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KARNATAKA, INDIA, Nov 23 (IPS) – With a deal with strengthening the resilience of small and susceptible member international locations, Unnikrishnan Nair says the Commonwealth Secretariat is working to align improvement and local weather finance for max impression.
Nair, who’s the Head of Local weather Change within the Financial, Youth, and Sustainable Improvement Directorate, informed IPS in an unique interview that to “construct resilience and keep away from the reversal of improvement positive factors because of local weather change, local weather motion have to be built-in into improvement tasks in order that the funding helps the mandatory local weather change outcomes.”
The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) has served as a “catalyst to assist susceptible international locations entry local weather finance to reinforce resilience. Thus far, USD 315.413 million of local weather finance mobilised, together with USD 8.1 million in co-financing for 79 accredited tasks (33 adaptation, 10 mitigation, and 36 cross-cutting) in 14 Commonwealth international locations.”
Listed here are excerpts from the interview:
IPS: Please give us an summary of the present local weather change insurance policies and techniques the Commonwealth Secretariat implements. How do these insurance policies align with broader nationwide and worldwide local weather objectives?
Nair: The Local weather Change Programme of the Commonwealth Secretariat focuses on strengthening the resilience of Commonwealth small and different susceptible member international locations to the destructive impacts of local weather change. It offers member international locations with measures and assist for mitigating and adapting to a altering local weather. The programme facilitates the human and institutional capability improvement of member international locations to entry private and non-private local weather funding to satisfy their Paris Settlement commitments, together with the implementation of their Nationally Decided Contributions. The Commonwealth Local weather Change Programme advocates for worldwide insurance policies, mechanisms, and guidelines to be extra conscious of the event wants of Small Islands Growing States, and different susceptible international locations. The Programme’s assist is delivered by way of numerous mechanisms and partnerships, together with:
- Commonwealth Local weather Finance Entry Hub with a deal with rising entry to local weather finance.
- Commonwealth Name to Motion on Residing Lands aimed toward accelerating local weather motion round land.
- Commonwealth NDC Programme focuses on fast-tracking implementation and achievement of local weather targets in step with the Paris Settlement.
- Geospatial Programme focused at using geospatial knowledge and data for local weather choices.
- Integration of Gender and youth for Local weather Motion, selling inclusive local weather motion
- Low Carbon & Local weather Resilient Well being Sector with particular deal with Well being sector adaptation and mitigation planning
IPS: In what methods does your directorate tackle the financial impacts of local weather change? Are there particular measures to advertise sustainable financial improvement within the face of climate-related challenges?
Nair: One of many main initiatives of the Commonwealth Local weather Change Programme is to undertake the Local weather Public Expenditure and Institutional Assessment (CPEIR) to allow the consideration of local weather change within the nationwide improvement planning and budgeting course of. This initiative utilized the World Financial institution methodology for enterprise the CPEIR and was primarily based on the info and data supplied by the Ministry of Finance.
The CPEIR reviewed the general local weather coverage adequacy within the nation and analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the institutional set-ups, contemplating present local weather change priorities and future challenges. The method additionally undertook an analytical evaluation of local weather expenditure and confirmed how the nation had been allocating funds from public finance in coping with the impacts of local weather change. Preliminary outcomes and suggestions had been shared in a digital validation workshop, by which a big set of contributors from authorities establishments, the non-public sector, and improvement companions supplied enter, endorsed the research’s conclusions, and appreciated the suggestions.
IPS: How does your directorate have interaction with youth within the context of local weather change and sustainable improvement? Are there initiatives to empower youth by advocating for and implementing climate-friendly practises?
Nair: Younger individuals are key stakeholders in local weather motion, and as future decision-makers, they should be totally engaged in local weather processes, offering their views, progressive concepts, and experiences that may assist form and speed up local weather motion.
The combination of youth into local weather change initiatives is prime to constructing resilience and creating sturdy local weather mitigation and adaptation proposals.
The Secretariat has mandated advisers working beneath the CCFAH to combine youth concerns throughout all tasks supported in-country to make sure that local weather finance delivered in member states takes account of the wants of younger individuals.
Commonwealth Youth Initiatives
- Commonwealth Youth Local weather Community (CYCN)
- Commonwealth Youth Assertion on Local weather Change
- Intergenerational Dialogue on Local weather Change (held at COP)
- Commonwealth Youth Improvement Index and Report, Local weather Part
- Enhancing Entry to Finance for Youth in Inexperienced Entrepreneurship
- Summer time College on Local weather Justice assist with the Pan African Local weather Justice Alliance (PACJA)
- Local weather Finance Educate-in Session in the course of the International NDC Youth Engagement Discussion board
- Internship Programme
IPS: How does your directorate combine the Sustainable Improvement Targets (SDGs) into its local weather change and financial improvement initiatives? Are you able to spotlight particular tasks or programmes that contribute to a number of SDGs concurrently?
Nair: Whereas aligning NDCs and SDGs is vital, it requires funding. Local weather finance performs an important position in’ constructing again higher,’ as ample funding is significant to assist local weather motion, resilience-building, and sustainable improvement efforts.
Equally, to construct resilience and keep away from the reversal of improvement positive factors because of local weather change, local weather motion have to be built-in into improvement tasks in order that the funding helps the mandatory local weather change outcomes. In different phrases, aligning improvement and local weather finance is crucial to maximising impression. Improvement tasks ought to be capable of entry local weather funding, and local weather tasks ought to entry improvement funding.
The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) is a major enabler. By deploying Commonwealth nationwide, regional, and thematic local weather finance advisers to assist governments, the CCFAH serves as a catalyst to assist susceptible international locations entry local weather finance to reinforce resilience. Thus far, US$ 315.413 million of local weather finance has been mobilised, together with US$ 8.1 million in co-financing for 79 accredited tasks (33 adaptation, 10 mitigation, and 36 cross-cutting) in 14 Commonwealth international locations.
