IIED and partner events at COP22

Side event

IIED's activities at the 2016 UN climate summit focused on 'embedding climate ambition'.

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Collection
UN climate change conference (COP22)
A series of pages related to IIED's activities at the 2016 UNFCCC climate change summit in Marrakech
COP22 side events

The 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in the Moroccan city of Marrakech from November 7-18.

This page summarises IIED's activities during the two-week gathering. In addition to hosting and speaking at COP side events, our researchers also provided support to negotiators from the Least Developed Countries and analysing progress at the main negotiations.

The theme of IIED's work at COP22 was 'embedding climate ambition', focusing on the need to take action in all areas of climate work in order to limit global warming to 2°C, and to target 1.5°C.
 


European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) training and support programme (invite only)

Workshop

Date: Saturday, 5 November, 2016

The European Capacity Building Initiative aims to support international climate change negotiations by building and sustaining capacity among developing country negotiators, and by fostering trust between both developed and developing country negotiators.

IIED is a lead partner in the ecbi, along with Oxford Climate Policy. The training and support programme organises pre-COP workshops to support senior and junior negotiators from vulnerable developing countries to come together a day or so before the UNFCCC sessions.

The negotiators identified key issues for their countries and groups, and discussed how they can help the rest of their group influence negotiating outcomes. To expand the expertise available, key representatives from other important ministries who have participated in the regional workshops were also invited to these pre-COP sessions.

Related reading: LDC Group at UN climate change negotiations | Pocket guide to the Paris Agreement
 


Unlocking climate finance for decentralised energy access, serving both development and the climate

Side event

Date: Monday, 7 November, 2016
Partner organisations: Organised by Hivos, with IIED participating
Speakers: (TBC) Andrew Mnzava – Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programming, Tanzania; Sarah Best, IIED; Fatuma Hussein, State Department of Environment, Kenya; Jane Ebinger, SE4ALL; Roelof Buffinga, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands; and Eco Matser, Hivos.

This event increased awareness about the need to invest in decentralised energy solutions, as they support both development and fight climate change. The event showed that only a very small amount of international public climate finance goes toward to decentralised energy, preventing billions of people from having access to clean energy. Opportunities to unlock climate finance for decentralised energy with improvements to international frameworks, develop national enabling environments, and earmark money for decentralised solutions and lower income countries, were also discussed.

Related reading: Unlocking climate finance for decentralised energy access
 


Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy

Date: Monday, 7 November, 2016
Partner organisations: Organised by Research and Independent Non-governmental Organisations (RINGOs), with IIED participating

Dr Saleemul Huq, senior fellow with IIED's Climate Change research group, presented at this event as part of a session titled 'New directions in climate change research and implications for policy'. The series of 'mini-TED Talks' on new research directions was organised by RINGOs to the UNFCCC.

Related reading: Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy. Research overview and overarching questions
 


From NDCs to National Climate Investment Plans: domestic investment and climate finance tracking

Date: Friday, 11 November, 2016
Speakers: Ian Cochran, Institute for Climate Economics; Barbara Buchner, Climate Policy Initiative; Sandra Guzman, GFLAC; Marek Soanes, IIED; OECD Research Collaborative; plus representatives of Colombian, Indonesian, Moroccan and Zambian Ministries of Finance and Planning (TBC) and

Transforming the NDCs into financeable investment plans requires an understanding of existing domestic and international flows – private or public – in all countries. Practitioners and governments discussed how this data and cross-country comparison can help reorient and scale up financial flows.
 


Loss and damage workshop

Workshop

Date: Friday, 11 November, 2016
Partner organisations: International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)

Loss and damage resulting from climate change are already being experienced in a number of countries. Increased frequency in natural disasters such as hurricanes and flooding, as well as sea level rise, desertification and loss of biodiversity pose serious threats, particularly to developing countries and vulnerable communities.

COP22 was due to review the Loss and Damage Mechanism established in 2013 at COP19, including its structure, mandate and effectiveness with a view to adopting an appropriate decision on the outcome of this review. It reviewed the eight action areas to establish a five-year rolling workplan.

The workshop brought together researchers, academics, policymakers, negotiators, UN and multilateral agencies to share the current work being done on loss and damage in countries and share best practices and ideas for future work to be done on the issue, with a focus on the five-year rolling workplan.


Future cities for climate change targets, agroecology and local biocultural assessments 

Side event

Date: Friday, 11 November, 2016
Partner organisations: Organised by COBASE Basic Technical Scientific Association, ANDES Asociacion, Gherush92 Committee for Human Rights
Speakers: Massimo Pieri, president COBASE; IIED principal researcher Krystyna Swiderska; Alejandro Argumedo, program director, ANDES

This side event discussed increasing urban and rural areas resilience and sustainability, and provide solutions to technical, environmental and social feasibility. It discussed strategies to achieve the climate change targets (CCTs) and to restore critical urban and rural systems using urban agroecology, efficient electricity and local biocultural assessments.
 


14th Development & Climate (D&C) Days

Conference

Date: Saturday, 12 November and Sunday, 13 November, 2016

The theme for the 14h D&C Days conference was 'Global ambition. Local action. Climate resilience for all'. The 2016 D&C Days brought together high-level government representatives, academics and practitioners from around the globe. The programme (PDF) focused on how to deliver the ambition of the Paris Agreement and ensure equitable climate resilient development. 

