The MSV programme is developing along a number of parallel tracks, including research, assessment, networking, support to communities, communication and outreach, as well as action on mitigation.
MSV: Phase II
The Many Strong Voices programme has entered its second phase, focused on the implementation of the Five-Year Action Plan, which has four main components: capacity building, assessment, communications, education and outreach, and networking.
Key activities for 2008/2009 include:
- A second MSV Stakeholder Workshop, tentatively scheduled for Washington, D.C. or San Francisco in late October 2008. Based on the successful workshop held in Belize last year, the workshop will be co-hosted by the UNEP Regional Office for North Amercia (RONA), the Organization of American States Sustainable Development Department and the Climate Law and Policy Project. Once again, the workshop will attended by stakeholders and experts from the Arctic and SIDS. This will be an opportunity for participants to present the latest information from their regions, to discuss progress within the programme, and to devise strategies for the United Nations Climate Change Conference / UNFCCC COP 14 in Poznañ, Poland in December 2008. The workshop will focus on four key aspects:
- Research - Considerations and challenges in implementing a dynamic assessment of vulnerability and adaptation in SIDS, with links to the Arctic and other vulnerable regions;
- Capacity building - Facilitated workshop focused on increasing MSV partners' understanding of and effectiveness in international climate change negotiations, and strategizing for COP 14 and other meetings;
- Communications, outreach and education - review of MSV message and discussion on using international negotiations and other venues to deliver messages; and
- Planning - review the Five-Year MSV Action Plan and update if necessary.
One of the important lessons from COP 13 in Bali was that Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic and SIDS need support to operate effectively in intense negotiating environments and to influence high-level political processes. To address this, a portion of the second MSV stakeholder workshop will be specifically devoted to capacity-building to assist MSV partners who are not familiar with the UNFCCC negotiations learn how they work and how participants might best influence the process.
- Further development of the MSV SIDS Dynamic Assessment of Vulnerability and Adaptation. Key activities include:
- Continuing to build a digital resource library as a basis for the assessment;
- Finalising the assessment template;
- Formalising MOUs between partner organisations; and
- Launching pilot studies in SIDS to hone methods.
While SIDS are recognized as some of the most vulnerable areas, there is so far no single climate change assessment that brings together experiences, data gaps and future needs in a comprehensive way. The impact of climate change on coastal zones is a common denominator between the Arctic and SIDS and provides a context for comparing vulnerability and adaptation processes and developing adaptation strategies that contribute to sustainable development in both regions by meeting the social, economic and environmental needs of present and future generations.
The knowledge generated will not only provide a baseline for further analysis of vulnerability and adaptive capacity in the region, but will also support communications and education activities, the development of regional and local adaptation strategies, and help ensure that MSV partners’ voices are heard. Information from the assessment will be used to inform the strategic positions of partners from the SIDS and Arctic during the UNFCCC negotiations on a post-Kyoto climate change agreement.
- Exchanging information and experiences on adaptation, featuring regional experiences and learning at the Climate and Development Days at the United Nations Climate Change Conference / UNFCCC COP 14 in Poznañ, Poland in December 2008.
- Collaborating with organisers of the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change in Alaska in 2009.