Publication

The Adaptation Knowledge Platform is working toward building bridges between current knowledge on adaptation to climate change and various stakeholders. Activities have been initiated in the five pilot countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam, with local partners mobilized and key knowledge and capacity gaps identified. The management arrangements for the long-term development of the Platform in the pilot countries are in place.

To move the Platform ahead, AIT-UNEP RCCAKP along with SEI and UNEP conducted its scoping mission in Sri Lanka. Though Sri Lanka has already endorsed climate change policies and adaptation plans, they are still on the drawing board and risks posed by the changing climate are yet to be incorporated into specific policies and programs.

The issue of capacity building involved mainly the national-level stakeholders (government and civil society organizations). But the maximum support is needed at the provincial/divisional secretariat level, where interventions by the Adaptation Knowledge Platform would be most beneficial. The following are some prominent areas where capacity building would be required:

• Information;
• Agenda and priority setting;
• Coordination;
• Resource mobilization.

The above was deduced from consultations with various stakeholders – Asian Development Bank (ADB), Climate Change Secretariat (CCS) – Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, EML Consultants, Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to name a few. The main outcomes of the consultations with stakeholders can be viewed in the following report.