The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN ... · 23% of the world’s forests and stores...

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The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) supports decision-makers in developing countries to design and deliver climate compatible development.

Our mission is to improve the lives of people most affected by climate change.

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Tableof contents

The Latin America and the Caribbean context 4

The richness of heterogeneity 4

Climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean 4

The challenge – delivering climate compatible development and economic growth 5

CDKN´s approach in Latin America and the Caribbean 6

Where we work 7

Support for middle-income and low-income countries 8

We are "early movers" 9

Regional and sub-national interventions 9

Climate Compatible Development planning as a participatory process 9

Our experience in providing scientific information and innovative tools to support decisionsfor Climate Compatible Development 9

Innovative research in line with policy needs

Research needs identified by regional governments 10

A nexus of securities under threat 10

Local risk assessments and vulnerability studies into practice 10

Tools to tackle climate change 10

Our experience in strengthening institutional capacity 12

Strengthening Institutions 12

Equipping Peru for COP 20 and future climate negotiations 12

Climate finance and negotiations 13

Our experience in planning and implementing Climate Compatible Developmentthrough participation 13

Climate change roadmap and strategy for Caribbean countries 13

Support for Peru to move to a low-emissions economy 14

Linking Climate Compatible Development and green growth in Colombia 14

From planning to implementation of Climate Compatible Development in Cartagena 15

Our experience in knowledge and partnerships for Climate Compatible Development 15

Smart communications strategies 15

Making climate science and research findings accessible 15

Collaboration and innovation 15

Sharing our own learning 16

Support of existing networks 16

Better informed decision-makers and journalists 16

Online climate and development knowledge brokers 18

Our website and social networks 18

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The richness of heterogeneity

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (often referred to as the LAC region) vary greatly in terms of size, economic development, natural resources, and social and cultural composition. For instance, a bird’s eye view of the region’s landscape reveals great heterogeneity: large green and brown patches of forest, such as the Amazon basin; blue and crystal-green waters, from the Caribbean Ocean to Lake Titicaca; long, serpentine rivers such as the Amazon; vast mountain ranges like the Andes; and expansive deserts such as the Atacama. The region’s richness in natural resources is also well known. It holds 23% of the world’s forests and stores one third of global carbon in these ecosystems. It has 31% of global fresh water and 6 of the 17 more mega-diverse countries of the world.

From an economic perspective, LAC is the most unequal region in the world in terms of income distribution . In fact, the region has one of the seven largest economies in the world – Brazil – while Haiti is one of the 20 poorest countries worldwide . Likewise, Chile and Mexico are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development while some small islands in the Caribbean face huge developmental challenges.

The Latin Americaand the Caribbean context

6 CLIMATE COMPATIBLE DEVELOPMENTIN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

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Climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional emissionsIt was estimated that in 2010, LAC emitted 4.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) as greenhouse gases (GHG). This was 10.8% of the world’s to-tal emissions that year, which represented a decrease of approximately 11% since the beginning of the 21st century. During the same period, regional gross domes-tic product grew by 3%. The decline in emissions is attributed to a decreased rate of deforestation and improvements in energy efficiency . In contrast to much of the world, most LAC emissions do not come from energy use but from land use, land-use change and forestry and agriculture. This is changing, however; the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased by 67% since 2004, and by one third in Central America since the mid 1990s. If this trend continues, there will be significant and lasting emissions reductions from land use.

Who are the biggest emitters? While most LAC countries are small emitters of GHGs, the region also contains several large carbon emitters. These are typically countries with high rates of de-forestation and economies based on intensive carbon use. Brazil was the largest source of emissions in LAC in 2005 (52%), followed by Mexico (12%), Venezuela (8%) and Argentina (7%).

The effects of climate changeThe most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 2013 indicates that in recent decades, changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans – including LAC. For instance, there have been changes (high confidence) in stream flow and water avail-ability in the River Plate basin, which spans Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This is linked to the retreating of the Andean glaciers, which affects the sea-sonal distribution of stream flows and changes in surface water run-off in the basin. The Central Andes have seen changes in rainfall (high confidence) .

Elsewhere, climate change is altering coastal and marine ecosystems, with man-grove degradation due to climate change observed on the north coast of South America, for example. Changes in weather and climatic patterns are also nega-tively affecting human health in Latin America, through increasing morbidity, mor-tality and disabilities (high confidence) and through the emergence of diseases in new areas (high confidence).

The challenge- delivering climate compatibledevelopment and economic growth

Confronting development and climate changeInstead of presenting climate change as a barrier to development we should be incorporating it into decision-making processes for all sustainable devel-opment agendas. Instead of blaming different economies for the current cli-mate situation, we should turn our efforts towards a better understanding of the different options for moving forward with sustained development under a changing climate.

LAC is home to 595 million people ,living in 42 countries that are

distributed over 20.4 million km² .After almost

two decades of regular growth, 34% of the

population is middle-class; 25.3% is still

under the moderate poverty line (Purchasing

Power Parity: US$4/day) ; and 38% are still

vulnerable and risk sliding back into poverty .

Urbanisation has been a common trend in

recent decades with 78% of the region’s

population now living in cities .

7Stories of change from CDKN

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Framing this challenge in the LAC context, we see that after a period of constant economic growth in the region – between 2003 and 2012, where the region’s economies grew at rates greater than 5% on average – projections in 2015 indi-cate a shift in this trend, with annual economic growth in the region expected to by 0.5% .

Within this context, CDKN encourages countries to change perspective through innovative approaches for putting climate compatible development into practice, while taking national circumstances into consideration. Climate compatible de-velopment is a ‘development first’ approach that “minimises the harm caused by climate impacts, while maximising the many human development opportunities presented by a low-emissions, more resilient future” .

The basis for low-emission development Some LAC countries have made interesting steps forward with low-emissions development (LED) pathways at national, sub-nation and sectorial levels. Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru have started to prepare national LED strategies (known as LEDS). Brazil is leading in the preparation of urban LEDS and Costa Rica is developing a LEDS for livestock, to cover 70% of livestock herds in the next 10-15 years. Meanwhile, Peru has committed to zero net emissions in the land use, land-use change and forestry sectors by 2021. Interesting progress in the transport sector has also been identified in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

In other sectors, Chile aims to generate 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 while Mexico has a renewables target of 35% by 2024 . The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) has committed to implementing an energy policy that supports its members in the transition to renewable energy sources.

Commitments to reducing green house gas emissions and vulnerability before COP21By 24 November 2015, 149 Intended National Contributions (INDCs) has been submitted to the United Nations ahead of the 21 Conference of the Parties (COP21). This represented 176 of all member countries of the United Nations Framework Con-

vention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which together account for almost 95,5% of global emissions . This included 19 countries in the LAC region. Brazil and Costa Rica have made the strongest commitments, promising reductions of 43% and 25% of their emission respectively compared to 2007 and 2010. The rest of the LAC countries promised reductions based on their projected emission in 2030. Some of the com-mitments are conditional on international financial support, and some are dependant on the country´s own capacity to make these changes.

CDKN is working in the region since 2010 and as an Alliance is represented in LAC through Fundacion Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA) based in Quito, Ecuador. FFLA acts as the Regional Office coordinating all the programs and projects in LAC. CD-KN’s so far has invested £2.27 millon in projects in priority countries and also at the regional level.


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CDKN´s approach in Latin America and the Caribbean

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Wherewe workWe have concentrated our work on four priority countries, where we have specific goals in place to achieve climate compatible development:

Region or country and CDKN’s goal

Colombia The Government of Colombia has succeeded in mainstreaming climate change into development policy and planning, through the provision of targeted assistance that promotes climate compat-ible development in sectors and territories.

El SalvadorPromote institutional readiness at governmental level, national and subnational, to mainstream climate change and contribute to create an enabling environment for policy implementation and risk management with increased involvement by the private sector.

PeruCDKN aims to contribute to Peru´s sustainable development through a long-term transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy by mainstreaming climate change in Peru's national public agenda, integrating Climate Compatible Development in a gender sensitive way, into eco-nomic and strategic plans; and promoting public and private investment in implementation.

The CaribbeanHas implemented a common regional agenda for CCD through strengthened regional leadership, improved understanding of the evidence base, a one-stop mechanism for coordinating climate finance, and the application of risk-based investment decision support tools.

CDKN has also worked at the regional level in the Caribbean, the Amazon and Andes.

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Support for middle-income and low-income countries

Due to the heterogeneity of the LAC region, it has been important for CDKN to keep a balanced portfolio of pro-grammes that support countries with different income levels and guarantee a diverse range of impacts. Our in-terventions in countries where high development levels have resulted in stronger state governance structures (e.g. Colombia and Peru), financial support from CDKN has sup-ported the generation of information used in several policy frameworks, instruments and processes. These have included:• Early interventions in innovative climate compatible development approaches• A broad range of actions within more structured pro-cesses (e.g. data generation, its use in transformation processes, and its use in decision-making processes)• Creating an environment of trust to that supports public and private leverage for supported processes and innova-tive approaches.

In countries with lower income levels or less well-devel-oped governance structures (e.g. El Salvador), our support has focused on strengthening institutions and governance structures. This is the basis for increasing knowledge, rais-ing awareness and improving their capacities so that insti-tutions and actors are prepared to deal with climate change issues, projects and processes. The impacts in these coun-tries have required sustained investment. A further chal-lenge in these countries has been helping decision-makers to shape their demands in terms of the research and tech-nical assistance they need to move towards climate com-patible development.

