PRESS RELEASE: Central American climate experts tackle adaptation in Bonn 

BONN, GERMANY, JUNE 16, 2023—Representatives from five Central American countries will meet on June 16–17 to embark on a 3-year partnership to advance their National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes. Organized by the NAP Global Network, the inaugural meeting of this group of climate change adaptation decision-makers and experts will take place in Bonn, Germany, following the 58th sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies and will focus on the theme “Multistakeholder Partnerships with Academia and Researchers for National Adaptation Plan Processes in the Central American Region.”     

This first meeting will bring together climate scientists and researchers to work alongside government representatives from environment and finance agencies from Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Panama. They will exchange experiences and lessons with the goal of addressing climate change adaptation issues of common interest in the region, as well as discussing how data and science could strengthen the “climate rationale” of adaptation project proposals to access climate finance. 

Mauricio Luna-Rodríguez, Policy Advisor and expert in climate change adaptation governance at the NAP Global Network Secretariat, hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, notes that climate data, information, and knowledge gaps remain a key challenge for implementing Central American NAPs. “This peer learning event will bring together producers and users of climate-related data and information from the region to facilitate a dynamic science–policy debate to enhance the adaptation process in the participating countries,” he said. 

The event will also feature Alberto Mora Román, research coordinator for the State of the Region Report for Central America and Dominican Republic, and Tania Guillén Bolaños, a researcher on adaptation to climate change and contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming.  

Noting the importance of the topic of this peer learning event, Alberto Mora Román said, “gaps and lack of up-to-date information constrain the possibility of making decisions and taking timely action. In the climate change field, this is critical to achieving the adaptation needed to reduce risks and vulnerability that recurrently result in economic and human losses and environmental degradation.” 

These Central American countries’ representatives will get together annually until 2025 to promote sustained, mutual learning to help accelerate innovative approaches to adaptation planning and implementation approaches. In 2024, the cohort will focus on civil society’s role in implementing adaptation actions that are fair and equitable with local communities. In 2025, the discussion will address how the private sector can mobilize resources to ensure a long-term sustainable adaptation process.  

All five countries have NAP processes underway, and all have accessed multi-million dollar support for their NAP processes through the Green Climate Fund’s Readiness program for adaptation planning. Costa Rica is the only one of the five participating countries to have formally submitted its NAP to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

The NAP Global Network has organized South–South peer learning and exchange on the NAP process since 2015. Peer learning events are designed to be dynamic and interactive, with participants engaging in focused, technical discussions on challenges and best practices related to national adaptation planning.

Quotes

“Central American countries have taken important steps in the preparation and implementation of their National Adaptation Plans. However, countries have identified climate data, information, and knowledge gaps as one of the key challenges for project’s development to advance their adaptation process.”  

Mauricio Luna-Rodríguez, NAP Global Network’s policy advisor and expert in climate change adaptation governance 

“Raising awareness to take timely adaptation actions requires building new narratives that allow public and private decision-makers to connect with their reality based on evidence and knowledge about the current and future impacts of climate change.” 

Alberto Mora Román – Coordinator of the State of the Region Report of Central America and the Dominican Republic 

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Contact 

For more information on the NAP Global Network’s activities and engagements, contact the Secretariat team at info@napglobalnetwork.org. 

For media enquiries, please contact Cesar Henrique Arrais, Communications Officer, at chenriquearrais@iisd.ca. 

Join a network of adaptation decision-makers and practitioners from developing countries working on NAP processes; sign up here. 

Facts: Climate Change in Central America and the Caribbean 

• The average rate of temperature increase was around 0.2°C/decade between 1991 and 2021 in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to 0.1°C/decade between 1961 and 1990. Increasing sea-level rise and ocean warming are expected to continue to affect coastal livelihoods, tourism, health, food, energy, and water security, particularly in small islands and Central American countries.  

• Hydrometeorological hazards, including droughts, heat waves, cold spells, tropical cyclones, and floods, have unfortunately led to the loss of hundreds of lives, severe damage to crop production and infrastructure, and human displacement. 
• Northern countries in Central America are among the most sensitive regions to climate-related migrations and displacements, a phenomenon that has increased in the last eight years.
• The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season was the third-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, with 21 named storms, including seven hurricanes, and was the sixth consecutive above-normal Atlantic hurricane season.  

Source: State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean