Title: U.S. International Climate Change Initiatives Dr. Toral Patel-Weynand U.S. Department of State
1U.S. International Climate Change Initiatives
Dr. Toral Patel-Weynand U.S. Department of State
- UNFCCC Workshop on the Preparation of National
Communications from non-Annex I Parties - Manila, Philippines
- April 30, 2004
2Opening Remarks
- I want to thank the UNFCCC for the opportunity
to talk about U.S.s climate change bilateral
activities, especially its capacity building
activities.
3International Bilateral Cooperation
- Since September 2001, the U. S. has revitalized
or initiated 13 formal bilateral relationships
with Japan, European Union (EU), Italy,
Australia, and Canada, New Zealand, and Russia
among the developed countries as well as Central
American Countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Panama), China, India, Republic of Korea, Mexico,
and South Africa among the developing countries. - While each of these bilateral relationship is
unique, there is a common interest in advancing
climate change science and technology.
4Bilateral Initiatives
- Some Examples
- U.S. - Japan High Level Consultation
- U.S. - Australia Climate Action Partnership
- U.S. - New Zealand Climate Partnership
- U.S. - India Bilateral on Climate Change
- U.S. - Canada Climate Change Bilateral
5Japan
- The HLC was established on June 30, 2001. 13
projects were selected for priority
implementation under the Science and technology
working group. These projects include
improvements of climate models, impacts and
adaptation/mitigation policy assessment employing
emission-climate-impact integrated models
observation and international data exchange and
quality control, research on GHG sinks including
LULUCF research on polar regions and
development of mitigation and prevention
technologies
6Australia
- The CAP Joint statement issued in February 2002
focuses on practical approaches toward dealing
with climate change and on such issues as
emissions measurement and accounting, climate
change science, stationary energy technologies,
engagement with business to create economically
efficient climate change solutions, agriculture
and land management and collaboration with
developing countries to build capacity to deal
with climate change. - 19 projects in addition to 10 initiatives in the
agriculture and forestry sectors under which the
CASGMS group is active
7New Zealand
- Joint statement on collaboration was issued in
October of 2003. - July of 2003 collaboration on 26 projects was
agreed to and project implementation is in
progress. CASGMS is also a very active
participant under this agreement under the
land-use change priority area.
8India
- US India joint statement was announced in June
2002. There are 18 projects under this agreement.
There is a strong emphasis on technology under
this agreement.
9Canada
- The agreement came into force in March 2007.
Both countries are continuing to work closely to
move projects under the different priority areas
towards implementation phase. - These are just some highlights additional
information on these agreements is available at
www.state.gov/g/oes/climate
10Bi-lateral Climate Change Initiatives
- Under the Climate Change Partnerships discussed
above and under our bilateral efforts globally,
we have engaged in a number of initiatives that
specifically focus on capacity building in a
number of countries. - Examples are provided in the following slides.
11Famine Early Warning (FEWS Net)
- Budget 6 million (FY02) and 6 million (FY03)
- Partners NOAA NASA
- Start Date 2000
- Purpose To provide decision-makers with the
information to effectively respond to drought and
food insecurity. FEWS NET analyzes remote sensing
data and ground-based meteorological, crop, and
range-land observations to track progress of
rainy seasons in semi-arid regions of Africa to
identify early indications of potential famine.
12Drought Monitoring Center-Nairobi (DMCN)
- Budget 900k (FY02) and 651k (FY03)
- Partners NOAA, WMO, IRI
- Start Date July 2002
- Purpose To improve climate monitoring,
prediction and applications, and early warning of
climate related disasters in support of regional
disaster preparedness and other sustainable
development objectives in Greater Horn of Africa
(GHA).
13Drought Monitoring Center (DMCH) - Harare, and
Regional Remote Sensing Unit (RRSU)
- Budget 450k (FY02) and 651k (FY03)
- Partners NOAA, IRI, WMO, Southern African
Development Community (SADC) - Start Date FY02
- Purpose To improve multi-sector, short- and
long-term climate risk management and emergency
response to climate variability throughout the
Southern Africa region. The focus is to
strengthen long-term regional capacity to
understand, monitor, predict, plan for and
respond to hydro-climatic impacts in sensitive
sectors and provide timely operational climate
information to better manage risks and potential
climate shocks under current regional conditions
of elevated disaster risk.
14Climate Monitoring/Information Dissemination
- Budget 950k (FY02) and 950k (FY03)
- Partners NOAA
- Start Date 1997
- Purpose To mitigate drought, flood and severe
storm disasters through geographically targeted
climate-forecasting applications in combination
with other climate and sector-specific
information such as observations and historical
perspectives.
