Methods and tools

Methods and tools

Promoting development and dissemination of methodologies and tools for impact and vulnerability assessments, such as rapid assessments and bottom up approaches, including as they apply to sustainable development

Promoting the development and dissemination of methods and tools for assessment and improvement of adaptation planning, measures and actions and integration with sustainable development

Methods and tools used for impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessment encompass a broad range of applications – from cross-cutting or multidisciplinary (e.g. climate models, scenario-building methods, stakeholder analysis, decision-making tools) to specific sectoral (e.g. crop or vegetation models, methods for coastal zone vulnerability assessment).

Activities and deliverables under the second phase (2008-2010) include:

Develop a user-friendly version of the UNFCCC Compendium on Methods & Tools
Consideration of relevant issues from this work area in a technical workshop (requested by the SBSTA before its thirty-second session, November 2010)

Activities and deliverables under the first phase (up to June 2008) included:

Submissions by Parties and relevant organizations
Synthesis report based on the information contained in the submissions
An expert meeting held in Mexico City, Mexico in March 2008

Work in the area of methods and tools can contribute to efforts by Parties and organizations to:

Apply and develop methodologies and tools for impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessments
Develop methodologies and tools for adaptation planning, measures and actions, and integration with sustainable development
Disseminate existing and emerging methods and tools
Facilitate the sharing of experiences and lessons learned, including those contained in the UNFCCC Compendium on methods and tools to evaluate impacts of, and vulnerability and adaptation to, climate change, including the assessment of costs and benefits

Details of activities and deliverables under the first phase

Submissions from Parties and relevant organizations

The SBSTA invited Parties and relevant organizations to submit to the secretariat, by 15 May 2007, information on existing and emerging assessment methodologies and tools; and views on lessons learned from their application; opportunities, gaps, needs, constraints and barriers; possible ways to develop and better disseminate methods and tools; and training opportunities.

Submissions were received from eight Parties (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Uzbekistan, United States of America as well as from Germany on behalf of the European Community and its member states). Seven organizations made submissions: four United Nations organizations (CBD, FAO, ISDR and WMO), one intergovernmental organization (SPREP) and two non-governmental organizations (IISD and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change research). The submissions are available below.

FCCC/SBSTA/2007/MISC.12 and Add.1
Information on methods and tools for impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessments. Submissions from Parties

FCCC/SBSTA/2007/MISC.13
Information on methods and tools for impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessments. Submissions from relevant organizations

Submissions from admitted non-governmental organizations

Synthesis report

The SBSTA requested requested the secretariat to prepare a synthesis report on the information and views contained in the submissions and the relevant outputs from the work of the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG), the Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (CGE) and the Expert Group on Technology Transfer (EGTT). The report also includes a summary of the views on lessons learned from the application of methods and tools, as well as opportunities, gaps, needs, constraints and barriers, and on possible ways to develop and better disseminate methods and tools, and training opportunities.

FCCC/SBSTA/2007/8
Synthesis of information and views on methods and tools submitted by Parties and relevant organizations

Expert meeting

The SBSTA requested the secretariat, under the guidance of the Chair of the SBSTA, to organize an expert meeting, before the twenty-eighth session of the SBSTA, with the participation of Parties, users and developers of methods and tools, relevant organizations, and representatives from sectoral and other communities to advance consideration of methods and tools. The expert meeting will follow the objectives mentioned above, taking into account the information contained in the miscellaneous document and the synthesis report compiled by the secretariat. The SBSTA also requested the secretariat to include consideration of relevant matters on data and observations in this expert meeting.

The expert meeting on methods and tools and data and observations took place in Mexico City, Mexico from 4 to 7 March 2008. The agenda, presentations and results from the meeting are available on the Mexico meeting page.

The report on the expert meeting is contained in document FCCC/SBSTA/2008/3.

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