An updated from UNFCCC meetings in Bonn, also published by the Third World Network
The contact group on adaptation, under the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) focused on matching adaptation support with finance and technology, as well as capacity building at its meeting on the 3 April. The meeting was chaired by Thomas Kolly of Switzerland and William Kojo Agyemang-Bonsu of Ghana.
Maldives, for G77 & China, said that the Adaptation Framework presented by the Group on 2nd April is consistent with the financial mechanism proposal presented by the Group. Funding for adaptation must be additional to ODA, new, predictable, and grant-based. The scale and magnitude of predicted needs for adaptation needs to be matched by finance. The governance of the financing structure has to be under the authority of the COP.
On 2nd April, the G77 and China presented elements for a Framework on Adaptation that treats adaptation and mitigation on an equal footing and recognizes adaptation as an absolute necessity for all developing countries.
The G77 and China said that the Adaptation Framework would require implementation arrangements to address enabling activities, such as knowledge sharing; functional implementation, and projects on the ground by national, local, and regional stakeholders; and coordination mechanisms. This framework should also include a mechanism to address loss and damage including insurance and requires compliance.
South Africa, speaking for the African Group, said that finance for adaptation must be massively scaled up and predictable with support for technology and capacity building, which must be additional to ODA, recognizing payment for agreed full incremental costs.
The amount needed for adaptation is in the range of US$28—67 billion per year by 2030, on the assumption that developed countries take ambitious mitigation targets. Otherwise, this amount will be higher. It stressed that the G77 and China financial mechanism proposal recognises the importance of a country-driven approach and direct access to funds.
The Cook Islands, speaking on behalf of AOSIS, said that the less there is mitigation, the more resources are required for adaptation, stressing the need to match needs with funds. The scope of the framework needs to take into account new and additional finance consistent with polluter-pays principles, and should be directed to most vulnerable countries, particularly SIDS ands LDCs. Enabling activities can include project-based activities, long-term approaches, sector-based approaches and a mechanism for loss and damage, with priority for the most vulnerable. A matching mechanism, more than a clearinghouse, must record national adaptation plans as well as new and additional funds. Read More »