nrg4sd submission to the talanoa dialogue how do we get there?

nrg4SD submission to the Talanoa Dialogue

How do we get there?

The Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development – nrg4SD – welcomes the

inclusive approach of the Talanoa Dialogue and the opportunity for non-Party stakeholders to

share their views. The nrg4SD represents and supports regional governments from around the

world, constituting key actors in the fight against and the adaptation to climate change. The

nrg4SD addresses all three questions of the Talanoa Dialogue in separate submissions, with

this one making recommendations for the way forward.

The crucial role of regional governments and the importance of multi-level governance in

climate change mitigation and adaptation has been described in nrg4SD’s submission to the

second question of the Talanoa Dialogue, so this submission will focus on how national

governments and international processes can facilitate multi-level governance and support

regional governments.

In this regard, the position paper “Regions and islands – the key to climate success” (in Annex),

made by participants at the International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation “Islands,

land of innovative solutions for all territories” in 2017, complements this submission to the

Talanoa Dialogue. The position paper contains a number of recommendations that could help

achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement through multi-level governance. National

governments, as Parties to the UNFCCC and other global agendas, need to work with regional

governments on comprehensive vertical integration and cooperation. Participation through

the observer constituencies and other existing participation and contribution opportunities for

regional governments in the framework of the negotiations themselves should be increased,

given regional governments’ limited voice in the process and their importance for attaining the

goals of the Paris Agreement. In addition, regional governments need to be included in the

different workstreams and constituted bodies of the UNFCCC, like the Adaptation Committee,

the Technology Mechanism, the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, and

others. Sharing regional governments’ experiences and knowledge, as well as challenges can

help guide policy decisions and on the other hand helps localising adaptation and mitigation

strategies. Additionally, as another channel for regional governments to be involved in the

UNFCCC process, the Marrakech Partnership should be strengthened through allocation of

adequate resources, support from Parties and an effective interaction with the UNFCCC

bodies. Its mandate should be extended beyond 2020 as the Marrakech Partnership

constitutes an important vehicle for non-Party stakeholders, including regional governments,

to make their actions visible and scale up ambition on climate action.

In terms of multi-level governance within the countries, national governments should make

use of the experiences and knowledge of regional governments in the development of their

NDCs and NAPs. Official channels for permanent consultation and dialogue should be

established to enable a progressive improvement of climate actions in the national and

international context. Regional governments need to be part of the institutional,

methodological and operational deployment of NDCs and NAPs in order to translate their

objectives into sectoral public policies and actions plans and thereby ultimately achieving the

objectives set in these NDC and NAPs.

Last, national governments and the international community need to support regional

governments also in terms of funding. National governments are essential when it comes to

enacting legislation and budget adoption, and often can easier facilitate access to international

funds and funding institutions. In addition, mechanisms should be developed that enable

regional governments to directly access international funding opportunities.

***This submission to the Talanoa Dialogue focused on recommendations on the way forward.

The nrg4SD gave an overview of the reality of climate change for regional governments, the

solutions they provide and the challenges they face in the submission to the first question of

the Talanoa Dialogue and described a vision for the future in the submission to the second

question. ***

About nrg4SD

The Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development, nrg4SD, is a global

association of regional governments working on environmental issues in the fields of climate

change, biodiversity and sustainable development. The nrg4SD was established in 2002 at the

Rio+10 World Summit in Johannesburg, by a group of 27 regional political leaders and today

counts more than 50 members from 26 countries on 4 continents. The work of the nrg4SD

focuses on giving voice and international visibility to its members, especially in the framework

of UN meetings and conferences; and encourage collaboration, cooperation, exchange of

experiences, identification of good practices and creation of partnerships among its members.

In the field of climate change the nrg4SD coordinates the RegionsAdapt initiative, a global

framework to inspire and support regional governments to take concrete action, collaborate

and report efforts on climate change adaptation. It is a platform for tracking regional

adaptation plans and strategies across the world; promoting the acceleration of the adoption

or revision of regional climate adaptation plans and strategies; promoting concrete actions on

adaptation; regions to cooperate and share best practices within their different capacities and

experiences on climate adaptation; reporting and monitoring adaptation processes, actions

and their outcomes; and fostering visibility opportunities through dedicated materials,

publications and events. As a result of the work with regional governments within the

initiative, numerous good practices of climate change adaptation have been identified. They

have been shared in order to improve capacities in the framework of webinars, virtual

meetings and the annual reports. In this regard, the RegionsAdapt 2018 Report to be launched

at COP 24 will be an opportunity to learn more about the efforts regional governments are

undertaking in adapting to climate change.

