Submission on Nairobi Work Programme

Submission on “further improving the relevance and effectiveness of the Nairobi Work Programme (NWP) in the light of the Paris Agreement” by the Republic of the Maldives on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States

The Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), welcomes the opportunity to provide views on further improving the relevance and effectiveness of the NWP in the light of the Paris Agreement.

As requested by the SBSTA, this submission considers the following areas in improving the relevance and effectiveness of the NWP:

• How to enhance the engagement of partner organizations with the aim of improving the linkages of their workplans to the themes addressed under the NWP;
• How to ensure that the NWP has delivered on its mandate, on the basis of Parties’ submissions and experience; and
• How to enhance the role of the NWP to be more relevant to the work of the AC and the LEG as well as other constituted bodies and relevant workstreams in the light of the Paris Agreement.How to enhance the engagement of partner organizations with the aim of improving the linkages of their workplans to the themes addressed under the NWPThe most significant activities of the NWP are those undertaken by organisations, institutions, experts and local communities, at their own initiative, in support of the objectives of the NWP. A specific example of this partnership approach is the Private Sector Initiative (PSI), which aims to catalyse the involvement of the private sector in the wider adaptation community.Given this reliance on partnerships to achieve its objectives, there is a natural synergy between the NWP and the Marrakech Partnership for Climate Action. In order not to duplicate efforts and for the NWP to take advantage of the high-level leadership network of the Marrakech Partnership, these two partnership models should explore ways of consolidating their work on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change.As a first step, the SBSTA may wish to request that the secretariat map the work of partners associated with the NWP against those organisations, coalitions and initiatives listed on the NAZCA platform and in the Yearbook of Global Climate Action, which serve as primary drivers for progress within the relevant core thematic areas of the Marrakech Partnership. Bringing the work of NWP partners closer to that of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action should greatly enhance the visibility and momentum around the work of the NWP.

1. How to ensure that the NWP has delivered on its mandate, on the basis of Parties’ submissions and experience

Parties regularly review and provide guidance to the NWP as it implements its work. This oversight, which ensures that the NWP delivers on its mandate, should be sustained. The annual focal point forum provides another opportunity to review the work being implemented under the thematic areas of the NWP. It is therefore a vehicle for measuring how well the NWP is delivering on its mandate. The messages emerging from the annual forum could be broadcast more widely and examined more rigorously by the SBSTA. If, as suggested above, the NWP were to work collaboratively with the Marrakech Partnership for Climate Action, its work could be included in the bi-annual assessment and gap analysis that will be conducted by the Climate Action Collaboration Forum. This would help ensure that the work of the NWP complements that of the Marrakech Partnership.

How to enhance the role of the NWP to be more relevant to the work of the AC and the LEG as well as other constituted bodies and relevant workstreams in the light of the Paris Agreement

In the past, upon an invitation by the NWP, both the AC and the LEG have provided recommendations to the NWP for activities to be undertaken in support of their processes. This type of collaboration could and should continue, but may benefit from a more formalised mode of working. For example, the SBSTA may wish to consider establishing a “customer service centre” for the constituted bodies under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, especially the AC and the LEG. This would allow these bodies and their constituents to submit queries and requests for information that could be addressed by partners. An example of this type of forum is RiskTalk, an interactive exchange community on climate change risk transfer under the Insuresilience Global Partnership where relevant experts are available to answer questions that solicit their response via an electronic network.

In the short term, the SBSTA should find ways of involving the NWP more directly in the technical examination process for adaptation (TEP-A) – in advance through the organisation of technical expert meetings (TEMs) by the subsidiary bodies, during their operation by the Adaptation Committee and afterward in responding to outcomes, including through the annual technical paper and summary for policy makers. Recognising that in the past the NWP has made suggestions to the AC for topics to be considered in the TEP-A, closer involvement of the NWP could be facilitated by ensuring that NWP partner organisations are members of the Adaptation Committee’s working group to advance work on the TEP-A. While the TEP-A is scheduled to end in 2020, the issues raised and discussed during the TEMs should fuel a longer-term agenda of emerging issues for the NWP to consider.

In addition to working more closely with the AC and the LEG, NWP partner organisations should also consider working with the Paris Committee on Capacity-building and other capacity-building initiatives under the Convention and Paris Agreement to help build the capacity of developing country Parties to formulate their adaptation communications and begin to implement their national adaptation plans.

In its September 2017 review of the work of adaptation-related institutional arrangements under the Convention, the AC made detailed recommendations for enhancing coherence in the work of

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adaptation-related institutional arrangements (AC, LEG and NWP). Where relevant, the SBSTA should consider taking up these recommendations as it plans the future work of the NWP.

Conclusion

AOSIS has expressed its overarching views on the NWP in past submissions on file with the secretariat. For the NWP to be as effective as possible, AOSIS reiterates that its work must be based on demand – from Parties ,as well as from bodies under the Convention and the Paris Agreement.