Capacity Building for Observation Systems for Climate Change (Pacific and Africa)

PDF B Proposal for Funding
Global Environment Facility
Country:				Global Programme, Initially Focusing on the Pacific and Africa
Focal Area:				Climate Change
Operational Programme:		Enabling Activity 
Project Title: 				Capacity Building for Observation Systems for Climate Change 
Total Global Programme Cost:	GEF Contribution			US$ 1.5 Million
					Anticipated in-kind Contribution 	US$ 1.5 Million
PDF request:				$US 324,000
In-kind contribution:		$US 324,000
Requesting Agency:  			UNDP
Executing Agency: 			WMO/GCOS
Block: 					PDF Block B
Duration: 				12 months
Project Summary
In response to the Conference of the Parties, the Global Climate Observing System Secretariat will launch a Global Programme of ten regional workshops and follow-up activities, including development of Action Plans. 
The PDF will consist of two regional workshops, one in the South Pacific and Africa. The PDF will develop the methodology for the subsequent eight regional workshops planned in the Full Project (2001 to 2003).  These workshops will address capacity-building and reporting needs of non-Annex I Parties for systematic observation within National Communications for the United Nations Framework for Climate Change as appropriate. The workshops will train national experts to prepare reports for national communications and to address regional needs in meteorological, atmospheric, oceanographic, and terrestrial observing systems for climate. The workshops will also identify a range of training needs for systematic observations to predict and provide ‘early’ warnings of future climate changes, to assess both current and future climate, and to plan adaptation measures. 
This proposal recognizes that the GEF mandate is focused on capacity building needs of non-Annex Parties and not funding of hardware for observation networks, for which support from other donors will be sought.  Moreover, the proposal does not assume that the GEF will fund observing system improvements identified in the Action Plans.
The project will build on the network of national climate change co-ordinators developed under the GEF National Communications Support Programme. 
Project objectives
The overall aim of this project is to develop capacity in a significant number of non-Annex I Parties to participate in systematic observation networks to meet the multiple needs of the Convention.
The specific short-term objectives are to contribute to the reporting of systematic observation and research needs in the context of non-Annex I National Communications on a voluntary basis and to identify priority capacity-building needs related to participation in systematic observation (e.g., needs for training, equipment, communications, etc). Under this project, capacity will be built to create action plans. 
A longer term objective of the project, which will not be funded by GEF in this proposal, but which the UNFCCC/COP has requested of the Parties and of the GCOS Secretariat, is the development of specific proposals for improvements in climate observing networks in developing countries.
Global significance
At the global scale, accurate observational data are important for a broad range of sustainable development goals under the objective of the UNFCCC.  Better knowledge of climate change will help to develop national strategies to mitigate and adapt to its potentially harmful effects.  Improved observing systems for climate are required to enhance the ability of scientists to understand, detect, and predict climate change.  In supporting improved observing systems, the Parties to the UNFCCC have identified the importance of accurate, long-term data for developing sound climate change policies. Improved observations at national, regional and, global scale are required to further our understanding of the climate system.
At the regional scale, countries need observational data to observe the current climate, to monitor sea level rise and extreme events (such as hurricanes and drought), to predict and provide ‘early’ warnings of future climate changes, to assess both current and future climate conditions, and to plan adaptation measures. 
Background
The UNFCCC and Systematic Observation.  The potential problems associated with global climate change are now widely recognized.  The UNFCCC was negotiated in 1992 because countries were "concerned that human activities have been substantially increasing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, that these increases enhance the natural greenhouse effect, and that this will result on average in an additional warming of the Earth's surface and atmosphere and may adversely affect natural ecosystems and humankind." Scientific uncertainties make exact knowledge about the timing, magnitude, and ultimate impacts of climate change impossible, but there is near consensus among scientists that global mean surface air temperature will likely increase by between 1ºC and 3.5ºC and that sea level will rise by between 15 and 95 centimeters by year 2100.  In addition, changes are expected in the amount, type, and timing of precipitation, in evapotranspiration, and, perhaps, in the intensity and/or frequency of extreme events like floods, droughts, and tropical storms.  It is expected that developing countries will have substantial difficulty coping with climate-change-related problems.
The Parties to the UNFCCC have recognized the importance of high quality data for climate-related purposes and have noted that in many instances either the geographic coverage, quantity, or quality of the data produced by current global and regional observing systems is inadequate.  Most of the problems occur in developing countries, where lack of funds for modern equipment and infrastructure, adequate training of staff, archiving of historical data, and continuing operational expenses are often major constraints.
