Managing the National Communications Process

1

• Managing the National Communications Process
• UNFCCC Workshop on Exchange of Experiences and
  Good Practices among NAI Countries in Preparing
  NCs
• 20-22 September 2007, Cairo, Egypt
• Yamil Bonduki
• UNDP

2
The SNC is a reporting tool at the international
level a policy tool at the national level
Successful implementation of the SNC will

• Enhance technical and institutional capacity on
  climate change at the national level
• Facilitate integration of climate change
  responses into national development priorities
• Provide substantive inputs to policy-makers to
  address climate change concerns
• Further enhance public awareness of climate
  change
• Generate knowledge and disseminate information on
  climate change at different levels of the society

3
Management of the SNC process is an active,
ongoing role
Use project milestones to adjust SNC processes
1. SNC objectives/outcomes
2. Scope of work planned
3. Stakeholder engagement
4. Technical knowledge
5. Communication of results
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The inception workshop should provide parameters
for SNC
1. SNC objectives/outcomes Use project inception
workshop to plan milestones, and establish
expectations and desired outcomes.

• Possible workshop objectives
• refine national institutional arrangements
• identify potential linkages to national
  development planning
• identify stakeholders to be engaged during SNC
  preparation
• outline longer-term activities (e.g. awareness
  raising, ME)
• agree technical and policy-relevant objectives
  for SNC

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Establish systems and processes during planning
phase
2. Scope of work planned The SNC project
co-ordinator uses the planning phase to establish
systems and rules of procedure for project team.

• Systems serve multiple purposes
• help ensure work is carried out within scope and
  on time
• define roles and responsibilities
• establish rules of procedure to encourage
  consistency and efficiency
• support QA/QC, documentation and archiving
  activities

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Lessons learned
Well-defined roles and responsibilities are
critical

• Expand National Climate Change Committee (e.g.,
  NGOs, private sector, additional Government
  Ministries) to improve collaboration with SNC
  process
• Build on synergies and institutional linkages
  created during National Capacity Self Assessment
  (NCSA)
• Senior political commitment is required if
  climate change to be mainstreamed in governmental
  agenda

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Lessons learned
Documentation archiving create sustainability

• Documentation and archiving are time-consuming,
  but cost-effective in long-run
• Document calculations and structures/processes
• Encourage completeness, consistency,
  comparability, transparency and accuracy
• Minimum QA/QC should include internal review
  procedures and one external peer review

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Identify mechanisms for maintaining stakeholder
engagement throughout the SNC process and beyond
3. Stakeholder engagement For stakeholders to
remain engaged in the process, they must
understand how the SNC relates to them

• Different stakeholder groups may require
  different messages and incentives
• The broader the composition of stakeholders, the
  more opportunities to identify new mainstreaming
  entry points

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SNC technical work should build upon and refine
INC outputs
4. Technical knowledge Technical studies should
have policy relevance and focus on national
priorities /or vulnerabilities

• Encourage sharing of results between thematic
  areas
• SNC project co-ordinator should maintain overview
  of entire process where relationships need to
  be developed
• Leverage results of mitigation and VA studies
  for project formulation and implementation
• Create national action plans that use SNC outputs

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Lessons learned
SNC should set realistic targets and priorities
to ensure quality of technical reports

• Select methods/tools that address research
  questions, data requirements, and technical
  expertise
• Design strategies to address data gaps
• Identify opportunities to strengthen technical
  and institutional capacities

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Promoting the results of the SNC creates awareness
5. Communications of results Promoting the
results of the SNC plays an important role in
raising awareness of climate change issues

• Communications strategy should target government,
  media, key stakeholder groups and the public
• Focus on relevant messages for each audience,
  e.g. policy-relevant outcomes for government
• Highlight linkages between SNC outputs and
  national development planning