PAI Innovations in the Social Dimensions of Climate Resilience Examples from Malawi, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and the Caribbean

Roger-Mark De Souza March 18, 2013

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC

Malawi: Media Briefing on PAI - AFIDEP research

Philippines: Nexus Film – linking RH, population and climate

PAI’s training module – part of UN: Climate Change Learning Portal

Bangladesh: District policymakers taking action to integrate population into climate plans

Trinidad and Tobago: Sans Souci community members who are leading adaptation initiatives

Three Key Points

• Family planning matters for climate change adaptation

• Innovative approaches are having an impact: – Malawi, Bangladesh, Philippines, and the Caribbean

• There are concrete opportunities to build on this momentum

What is PAI’s Strategy?

At PAI, we believe that in a planet with continued population growth, efficiency gains and technology alone will not mitigate the negative impacts of climate change nor allow the most vulnerable to adapt to those changes. Accounting for population dynamics in climate change policies will slow population growth, empower the most vulnerable to become more climate resilient, and support development paths that reduce emissions.

Source: USAID, Building Resilience to Recurrent Crisis: USAID Policy and Program Guidance. Washington, DC. Dec. 2012.

This Supports Other Approaches to Resilience

USAID policy and program Guidance

Family Planning/Reproductive Health Can Help Build Resilience

• FP/RH crucial for development – Fundamental human right with large-scale

benefits – Speed up demographic transition – Slower population growth will buy time to

promote education, technology – Achieve windows of opportunity for demographic

dividend and rapid economic growth – Increase resilience and adaptive capacity

Malawi: Building Policy Advocacy

“Governments in the continent have to be in the forefront to study the climate change phenomena and advocate for better policies for women …(there is) a need to empower them in climate change adaptation processes.” — Lingalireni Mihowa, Special Advisor to the (Vice) President, Malawi

Delivering our report to the Vice President of Malawi

Bangladesh: Leveraging Local and National Action

Community engagement and mobilization in most vulnerable areas

Policy engagement: Member of Parliament is introducing parliamentary debate, and sub-district leadership councils are integrating pop and climate

New partners and advocates: Bangladesh’s leading climate negotiator and Bangladeshi world leader on climate and development

High level briefing on population and climate at the National Press Club, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Nov 2012

“Bangladesh can be a world leader in providing

critical services for women in the face of climate

vulnerability…”

Bangladesh’s leading climate negotiator, Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad

10

• New Reproductive Health law • New film: Nexus – RH, Population and Climate • State of Philippines Population Report • Local Government Unit (Hindang, Leyte)

enacted a PHE ordinance

The Philippines: New Developments

PhilDHRRA

Local Government Accountability and Tracking

• Appraise, monitor and assess plans and budgets on Gender/RH/FP and Climate adaptation

• Challenges: – Capacity – Building trust – Documentation

PhilDHRRA - Philippine Partnership for the

Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas

Examples of “transparency boards” – documenting budget allocations and spending for local government units

Goals of SIDS CBA Program: • Improve communities’ adaptive

capacity • Provide concrete ground-level

experience of local climate change adaptation

• Scale up through mainstreaming with national policies

• Program duration: 2011- 2016 • Includes the Caribbean, Indian,

Atlantic and Pacific Islands (38 countries)

• US$2,550,000 allocated for Caribbean CBA projects

• Total program budget = US$5,475,463

The Caribbean (Small Island Developing States): Community Based Adaptation

Roger S. Pulwarty is a scientist from Trinidad and Tobago who contributed to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 jointly held with Al Gore

Sans Souci community members, Trinidad and Tobago

Vulnerability Reduction Assessment

• VRA meetings are held 3 times over the course of the project

• VRA score for one meeting is consists of average of scores

• By end of project, VRA score should be higher reflecting improved adaptive capacity

• VRA, quantitative and capacity analysis, and population analysis

• Participatory mapping • Gender mainstreaming • Climate change

framework for the region

• Application across small island developing states

Participatory 3D model made through ‘mental mapping’, Tobago 2012

High Vulnerability: Outcomes for Islands

Future Opportunities: Build on Recent Achievements

Malawi: incorporate population and climate change into emerging policies that are being drafted

Bangladesh: Support national framework and local governance for integrating gender into climate change adaptation plans

The Philippines: Capitalize on PHE framework and momentum for incorporating climate change

The Caribbean: Support the CBA small grants program through technical assistance

Programmatic: PAI leading population track at international Community Based Adaptation conference

Partnerships: Seeking further engagement with key development and environment groups on climate and gender policies and programs