Making the case for policy change and financing for Ecosystem-based Adaptation

By Tine Rossing

Ecosystem-based Adaptation to Climate Change, 18-20 April 2016, Tiblisi, Georgia

Presentation outline

What does policy change for EbA mean?

Lessons learned

What does securing financing for EbA mean?

Lessons learned

What does policy change for EbA mean?

EbA planning and implementation predominantly takes place at the local and landscape level.

To achieve adaptation success at scale, EbA initiatives need to shift from one-off, smaller-scale activities

to become integrated into broader climate adaptation strategies at all levels including national.

To support scaling up and mainstreaming, EbA must be supported by an enabling policy environment.

Challenges:

Some of the challenges facing this process include

fragmented national policies;

weak institutional and governance structures; and

weak enforcement of existing policies, laws and regulations.

Lessons – how to secure policy change for EbA

Start by identifying effective entry points.

These will be determined by a country context and governance structures

So will timing and which stakeholders to involve.

How to do that?

Given the above, it is important to examine

how policy development processes are unfolding,

who are involved, and

identify if and how policies of relevance to EbA are being developed, revised or updated.

Such processes will provide opportunities for integrating EbA into them.

Lessons –policy change at global level

To influence the global policy audiences, use local level evidence-based experiences in planning and implementing EbA to make the case for needed policy changes for EbA at global level.

Engage in dialogues;

present experiences and lessons learned on planning and implementing EbA;

provide technical advice; and

carry out policy advocacy at global level, including through events at the UNFCCC and CBD meetings.

Lessons – securing policy change at national level

Signatories (i.e. Parties) to UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD can use the global guidance on how to mainstream EbA into broader policy frameworks, when developing national key legislation and policy.

At the national level, key entry points for policy change for EbA include policies such as National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plans (NBSAPs).

National climate change policies and strategies also provide opportunities to integrate EbA

as one of the explicit adaptation approaches being taken. HOW? – ongoing sharing of lessons learned on EbA, organize site visits to show the

benefits of EbA on the ground and engagie in policy dialogue

EX. Establishment of a High Level Committee on EbA in Nepal and

a high-level profiling of protected areas and climate change by Peru during UNFCCC COP 20.

Lessons – securing policy change at regional level

Policy change at district or regional level is vital.

This is especially relevant where measures are implemented across different landscapes or outside clearly defined boundaries, such as those of protected areas.

Implementing EbA at e.g. watershed scale requires planning and oversight beyond community level, and across sectors.

Local level budgeting is often also decided at municipal or district level.

Protected areas were found to be ideal entry points for planning and implementing landscape-level EbA

Protected areas often have existing management plans and governance structures, into which EbA can be mainstreamed.

EX. In the Nor Yauyos Cochas Landscape Reserve (NYCLR) in Peru, working jointly with the protected areas agency SERNANP, and in the Panchase region in Nepal, working with the Panchase Protected Forest.

These efforts provided entry points for making the case for national level policy change to better integrate climate change and EbA measures into protected area management across both countries.

Lessons – securing policy change at district and local level

At district and local level, existing natural resource management groups have been important entry points.

For integration of EbA into district- and local-level natural resource management plans.

EX. In Nepal, the Mt EbA Programme has worked with Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) as the major participants in and beneficiaries of many of the implemented EbA measures.

The CFUGs have recognized the importance of ecosystem services and the long-term value added by EbA measures, such as promotion of multi-use, climate-resilient plant species.

The Programme has been supporting CFUGs through capacity development trainings towards integration of the EbA approach into their Community Forest management plans.

SUMMARY - The role of different levels of public policy and planning in achieving EbA

What does financing for EbA mean?

Climate change policies need to be translated into budget allocations and expenditures

= Must make climate change part of the national budgeting process.

Challenge:

Funding for adaptation remains one of the main gaps in transferring adaptation goals into actual implemented adaptation measures.

Critical to identify public financing options and other sources of funds to secure long-term/continuous EbA interventions.

Public financing for EbA through national budgets across sectors and at multiple scales

Public financing for EbA can be allocated through national budgets across sectors and at

multiple scales.

ranging from local to regional and national level budgets.

EbA-relevant sectors have traditionally included water, agriculture and environment sector

budgets. However, other sectors, such as infrastructure (moving from grey to green), is also

relevant - especially given that the environmental sector is often underfunded.

The local district government or regional level is particularly relevant for implementing EbA

at a landscape or ecosystem scale.

= Planning and budgeting for EbA at this scale is also an important entry point for EbA

financing.

Integrating EbA into e.g. cross-sectoral district development planning and budgeting also

provide an opportunity for EbA financing.

Community incentive schemes to encourage early EbA action

Community economic incentive schemes proved important in making the case for EbA at local level to communities and local government.

Especially before the benefits of EbA measures could be shown (either due to the early stage of implementation or the time needed to achieve catchment scale impact).

Such schemes enhanced community commitment to implementing and maintaining mid- to long-term EbA measures.

IUCN piloted two community incentive schemes in the Mount Elgon districts of Kapchorwa and Kween.

EX: The Community Environment Conservation Fund (CECF) was adopted at the catchment-scale of Sipi, Kaptokoi and Ngenge.

It provided credit for community members, which could be used for any purpose. However, receiving the credit was tied to completion of EbA measures outlined in Community Environment Action Plans.

Payments for Ecosystem Services provided by EbA

Payments for Ecosystem Services provide a relevant model for EbA financing.

Such payments can

provide additional financing for adopted measures,

increase understanding of the value of ecosystem services and

act as an incentive for implementing EbA at, for example, a catchment scale.

EbA can provide such ecosystem services as water provision, carbon storage and biodiversity conservation, which can be applicable for PES payments.

EbA measures that produce new or enhanced income-generating goods

The Mt EbA Programme has aimed to generate finance for EbA through exploring market opportunities for the sale of indigenous plants harvested or cultivated through implementing EbA measures.

In Nepal, the Programme carried out specific studies on the value chains of products of plants, namely Allo (nettle, Girardinia diversifolia), Chiraito (Swertia chirayita), Kurilo (asparagus, Asparagus racemosus), Orchids and Timur (prickly ash, Zanthoxylum armatum).

The studies identify constraints and opportunities for trade in such products in Panchase, identifying key actors; supply and demand; and upgrading opportunities in production and markets.

The studies helped make the case and guide the design of piloted Amriso and Timur cultivation as EbA measures in Panchase.

Next Step: These market opportunities need to be developed into adequate business plans as to be operationalized in practice.

Harvesting of vicuña wool in Peru is also an income-generating venture, and a market feasibility assessment is being carried out.

For more information:

UNDP EbA Learning Brief no. 4:

Access from UNDP Climate Change Adaptation portal

From Mountain EbA programme page:

http://www.adaptation-undp.org/resources/project-brief-fact-sheet/learning-brief-4-making-case-policy-change-and-financing

For more information - 2:

The information in LB3 is a summary based on the Programme’s legacy report,

Making the Case for Ecosystem-based Adaptation: The Global Mountain EbA Programme in Nepal, Peru and Uganda.

Access from UNDP Climate Change Adaptation portal

From Mountain EbA programme page:

http://www.adaptation-undp.org/resources/assessments-and-background-documents/making-case-ecosystem-based-adaptation-global