We have adopted several approaches in our work in LAC, explained in the following paragraphs.

We are ‘early movers’Since CDKN responds to direct demands from governments, our interventions have resulted in concrete outcomes that support of climate-compatible policy frameworks, methodologies and tools. Being an ‘early mover’ has meant investing and supporting innovative ideas. It has involved ‘learning by doing’ and allowing for flexible approaches that change according to evolving needs. This approach also could leverage funds of initial investments in climate compatible develop-ment by local governments and private sectors.

Regional and sub-national interventionsWe work at a range of levels, but focus mainly at the regional and sub-national level. We recognise the importance of identifying key pilot areas where we can scale projects up and out. In particular, we have an important portfolio of projects working in Andean and coastal cities and regions.

Climate compatible development planning as a participatory processCivil society participation is an important feature in our work in the region and has contributed to building several legitimate processes. Promoting multi-sec-torial and multi-stakeholder participatory processes should be an integral com-ponent of any climate compatible development programme in LAC (see ‘ Plan-ning and implementing climate compatible development through participation’, page 15).

Because climate compatible development policies and processes have longer-term targets, it is necessary to develop broader constituencies of support beyond the decision-makers currently in political office: so that a country’s or society’s commitment to climate compatible development outlives the cycle of elections and changes in government. This can involve systematic efforts to involve a wide range of actors in debating and sharing best practice on climate compatible de-velopment in participatory platforms, as well as broader outreach efforts in com-munities and the public at large.

One of the challenges that LAC countries face is that there are few technical or human resources to generate information on how climate change will affect them. CDKN has supported them to develop context-specific, high-quality research that contributes to more informed decision-making regarding climate-related policies. This kind of evi-dence has been instrumental in bringing other economic sectors and social actors into discussions on climate compatible development.

Innovative research in line with policy needsPersistent climate-related and environmental hazards and repeated natural disasters

– many of them unrecorded – deplete the livelihoods and assets of poor urban people living in marginal urban neighbourhoods in Lima, Peru’s capital city. This makes it harder for them to recover from subsequent disaster events, and they become caught


Our experience in providing scientific information and innovative tools to support decisions for Climate Compatible Development

in ‘risk traps’ from which it is hard to escape. The research project ‘Disrupting urban ‘risk traps': Bridging finance and knowledge for climate-resilient infrastructure plan-ning in Lima’ explores how environmental hazards and small-scale disasters affect people.

Research needs identified by regional governmentsThe small island nations in the Caribbean are among the most vulnerable in the world to extreme weather events and sea level rise. Their economies are also heavily de-pendent on imported fossil fuels. CDKN has been working in the Caribbean since 2010, supporting the needs of the 18 Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) nations through various research projects.

• The Caribbean Research Call emerged as a demand-driven response to the research needs identified in the Regional Climate Change Implementation Plan, with the aim of commissioning high-quality, innovative research to provide the Caribbean with a sound evidence base for future climate change mitigation and adaptation interven-tions. Subsequently, five research projects in Belize, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago were selected and implemented by CDKN and its Caribbean partners.• The Supporting risk-based decision-making in the Caribbean project started in 2012 and runs until the end of 2015. It has addressed gaps in climate-model projections by providing locally relevant information on the impacts of climate change on weather for a range of time horizons. The project provided training for Caribbean-based tech-nical staff in the use of weather information, helped them build up support networks, and developed a web service to provide information on weather scenarios.• Global Islands’ Vulnerability Research, Adaptation, Policy and Development is a two-year research project on community adaptation to climate change in four Small Is-land Developing States, two in the Caribbean (Saint Lucia and Jamaica) and two in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius and the Seychelles). It seeks to understand the multiple social, economic, governance and environmental conditions that shape vulnerability and capacity to adapt to climate change.

These projects have addressed major knowledge gaps and strengthened the evi-dence base for future climate change mitigation and adaptation policies in the region. They produced more than 30 different outputs, including case studies, scientific pa-

pers, tools, reports and videos. They also helped to build the capacity of technical staff in modelling and scenario planning, brought together policy-makers and researchers, and built research, modelling and writing capacity for the latter

A nexus of securities under threat The Amazon River basin’s abundant natural resources underpin water, energy, food and health security for the people and economies of the region and far beyond. At the heart of this nexus of securities is water. So abundant in the region, it is now under in-creasing threat as industrial and agricultural pollution increases, and extreme droughts reveal once-unthinkable water vulnerability. Climate change will multiply these threats, as increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent and intense extreme events further affect water, energy, food and health security.

This calls for a new security agenda for the Amazon region. This should focus not only on national security in a traditional sense, but also strengthen the fundamental underpinnings of a flourishing society – sustained access to water, energy, food and good health for all.

