2nd Asia-Pacific
Climate Change Adaptation forum

12 - 13 March 2012
Bangkok, Thailand

  
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  The Second Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum started on a high note this 12 March at the United Nations Conference Center (UNCC), Bangkok, Thailand. Scientists, development workers, government officials, academicians, international organizations, students, and representatives from civil society came together to discuss climate change adaptation topics that cut across governance issues, management, technology, and replicability. Development agency officials agree that adaptation varies from one country to another. Keith Alverson, Climate Change Adaptation and Terrestrial Ecosystems Branch of UNEP in Nairobi, remarked that there was no cookie-cutter solution to adaptation. He went on to say that community-based solutions should be integrated with technology and ecosystem-based approaches. Civil society, including health professionals, emphasized how local cultures and contexts should be considered when designing adaptation projects. Gender practitioners concurred, and Dr. Bernadette Resurreccion of the Gender and Development Studies Department at the Asian Institute of Technology voiced out that governments should have a more inclusive approach in order to understand the drivers that make both women and men vulnerable to climate change.

Upland dwellers recognized how present-day climate change concerns were more intensive and human related. Damdin Davgadorj, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Mongolia, called for urgent international funding, technical transfer, and capacity building to help the country cope with intensive climate change. Urban residents also understood the need for building resilience to climate change, especially in cities. Anna Brown of The Rockefeller Foundation, however, shared that while it is important to look at the intersection between climate change and urbanization, there are no silver bullet solutions. Artists and the media joined in, calling for courage and vigilance when monitoring and evaluating adaptation activities. Finally, response from the youth succinctly caped off Day 1 of the Climate Change Forum: "Adaptation work needs better coordination to avoid duplication. It also needs better monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the current projects are taking the right direction. Monitoring and evaluation also leads to better documentation, which is essential for replication of adaptation work" (Tian Wang, youth representative from China).		  
   
The participants at the Second Asia-Pacific Adaptation Forum took an active part in the deliberations.
   
   

Daily coverage
12 March
 
   
   
 
   
John Dore, Senior Water Resources Advisor - Mekong Region, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Lao PDR, emphasized the importance of water trading to make up for water scarcity.   Anna Lindstedt, Ambassador for Climate Change, Ministry of the Environment, Government of Sweden, stressed that planning must be context-specific and local.   Rajib Shaw, Associate Professor, Kyoto University, Japan, underlined the importance of developing Adaptation as a subject for higher education.
   
   
 
   
Damdin Davgadorj, Mongolian Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, Mongolia, said his country is in urgent need of international funding, technology and capacity building.   The Market Place booths attracted tremendous interest from the participants at the Second Asia Pacific Adaptation Forum at Bangkok, on Monday.   Keith Alverson, Head of Climate Change Adaptation and Terrestrial Ecosystems Branch and Climate Change Adaptation Unit, UNEP HQs, Kenya, said he was here at the Forum to learn from all the projects in the region.
   
   
 
   
Johan Kuylenstierna, Executive Director Designate, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden   A view of the participants at the Forum   Bindu Lohani, , stressed on the importance of building resilience to climate change during his keynote address at the opening plenary
   
   
Second Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum: Day 1 in Brief
 
This web highlight is a partnership product of the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Knowledge Platform for Asia and Mangroves for the Future (MFF), through Ms. Janalezza Morvenna A. Esteban, MFF Regional Knowledge Management Officer Asia.