LOCAL COMMUNITY INTIATIVES IN MITIGATING CLIAMTE CHANGE AND

PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Patrick Karani

BEA International

www.BEAINTERNATIONAL.ORG

Introduction

• BEA (Bureau of Environmental Analysis).• Non-profit Trust Foundation established in Feb 2002.• Located in Kenya with Local, National, Regional and

International Focus on Environmental Performance and Quality of Life.

• Program areas:– Climate Change and Carbon Offsets– Environmental Governance and sustainable Development– Capacity Building: education, training and information

dissemination• BEA International Staff:

– 6 professional, 2 administration and 2 international advisors• Collaborating Partners CBNet and Point Carbon.

Work and Experience

•Policy Research•Public Awareness•Education, Training and Capacity Building•Projects and Programs Design and Implementation

5 juillet 2002 4

Global Scientific, Technical and Socio-Economic Research

North America

South and Central America

Africa

Ex Soviet UnionEurope

Pacific Asia

Middle East

30%30%19% 17%

3%

2%25%

Africa with + 700 million people of which66% in rural area have no infrastructure for use or

access of space technology data

5%

Site C prior to work commencing, January 1999

0 100

m

Creek Runoff

Creek

Site C, November 2000

Site E, March 2002

Runoff

10 m

Simulator structure

Atmospheric water

Ground water

Surfacewater

Soilwater

Plantwater

Rain fall EvaporationTranspiration

Infiltration Root intake

Runoff

Growth

Carbon stock

Respiration

Evaporationsimulator

Ψs ： Soil water potential

rs ：Stomatal

resistance

Wind velocity

Photosynthetic rate

Mesophyll resistance

Transpiration rate

Leaf area index

Light intensity

Sub simulator for Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis

Plant growth simulator

Boundary layerresistance

Challenges

• Inadequate supportive legal and regulatory frameworks;

• Incoherent political will;• Uncertainty on the timing in relevance of climate

change and development;• Changing and shifting of priorities in budgets

and R&D;• Inadequacy of regional policies on climate

change;• Inadequate technical skills; and• Inherent institutional and admin. constraints.

Barriers• Institutional

– Regulatory authority, including the national and regional authorities;– Limited focal points including national and regional African focal points; – Institutional and capacity inadequacy for the implementation of the

space technologies;

• Technical– National and regional human in-capabilities; – Climate change is scientifically oriented and Africa is scientifically

handicapped;– Research tools are not so advanced;– Inadequacy of regional hardware and software;– Lack of regional master plan;

• Financial– Inadequate domestic savings– Limited foreign exchange– Dependence on ODA

Barriers ctd…

• Political will to support climate change

– Political perspective of poverty may be against climate change in fear of reallocation of resources;

– National self interest in development may be against regional and international initiatives on mitigating climate change;

– Skeptism on supporting climate change as a priority on national development plans; and

– Consideration of poverty alleviation as a high priority;

Priority Areas for Improving State of Knowledge

• Research and development to generate relevant and adequate data that contribute to the understanding of climate change and benefit policy making process.

• Education, training, information dissemination and capacity building to enhance knowledge and skills.

• Public awareness on the linkages between climate change and local community sustainable development.

Implementation Activities by SABSTA• Identify and prepare joint initiatives;• Identify, train and collaborate with local

intermediaries to prepare research and project proposals

• Develop their capacities to diffuse and disseminate research skills;

• Develop simplified partnership frameworks, share and exchange information and experiences;

• Develop and enhance local capacity to undertake R&D in climate change and development;

• Encourage and support the participation of local stakeholders in climate change.