To illustrate this agenda, CDKN supported the Amazonia Security Agenda project. This aims to put climate change at the centre of the development agenda and de-termine the multiplier effect that climate change has on existing risks to food, water, energy and health security in Amazonian regions in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Local risk assessments and vulnerability studies into practiceCDKN LAC is a leader in the production of risk assessments and vulnerability studies at different geographical scales (cities, regions and departments) and sectors and they can help decision-makers shape future policies. CDKN is supporting these im-portant processes in several places, as the following examples outline.

In Cartagena, a hub of Colombia’s economy but also one of the five most climate-vulnerable cities in the country, CDKN worked with the Marine and Coastal Research Institute (known locally as INVEMAR) to develop the first climate change vulnerability assessment for a coastal city that incorporates environmental, economic, social and


institutional perspectives in the country. This fed into adaptation guidelines for Cartagena’s main economic sectors and was used in local and sectorial planning tools. It also laid the foundations for the formulation of Plan 4C: A Competitive and Climate Compatible Cartagena (Cartagena Competitiva y Compatible con el Clima in Spanish), which made Cartagena the first coastal city in Colombia to have an adaptation plan built in a participative way that in-cluded several sectors (see page 16).

Specifically targeting the agriculture sector, CDKN supported the first multidimensional vul-nerability analysis in Colombia, supported by the International Centre of Tropical Agricultural (known locally as CIAT), the National Centre of Coffee Research (known as CENICAFE) and the universities of Cauca and Caldas. The Adaptation, Vulnerability and Agriculture project pro-duced a complex model that considered eight crops, five departments and 99 municipalities in Colombia’s Alto Cauca region. This robust analysis is now being used for other regions and the further development of adaptation models for the agricultural sector.

Quito in Ecuador has varied a climate and ecosystems, influenced by its location amid the val-leys of the inter-Andean mountains, and great social and productive diversity. However, these attributes are at risk of being affected as a result of vulnerability to major changes in the local climate. Faced with these impacts, the Metropolitan District of Quito designed the Quito Climate Change Strategy, which was approved in October 2009. The municipality later recognised the need for a more accurate measure of climate change risk. Following a joint analysis, CDKN and the Secretariat of Environment agreed to develop a vulnerability study and implementing an ac-tion plan. Since then, we have been working with the Metropolitan District of Quito on the design and implementation of feasible measures to help reduce the vulnerability of five strategic sectors: water, health, agriculture, ecosystems and risks. The project Pilot Measures for Adaptation to Cli-mate Change in the Metropolitan District of Quito seeks to identify, prioritise, develop and imple-ment adaptation measures that reduce the climate vulnerability of natural and human attributes and generate benefits for the population of Quito. As part of the initial vulnerability study, CDKN is supporting an vulnerability assessment for the municipality’s health sector, concentrating on five tropical diseases (leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, malaria, dengue fever and chikungunya) and determining which factors affect their distribution.

In Belize, CDKN supported a climate change vulnerability assessment for the country’s tour-ism sector. This focused on the coastal ecosystems on which tourism largely depends, and

examined how current policies facilitate or hinder climate-compatible tourism development, based on healthy coastal ecosystems.

Tools to tackle climate changeScientific research tailored at specific needs and contexts has to be transformed into practical tools to tackle the impacts of climate change and support effective decision-making. CDKN has assisted with the creation of such tools in LAC.

Studies in La Paz, Lima and Quito show that the availability of water resources is declining due to the retreat of the An-dean glaciers, on which the cities rely. CDKN, together with the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), supported the development of specific tools to assess these cities carbon footprints (CF) and water footprints (WF) at the city lev-els. Using these tools, municipal governments were able to implement climate change strategies and have provided with relevant information to define CF and WF reduction targets in each city. Following this successful project, CAF has received more than 20 expressions of interest to apply these tools more widely and CDKN is now supporting a next phase in three new cities: Guayaquil (Ecuador), Fortaleza (Brazil) and Santa Cruz (Bolivia).

In the Caribbean, CDKN supported the development of the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation TooL (CCORAL), a web-based tool designed to help decision-makers in the Caribbean integrate climate resilience into their decision-making and planning processes. The Caribbe-an Community Climate Change Centre (also known as 5Cs) developed this tool following a thorough consultation pro-cess that involved significant inputs from across the region.


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Strengthening institutionsWe have learned that strengthening institutions is one of the first steps to addressing climate change. This is a challenge in LAC, as there is a lack of technical and financial resources for countries to be ready for climate change. It is also an opportunity, how-ever. CDKN has provided institutional support in several countries.

In El Salvador, the institutional capacity to address the challenges of climate change has been severely weakened by the recent civil war. Capacity-building in the public sector has therefore been a priority for post-conflict reconstruction. CDKN is sup-porting the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador (MARN) to increase knowledge and improve capacities around climate compatible devel-opment-related issues in relevant government institutions and to contribute to the implementation of the recently launched National Climate Change Plan (NCCP).

