Asian Rergional Conference-Dhaka,Bangaldesh
The Support Facility (SF) of the European Union Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA), to which h the UNITAR Climate Change Programme is member, provided substantive, technical and logistical support to the organisation of the GCCA Regional Conference for the Asia region, on 30th and 31st May 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The aim of this conference was to assess the implementation of the GCCA in Asia, not only for countries that are already benefiting from the financial and technical support of the GCCA but also potential candidates to it.
The Global Climate Change Alliance, an initiative launched in 2007 by the European Commission, intends to deepen dialogue and cooperation on climate change between the European Union and poor developing countries most vulnerable to climate change, in particular Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These countries are hardest hit by the adverse effects of climate change while they have the least capacity to react and adapt to those climate impacts.
The regional conference will take stock of the various challenges that climate change poses in Asia, looking at the vulnerable countries’ specific problems and at what strategies and actions they have adopted in response.
They will consider in detail the existing financial mechanisms for support such strategies and actions, as well as the prospects for reaching an effective global agreement to bring climate change under control.
The EU has to identify specific goals intends to achieve with the implementation of the GCCA:
1) deepening the policy dialogue between the EU and developing countries on climate change, especially in the context of the international negotiations for a post-2012 climate regime, and
2) stepping up support to target countries to implement priority adaptation and mitigation measures and to integrate climate change issues into their development strategies. The five priority areas that the EU/GCCA scheme has selected include (i) adaptation, building on the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and other national plans, (ii) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), (iii) enhancing participation in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), (iv) Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and (v) mainstreaming climate change into poverty reduction development strategies.
Programme for the regional conferences:
Day one morning Section- Technical part for negotiators and specialists: 1) Introduction of participants, opening remarks and objectives of the event, 2) Presentations and interactions on status of international negotiations on climate change.
Day one afternoon section- Technical part for negotiators and specialists: 1) Putting climate change issues under current negotiations in the regional context and their possible impacts, 2) Prepare and produce texts/documents for the high-level part
Day two morning section: High level part: 1) Senior keynote speaker to present outcomes from Day 1 to country representatives (e.g. ministers, heads of delegation, etc.), 2) Adoption/endorsement of texts/documents from Day 1
Day two afternoon section: Press conference/briefing, press release on the conference achievements and GCCA contributions to the climate change process, in particular towards UNFCCC COP 16 negotiations in Mexico.
EU representatives and representatives of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar