soften conflicts
ENVSEC partners
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OSCE
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UNEP
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UNDP
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UNECE
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REC
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NATO as an associated partner
Trans-boundary risks from hazardous activities
Sharing of Natural Resources
Climate change in the West Balkans:
findings, trends and projections
Demographic situation is one of the most important
factors for region's adaptive capacity
Population is aging
Fertility rates decline
People move from rural
to urban areas
High level of migration
Climate change
Less precipitation and
further decrease are
projected
The region is getting
warmer and dryer
The frequency and
intensity of floods and
droughts have increased
Total GHG emissions have
decreased in Albania, FYROM,
Montenegro,
Serbia and increased in Croatia
From 1 to 8 metric tonnes of CO2
eq. per capita (global figure – 4,6
tonnes)
Energy and partly agriculture are
main sources of GHG emissions
Vulnerability = Exposure
(how big the change) x
Sensitivity (how much it
matters)
The most vulnerable:
 Albania
 FYROM-Serbia-Bosnia and Herzegovina
The least able to adapt:
 FYROM
 Albania-Serbia-Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Croatia: the least vulnerable, the most capable
Increasing Security
from Climate Change Risk
Extraordinary rainfall affected Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia
between 14th and 19th of May 2014, the largest precipitation event in 120 years.
During this time, devastating floods caused damage and economic losses worth €2
billion in Bosnia and Herzegovina and €1.5 billion in Serbia.
UNEPs Response…
UNEP deployed environmental experts to support the Serbian Government in
carrying out a Recovery Needs Assessment (RNA) intended to inform recovery
needs and assist in resource mobilization.
UNEPs Response…
“Achieving Climate Resilient Infrastructure through
Mainstreaming of Ecosystem Based Adaptation Approaches in
the Western Balkan Region”
Objective: To build capacity of countries in the Western Balkans to adapt to climate
change through the integration of ecosystem based adaptation approaches
into planning and engineering of critical economic infrastructure.
Countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Croatia, and Kosovo (Under
UNSCR 1244/99)
“Achieving Climate Resilient Infrastructure through Mainstreaming of
Ecosystem Based Adaptation Approaches”
Expected Outcomes:
1. Ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change
integrated into infrastructure
management policies, plans and regulations,
2. Enhanced capacity to understand and respond to
emerging climate hazards
and address them through strategic integration of
climate resilience into construction sector in the
region,
3. Demonstrated and developed lessons learned
from climate proofing of selected infrastructural pilot
demonstrations.
UNEP - Ecosystem Based
Adaptation Approaches
ENVSEC – Climate Change and Security
in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southern Caucasus
• Implementation Period: 01.01.2013 – 31.12 2015
• Funded by EU (Instrument for Stability) & ADA; Contribution
Agreements signed between EU and OSCE and ADA and OSCE
in December 2012
• ENVSEC Partners: OSCE (Lead), UNDP, UNEP, UNECE, REC
• Project Area: 3 sub-regions with 11 project countries; (Central
Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan; Eastern Europe: Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine;
Southern Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia)
ENVSEC – Climate Change and Security
in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southern Caucasus
Overall Objective: “To support regional stability through
transboundary co-operation on adaptation to climate
change impacts”
•Enhanced understanding & awareness of climate change as
security challenge & consequent need for regional &
transboundary cooperation in adaptation
•Enhanced stakeholders' capacity to anticipate, prevent, &
mitigate effectively & in a timely manner potential security risks
from climate change
ENVSEC – Expected Results
ENVSEC – Challenges
„Climate Change Action in
Developing Countries with Fragile
Mountainous Ecosystems from a
Regional Perspective“
(UNFCCC/FSF)
Climate Change Adaptation in Mountain Regions
Duration: 2014-2017
Total: 1.75 Mio. EUR co-financed by Austria (UNFCCC FSF)
Objective: Support to mountainous developing countries
to integrate mountain specific
climate change adaptation
into relevant development policies/plans/strategies
 from a sub-regional perspective
- Understand climate change vulnerabilities and impacts;
- Analysis of relevant policies and frameworks and bottlenecks;
- Support policy action from a sub-regional perspective;
- Inter-regional exchange of experiences with other mountain regions (Alpine and
Carpathian Convention, East African Community, ICSD, Andes Community);
Climate Change Adaptation in Mountain Regions
Main Outputs:
 Participatory assessments (synthesis) related to climate change
and adaptation “Mountain response assessments”
 Establish (inter)-regional platforms and support
development/review of sub-regional climate change action
plans/strategic agendas etc. in context of relevant institutional
mechanisms/frameworks (e.g. EAC for East Africa, ICSD for CA)
Targeted regions: East Africa, Balkans, (South)-Caucasus, Central
Asia, (Tropical)-Andes
Thank you for your attention
Pier Carlo Sandei
UNEP Vienna
– Regional Office for Europe
[email protected]
www.unep.org/roe/