Sharing Experiences and Building Capacity for the Development of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) Training Workshop for South America

Representatives of 11 Latin-American countries met in Bogota, Colombia, to discuss and share their ongoing experiences in the development and implementation of their National Adaptation Plans (NAP), as part of their efforts to address the medium and long-term climate change challenges.

The workshop was convened by the National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP), a joint initiative of the UN Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) funded by GEF. The workshop also received the support of UNEP’s Regional Gateway for Technology Transfer and Climate Change Action in Latin America and the Caribbean (REGATTA), the Government of Colombia, and other partners. It was attended by 37 Delegates from the ministries of Environment and Planning/Finance of South-American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) and Mexico, as well as other partner organizations (UNDP, UN Environment, FAO, IISD and GCF).  

During the three days of the workshop, 25 to 27 October 2016, delegates had an opportunity to share their experiences in adaptation planning and their efforts to reduce vulnerability to current and future climate change impacts.

The main objectives of the workshop were:

• To strengthen the participants’ knowledge and skills on the development and implementation of NAPs.
• To share information regarding the existing tools, support programs and funds available for countries’ NAP processes.

To achieve this, the workshop was organized in nine Sessions:

Session 1 – Introduction to the NAP process – Brief background of the NAP process, existing tools and guidelines available to guide and support countries NAP processes.

Session 2 – Experiences in the NAP Process – Sharing of country experiences regarding the design and implementation of the NAPs, and lessons learned.

Session 3 – Coherence between adaptation process and sectorial plans and strategies – Sharing of country experiences between the development of adaptation planning and sectorial plans and strategies.

Session 4 – Coherence between adaptation process and local plans and strategies – Sharing of country experiences between the development of adaptation planning and local plans and strategies.

Session 5 – National Strategies relevant to Adaptation – Sharing of experiences regarding national strategies, multi-sectorial and multi-level, with a focus on long-term adaptation.

Session 6 – Existing programs and finance sources available for NAPs – Sharing of knowledge regarding the existing support programmes and finance sources available for the NAP process. 

Session 7 – Technical Aspects during the development of NAPs – Strengthening the understanding of participants on technical aspects:

• Valuation of adaptation options
• Monitoring and Evaluation system of the NAP process

Session 8 – Integration of cross-sectorial considerations into the NAP process: gender and indigenous people – Share knowledge and experiences regarding the integration of cross-sectorial considerations into the NAP process.

Session 9 – Community of practice for NAPs – Present the Community of Practice for NAPs and the prioritization of themes.

The workshop was highly participatory and dynamic, with sessions structured on a combination of working groups, panel discussions, presentations and talk shows. The workshop was conducted in its entirety in Spanish.

The materials (in Spanish) can be accessed here:

• Agenda
• List of Participants
• Session Presentations
• Supporting Materials