15African Center for Meteorological Applications
Development (ACMAD)
- Budget 300k (FY03)
- Partners NOAA, University of Oklahoma
- Start Date June 1999
- Purpose Support for ACMAD, which coordinates and
manages RANET, a program that broadcasts
weather-related data via radio and internet to
farmers.
16Climate Forecast Applications for Disaster
Mitigation in Asia
- Budget 700k in FY03
- Partners Relevant government agencies, NGOs,
academicians, emergency response and management
entities, community groups - Start Date October 2001 with up to a five-year
duration - Purpose To mitigate hydro-meteorological
disaster through climate forecast applications in
vulnerable countries in Asia.
17Extreme Climate Events in Asia
- Budget 240,000 (FY02)
- Partners NOAA
- Start Date 1998 and will end in March 2003
- Purpose To improve the understanding of the
impacts of extreme climate events in selected
Asian countries and to reduce the disaster
impacts of such events through application of
climate forecast information.
18Climate Forecasting and Applications for
Bangladesh
- Budget 458k (FY02) and 308k (FY03)
- Partners NOAA/OGP, Asian Disaster Preparedness
Center (Bangkok), International Research Group
for Climate Prediction (IRI), European Center for
Medium Range Weather Forecasts. - Start Date 9/26/00
- Purpose To develop a comprehensive
flood-forecasting technology for Bangladesh, then
to utilize the forecasts for relevant
applications.
19Development of a Flood Early-Warning System in
Vietnam
- Budget 280k (FY02) and 250k (FY03)
- Partners UNDP
- Start Date 6/00
- Purpose to develop a flood early-warning system
in seven flood-prone provinces of central
Vietnam.
20Development of a Coastal Storm Early-Warning
System in Vietnam
- Budget 480k (FY02) and 500k (FY03)
- Partners UNDP
- Start Date 5/01
- Purpose to implement a radio-and pager-based
storm early-warning system for fishing boats at
sea in all 25 coastal provinces in Vietnam.
21Trans-Boundary River Forum
- Budget 100k (FY02) and 100k (FY03)
- Partners International Center for Integrated
Mountain Development, NOAA and USGS - Start Date
- Purpose To support a regional forum to share
forecasting and flood-related information. This
forum brings together decision-makers and
technical personnel from countries in South Asia
to share information related to flood disasters
in the region, and broader trans-boundary water
issues.
22Community-Based Disaster Preparedness in South
Asia
- Budget 500k (FY03)
- Partners
- Start Date October 2002
- Purpose To offer funding for flood-related
community preparedness programs in flood-prone
districts in South Asia.
23Development of Flood-Forecasting in the Mekong
River Basin
- Budget 75k (FY02) and 75k (FY03)
- Partners NOAA , USGS
- Start Date
- Purpose To provide technical assistance to
enhance flood prediction and dissemination
capacity.
24Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI)
Guatemala Flood Mitigation
- Budget 100K in FY02
- Partners USGS and US Army Corps of Engineers
- Start Date March 2001 - September 2002
- Purpose To develop long term management
strategies by developing hydrologic models of the
Villalobos River and Watershed to minimize
impacts of future extreme flood events.
Development of the models uses hydrologic,
climatic, and landscape data of the region from
1988 to 1998 (pre-Hurricane Mitch) to evaluate
alternative management scenarios.
25Bolivia Flood Mitigation
- Budget 170k (FY02)
- Partners CARE Bolivia
- Start Date TBD
- Purpose To mitigate future flood damage in the
La Paz River basin. The project focuses on
activities in Rio Abajo, a tributary to Rio La
Paz where torrential rains in February, 2002
generated a series of mortal consequences in the
capital city and the communities located in the
La Paz River basin.
26Hydro-met Hazard Mitigation
- Budget 117,500 (FY02)
- Partners NOAA, USGS
- Start Date ongoing
- Purpose This program provides technical
assistance for flood early warning, preparedness,
response, and mitigation in Asia. It provides
technical assistance to partners (like the Mekong
River Commission) in developing monitoring and
modeling systems taking advantage of satellite
data, GIS, and hydrologic modeling, as well as
short term assistance related to specific events.
27Improving Capacity in GHG Inventories in Central
America
- Budget
- Partners USEPA, USAID, All Central American
Inventory Teams - Start Date 2003
- Purpose To build sustainable national inventory
systems in each country and to increase the
quality of GHG inventory data inputs, especially
in LUCF, agricultural soils, landfill methane and
enteric fermentation.
28Adaptation to Climate Change in Hermosillo, Mexico
- Budget 200k
- Partners USEPA, INE, UNAM, Colegio de Sonora,
local stakeholders - Start Date 2000
- Purposes 1) Identify and evaluate adaptations to
potential impacts on water resources 2)
Identify, analyze and prioritize adaptation
options and 3) Develop and apply a process for
examining adaptation that could be applied
elsewhere in Mexico.