http://www.nrg4sd.org/

http://www.nrg4sd.org/regionsadapt

Position Paper

Regions and islands – the key to climate success

Over the last decades, climate change has emerged as a significant threat that is faced in many parts of the world. The recent hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose hitting the Caribbean islands and the US, and floods affecting Nepal, India and Bangladesh have shown the disastrous impacts that climate change can have and how it alters extreme weather events. Higher temperatures, increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, acidification, and sea level rise have serious consequences for human health, ecosystems and valuable ecosystem services, biodiversity, natural resources, including water resources, food and energy security and migration, as well as for basic infrastructure services necessary for human social and economic activity, like transport, sanitation, waste management and others. Given the far-ranging impacts of climate change, mitigation efforts are critical in order to limit extreme weather events and other impacts of global warming. However, even if substantial efforts are undertak-en to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they can only minimize future climate change, but not prevent it. So far, actions on climate change, which mainly focused on mitigation actions, have been underwhelming and national governments have not been able to act fast enough on their own. Here, regional governments can play an important role through their unique position by shaping and implementing international legal instruments and national policies and leading innovative solutions and bold actions. Regional and local climate actions have powerful demonstration effects, showing national governments and intergovernmental bodies that setting ambitious targets is possible.

Meeting in Saint Denis, Reunion Island, from the 5th to 6th of October 2017 on the occasion of the second edition of the International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation “Islands, land of innovative solutions for all territo-ries” we, representatives from island, local and regional governments, their networks and association, like the nrg4SD, civil society, and the scientific community applaud the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement and welcome the importance it gives to the issue of adaptation and the multi-level, multi-stakeholder approach to gover-nance. The Agreement establishes the global goal on adaptation, acknowledging that different governance levels have to be taken into account to reach it. Adaptation is mostly location specific and should consider the territories where tackling adaptation challenges is required. Consequently, adaptation strategies and action are needed at all levels: local, regional, national and international level, and should include nature-based solutions, which are cost effective and multi-beneficial.

Drafted by the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD) and by the Regional Council of Reunion Island, this position paper was further developed in liaison with other networks and associations of regions, R20 as well as UICN, ORU Fogar, The Climate Group and AFD, and endorsed by the participants of the Conference. Through this joint position paper we wish to recall and build on the demands and global approach affirmed in the Agadir Declaration of non-State actors this year, in the Nantes Declaration of climate actors and the Marrakech Roadmap for Action in 2016, as well as in the Outcome Document of the Western Province Climate Change Summit in 2015.

This position paper will feed into the negotiations and parallel events hosted by nrg4SD taking place at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to be held in November 2017 in Bonn. With the country of Fiji COP 23, the negotiations will gain the perspectives of those who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, small islands developing, states and countries and territories. Therefore, it is vital for regional governments to unite and proclaim a common message at COP 23, sharing with the global community our adaptation actions and innovative solutions, the challenges of securing climate finance and building resilience, as well as our interest in working in partnership across all levels of actors

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The key role of regional governments in climate action

We applaud the recognition of non-Party stakeholders, including regional governments, through the launch of the Marrakech Partnership at COP 22 as the continuation of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda. We value its design to facili-tate cooperative climate action among Parties and non-Party stakeholders, as well as the proposed thematic approach by the High-Level Champions for multi-stakeholder engagement, which explicitly mentions local and subnational governments as actors in this process.

Further, we support the decisions taken by the Subsidiary Body of Implementation (SBI) at its 46th session with regards to enhance the openness, transparency and inclusiveness of the effective engagement of non-Party stake-holders, which provides a new vision for the engagement of non-Party stakeholders in the UNFCCC process.

The progress made through these decisions is essential to our global success of addressing climate change. We should seize the moment and translate the acknowledgement of the important role played by regional and local governments to how they will be incorporated and how the ambitious actions of non-Party stakeholders will be considered, by national governments and within the negotiations. We believe these decisions confirmed that climate action should not only be in the hands of national governments, but that the challenge of addressing climate change demands a multi-level approach, recognizing the significant leadership role that regions and island countries and territories can and do play. In particular, islands and regional local governments are crucial actors to be able to deliv-er on the goals of the Paris Agreement, scale up ambition and deliver innovative solutions for tackling the climate challenge.