In Colombia, CDKN supported the development of the Adaptation Plan for the Trans-port Sector (known as Plan Vias-CC). This contributed to a critical roadmap to build knowledge on the climate vulnerability of the country’s roads, promote the long-term competitiveness of the transport sector, and strengthen the sectors’ capacity to main-stream adaptation into the planning, design, operation and maintenance of its road infrastructure. This process should now guide the construction of more climate-re-silient infrastructure. In particular, it is a key document for the government, which is beginning the most ambitious investment programme for roads in Colombia’s history,

which involves promoting fourth-generation road concessions with an investment of US$18.3 billion and modernising the main highways.

Equipping Peru for COP20 and future climate negotiationsRunning the COP presidency and making sure there are sound results from the ne-gotiations is no easy task. This was the case for Peru, which is holding the presi-dency from December 2014 to December 2015. CDKN, Ricardo AEA and the Multilat-eral Diplomacy Programme of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research boosted the skills and knowledge of Peruvian climate change negotiators in several ways. For example, members of the Peruvian COP delegation, who are relatively new to UNFCCC processes, received training on how to navigate the talks, find a balance between the different interests and positions of the parties to the UNFCCC, and influ-ence the outcomes.


Our experience in strengthening institutional capacity

Climate finance and negotiationsDeveloping countries need a clear roadmap regarding the type and scale of cli-mate finance they can expect to receive in the coming years. This will be crucial for planning and prioritising climate change projects and programmes. CDKN has strengthened the voice of the most climate-vulnerable countries in LAC in discus-sions about how international climate finance mechanisms will look and operate.

Colombia, for example, is already pursuing three climate change strategies (the National Adaptation Plan, the Low-Carbon Development Strategy and the Nation-al REDD+ Strategy) and has incorporated climate compatible development into its new National Development Plan 2014–2018. Innovative forms of finance must be found to turn these strategies into significant actions and identify the co-benefits. With support from CDKN, the Colombian Government is developing a climate fi-


nance strategy. With this, the country will be able to recognise its finance needs and identify the most appropriate and creative mechanisms to meet these from local, national and international sources of finance. With this information Colom-bia will gradually include climate change in its economy.

CDKN in has extensive experience in catalysing processes and supporting govern-ments in LAC to formulate climate compatible development plans in a participato-ry manner, involving different sectors and institutions. This experience shows that involving the stakeholders affected by climate change gives efforts to plan climate compatible development and climate policies a significantly higher chance of suc-cess. It is critical that stakeholders are enabled and empowered to prioritise their needs early in the development of policies, for example through vigorous public con-sultations and debate. Policies developed in this way are also more likely to win public support and be implemented.

Our experience in planning and implementing climate compatible development through participation


Climate change roadmap and strategy for Caribbean countriesCDKN fostered the development of a climate change strategy and roadmap for action in the Caribbean. Alongside the UK Department for International Development, we partnered with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre to develop these into a detailed Implementation Plan for the Regional Framework for Achieving Devel-opment Resilient to Climate Change. This plan was developed through a consultation process that started on 1 September 2010 and ending on 30 June 2011, and involved national governments, regional institutions, the private sector, civil societies and in-ternational donor agencies.

Support for Peru to move towards a low-emissions economyA participatory process was developed in Peru with the purpose of investigating, analyzing and consulting the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) with the support of CDKN and under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and the technical team of the Planning for Climate Change Project (PlanCC), to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. This process was highly participatory from the begin-ning and included a public consult in July 2015 involving different sectors and regions involving more than 900 representatives from public and private sector, NGO, indig-enous people organizations, academy, youth organizations, women organizations, unions, civil society, and citizens in general. The Peruvian Intended Nationally Deter-mined Contribution was presented on September 26, 2015 within the framework of the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, held in the city of New York.

Linking climate compatible development and green growth in ColombiaEastern Antioquia is one of the most dynamic regions of Colombia, one that includes a mosaic of people, economies, climates and landscapes. Its 26 municipalities have diverse economies. At one end of the spectrum is the booming city of Rionegro, which is becoming a hub of innovation and is home to several large companies, with real estate experiencing rapid growth. However, several municipalities in the region have very low socioeconomic conditions that are experiencing armed conflict; these are seeking very different development options. All these factors made Eastern Antio-quia a strategic region for generating the first plan in Colombia to prepare for climate change and transition the green economy, using a participatory process. This plan will unite the sometimes-confusing concepts of climate compatible development

and green economy; inform decision-makers in Colombia to scale this model if it is successful.