In 1998, the Conference of the Parties (COP, Decision 14/CP.4) urged Parties to actively support meteorological, atmospheric, oceanographic, and terrestrial observing systems.  They also urged Parties to support capacity building in developing countries in order to enable them to collect, exchange, and utilize data to meet local, regional, and international needs.  In 1999, this decision was reinforced when the COP urged Parties to address deficiencies in climate observing networks and invited them, in consultation with the GCOS Secretariat (See Annex 1), to identify the capacity-building needs and funding required in developing countries to enable them to collect, exchange, and utilize data on a continuing basis in pursuance of the Convention (Decision 5/CP.5.). Specifically, Decision 5/CP.5 of the UNFCCC:
Recognizes the need to identify the priority capacity-building needs related to participation in systematic observation;
Invites the secretariat of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), in consultation with relevant regional and international bodies, including the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to organize Regional Workshops on this issue; and
Urges Parties to actively support and participate in these Regional Workshops.
The GEF and Systematic Observation.  In response to the guidance from the COP (Decision 2/CP.4), the GEF is already supporting capacity building for systematic observation under Expedited Financing for (interim) Measures for Capacity Building in Priority Areas.  As of August 2000, of the 46 non-Annex I Parties that have applied through UNDP for interim funding, just over half of them have allocated a portion of their budgets to systematic observation.  All countries will be able to participate in this proposal, but greater focus will be given to those which have indicated that systematic observation is a priority within their Phase II Enabling Activity projects.
Within the operational guidelines for enabling activities, the GEF is also encouraging the development of a global programme for systematic observation, providing that the global activities of such a programme are consistent with national efforts.  A global/regional approach is proposed for cost-effectiveness. This proposal for a global programme falls into this category.
Project description
This proposal is a direct response to the invitation by the COP to organize regional workshops to improve observing systems in developing countries. GCOS workshops will be done in cooperation with its sponsoring agencies, WMO, UNEP, IOC, and ICSU.  The goal of this programme is to launch a process that will lead to real improvements in observing systems in developing countries, including the reporting in non-Annex I National Communications as appropriate.  In the short term, this process will involve training through regional workshops and the support of GCOS will help countries to implement decisions made at workshops. In the longer term, this initiative will help  pave the way for the development and implementation of regional Action Plans.  In this proposal, the term ‘region’ may also refer to a ‘sub-region.’
Workshops in both the PDF and Full Project will initiate a process that will result in substantial improvements in observing systems for climate in each region and will build on the network of national climate change co-ordinators developed under the GEF National Communications Support Programme. A total of 10 regional workshops will be conducted as discussed below (i.e., eight workshops to be undertaken under the Full Project, after the two preparatory workshops conducted under this PDF B phase).
The Global Programme
Each regional workshop, in both the Full Project and the PDF B, is designed to:
Provide training for the preparation of national reports on systematic observations, as well as to identify further training needs; 
Facilitate compilation of information on systematic observation for inclusion in national communications consistent with UNFCCC reporting guidelines; and for development of a regional summary report;
Help participants attain a better understanding of observing system deficiencies in their region, thereby preparing them to develop an Action Plan for improvements;
Give workshop participants a broader understanding of opportunities for improving observing systems by bringing together at the regional level developing country Parties and interested donor Parties; and
Facilitate interaction among stakeholders by bringing together Climate Change Coordinators with the representatives from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and others interested in climate observations and services.
These goals would be accomplished by:
Inviting recognized experts on regional components of observation networks to make presentations at the workshops on the status and needs of these networks.  The specific networks addressed may vary by region, depending on their relevance within the region, but would include at least one presentation each in meteorological, oceanographic, and terrestrial domains.  Within the meteorological domain, the GCOS Surface Network and GCOS Upper Air Network would be assessed in all workshops.  In the terrestrial domain, hydrology is almost always important, but, depending on the region, it may also be important to address terrestrial carbon, glaciers, or permafrost.  Experts would be expected to prepare brief written summaries of the key points raised.
Preparation of a document diagnosing deficiencies for certain networks where such information is available.  For example, for the GSN and GUAN networks, monitoring centers produce periodic network status reports that can be examined for relevant information for the region in question. 
Conducting a tutorial on UNFCCC guidelines for reporting on systematic observations and on how to prepare national reports.  The materials prepared for this tutorial would be generic, and would be tested under the PDF B and then finalized for use in later workshops.
Preparation of a regional summary report on available observations consistent with UNFCCC guidelines.  (The report would be prepared after the  workshop as an element of the Action Plan.)