Agreement helps Laos tackle effects of climate change

Vientiane Times, 2 Nov 2009

The Asian Development Bank and the Nordic Development Fund will give a
US$2.5 million funding injection to Laos for capacity development in
technical assistance to cope with climate change.

The agreement was signed by Senior Climate Change Specialist of the
Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Division of ADB, Mr
Ancha Srinivasan, and Director General of the Environment Department
of (WREA), Dr Viengsavanh Douangsavanh, in Vientiane yesterday.

Under an agreement from ADB and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), a
technical assistance project will be launched with the aim of
developing the capacity of WREA officials to cope with climate change,
learn adaptation skills and reduce negative impacts.

Support from ADB since 2008 has assisted Laos in preparing a national
strategy and action plan on climate change, which identified a number
of institutional and technical capacity gaps, according to a press
release from ADB.

The project is valued at about US$3 million (of which NDF will provide
US$2.4 million, ADB will provide US$300,000, and the Lao government
will provide US$300,000).

The project will be carried out over a period of 30 months starting
from February 2010 until 2012.

The scheme will involve a number of major outputs, grouped under two
separate but interlinked categories, namely, capacity development and
technical support, and pilot activities on climate change adaptation
in priority sectors.

Core activities under capacity development and technical support
include the assessment of investment and financial flows necessary to
address climate change in the agriculture, water and energy sectors.

A lso included are the provision of technical assistance and policy
support to the National Climate Change Office and eight climate change
technical working groups, and implementation of education, training
and public awareness-raising campaigns, and activities to allow
scaling up and replication of programme outcomes.

Pilot adaptation activities will cover the water, agriculture and
forestry sectors through “learning by doing” and “ecosystem-based
adaptation” approaches.

The expected impact of the project was improved livelihoods and the
climate-resilient development of Laos through reduced vulnerability to
climate change and enhanced adaptive capacity.

By increasing the climate resilience of future plans, programmes,
policies and projects, protection for socially vulnerable groups
against future climate extremes and variability will be enhanced.

T he project aims to take a holistic view of climate change
adaptation, including strengthening the country's access to financial
instruments available under the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, such as the Least Developed
Countries' Fund and Adaptation Fund.

It aims to engage both technical staff and senior decision makers
within government.