Some CCFAH tasks are linked to the Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL). This initiative helps the alignment of local weather motion and sustainable improvement by safeguarding international land sources and taking coordinated motion to deal with local weather change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation whereas selling sustainable, climate-resilient land administration and agriculture.
IPS: What roles do innovation and expertise play in your directorate’s strategy to attaining sustainable improvement objectives and combating local weather change? Are there particular applied sciences or improvements which have proven promise in your initiatives?
Nair: On the expertise entrance, one of the vital vital initiatives is an progressive challenge primarily based on a partnership between Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu and a consortium of worldwide companions working collectively to assist and construct local weather resilience and improve decision-making utilizing satellite tv for pc distant sensing expertise.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the thematic lead on local weather finance and offers technical help to the three international locations in utilising the geospatial-based platforms for enhanced entry to local weather finance.
The challenge is designed to reinforce capacities, introduce technological developments (together with synthetic intelligence-based strategies), and supply built-in options for decision-making associated to Catastrophe Threat Discount (DRR), local weather resilience, environmental preservation, and meals safety.
IPS: How does your directorate measure the impression of its programmes and initiatives on local weather change, financial improvement, and youth empowerment? Are there key efficiency indicators or metrics used to evaluate progress?
Nair: The programme, primarily based on necessities, appoints exterior third events to evaluate its efficiency and outcomes by way of its relevance, effectiveness, effectivity, coherence, and sustainability, per the OECD Improvement Help Committee Pointers. It is a formative analysis of the programme, specializing in assessing the preliminary outcomes, effectiveness of the programme’s processes, and classes discovered. The analysis can also be supported by case research as an example examples of how the programme operates and to determine success components and classes discovered.
IPS: How does your directorate contribute to constructing the capability of people and communities to answer local weather change and interact in sustainable improvement? Are there particular coaching programmes or academic initiatives?
Nair: The Commonwealth Local weather Change programme is concentrated on constructing the technical and institutional capability of small and different susceptible states to have interaction and navigate by way of the advanced local weather motion panorama and to take motion to deal with the long-term impacts of local weather change. That is achieved by strengthening the technical and coverage infrastructure within the nation, thereby bettering an enabling atmosphere for attracting technical and monetary assist by devising long-term local weather motion plans and pipelining local weather finance tasks, insurance policies, and establishments.
Below the Commonwealth Local weather Finance Entry Hub (CCFAH), fairly than providing short-term session to international locations, the challenge embeds certified nationwide advisers for a three-year interval to assist the nation in all areas of local weather finance. This embeds information switch formally by way of workshops, coaching, and steady assist in precedence areas for the federal government. This generates a essential mass of nationwide authorities officers and related establishments instantly accountable for local weather motion who’re capacitated to sort out numerous features of local weather finance, together with challenge improvement, gender mainstreaming, environmental and social governance, coverage assist, and so on. This CCFAH ‘write store’ strategy to capability constructing centered on studying by doing has confirmed to assist the sustainability of outcomes. This strategy additionally helps develop a essential mass of officers in authorities departments accountable for local weather motion.
IPS: What are your directorate’s main challenges in implementing local weather change, financial, and sustainable improvement initiatives? Are there notable alternatives or improvements that might positively impression your work?
Nair: The Commonwealth Local weather Change Programme is going through a number of challenges in implementing local weather change, financial, and sustainable improvement initiatives. The outstanding three are:
Various Member States: The Commonwealth includes international locations with various financial buildings, ranges of improvement, and vulnerabilities to local weather change. Tailoring initiatives to swimsuit every member state’s particular wants and capacities is a posh job, requiring flexibility and inclusivity in programme design and implementation.
Restricted Assets: Useful resource constraints hinder the flexibility of the programme to spend money on complete local weather change and sustainable improvement initiatives. Mobilising ample monetary sources to assist these programmes, particularly for smaller and fewer economically developed nations, is a persistent problem.
Capability Constructing: Enhancing the capability of member states to plan, implement, and monitor local weather change initiatives is essential. Many international locations inside the Commonwealth lack the technical experience and institutional capability wanted to hold out these programmes, necessitating focused capacity-building efforts.
IPS: How does your directorate collaborate on local weather change and sustainable improvement points with worldwide organisations and different international locations? Are there ongoing partnerships which have been notably fruitful?
Nair: The Commonwealth Local weather Change Programme actively collaborates with worldwide organisations and different international locations to deal with urgent local weather challenges. By way of diplomatic channels and multilateral boards, the programme fosters partnerships that transcend borders, facilitating the trade of information, experience, and finest practises within the realms of local weather change and sustainable improvement. This collaboration entails joint technical initiatives, capacity-building programmes, and sharing finest practises aimed toward inclusive local weather change adaptation and mitigation methods in step with nationwide sustainability practises. By collaborating in worldwide dialogues and contributing to international initiatives, the programme strives to create a cohesive and coordinated strategy to sort out the advanced and interconnected problems with local weather change and sustainable improvement, recognising that solely by way of unified efforts can we successfully tackle the shared challenges going through our planet.
A number of the very fruitful partnerships beneath the Commonwealth local weather change programme are with the next:
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- Australian Authorities Division of Overseas Affairs and Commerce
- Overseas, Commonwealth and Improvement Workplace (FCDO), Authorities of the UK
- United Nations Institute for Coaching and Analysis (UNITAR)
- Norad (Norwegian Company for Improvement Cooperation)
- NDC Partnership
- United Nations Conference to Fight Desertification
- World Well being Group
- United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC)
- PCCB Community
- Africa NDC Hub.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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