From planning to implementation in Cartagena As mentioned earlier (see page 13), CDKN has supported the formulation of Plan 4C, which is based on a participatory process that involved public, private sectors and civil society. At the beginning of this process CDKN and the local municipality fostered the creation of a Multisectoral Committee to engage the main actors in the city. A high level of commitment and appropriation was achieved and the Committee was the force behind defining Plan 4C. This plan provides Cartagena with a roadmap to 2040 that enables the city and its islands to promote and implement combined low-carbon adaptation and development actions. INVEST IN Cartagena, the investment agency of Cartagena, was appointed as the implementing agency and is currently leading the implementation of two of the five main strategies of Plan 4C.

Catalysing knowledge and promoting partnerships is one of the key roles of CDKN. We work closely with our global team and in LAC we have defined our Strategy

Our experience in knowledge and partnerships for climate compatible development

Smart communication in Cartagena

In the case of Plan 4C in Cartagena, the CDKN team

set up a variety of strategic platforms, activities and

messages to reach and inf luence different audiences.

These included the following:

• The Inter-sectorial Committee of Climate Change,

which brings together representatives from public

authorities, the private sector and civil society for

cross-sectorial dialogues that promote the climate

compatible development agenda in the city and

improve knowledge sharing.

• Engagement with the private sector through high-

level dialogues that put climate change on their

agendas.

• Promoting cultural and artistic activities with

youngsters as a way to sensitise and educate them on

climate change.

• Building alliances with national and local media to

help them produce content on climate compatible

development; this has resulted in more than 50 articles

being published in the last four years.

• Development of audiovisuals to promote key work.

For instance, the video about Cartagena de Indias

and Plan 4C was launched in June 2015 and viewed by

1500 in the first weeks of its launch.

on Knowledge and Networks to target and effectively engage audiences through appropriate knowledge management, communications and network strengthen-ing strategies.

Our approaches can broadly be characterised by the following:‘Smart’ communications strategies These are developed at global and regional policy levels in CDKN’s focal coun-tries. We work with our partners to pinpoint who needs what kinds of knowledge and information to support climate compatible development in each country. For this to be effective, it is necessary to understand audience needs and provide appropriate and tailored solutions. Communications and knowledge are being mainstreamed as a cross-cutting activity throughout our work in the region, thus contributing to greater impacts from CDKN’s interventions at national and sub-national levels.

Making climate science and research findings accessibleMaking complex climate science and research findings accessible to the right people, and at the right time, requires clear, compelling communications. At the global level, CDKN identified the need for the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report – which was more than 5,000 pages – to be made accessible and relevant to national-level decision-makers in particular, as well as anyone with an interest in championing climate ac-tion. We developed an online communications toolkit to help people unpack this complex report. This has been visited more than 12,000 times and used by from the media personnel, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and teachers worldwide. Specifically for LAC, we developed a dedicated publication ‘The IPCC’s Fifth Assess-ment Report: What´s in it for Latin America?’ which included infographics to help the audience extract the relevant information for the region. To make more accessible the IPCC AR5, CDKN designed social media campaigns oriented to put this information on the agenda of regional audiences. We designed graphic pieces with the most im-portant messages from the report obtaining good number of interactions. Also, dur-ing the COP20, this Report was shared with different attendees to the event.

Collaboration and innovationBringing people from different sectors together to share their knowledge and best-


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practice experiences can produce locally appropriate climate and development solu-tions. When people meet, they can generate new and deeper understanding of issues and responses. CDKN are experts in facilitating these processes. We run a local-to-global public affairs programme and have unparalleled contacts with government, civil society and the media in our focal countries.

For example, the Action Lab Colombia, held in 2013, brought together more than 65 participants from diverse sectors in the country. They were able to exercise their creativity and innovation by proposing project ideas to meet the goals of the Colombian Climate Change Strategy. This meeting created a network that now includes more than 110 people who work on climate-related initiatives that has been key to generate support for climate compatible development activi-ties in the country. In a similar initiative, we convened the Action Lab Quito in 2015 to bring together representatives from more than 10 countries in the Latin American Platform of Climate Change to design innovative ways of influencing national agendas. Other examples include a workshop held during COP20 in Lima, to which we invited people from different organisations to discuss about key ideas on transformational change.

Sharing our own learning We share experiences about climate compatible development, from CDKN’s own programmes with others. We work with our partners to draw out the lessons learned – good practices and things we could have done better – to deepen peo-ple’s understanding of climate compatible development.

In LAC we have facilitated events to share experiences from our projects and collectively build a knowledge base of good practices. In July 2015, we held a regional LAC learning event called ‘Cities moving forward in addressing climate compatible development in LAC: Finding the treasure in each practice’ in Quito. We brought together project suppliers and government representatives to ex-plore 10 projects in cities and at the sub-regional level, and exchangedexperi-ences, identified challenges and reviewed lessons learned. Events such as this are the basis of a Regional Climate Compatible Development Network, which comprises CDKN’s implementing partners, practitioners, governments and civil

society organisations. This network is helping to address the current climate challenges and identify the needs for addressing climate compatible develop-ment effectively in LAC.

