Themes

Climate change is real and it is already happening across our urban centres, coastlines, deltas. The conference was structured around five themes, reserved for each day. Details of these five themes are as under:

Theme 1: Climate Change and Development
Poverty is known to force communities to adopt unsustainable patterns of natural resource extraction and utilization. At the same time, it is the poor who bear the brunt of climatic changes most in the form of vulnerability to natural disasters and infectious diseases. Combating climate change is not possible without effective poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods generation. The theme covered the following sessions

1. Climate Change & Development in the OIC: Achieving MDGs in a Changing Climate.

2. The Case for Sustainable Development in OIC

3. The Population, Environment & Development Nexus

4. Mainstreaming Environment & CC in National Development Planning

5. Session based on theme 1 will synthesize mounting evidence from across the developing world, including OIC countries, to elaborate the links between climate change and poverty.

Theme 2: Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)
The session introduced the participants to the global environmental regulatory regime and move to discuss the substantive contents of MEAs, including the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramssar Wetlands Convention, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and so on.  International agreements, conventions and declarations were analyzed and discussed as they relate to climate change. The session also provided participants with a thorough understanding of procedural issues related to signing, ratification and reporting. Incorporation of MEAs into domestic legislation and policy instruments was also discussed. Following is the detail of topics for theme 2:

1. The Performance of MEAs

2. The Rio Conventions: The Convention on Biological Diversity

3. The Rio Conventions: The UN Convention to Combat Desertification

4. The Rio Conventions : United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol

5. Strengthening the Implementation of MEAs in Developing Countries

Theme 3: Climate Change Vulnerabilities in the Developing World
For a small island nation, such as the Maldives, a 1 meter rise in sea level could flood up to 75 per cent of the dry land, making the islands virtually uninhabitable. In the case of Bangladesh, another OIC country, it is estimated that by the end of the 21^st century the relative sea level could rise by as much as 1.8 meters, which might result in up to 16 per cent of land, supporting 13 per cent of the population and producing 12 per cent of the current gross domestic product (GDP). Various vulnerabilities of climate change were discussed in the session titled Climate Injustice: Will Poorer Nations Pay the Price for Global Warming?

The details are as follows:

Physical Vulnerabilities

1. Impact on Water Resources

2. Risk to Food Security & Agriculture

3. Health & Climate Change

Social Vulnerabilities

1. Livelihoods

2. Gender,

3. Disasters Risk

Theme 4: Responding to Climate Change Challenges
Equipped with essential knowledge and analytical tools participants brainstormed on country-specific adaptation and mitigation challenges in terms of dealing with climate change and responses that have so far emerged from the public sector, businesses and communities.  Discussions related to theme 4 were based on the following topics:

1. Mitigation & Adaptation: Prioritizing Options for the Developing World

2. Policy Responses: The Road to Bali & Beyond

3. Financing Mechanisms: Market Solutions, Incentive based Mechanisms and Adaptation Funds

4. Technological Innovation: Renewable Energy and the Climate Modalities

5. Sectoral Responses: Mapping the Role & Responsibilities of the CC Community in OIC  (Government, CSO, Industry, Academia, Scientists and Multi-laterals)

Theme 5: Strategies for Climate Change Adaptation
The major threat from climate change is its unpredictability, which means adaptation is the key to dealing with the problem. Reducing carbon emissions, adopting renewable energy sources, moving towards sustainable livelihood and consumption patterns could be some of the ways of dealing with climate change. However, it is all easier said than done. The theme analyzed various adaptation and mitigation strategies recommended by experts in a broad social, economic and political context by discussing the following:

1. Adapting to the New Realities: Where does the OIC Stand Today?

2. Integrating Natural Resource Management

3. Lessons from Practice:

•  Adapting to CC in Coastal Regions

• Facing up to the Risk of Food Insecurity

• Building the Resilience of Mountain Communities to CC

• Capacity building as a strategy to mobilize decision makers to respond to climate change: the case of the PED Nexus training programme in Southern Africa

Field Visit
On fourth day of the conference, participants went to Nathiagali in suburbs of Murree hills where they got an opportunity to explore if climatic change is already having an impact on local livelihoods, lifestyles and health of the people living in the mountainous areas. They visited the adaptation mechanisms that have been adopted by the NWFP Wildlife Department or could be adopted by  themselves in future as a contribution to save nature.  Participants also visited a Donga Gali Wildlife Museum located in the same vicinity.

In addition to enhancing participants’ capacity to understand and respond to climate change, the workshop initiated a network of committed professionals across the OIC countries for future collaboration around climate change and related issues.