EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report documents significant achievements made by 21 of the
55 countries that are conducting climate change country studies with
support from the U.S. Country Studies Program. Some of the work
reported by these countries was also supported by other donors. The
papers from these countries discuss methods and results for
inventories of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, assessments of
climate change vulnerability and adaptive responses, and evaluations
of mitigation options to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases. In
several cases, the papers discuss the preparation of national
communications and public education and outreach activities. The
following countries contributed papers for this report:
Bolivia Malawi
China Mexico
Czech Republic Mongolia
Egypt Peru
Estonia Uruguay
Ethiopia Venezuela
Kazakhstan Zimbabwe
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Panama are working together on a Central American regional
study.
Key findings and conclusions related to climate change policy,
science, and capacity building include:
POLICY
- Many developing countries and countries with economies in
transition have made significant progress with their studies. These
studies are helping countries address their commitments under the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and increasing support for the UNFCCC.
- Programs to support climate change country studies by various
bilateral and multilateral donors are helping to fulfill the UNFCCC's
mandate for the provision of financial and technical assistance from
developed country parties to developing country parties. By 1996,
the U.S. Country Studies Program will have helped 55 countries
complete country studies that address their obligations under the
UNFCCC.
- In many countries, the results of their studies are laying the
foundation for the development of national action plans and national
communications required under the UNFCCC. Developing countries
and countries with economies in transition are considering a wide
range of mitigation and adaptation measures for inclusion in their
national plans.
SCIENCE
- The country studies completed by developing countries and
countries with economies in transition are making important
contributions to the state of scientific knowledge and global
understanding of climate change issues.
- The experiences of the countries conducting country studies
have contributed to the development of commonly accepted,
transparent methodologies. Countries have tested the IPCC Draft
Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 1994) and
are helping to identify possible improvements to these guidelines. In
addition, the studies are helping to develop common methods and
guidelines for vulnerability and adaptation assessments and
mitigation assessments. For instance, the countries participating in
the U.S. Country Study Program are applying common vulnerability
and adaptation and mitigation assessment methods and have helped
prepare methodological handbooks for the program. These guidelines
are in turn helping to lay the foundation for handbooks in
preparation by the IPCC.
- For many developing countries and countries with economies in
transition, climate change could have dramatic impacts on their
economies and natural systems, with the potential in some cases for
rapid deterioration of the livelihood of citizens and irreversible
damage to ecosystems. Coastal, agricultural, water, and forest
resources, as well as biodiversity, are among the most vulnerable
systems. The risks of such damage can be reduced through the
adoption of anticipatory adaptation measures that are flexible and
will help deal both with current climate variability and the potential
impacts of climate change.
- In many developing countries and countries with economies in
transition, measures are available for reducing net emissions of
greenhouse gases at little or no cost. Some countries have already
made significant progress in implementing such measures and
reducing their projected net emissions. For instance, the Czech
Republic has already implemented a series of legislative and
normative measures to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. In
some cases, financial, technical, and institutional barriers must be
overcome before such mitigation measures can be effectively
implemented.
HUMAN AND INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
BUILDING
- Building and maintaining human and institutional capacity to
address climate change issues is an essential ingredient for successful
completion of country studies and strengthening support for the
UNFCCC. Effective studies by developing countries and countries with
economies in transition have established strong counterpart
relationships between large teams of national and international
experts. Building from these working relationships, effective
technical cooperation and technology transfer is achieved through
"hands-on" training activities, transfer of assessment tools,
workshops for countries to share experiences, and ongoing technical
cooperation during the lifetime of the study. In the case of the U.S.
Country Studies Program, large teams of researchers in each country
are receiving training and technical support for the application of up
to 30 different analytical tools and methodologies.
- Effective capacity building also requires countries to involve a
variety of governmental and non-governmental institutions in the
implementation of the study. The studies discussed in this report are
implemented by teams of officials and analysts from a variety of
governmental and non-governmental institutions operating under
the direction of inter-governmental steering committees. These
steering committees have responsibility for the formulation and
implementation of climate change policies.
- Educating the public and governmental officials about climate
change issues is critical to developing and maintaining support for
climate change issues. Such educational and outreach activities
should be designed to be ongoing processes that are integrated with
other current outreach activities.