Publication

Training Background: There is now plenty of evidence that climate change is taking place. Climate change will affect everyone but developing countries will be hit hardest, soonest while they have the least capacity to respond. Asia is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change with its heavy population, long coastlines, large agricultural sectors and big proportion of population living in poverty. There is an urgent need in the region therefore for capacity building of both national and local state and societal actors concerned with adaptation to address threats and pressures resulting from to climate change.

The Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC) was launched at Korea Environment Institute (KEI) in July 2009. The overall objective of the KACCC is to help build climate resilience of vulnerable societies, ecosystems, and economies through the mobilization of knowledge and technologies of adaptation policy-setting, planning, and practices specially for the Asia and Pacific Region. As a regional network under the Global Adaptation Network (GAN), the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN) was launched in 2009, facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), and the Asian Institute of Technology/UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (AIT/UNEP RRC.AP). The overall goal of the APAN is to help build climate resilience of vulnerable human systems, ecosystems and economies in Asia through the mobilization and sharing of knowledge and technologies to support climate change adaptation (CCA) in the region. The specific objectives of APAN include the following: i) to generate and share of knowledge and information on adaptation to enhance adaptation actions; ii) to facilitate application of appropriate knowledge to adaptation programs/ projects; iii) to facilitate access to adaptation finance mechanisms; and, iv) develop the capacity of national and local planners, communities, development partners and the private sector in adaptation.

Since both KACCC and APAN have the capacity building focus in their respective goals and objectives, a training program have been collaboratively designed, also in collaboration with UNEP – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP-ROAP), to improve adaptation capacity to climate change in the Asia and Pacific region. In 2010, the Regional Workshop to Raise Awareness and Enhance Action on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Sub-national Level was co-organized by KEI/KACCC and UNEP-ROAP in Phuket, Thailand on 25-27 August under Territorial Approach to Climate Change Initiative. This year the Regional Training on Cross-Sectoral Climate Change Adaptation Planning was held on 25 October 2011 – 26 October 2011 to improve capacity of national and local authorities in their adaptation planning for climate change. This training provided a good opportunity for participants to learn frontline findings and innovations, opportunities and challenges in climate change adaptation.