By: Masego Madzwamuse

Environment & Development Consultant

Policy makers have recognized the need to integrate CC adaptation into all spheres of public policy.

International responses include;◦ additional focus on adaptation in climate change negotiation◦ Additional focus from development cooperation through key

reports focusing on Poverty & CC; and the Declaration on Integrating CC into Development Cooperation

◦ an increase in availability of finance for climate change adaptation.

BUT

instruments for climate change adaptation governance are under -developed - Key questions include;◦ State of adaptation preparedness◦ Institutional arrangements◦ The scale of funding required for adaptation responses◦ Mechanisms to ensure that adaptation efforts target and benefit

the most vulnerable sectors of society.

Appropriate strategies are required to respond to the CC challenge facing Africa – these include assessments of adaptive capacity in Africa;

Thus HBF commissioned 7 country studies to assess adaptation preparedness in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana. For each country, the studies assessed the following; ◦ Impacts of and vulnerabilities to climate change ◦ Climate change adaptation policies, plans and strategies in the

country◦ Main institutional actors involved in climate change policy and

responses including their capacity to effectively play their role◦ Levels of public awareness on climate change; and◦ The role played by state and non state actors in international

climate change negotiations

The context for Governance:

A global average temperature of 2 degrees needs to be prevented – while rights to sustainable development must be ensured

Africa contributes little to the global GHG responsible for CC yet it will be the most affected

Generally the least responsible for CC will be the hardest hit – vulnerabilities are likely to increase due to potential massive increases in poverty and inequality

EQUITY – a central issue

Climate change is a global problem that requires global solutions

But it is also a local phenomena requiring the engagement of stakeholders at national and local levels

Key governance questions become;

◦ Who has influence?

◦ Who makes decisions?

◦ How decisions are made and how citizens and other stakeholders have their say?

◦ How power and responsibilities are exercised?

• Participation – all men & women should have a voice either directly /through legitimate institutions. Includes capacity to participate effectively

• Consensus orientation – mediation of different interests/needs to meet broad consensus in policies and strategies

1. Legitimacy & Voice

• Strategic vision - It is important to have a clear vision for CC adaptation with long term direction which is shared by all key stakeholders

2. Direction

• Responsiveness – institutions and processes serve the interests & needs of all key stakeholders –particularly the most vulnerable

• Effectiveness & Efficiency - processes & institutions produce results that meet needs while making the most of available resources

3. Performance

• Accountability - Roles and responsibilities need to be clear, clearly communicated and decision-makers need to be accountable

• Transparency - All relevant information is available to all stakeholders

4. Accountability

• Equity – All men and women have opportunities to improve and maintain their wellbeing

• Rule of Law – legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights

5. Fairness

Adaptation agenda falls short of key governance principles – participation, transparency & accountability◦ Adaptation responses at national level are not devoid of

political considerations – spheres of power determine policy outcomes

◦ Gvt institutions dominate the adaption agenda – space for civic engagement is limited

◦ Gvt Institutions charged with the responsibility for crafting adaptation responses lack the capacity & political will to engage with stakeholders beyond state agencies and the Pvt Sector

Results in;◦ representation of stakeholder interests & needs◦ Lack of checks and balances to facilitate accountability and

transparency

Inadequate overall policy framework for climate change adaptation and governance

◦ Policy fragmentation and lack of coherence– Some countries do not have NAPAs/NCCRS in place and adaptation

tends to be provided for in a plethora of fragmented env and development policies i.e. Zim

– Existing NCCRs/NAPAs tend to;• respond narrowly to biophysical vulnerabilities• follow a sectoral and project approach to adaptation and fail to facilitate

integrated approaches to adaptation and adequately address socio-economic vulnerabilities

• Projects/interventions proposed in NAPAs are not included in the sector plan and budgets of the responsible institutions i.e. In the case of Tanzania.

Strategic visioning for climate change is undermined

The drive towards attracting FDI industrial competitiveness, fiscal policy, and moderation of wage increases so as to attract foreign investment and facilitate economic growth have marginalised the poor

◦ CC responses in agric ignore the needs of subsistence farmers i.e. agric sector due to bias towards macro-economic issues

the adaptation needs of subsistence farmers are marginalised - Promote commercial farming & technological transfers

Land and agrarian reform policies which have simply replaced one set of commercial farmers with a new breed of commercial farmers – as result of incentives put in place (South Africa)

◦ Capital interests have led to displacements of local land owners and resource users to make way for; major tourism interests, commercial forestry & agriculture for export

A significant number of rural dwellers landless, without access to biodiversity and natural resources and vulnerable

• Climate change issues often reflected in sectoral plans & strategies of the environment sector with no ref in other sectoral plans;

Tends to limit broader public and decision makers understanding of the impacts and implications of national economies

undermines political buy-in for prioritising and resourcing CC adaptation

Often no guidelines availed to economic planners on mainstreaming CC adaptation at national level

•Sectoral policies especially for the most vulnerable i.e. agriculture, biodiversity and water have major gaps in terms of making provisions for gender related differentiated impacts of climate change•Enabling provisions i.e. security of tenure, weather information & micro-finance, productive employment among others are not extended to women