Regional and local governments often translate the policies and strategies agreed upon internationally and national-ly and implement them through a territorial approach, so their involvement in policy development ensures legitimacy of negotiations, streamlines the process and promises practical solutions that are easily implementable and effec-tive. By partnering with a variety of stakeholders such as businesses and local actors, regional governments are leading innovation and investing in concrete solutions. They often have specific responsibilities in fields of climate action that directly influence emissions reduction and adaptation efforts, such as energy, environment, economic development, transport, waste and sanitation, industry, agriculture, land-use, or civil security, and are able to connect the reality and needs of their constituents to the national and global levels.

Regional and local governments develop and implement policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change and the private sector holds robust and accessible technologies and related services but in order to ensure the envisioned transition to the green economy and resilient societies, different funding stakeholders, like philanthropies, develop-ment finance institutions, multilateral development banks, sovereign funds, private equity and family offices need to come together with regional governments. In addition to funding opportunities, adequate capacity building strategies are needed that enable regional governments to identify and access the different sources of funding and to success-fully develop, structure and implement climate change projects. Effective measure, report and verify (MRV) systems for environmental, social and economic impacts of such projects are similarly required.

International networks and initiatives support regional governments to foster concrete actions, exchange best prac-tices, access different funding sources, structure and implement projects according to the respective requirements, as well as report efforts, and by doing so ultimately favour their ability in delivering concrete climate actions.

Therefore, we recommend:

• National governments, as Parties to the UNFCCC and to other global agendas, to work with regional governments and subnational entities on comprehensive vertical integration and cooperation, to realise an effective multi-level governance approach to the global challenges faced by humanity and to make use of existing global networks work-ing towards this direction, such as nrg4SD and its RegionsAdapt initiative, R20, ORU FOGAR, ARE, C40, The Climate Group or the Under2 Coalition;

• With an eye toward Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), as well as other national and international climate policies, to make use of the leadership and experiences of regional and subnational governments by developing official channels for permanent consultation and dialogue in order to enable

a progressive improvement of climate actions in the national and international context. Regional governments need to be part of the institutional, methodological and operational deployment of NDCs and NAPs in order to translate their objectives into sectoral public policies and actions plans and thereby ultimately achieving the objectives set in these NDC and NAPs;

• To further strengthen the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and the work of the High-Level Climate Champions, as well as the NAZCA platform, that helps to scale up ambition by making commitments of non-Party stakeholders visible, through allocation of adequate resources and support from Parties and an effective interaction with the UNFCCC bodies;

• Increase existing participation opportunities for regional governments and subnational entities in the framework of the negotiations themselves given their limited voice in the process. The Marrakesh Partnership is an essential and decisive step but the role of regional governments should not be limited to it;

• To continue the integration of different stakeholders, including regional governments, within the Technical Experts Process and the associated Technical Experts Meetings to provide profound input to and valuing them as an import-ant part of the negotiations; and

• To assist and support regional governments and their networks to create an enabling environment to successfully finance, develop, implement and evaluate climate change strategies and projects.

Position to COP 23

We congratulate the COP in its decision to nominate the country of Fiji for the Presidency role, the first Small Island Developing State in this position. We share the Fiji Presidency’s vision for COP 23 to be participatory, transparent and inclusive and to bring non-State actors closer to the process and strongly support their aim to forge a grand coalition between civil society, the scientific community, the private and finance sector and all levels of governments, including regions, to accelerate climate action.

The Presidency of Fiji signifies a greater focus on islands and on the most vulnerable population, implying the need for urgent action on mitigation, as well as adaptation and resilience. Due to the size and remoteness of many islands, they constitute a forward-looking mirror for the issues faced by all territories that will have to address climate change. On the other hand, they can serve as pilot territories to harness innovation and develop effective strategies for other jurisdictions to adopt to increase resilience.

But the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and sea level rise, are not only a great concern for islands and the most vulnerable, as developed states will also be highly affected. Around the world millions of people are living in coastal areas and the hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose hitting successively the Caribbean islands and the US coast, as well as the devastating floods in Nepal, India and Bangladesh show that no territory is excluded from the impacts of climate change. Therefore, action within all territories and cooperation between all relevant stakeholders is needed.

COP 23 under the Presidency of Fiji will be the time to discuss how to protect the most vulnerable countries and communities from the ravages of climate change that are already happening. It is an opportunity to recognise that strategies for managing risk and building resilience are urgently required and can only be designed and implement-ed together, involving all levels of governance and all necessary stakeholders.

