date: Mon Jan 21 17:16:55 2002 from: Mike Hulme subject: Fwd: comments re. UNFCCC to: e.l.jones@uea.ac.uk From: "emma lisa schipper" To: "alex haxeltine" , "clair gough" , "mike hulme" , "suraje dessai" Subject: comments Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 15:49:18 +0100 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Importance: Normal This is the missing email from 14.01. Hi - I wanted to send some comments on Suraje's paper and give a brief description of where I have contacts and specific areas that my research is focussing on (in particular for those of you whom I don't know - Alex, Clair, Elaine). First off, I think Suraje has done a very thorough job of identifying areas where more research as been requested, and where Tyndall may contribute (not to mention that the paper is very well written). I would particularly like to highlight the following issues for Tyndall: -IPCC - this is a very important aspect of SBSTA work and I agree with Suraje that Tyndall should make its role clear. I think participation as observers would show the seriousness and dedication of Tyndall to these issues. The workshop was very controversial as Suraje describes and it is important for the process to receive wide support. As observers I would recommend sending those Tyndall staff members who have been co-authors, or perhaps those whose papers have been included in the TAR. -Emissions from international transportation - yes this issue is always swept to the side, but I feel that unless there is particular interest or expertise on the part of Tyndall it may not be ideal to focus on this now, as there are other institutions with greater expertise who may be better fit to carry out such research. -Adaptation - as this is one of Tyndalls' research area (and also the one where my PhD fits in) I hold that this is a key area for Tyndall to contribute. The projects that are already in existence will contribute to this issue, but there could certainly be more emphasis on adaptation under the UNFCCC. i would be very happy to contribute here, since I am in contact with the Sectretariat person responsible for adaptation (Olga Pilifosova) and I have been working with some experts on a paper that focuses on the new adaptation policy framework (should be published in the next issue of Climate Policy!). Obviously, my research and thesis feeds straight into this as well. - Article 6 - education training and public awareness. I think this is where most institutions like Tyndall can be the most supportive of the UNFCCC processs. An internet portal with information about the other Tyndall projects relevant to the UNFCCC could be one way to kill two birds with one stone - this would be something geared at everyone for the purposes of capacity building and awareness raising. The idea would be to make websites that are easily viewed (few graphics) and made for the lowest versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer (for those in Burkina Faso or Cambodia who have old computers with slow internet connections). I think there are many, many possibilities to explore here. A good first step would be to contact Kevin Grose i the Information, Outreach and Administrative Services Team of the UNFCCC Secretariat. He is responsible for co-ordinating work on this article and would be able to provide guidance how Tyndall might get involved more. Tel +49 228 815 1000 for switchboard. or [1]kgrose@unfccc.int. - NAPAs - this is an area that I am very interested in. I am following the debates through LDC contacts (friends) who are sending me emails to keep me up to date. I would be happy to share this information and to focus on the NAPAs. I hope this will be something I can focus on more once I have completed my PhD (!!). -Funding - I am not sure where Tyndall's role here would be - I think this might be stretching it slightly. Just briefly about me - I have many contacts within the UNFCCC Secretariat due to having worked as a consultant there for half a year upon the completion of my BSc (I wrote my BSc thesis on mitigating methane emissions from cows in the US - and this being quite an unusual topic in 1998 was popular because I had experience working with ghg emissions inventories!). I have worked with the Earth Negotiations Bulletin for nearly 2 years, and have attended not only the COPs and the SB meetings, but also a few UNFCCC workshops, and IPCC meetings in this role. My MSc (in DEV) focussed on adaptation under the UNFCCC as a tool for development, and my PhD (also in DEV) is examining adaptation under the UNFCCC on different levels - the international (negotiations and development agencies), national, and local (community case study). Just a few more comments: The first step, as Suraje points out, is to get accreditation for more Tyndall members to participate at the UNFCCC meetings. Suraje and I have been attending these in various outfits (I have been there as a UNFCCC Secretariat staff member on 3 occasions, and as a writer/editor for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin consistently since I stopped working at the UNFCCC Secretariat, I believe Suraje also has had various badges). I feel that holding an "informational" side event at the June meetings in Bonn would be a good first step. This side event would inform participants of Tyndall's presence, plus would then identify for the public what we will hopefully have managed to do in this working group - connect the issues that Tyndall is working on with the specific research that is being demanded as a result of COP-7, and other decisions. We need to show where we fit in, but this must be something concrete - and it would therefore be important to already have discussed with the Secretariat, or with relevant Parties, to ensure support (not financial) for Tyndall research. I think we should also look at this in terms of how Tyndall links with UNFCCC can allow both undergraduate and postgraduate students the opportunity to participate at the meetings. I think it is something you cannot imagine before you have participated, and although the hours are long and the meetings sometimes painfully boring (am I allowed to admit this!?), I think the contacts that are possible, the material that is sometimes available for free, and the impressions from sitting in Plenary with NGOs booing the US representative Paula Dobriansky as she gives her speech cannot be gained any other way. I am afraid that I cannot contribute to any Tyndall events during the meetings as my responsibility and required neutrality as an Earth Negotiations Bulletin writer does not allow this. However, I am happy to stay behind the scenes of course, and very excited to be in this working group! I look forward to hearing other comments! Sincerely, Lisa ********************************************* emma lisa schipper PhD researcher School of Development Studies - - - Tyndall Centre for Climate Change University of East Anglia mobile +44 7855 462379