National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and

Action Plan

Inception WorkshopSofia, 1 March 2017

Robert Bakx

Project Component 3

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

EU-countries’ experience

AUSTRIA (1)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

• Plan adaptation as (cyclical) process along the policy cycle

and make use of EU/UN guidance

• Take care to integrate the adaptation process

vertically (policy scales from local to supranational);

horizontally (across partaking/impacted) sectors; and

transdisciplinary (policy makers, practitioners, companies,

affected people, multi-disciplinary research teams).

• Take care for awareness raising in your country, collaborate

closely with the media and aim at roadshows and public

consultations

Source: Markus Leitner, UBA, Austria

EU-countries’ experience

AUSTRIA (2)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

• Once the adaptation process gets started, seek for

‘windows of opportunity’ to mainstream adaptation in

other policy domains; look for synergies; make sure the

process does not become a singular/stand-alone/one-shot

exercise

• Aim at an integrative process and involve all relevant

institutions and players. Note that this can complicate the

process and may lead to some compromises, but it is

essential for political commitment for the NAS

Source: Markus Leitner, UBA, Austria

EU-countries’ experience

ITALY

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

• Institutional Coordinator: Ministry of Environment, Land

and Sea

• Technical panel (100 scientists) and institutional panel

(Ministries, regional and municipal authorities)

• Participative process: transparency, sharing with national

stakeholders (civil society, scientific community, private

sector)

• Desk study of scientific literature, identification of sectors,

climate impacts per sector, vulnerability per sector,

estimate of cost and inaction per sector

Source: Sergio Castellari, CMCC, Italy

EU-countries’ experience

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Bulgaria’s National CC Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan (NAS + AP)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

• Learn from EU countries’ experience

• Structure: use EU/UN guidance Expert Council for CC discussion conclusion by Ministry of Environment and Water

• Timing: Prepare as of May 2017; final draft by March 2018

Bulgaria’s NAS + APEU Guidance (1)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Strategy:

- General aim of adaptation and strategic direction;- Approach chosen to develop the strategy, including

cooperation with authorities and other stakeholders (e.g., interest groups, NGOs, private sector);

- Knowledge base and good practices (if explored), including a gap analysis;

- Main concerns caused by climate change and other influencing factors;

- Uncertainties in climate change, future developments and adaptation;

Bulgaria’s NAS + APEU Guidance (2)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Strategy:

- Objectives for adaptation (for selected policy areas/sectors and/or themes);

- Framework for action, including:• Provision for preparing an action plan and/or sectoral

plans• Setting a timeframe for developing concrete actions• Determining responsibilities and resources needed• Criteria for exploring, assessing and selecting

adaptation options

Bulgaria’s NAS + APEU Guidance (3)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Strategy:

- Coordination and synergies between national and sub-national as well as sectoral (e.g., disaster risk prevention and management plans Member States are developing) and trans-boundary adaptation responses;

- Activities for awareness raising, communication on adaptation and capacity building;

- System and timeframe for revision of strategy, including provisions for monitoring and evaluation;

- Outlook.

Bulgaria’s NAS + APEU Guidance (1)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Action Plan:

- Preferred adaptation options and ways for implementation (mainstreaming into existing instruments and/or creating new instruments) including opportunities and synergies;

- Roles and responsibilities, explicitly considering the need for coordination between authorities at all levels;

- Detailed timetable for implementation and provisions for revision;

- Estimation of human and financial resources needed;

Bulgaria’s NAS + APEU Guidance (2)

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Action Plan:

- Funding possibilities;- Open research questions and ways to close knowledge

gaps;- Potential barriers to action and mechanisms to overcome

these;- Mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the implementation

success.

Outlook on implementation

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

How smooth do you expect implementation will

be of an eventually approved Action Plan and, in

case there are bottle-necks, what may be good

approaches to overcome these?

Advisory Services on a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan

Thank you for your attention!