Support for existing networksAs a knowledge network, CDKN believes that it is imperative to strengthen the work that we do with other institutions. We also act as a ‘mentor of networks’, passing on our experience and strengthening others. In LAC, we work closely with several net-works, with the objective of creating synergies and collaboration among them:

• The Latin American Platform on Climate (LAPC) was created in January 2009 thanks to the support of the AVINA Foundation, and gathers 20 civil-society organisations from ten countries of the region (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica and Uruguay). LAPC seeks con-vergence, dialogue and coordination among diverse stakeholders committed to finding answers to the challenges calling for radical changes, which humankind is now facing. The LAPC is leading the construction of a more equitable world that acknowledges the boundaries of nature, to overcome the threat of climate change and construct new ways of living on this planet. CDKN is supporting the platform through a project that focuses in five Latin American countries (Costa Rica, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay) that aims to strengthen civil society capacities and generate an adequate space in order to build national climate change agen-das in a participatory and multi-stakeholder way, with multi-sectoral approaches.• The Regional Centre on Climate Change and Decision-Making is part of an initiative facilitated by an alliance between the AVINA Foundation and the Unit-ed Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ten re-search institutions and NGOs participate and the objective is to develop solu-tions for current and future global sustainability challenges. This pursued through science–policy interface where decision-making is informed by the most reliable and relevant knowledge available from academia and peer-reviewed publications. CDKN their workshops in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and a general symposium in Uruguay.• The Low Emission Development Strategies LAC (LEDS LAC) community of prac-tice brings together leaders from international institutions in the area of low-emis-



sions development in the region. This is part of the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), which began in 2011 and for which CDKN is the global secretariat. LEDS LAC is a platform for exchanging experiences, best practices and lessons learned; capacity-building; and coordination and collabora-tion to form and implement LEDS. Better informed decision-makers and journalistsCDKN LAC worked in identifying and engaging regional investigative journal-ists from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia to better address environ-mental and climate compatible development issues. We identified relevant jour-nalists of the region and created a capacity building programme, giving them the tools to improve their coverage of environmental subjects in the region. At the same time we established a journalistic fund with the aim of promoting in-vestigation on environmental issues. This initiative allowed the elaboration of 11 journalistic investigations published in well-known regional media such as Vistazo Magazine (Ecuador), El Comercio (Peru), Página Siete (Bolivia), Catorce 6, Semana (Colombia) and Infoamazonia (Brasil). Some of these investigations

were presented during the Latin American Conference of Investigative Journal-ism and one of them won the first price on the National Contest of Journal-ism from Ecuador. By improving capacities of regional journalists and promote journalistic investigation on CCD issues, we contributed with creating reliable information for decision makers.Online climate and development knowledge brokersMaking links between online climate and development knowledge portals enables a better user experience. CDKN LAC is against ‘portal proliferation’, whereby there are too many overlapping climate and development websites that overwhelm us-ers. Instead, we help to promote cooperation and streamlining among online climate knowledge portals. We work closely with the Climate Knowledge Brokers Group, an alliance of more than 100 leading global, regional and national knowledge brokers that specialise in climate and development information. This group helps us to have a broader impact in LAC by bringing together a diverse set of information providers, including research institutes, NGOs and good-practice networks, and covering the full breadth of climate-related subjects.

Putting CCD on the map of journalists and media is always a challenge,

mainly because this issues are not part of the national agendas. This context made necessary taking two complementary approaches: capacity building and alliances with media.

In October 2014, before COP 20, CDKN and the UK Embassy in Quito organized a two-day workshop for LAC journalists. This initiative was meant for journalists who were part of the capacity building process that CDKN started in the region in 2013. With the participation of the very well know journalist James Painter as the main expert and leader of the different dynamics, LAC journalists had the opportunity to explore new alternatives and methods to cover not only COP related issues, but climate compatible development subjects. The workshop gathered journalists from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. It is important to mention that these journalists already knew with each other thanks to previous workshops organized by CDKN, which has allowed more exchange of information between them during the last years. During the COP 20, part of the communication strategy involved alliances with main media, working with La Republica Newspaper (the second most important in Peru) and with Poder Magazine (the most important Magazine in Peru). These alliances with media allowed the coverage of relevant information from CDKN related to climate compatible development, through special supplements, which included articles written by CDKN team members as well as journalistic pieces about mitigation alternatives based on the experience of CDKN funded project PlanCC were published during the COP.

We have a strong social media presence in Latin America. A community of more than 75,000 members from allthe region in Facebook.