•Inadequate institutional support is frequently cited as a hindrance to adaptation

•Institutions can limit access to much needed natural resources and therefore hamper adaptation responses for communities who may be faced with crises and needing to adapt

The crosscutting impacts of climate change and the imperative need for an integrated response requires a formidable set of institutions and actors to be engaged in adaptation

A number of coordination agencies have been established – Nation CC Committees & Specialized Units (Nigeria Special CC Unit & Ghana CC Coordination Unit)◦ Despite these there is a prob of confused mandates, dysfunctional

arrangements for inter-agency working & weak incentives for pro-active action

◦ Some of the coordination units lack the political clout and authority to facilitate the required government wide response

◦ Institutions tasked with coordination tend to be over stretched and the domestic agenda suffers Spend the bulk of their time responding to international demands

UNFCCC/COP – problem of monopolizing information Meeting donor procurement requirements

◦ Low income countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have challenges with attracting and retaining skilled staff

Wide set of actors & dispersed mandates

Uganda actors landscape on climate change and environment (GTZ 2010

Decentralization & the role of local gvt needs to be strengthened. Some challenges include;◦ Weaknesses in linkages between regional, district

and lower levels of governance◦ Overburden of environmental policy and legislative

frameworks which add layers and complexity to envgovernance and makes things cumbersome (provides an excuse for no action)

◦ Lack of cooperation and power struggles between democratically elected structures and traditional structures

◦ Financial and human capacity constraints

Inadequate finance for adaptation◦ led to a jostling for coordination mandates and

undermines cooperation/integrated planning

◦ Inadequate allocation of internal resources for adaptation – has implications for resource mobilisationand ODA as it reflects on the national priorities

Lack of transparency and accountability◦ Pertains mainly to corruption and financial accountability

– acute within local level governance structures where systems and controls tend to be underdeveloped

◦ Problem not only confined to governments but extends to CSOs – undermines credibility

Inadequate investment in strategic areas for climate change adaptation◦ Most actors are involved in

climate change awareness raising, capacity building and research

◦ Fewer investments in legislative aspects, coordination, advocacy and financial cooperation

◦ Climate change adaptation policies are underdeveloped and local interventions far between

climate change in Uganda by number of actors involved

Climate change has boomed as an issue of focus – in response to needs, interests and expectations of funding opportunities

Very little involvement of community based organizations

Space for civic engagement is limited due to financial, human resources and political constraints

Faced with limited donor funding especially in middle income countries

Lack of coordination and limited local level adaptation activities◦ International NGOs are considered to be

implementing externally driven and disparate interests and activities leading to intangible outcomes and a general lack of oversight

◦ Very few concrete adaptation activities at local level

◦ Where coordination mechanisms exist i.e. SACCAN, NigeriaCAN, Climate Justice Now very little exchanges of experiences and sharing lessons takes place

Untapped potential of for private sector involvement◦ Very few private sector entities are engaged in

adaptation –even though fisheries, tourism and agriculture industries have insights into climate variability related shocks in business

◦ Business responses to adaptation are lacking

Research does not adequately respond to national knowledge gaps on climate change adaptation

◦ Lack financial resources and technologies to undertake policy oriented research on climate change

◦ A lack of coordination or umbrella entity guiding and prioritising research work

◦ Disjuncture between research areas and priorities in terms of knowledge gaps in adaptation policy and other responses

◦ Research capacities are being drawn down to collaborate on disparate, foreign led research which answers to external research agenda’s

◦ Inadequate dissemination of research findings

Donors are establishing coordination groups within the countries they operate in i.e. energy, environment, agriculture e.t.c.

Few have established coordination mechanisms on climate change

Main challenges include;◦ coordination and communication is restricted to the env

working groups◦ Despite commitments to coordinated development

assistance – project approach is still dominant◦ Some donors are merely rebranding existing initiatives

as climate change◦ There is different expectations within donors and NGOs

on how funding modalities for climate change will operate

With these challenges a multi-tiered approach is required to build adaptive capacities in AfricaOn Policies: Mainstreaming climate change into economic

frameworks & sectoral policies is of paramount importance

The assessment of social and economic vulnerabilities need to be strengthened so as to inform processes of identifying adaptation priorities

There is a need for national adaptation policies that provide clear guidelines for integration

Macro-economic policies must be reviewed to ensure that they build resilience of the poor to adapt to CC impacts

On institutional frameworks Coordination capacity needs to be strengthened and

placed with a Ministry that has the political clout and convening power to facilitate integration across ministries – responding to the national agenda must be a core function

Adaptation should be integrated into the planning frameworks of decentralized governance structures and adaptive capacity built at that level

Need for increased adaptation funding at local and national level however priority must be given to the adaptation needs of the most vulnerable (women, small scale farmers, subsistence farmers etc)

Capacities sitting within donor partners and non state actors need to be harnessed to support national adaptation needs;◦ Respond to national priorities◦ The role played by CSO especially needs to be

acknowledged and partnerships facilitated with government

Overall adaptation governance in Africa calls for a relook at the quality of growth and development, an emphasis on equity and efforts to improve levels of public engagement in the formulation of national responses