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FCCC/SBSTA/1999/L.6

8 June 1999

Original: ENGLISH

SUBSIDIARY BODY FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVICE

Tenth session

Bonn, 31 May - 11 June 1999

Agenda item 5 (c)

1. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) took note, with appreciation, of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Handbook on Methods for Climate Change Impacts Assessment and Adaptation Strategies and the UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment (Risø, Denmark) report, Economics of Greenhouse Gas Limitations: Methodological Guidelines. It encouraged Parties to draw upon these reports in the preparation of national communications. It further encouraged Parties and intergovernmental organizations, in providing support for enabling activities, to take note of the availability of these documents.

2. The SBSTA further took note of the information provided in the informal report by the secretariat entitled "Compendium of decision tools to evaluate alternative adaptation strategies to climate change". It invited Parties:

(a) To review the information, and to provide comments to the secretariat on its contents by 15 September 1999; and

(b) To provide information on other decision tools in a format similar to that in the above-mentioned informal report. The SBSTA requested the secretariat to facilitate the submission of this information electronically on its Web site, to utilize experts nominated by Parties to the roster on methodologies to review the information, and to compile and synthesize the information.

BNJ.99-145

FCCC/SBSTA/1999/L.6

English

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3. The SBSTA, recognizing that training in the use of the methods described in the documents referred to in paragraph 1 would be an important means of building the technical and analytical capacities of Parties, encouraged UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme and other relevant institutions to review their activities and to support capacity-building by using these documents to meet the needs of Parties, particularly developing country Parties.

4. At the same meeting, the SBSTA noted the information provided by the delegation of Brazil on scientific and methodological issues discussed at a workshop organized by that delegation to consider its proposal contained in document FCCC/AGBM/1997/MISC.1/Add.3. The SBSTA decided to consider the scientific and methodological aspects of the proposal by Brazil at its eleventh session, and invited the delegation of Brazil to further inform the SBSTA of the results of its workshop and provide it with other relevant information at that session.

5. The SBSTA noted that the secretariat would undertake the work requested in this conclusion subject to the availability of resources for the purpose.