Participants shared learning experiences by engaging, being productive and having fun. The dynamic format encouraged people to participate and share dialogue on a range of issues that link policy, knowledge and practice.

This year's event was organised by a partnership between the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, IIED, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ), Competence Centre Climate Change in Morocco (4C Maroc), and We Mean Business (WMB)

Contributing partners to this year's event included the World Resources Institute (WRI), Action on Climate Today (ACT), Partners for Resilience (PRF), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extreme Disasters (BRACED).
 


Social impacts of climate change: how to effectively deal with gender and other inequalities

Date: Sunday, 13 November, 2016
Partner organisations: The Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Parliament of Morocco, with IIED participating

The aim of the meeting was to give parliamentarians an opportunity to obtain first-hand information on the main issues and areas for discussion at COP22/CMP12. MPs could interact with high level officials and experts directly involved in the climate change processes and negotiations.

Related reading: Information and draft agenda
 


Climate summit for local and regional leaders: financing the sustainable transition of territories

Date: Monday, 14 November, 2016
Partner organisations: Moroccan association of Regions and association of the Presidents of Local Councils, with IIED participating

This summit demonstrated the continued mobilisation for action from sub-national level following the first summit held in Paris within the COP21. Within the theme 'Financing the sustainable transition of territories', the summit allowed for joint reflection between elected officials and other stakeholders – companies, investors, development banks, government negotiators and civil society, international funds – around ways to enhance the channelling of financial flows toward territories, and facilitate local action for climate.

Related reading: Information and registration
 


Role of universities in implementing the Paris Agreement

Workshop

Date:
Tuesday, 15 November, 2016
Partner organisations: International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at the Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), University of Cadi Ayyad at Marrakech and the French Institute IRD

This workshop discussed the scope for engaging universities in building capacity for climate change. It brought together researchers, academics, policymakers, negotiators, UN and multilateral agencies to exchange knowledge and skills in order to improve the current capacity building initiatives beyond the current practice of consultation.

The outcomes of the workshop included: better understanding of the existing current capacity building practices and associated challenges/gaps; improved knowledge of mechanisms, tools and best practices for future work on capacity development; and developing a consensus among key players in capacity building on the way forward, including ideas on how to elevate a transformational shift. A report on the workshop proceedings was planned to be published after the event.
 


Biocultural heritage-based innovations for climate resilient food systems: lessons and best practices from the SIFOR project

Side event

Date:
Tuesday, 15 November, 2016
Partner organisations: IIED with Asociacion ANDES, Peru
Speakers: Alejandro Argumedo, Asociación ANDES, Peru; Krystyna Swiderska, IIED; Y. Song, CCAP. Panellists include: Jian Liu, UNEP-China; Andrew Taber, The Mountain Institute; and representatives from SIFOR country delegations (TBC)

This side event highlighted the evidence of the critical role of biocultural heritage of indigenous peoples and local communities in climate change resilience and the development of innovations for adaptation and mitigation. A film showing Quechua communities from the Potato Park was shown, and a panel involving UN agencies, government representatives and UNFCCC experts discussed strategies for getting these issues recognised and addressed in the post-Paris policy agenda.

This presentation and discussion focused on the role of indigenous knowledge; farming systems; landscape management and worldviews in adaptation and mitigation; resilience of traditional crops compared to modern varieties; the importance of indigenous innovation systems and resource and water management systems; building on the logic that underpins adaptive production systems in risk-prone environments; and how the needs and solutions of vulnerable mountain and forest peoples can be recognised and supported in the UNFCCC policy process.

Related reading: Resilient farming systems in times of uncertainty: biocultural innovations in the Potato Park, Peru | Biocultural heritage territories
 


Devolved climate finance: how to reach the most vulnerable

Date: Wednesday, 16 November, 2016
Partner organisations: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Speakers: Pete Betts, director, International Climate Change at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, will chair the event, with panellists Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, chair, African Group on Climate Change Negotiation and chair of the Least Developed Countries Group; Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré, IFRC regional director for Africa; Dr Lucy Ssendi, senior climate change advisor, Tanzania President's Office for Regional and Local Government.

COP22 focused on driving action toward ambitious steps to ensure implementation of the Paris Agreement, including its commitments on climate change adaptation (CCA). Local governments and civil society actors have enormous potential in translating global ambitions in this respect into local action, to ensure climate resilience for all – especially the world's poorest and most vulnerable. However, this is only possible if the necessary resources reach them. This side event showcased how devolved climate finance can achieve large global benefits.

Devolving climate finance in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Senegal is demonstrating how to support equitable, local level resilience building. The value of local knowledge in setting priorities is echoed in other approaches for locally-led resilience building. The event distilled practical ways forward, and representatives from governments and civil society partners shared experiences of devolved climate finance and using local knowledge to enhance the resilience of the most vulnerable. 

IIED and partners have released an animation explaining how decentralised climate funds operate. The four-minute video is available on IIED's YouTube channel in English and in French

The event can be viewed on the UNFCCC YouTube channel.

Related reading: Local climate finance funding community-prioritised adaptation | Decentralising Climate Funds in Mali and Senegal