KARNATAKA, INDIA, Nov 23 (IPS) – With a give attention to strengthening the resilience of small and susceptible member international locations, Unnikrishnan Nair says the Commonwealth Secretariat is working to align improvement and local weather finance for max affect.
Nair, who’s the Head of Climate Change in the Economic, Youth, and Sustainable Development Directorate, advised IPS in an unique interview that to “build resilience and avoid the reversal of development gains due to climate change, climate action must be integrated into development projects so that the funding supports the necessary climate change outcomes.”
The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) has served as a “catalyst to help vulnerable countries access climate finance to enhance resilience. To date, USD 315.413 million of climate finance mobilised, including USD 8.1 million in co-financing for 79 approved projects (33 adaptation, 10 mitigation, and 36 cross-cutting) in 14 Commonwealth countries.”
Here are excerpts from the interview:
IPS: Please give us an summary of the present local weather change insurance policies and methods the Commonwealth Secretariat implements. How do these insurance policies align with broader nationwide and worldwide local weather objectives?
Nair: The Climate Change Programme of the Commonwealth Secretariat focuses on strengthening the resilience of Commonwealth small and different susceptible member international locations to the destructive impacts of local weather change. It gives member international locations with measures and assist for mitigating and adapting to a altering local weather. The programme facilitates the human and institutional capability improvement of member international locations to entry public and personal local weather funding to satisfy their Paris Agreement commitments, together with the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions. The Commonwealth Climate Change Programme advocates for worldwide insurance policies, mechanisms, and guidelines to be extra aware of the event wants of Small Islands Developing States, and different susceptible international locations. The Programme’s assist is delivered by means of varied mechanisms and partnerships, together with:
- Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub with a give attention to rising entry to local weather finance.
- Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands geared toward accelerating local weather motion round land.
- Commonwealth NDC Programme focuses on fast-tracking implementation and achievement of local weather targets in line with the Paris Agreement.
- Geospatial Programme focused at using geospatial information and info for local weather selections.
- Integration of Gender and youth for Climate Action, selling inclusive local weather motion
- Low Carbon & Climate Resilient Health Sector with particular give attention to Health sector adaptation and mitigation planning
IPS: In what methods does your directorate handle the financial impacts of local weather change? Are there particular measures to advertise sustainable financial improvement in the face of climate-related challenges?
Nair: One of the most important initiatives of the Commonwealth Climate Change Programme is to undertake the Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) to allow the consideration of local weather change in the nationwide improvement planning and budgeting course of. This initiative utilized the World Bank methodology for enterprise the CPEIR and was based mostly on the info and info supplied by the Ministry of Finance.
The CPEIR reviewed the general local weather coverage adequacy in the nation and analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the institutional set-ups, contemplating present local weather change priorities and future challenges. The course of additionally undertook an analytical evaluation of local weather expenditure and confirmed how the nation had been allocating funds from public finance in coping with the impacts of local weather change. Initial outcomes and suggestions have been shared in a digital validation workshop, in which a big set of individuals from authorities establishments, the personal sector, and improvement companions supplied enter, endorsed the examine’s conclusions, and appreciated the suggestions.
IPS: How does your directorate interact with youth in the context of local weather change and sustainable improvement? Are there initiatives to empower youth by advocating for and implementing climate-friendly practises?
Nair: Young individuals are key stakeholders in local weather motion, and as future decision-makers, they should be absolutely engaged in local weather processes, offering their views, progressive concepts, and experiences that may assist form and speed up local weather motion.
The integration of youth into local weather change initiatives is prime to constructing resilience and creating strong local weather mitigation and adaptation proposals.
The Secretariat has mandated advisers working below the CCFAH to combine youth concerns throughout all initiatives supported in-country to make sure that local weather finance delivered in member states takes account of the wants of younger individuals.
Commonwealth Youth Initiatives
- Commonwealth Youth Climate Network (CYCN)
- Commonwealth Youth Statement on Climate Change
- Intergenerational Dialogue on Climate Change (held at COP)
- Commonwealth Youth Development Index and Report, Climate Section
- Enhancing Access to Finance for Youth in Green Entrepreneurship
- Summer School on Climate Justice assist with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)
- Climate Finance Teach-in Session throughout the Global NDC Youth Engagement Forum
- Internship Programme
IPS: How does your directorate combine the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its local weather change and financial improvement initiatives? Can you spotlight particular initiatives or programmes that contribute to a number of SDGs concurrently?
Nair: While aligning NDCs and SDGs is vital, it requires funding. Climate finance performs an important function in’ constructing again higher,’ as enough funding is significant to assist local weather motion, resilience-building, and sustainable improvement efforts.
Equally, to construct resilience and keep away from the reversal of improvement good points resulting from local weather change, local weather motion have to be built-in into improvement initiatives in order that the funding helps the required local weather change outcomes. In different phrases, aligning improvement and local weather finance is important to maximising affect. Development initiatives ought to have the ability to entry local weather funding, and local weather initiatives ought to entry improvement funding.
The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) is a big enabler. By deploying Commonwealth nationwide, regional, and thematic local weather finance advisers to assist governments, the CCFAH serves as a catalyst to assist susceptible international locations entry local weather finance to reinforce resilience. To date, US$ 315.413 million of local weather finance has been mobilised, together with US$ 8.1 million in co-financing for 79 permitted initiatives (33 adaptation, 10 mitigation, and 36 cross-cutting) in 14 Commonwealth international locations.
