Expert Dialogue on technologies for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in coastal zones

Two little kids playing in a mangrove in Kiribati

Credit: LEG35

CRM in coastal zones

Date and time

Monday 17 June 2019, 09:00-15:00

Venue

Room Tokyo 1-2, WCCB in Bonn, Germany

Coastal zones are sensitive to climate change risks. Coastal areas face a range of challenges such as inundation and erosion of coastlines, salinization of freshwater reserves, damage and loss of physical infrastructure and degradation of marine ecosystem as well as non-economic losses to coastal communities and ecosystems.

Impacts of such risks are unevenly distributed within and across different communities, countries and regions due to climate-related disruptions, exposure and vulnerability. Some climate change risks may be unforeseeable at the time of planning, foreseen but retained due to resource constraints or socioeconomic impact tradeoffs, or foreseen but unavoidable because response actions are unfeasible. Despite these challenges, the accessibility and availability of appropriate and adequate technologies (i.e. hardware, software, and orgware) may be able to avert, minimize, and address some of these risks in coastal areas.

This event is co-organized by the UNFCCC Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change (WIM Excom) and the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) in conjunction with the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June 2019.

The summary of the event is available here: summary

Indicative Agenda

Time	Agenda Item
09:00 -10:00	Session 1: Setting the scene: Climate change impacts on coastal zones Perspective from loss and damage – Monica Antosik (Excom Co-Chair) (10 min) Presentation Perspective from the work of the TEC – Dinara Gershinkova (TEC Chair) (10 min) Presentation Introduction to the comprehensive risk management and other approaches in coastal zone – Jeremy Pittman (University of Waterloo/Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research) (10 min) Presentation Open dialogue (30 min) Facilitator – Monika Antosik (Excom Co-Chair)
10:00 -10:50	Session 2: Technologies for coastal zone risk assessments Panel discussion on available technologies, case studies, opportunities and challenges, knowledge, and public policy gaps, followed by interactive discussions Adonis Velegrakis (University of the Aegean/Remote participation) Melanie Luck-Vogel (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research/Remote participation) Presentation Espen Ronnerberg (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program) Facilitator – Yuichi Ono (WIM Excom-TEC Joint Working Group member) Presentation
10:50 -11:00	Break
11:00 -11:50	Session 3: Technologies for coastal zone risk retention Panel discussion on available technologies, case studies, opportunities and challenges, knowledge, and public policy gaps, followed by interactive discussions Daniel Xie & Harold Rice (University of Michigan) Shawkat Ali Mizra (Bangladesh) Presentation Mareer Mohamed Husny (Maldives) Presentation Fokko van der Goot (Wetlands International) Presentation Facilitator - Nedal Katbeh-Bader (WIM Excom-TEC Joint Working Group member)
11:50 - 12:50	Lunch Break
12:50 - 13:40	Session 4: Technologies for recovery and rehabilitation in coastal zones Panel discussion on available technologies, case studies, opportunities and challenges, knowledge, and public policy gaps, followed by interactive discussions Short video on CTCN collaboration with Antigua and Barbuda (Video accessible here) Colin McQuistan (Practical Action) Presentation Yuichi Ono (Tohoku University) Presentation Jeremy Pittman (University of Waterloo/Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research) Facilitator: Adelle Thomas (WIM Excom-TEC Joint Working Group member)
13:40 - 13:50	Wrap up and closing Dinara Gershinkova (TEC Chair)
13:50 - 14:00	Short break
14:00 - 14:45	Closed meeting on next steps in the development of the joint policy brief Participants: WIM Excom, TEC, drafters, input providers and the secretariat (including remote participation) Facilitator: Mareer Mohamed Husny (WIM Excom-TEC Joint Working Group Member)

Participants

Contributors to the development of a WIM-TEC joint policy brief on comprehensive risk management in coastal zones
Representatives of the WIM Excom and the TEC
Other relevant experts and practitioners

Background

To enhance the coherence of the efforts by the WIM Excom and the TEC, the WIM Excom invited the TEC to discuss specific actions for collaboration, including the development of a joint policy brief on the area of technologies for coastal zones.

The two committees have since prepared and adopted a concept note for the joint policy brief as well as indicative milestones for the collaboration. The organization of an expert dialogue is one of the milestones that is planned to be held in spring 2019.

This expert dialogue will convene leading experts, practitioners and policymakers to discuss and share information on technologies for coastal zone risk assessment (observe and assess), risk retention (manage and accommodate), and recovery and rehabilitation, including case studies from different geophysical environmental settings. The results of this dialogue will facilitate and feed into the development of a joint policy brief on technologies for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage, including recovery and rehabilitation in coastal zones.

Objectives of the event

Facilitating the development of the joint policy brief on technologies for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in coastal zones;
Enhancing the understanding of available technologies in the context of comprehensive risk management for coastal zones;
Identifying available technologies, including local and indigenous technologies, that can be used for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in coastal zones, and share information on good practices, opportunities, challenges and lessons learned in implementing these technologies;

Discussions on the above-mentioned issues are envisioned to help:

Catalyze actions to understand and bridge knowledge and relevant public policy gaps;
Identify further actions by various stakeholders to avert, minimize and address loss and damage in coastal zones.

Remote participation

For remote participation, please click here >>>