1. Leveraging national communications to integrate climate change issues into development policy Sub-Regional Workshop for GEF Focal Points in West and Central Africa Accra, Ghana, 9-11 July 2009

2. OUTLINE  Key climate change threats in Africa  Role of National Communications (NC)  How to use the potential of NC projects to integrate climate change into development and sector policies

7. Agriculture to face changes  Vulnerability high due to important employment, economic role  Significant drops in crop yield expected in most of the region for current practices Agroclimatic zones for highland crops (tea/coffee) shrink/ disappear Many areas become less suitable for staple crops Drought-tolerant crops not supported by agricultural policies  Livelihoods of subsistence farmers and pastoralists especially threatened  Increasing risk of damage from diseases, pests, weeds and storms

9. The Initial National Communication (INC) process was important because:  The INC was the first effort to climate summarize information relating to GHG emissions and its key vulnerabilities  The INC has generated awareness about Climate Change issues and helped catalyse awareness of climate change issues  The INC was the first point of reference for many development partners to support CC mitigation and adaptation activities in a country What does this have to do with National Communications?

10. BUT:  The focus was seen on ‘International Convention reporting’ – Opportunities to channel information into non-environmental policy processes were lost  The INC was conducted by technical experts, with limited participation of other stakeholders from public and private sectors  Assessments and language was academic in formats not very helpful to policy makers

11.  Climate Change is more than environmental reporting – the SNC process is relevant for all policy segments  The SNC is a strategic policy support tool to highlight and communicate Climate Change priorities  Producing an SNC document not the end point. SNC information can be used to map socio- economic vulnerabilities, understand economic impacts of CC and frame follow-up measures Second National Communications (SNC): A second opportunity!

12.  Institutional positions and responses to climate change issues  Continued analysis and review of climate data to stay up-to-date on vulnerability dynamics  Inter-ministerial dialogue to address primary climate change concerns in national priorities  Integration of climate risk reduction into sectoral and development planning SNC should be a vehicle to inform and facilitate:

13. 1)Ensure that the studies commissioned by the SNC team address relevant policy questions 2) Ensure that the SNC does not work in isolation in the Environment Department. Establish a platform to share SNC information with other departments. 3) Make sure the mitigation and adaptation studies of the SNC deliver information that is suitable for the definition of follow-up measures (e.g. further assessments, project formulation, fundraising) How can countries make full use of SNC potential?

14. 4) Make sure the SNC highlights critical short-term and long-term policy challenges and proposes some options for priority sectors 5) Make sure the SNC process picks up existing capacity gaps and opportunities in the country to understand, analyze and address Climate Change issues 6) Make sure SNC work is complemented with targeted awareness and communication actions for public/private/policy stakeholders How can countries make full use of SNC potential? (cont.)

15.  Understanding the potential of SNC to provide policy inputs  Actively encouraging involvement and supporting input by relevant government institutions  Helping to make the SNC better visible  Having a concrete follow-up for the SNC in mind  Ensuring that all mitigation and adaptation assessments in the SNC maintaining a human focus Next steps

16. 1. National Communications: process and outputs CC Adaptation and mitigation priorities identified 2. CC Adaptation and Mitigation platforms, plans and strategies Priority CC projects identified 3. Adaptation financing and carbon financing options explored to undertake priority measures Priority CC projects financed Leveraging National Communications - Summary Project lessons utilized in national / sector plans Informed allocation of public / private financing to resilient and low-carbon economic growth Institutional partnerships developed & strengthened Project lessons captured and analyzed (M&E)

17. Discussion  How can GEF focal points help in making the SNC more relevant to policy making?  What role can GEF Focal Points play in linking priorities that emerge from National Communications with other GEF programming?