Some CCFAH initiatives are linked to the Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL). This initiative helps the alignment of local weather motion and sustainable improvement by safeguarding world land sources and taking coordinated motion to handle local weather change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation whereas selling sustainable, climate-resilient land administration and agriculture.
IPS: What roles do innovation and expertise play in your directorate’s method to reaching sustainable improvement objectives and combating local weather change? Are there particular applied sciences or improvements which have proven promise in your initiatives?
Nair: On the expertise entrance, one of the vital vital initiatives is an progressive undertaking based mostly on a partnership between Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu and a consortium of worldwide companions working collectively to assist and construct local weather resilience and improve decision-making utilizing satellite tv for pc distant sensing expertise.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the thematic lead on local weather finance and gives technical help to the three international locations in utilising the geospatial-based platforms for enhanced entry to local weather finance.
The undertaking is designed to reinforce capacities, introduce technological developments (together with synthetic intelligence-based strategies), and present built-in options for decision-making associated to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), local weather resilience, environmental preservation, and meals safety.
IPS: How does your directorate measure the affect of its programmes and initiatives on local weather change, financial improvement, and youth empowerment? Are there key efficiency indicators or metrics used to evaluate progress?
Nair: The programme, based mostly on necessities, appoints exterior third events to evaluate its efficiency and outcomes by means of its relevance, effectiveness, effectivity, coherence, and sustainability, per the OECD Development Assistance Committee Guidelines. This is a formative analysis of the programme, specializing in assessing the preliminary outcomes, effectiveness of the programme’s processes, and classes realized. The analysis can be supported by case research as an example examples of how the programme operates and to establish success elements and classes realized.
IPS: How does your directorate contribute to constructing the capability of people and communities to reply to local weather change and interact in sustainable improvement? Are there particular coaching programmes or instructional initiatives?
Nair: The Commonwealth Climate Change programme is targeted on constructing the technical and institutional capability of small and different susceptible states to interact and navigate by means of the advanced local weather motion panorama and to take motion to handle the long-term impacts of local weather change. This is achieved by strengthening the technical and coverage infrastructure in the nation, thereby enhancing an enabling surroundings for attracting technical and monetary assist by devising long-term local weather motion plans and pipelining local weather finance initiatives, insurance policies, and establishments.
Under the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH), fairly than providing short-term session to international locations, the undertaking embeds certified nationwide advisers for a three-year interval to assist the nation in all areas of local weather finance. This embeds information switch formally by means of workshops, coaching, and steady assist in precedence areas for the federal government. This generates a important mass of nationwide authorities officers and related establishments instantly answerable for local weather motion who’re capacitated to sort out varied facets of local weather finance, together with undertaking improvement, gender mainstreaming, environmental and social governance, coverage assist, and so forth. This CCFAH ‘write store’ method to capability constructing centered on studying by doing has confirmed to assist the sustainability of outcomes. This method additionally helps develop a important mass of officers in authorities departments answerable for local weather motion.
IPS: What are your directorate’s main challenges in implementing local weather change, financial, and sustainable improvement initiatives? Are there notable alternatives or improvements that might positively affect your work?
Nair: The Commonwealth Climate Change Programme is going through a number of challenges in implementing local weather change, financial, and sustainable improvement initiatives. The distinguished three are:
Diverse Member States: The Commonwealth includes international locations with numerous financial constructions, ranges of improvement, and vulnerabilities to local weather change. Tailoring initiatives to swimsuit every member state’s particular wants and capacities is a fancy job, requiring flexibility and inclusivity in programme design and implementation.
Limited Resources: Resource constraints hinder the power of the programme to take a position in complete local weather change and sustainable improvement initiatives. Mobilising enough monetary sources to assist these programmes, particularly for smaller and much less economically developed nations, is a persistent problem.
Capacity Building: Enhancing the capability of member states to plan, implement, and monitor local weather change initiatives is essential. Many international locations throughout the Commonwealth lack the technical experience and institutional capability wanted to hold out these programmes, necessitating focused capacity-building efforts.
IPS: How does your directorate collaborate on local weather change and sustainable improvement points with worldwide organisations and different international locations? Are there ongoing partnerships which were notably fruitful?
Nair: The Commonwealth Climate Change Programme actively collaborates with worldwide organisations and different international locations to handle urgent local weather challenges. Through diplomatic channels and multilateral boards, the programme fosters partnerships that transcend borders, facilitating the change of information, experience, and finest practises in the realms of local weather change and sustainable improvement. This collaboration entails joint technical initiatives, capacity-building programmes, and sharing finest practises geared toward inclusive local weather change adaptation and mitigation methods in line with nationwide sustainability practises. By collaborating in worldwide dialogues and contributing to world initiatives, the programme strives to create a cohesive and coordinated method to sort out the advanced and interconnected problems with local weather change and sustainable improvement, recognising that solely by means of unified efforts can we successfully handle the shared challenges going through our planet.
Some of the very fruitful partnerships below the Commonwealth local weather change programme are with the next:
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- Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Government of the United Kingdom
- United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
- Norad (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation)
- NDC Partnership
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
- World Health Organization
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- PCCB Network
- Africa NDC Hub.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal supply: Inter Press Service