Our website and social networksCDKN website has a strong global presence with 15,000 visits per month where 50% of the visitors come from developing countries. For Latin America, CDKN website has its own version in Spanish, with tailored content considering the regional projects and the context of the region. This is an effort to create and share information in the official language of most countries in the region. Visiting CDKN website allows you to ac-cess a robust knowledge platform where you can find relevant informa-tion on climate compatible development, in the form of projects detailed information, opinion and featured pieces, news, reports, policy briefs, outlooks, infographics and audio-visual materials. Having in mind the high usage of social media in the region, CDKN LAC has implemented a strong strategy oriented to bring closer to users the most relevant con-tent that CDKN produces as well as the most relevant knowledge about climate compatible development, promoting also the exchange of infor-mation from different sources. CDKN strong presence in Facebook can be seen by the size of its community: 75,000 members from all the re-gion, especially from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, El Salvador and Bolivia. The high rates of interaction on this channel reflects the interest among regional users for climate compatible development information. In the case of Twitter, CDKN LAC has a growing community of 3,500 followers that share our knowledge and information.

References

Reygadas, L (2014). La biblioteca de Babel. Dilemas del conocimiento como bien común en América Latina. Crítica y Emancipación, (12): 297-356, segundo semestre de 2014Pazcuali, V.(2015) “The Poorest Countries in the World.” Global Finance. 4 October 2015. https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/eco-nomic-data/the-poorest-countries-in-the-worldUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2014. About Latin America and the Caribbean. http://www.latinamerica.undp.org/content/rblac/en/home/regioninfo.htmlFAO, 2000. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/lac/indexesp2.stmSocio economic data for Latin America and Caribbean, SEDLAC, 2015. http://sedlac.econo.unlp.edu.ar/eng/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2014. Op. Cit.World Bank, 2015. http://data.worldbank.org/region/LACVergara, W., Rios, A.R., Galindo, L.M., Gutman, P., Isbell, P., Suding, P.H. and Samaniego, J. (2014) El desafío climático y de desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe: opciones para un desarrollo resiliente al clima y bajo en carbono. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.WRI (2012)The IPCC assigns a degree of certainty to each key finding based on the type, amount, quality and consistency of evidence (e.g., data, theory, models, expert judgment), and the degree of agreement among scientists. The terms to describe evidence are: limited, medium or robust; and to describe agreement: low, medium or high.CDKN (2015). The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (2015). What´s in it for Latin America. Executive Summary. London: Climate and Development Knowledge Network.CDKN (2015). Op. cit.World Bank, 2014. “Impacto del Cambio Climático en América Latina y el Caribe: cómo hacer frente a la nueva realidad climática”http://www.bancomundial.org/es/news/speech/2014/12/02/climate-change-impacts-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-con-fronting-the-new-climate-normalEconomic Commission for Latin American and Caribbean (ECLAC). “Latin America and the Caribbean Will Grow Just 0.5% in 2015.”, Press release. http://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/latin-america-and-caribbean-will-grow-just-05-2015Mitchell and Maxwell (2010). Defining climate compatible development CDKN. Policy BriefFuturo Renovable, 2015. http://www.futurorenovable.cl/acera-ernc-llegaran-a-20-de-la-matriz-energetica-en-2020/Secretaria de Energia Mexivo (SENER), 2015. http://www.energia.gob.mx/portal/Default.aspx?id=2669CIAT Climate Data Explorer http://cait.wri.org/indc/#/See: www.ava-cdkn.coThe carbon footprint (CF) is a measure for quantifying the impact of the activities of individuals, organisations, products or territories on climate changeThe Water Footprint (WF) is a multidimensional indicator of use, consumption and contamination of fresh water resources. Evaluat-ing the Water Footprint makes visible the way in which water is used by the environment, by city economies, by production practices in the agricultural and industrial sectors and by the daily habits of the population.See: www.cdkn.org/ar5-toolkit

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This document is an output from a project commissioned through the Climate and Development Knowl-

edge Network (CDKN). CDKN is a programme funded by the UK Department for International Develop-

ment (DFID) and the Netherlands Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) for the benefit

of developing countries.

The views expressed and information contained in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID,

DGIS or the entities managing the delivery of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, which

can accept no responsibility or liability for such views, completeness or accuracy of the information or for

any reliance placed on them.

This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only, and does not consti-

tute professional advice. You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without

obtaining specific professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to

the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and, to the extent permit-

ted by law, the entities managing the delivery of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network do not

accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you or anyone else

acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this publication or for any decision

based on it.

Copyright © 2015, Climate and Development Knowledge Network. All rights reserved

Contact us

Consuelo Espinosa

Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of CDKN

Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA)

Guipuzcoa E16-02 y Av. Coruña

Quito, Ecuador

Tel: +593 2 2236351

E-mail: [email protected]

www.cdkn.org

@cdknetwork

@cdkn_lac

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