Eighty participants from twenty-nine countries took part in an international workshop on “Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change – Guidance and Tools” organised by BMZ/GTZ, DFID, USAID and the World Bank. The workshop was designed as an exchange of experiences amongst scientists, practitioners from national and international development organisations and representatives from partner countries.

Opening the workshop, Janine Kuriger (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) presented the key messages of the „OECD Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation“. The policy guidance provides practical advice on how to integrate adaptation to climate change into policies at national, sectoral, project and local level.
 
Climate Tools and Methods

Many donor and partner organisations alike are confronted with the challenge of systematically taking climate risks into account. Presentations on climate information systems and tools for mainstreaming adaptation were therefore met with great interest. Feedback from tool users and insight into the developments in other organisations was very revealing for tool developers. Dialogue with representatives of partner countries was considered particularly important.

Today, climate information systems can provide scientifically based information for almost all regions of the world. Uncertainty linked to climate models is a main challenge for tool users. “Although climate change models will continue to improve, uncertainty is unlikely to be substantially reduced in near future“, according to Martin Todd from University College London. Participants agreed however, that it is possible to deal with this uncertainty and that it must not lead to refraining from implementing necessary adaptation measures.
 
Berlin Agenda on Mainstreaming Adaptation

After three days of intensive exchange and discussion the participants agreed a substantial work programme. The Berlin-Agenda shall be carried out by the participating organisations in the coming months. Main points of the agenda are mainstreaming activities within the own organisation or regional dissemination, optimising information availability, networking, as well as quality management and training.

This article was published in the newsletter “Adapt to Climate Change”, No. 3/2009. Author: Michael Wahl.

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Documents and links

• Workshop documentation
  en-climate-mainstreaming-adaptation-workshop-report.pdf, 2.33 MB (English)
• Overview on mainstreaming tools
  Mainstreaming tools and methods
• OECD Policy Guidance
  Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation.
  www.oecd.org/env/cc/adaptation/guidance