Therefore, we affirm our deep concerns regarding the gap between the existing NDCs proposed by national govern-ments and the goals of the Paris Agreement to hold global average temperatures to well below 2°C above pre-indus-trial levels and encourage states to strive to an increase of only up to 1.5°C.

In order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, adapt to the changes that are already occurring or will occur in the future, building resilience and effectively reduce disaster risk, we ask Parties to the UNFCCC, as well as all

relevant stakeholders to:

• Consider regional and local governments as key partners in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Expertise, knowledge, and capacities in territorial management of these governments can help to further develop modalities, procedures and guidelines for an effective implementation of the Agreement;

• Scale up efforts and support actions to close the gap between the current status from the NDCs and the goals of the Paris Agreement through constructive and precise proposals, as well as ambitious reviews of the existing NDCs. Regional governments can be a vehicle to scale up ambition as they are often already implementing bold and inno-vative actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience;

• Ensure synergies between adaptation and mitigation initiatives and technologies. While these two evolved along different pathways, mitigation and adaptation approaches need to be more effectively integrated in order to avoid trade-offs between the two and one undermining the other; and

• Link climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction to reduce vulnerability and build resilience. The recent occurrence of extreme events, like the hurricanes in the Caribbean and the floods in Asia confirmed the need to include climate risk in national and regional planning in order to increase resilience and avoid huge economic and human losses. Investments that help to reduce risk, adequate policies, as well as strong coordination mechanisms that engage all relevant stakeholders are essential in this regard.

• Work on the integration of the global agendas. The Technical Experts Meeting on Adaptation this year at the Bonn Sessions, as well as the recent Adaptation Committee's decision on the topic of the next Adaptation Forum, mark an excellent example of solution oriented discussions on how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. More efforts are needed to bring together communities, and especially the UN agencies and system in general, from the different agendas to achieve an effective integration and fulfil their shared and exclusive goals. In this regard, ecosystem-based adapta-tion and mitigation strategies are multi-benefits and cost-efficient solution for achieving integrated international goals;

• Use the Facilitative Dialogue, to be convened next year, not only as an opportunity for Parties to assess the efforts taken so far or to reflect how climate action can be strengthened, but also as an opportunity for non-Party stakehold-ers, including regional governments, to be considered as valuable sources of information, providers of innovative solutions and responsible for implementation, delivery and monitoring of progress;

• Ensure meaningful participation of and include inputs from regional and local governments in the Global Stock-take. The Global Stocktake will provide valuable information on the successful experiences and persistent challeng-es. To maximise progress and avoid double counting, the Global Stocktake should include all relevant stakeholders, including regional governments. This will also enhance cooperation and trust;

• Develop dedicated mechanisms for regional and local governments to unlock international funding, including existing funds under the Convention, such as the Green Climate Fund or the Adaptation Fund. In order to overcome barriers and reduce financial risk and to ensure progressive ambitious climate action, climate finance mobilisation and channelling towards regional and local governments is essential.

Through this Position Paper the nrg4SD and the Regional Council of Reunion Island invite other national, regional and local governments to join us in this effort. We also call on national leaders to work with us to support the devel-opment of regional adaptation and mitigation strategies, and to successfully implement the Paris Agreement.

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We, representatives of governments, regional authorities, regional and international organizations, gathered in Reunion Island from 05 to 06 October 2017 for the International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation "Islands, land of innovative solutions for all territories", an event approved and endorsed by the Presidency of COP23, the Republic of Fiji,

Confirm our commitment to continue the reflection and work undertaken since 2014 at the Climate Energy Confer-ence "Islands and Climate Change: Opportunities, Resilience and Adaptation", which was brought to the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in 2015, in Paris,

Affirm the need for a common shared vision of climate change in our territories, resulting in the elaboration of a document to be presented as a "Position Paper" in Bonn at the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23)

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Ms. Maria Cecilia ALVARADOCo-Chair of the South, nrg4SD

Vice-President of Azuay

Mr. Magnus BERNTSSONPresident of R20

Mr. Carles LLORENSSecretary General of ORU FOGAR

Ms. Helen CLARKSONCEO of The Climate Group

Mr. Didier ROBERTPresident of the Regional

Council of La Réunion

nrg4sd submission to the talanoa dialogue how do we get there?

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