Context
Food security is an important prerequisite for economic development. The impacts of climate change on important agricultural and forestry value chains pose major challenges to the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), above all in ensuring food security for the region’s growing population. At the same time, the depletion of natural resources and the growing demand on international markets for quality products mean that food, agriculture and forestry sectors need to become more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.
The ASEAN Member States have established two binding frameworks for strategy and action designed to address the challenges of climate change and food security.
However, adequate capacities, resources, know-how and policies have yet to be developed in order to translate such regional agreements into clear action in the individual countries. For example, hardly any efforts are yet being made to exploit the potential benefits of existing instruments for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
Objective
Regionally coordinated policies and strategies to promote food security and climate change mitigation through agriculture and forestry are being implemented more effectively within the ASEAN Member States. Lessons learned by the individual countries are channelled back into the work of the regional organisation, and vice versa.
Approach
The programme (GAP-CC) consists of two modules:
1. Adaptation and mitigation strategies in support of the ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change (AFCC), with headquarters in Jakarta
2. Sustainable agriculture and agri-food systems, which is run in cooperation with the Thai Ministry of Agriculture.
The two modules are closely linked, providing advisory services to the ASEAN Secretariat and Member States, which they also involve in their work.
Their advisory services focus, for example, on the implementation of regional ASEAN strategies for promoting food security and addressing climate change, in particular on the ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change (AFCC) in forestry and agriculture. GIZ supports ASEAN by providing the following services:
Promoting regional sharing of sectoral knowledge and experience in regional knowledge networks aimed, for example, at REDD or fostering legal and sustainable forms of forestry as a prerequisite for timber trade with the European Union (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT); Sustainable Forest Management (SFM); certification)
Pilot activities and analyses in seven of the ten Member States in addition to regional training events, for example, on climate financing or investigating the resilience of development measures to the impacts of climate change (climate proofing).
The results yielded by this work are integrated at a cross-ASEAN level. The programme especially aims to foster improvements in the situation for women, as women contribute significantly to driving the value chain in agriculture.
Results
In the cross-sectoral AFCC steering committee, all Member States of ASEAN have agreed upon a climate change strategy and a common timetable for implementation in the agricultural and forestry sectors throughout the ASEAN region.
Joint ASEAN positions on climate change mitigation were presented at the international negotiations held on climate change in Doha (COP 18) and Warsaw (COP 19). These positions have been incorporated into key international agreements such as the Warsaw Framework for REDD+. The programme has contributed decisively to these accomplishments via the ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on Forestry and Climate Change (ARKN-FCC) and by advising the delegations of the ASEAN Member States to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The programme has worked with the countries of ASEAN to develop a vulnerability index for enabling identification of specific vulnerabilities of key products, such as rice, corn and manioc, which are particularly important for food security and stability in the region. Furthermore, a network has been established at both regional and national level to disseminate models of exemplary practices for adapting to climate change in the region.
The programme has provided training to various sectoral institutions in how to apply a method for assessing the resilience of development measures to the impacts of climate change in the forestry and agricultural sectors (climate proofing). These institutions are additionally acting as service providers and are offering to perform climate assessments throughout the ASEAN region.
Financing of the agreed mitigation and adaptation measures presents a further challenge. Under the title 'Climate Financing as a Cross-Cutting Theme', the programme supports efforts made by certain Member States of ASEAN to meet the core prerequisites for accessing international climate financing and implementing climate measures efficiently, effectively and transparently. At the invitation of these countries, for example, comprehensive recommendations were prepared for the Governments of Laos and Vietnam which are to be implemented by the responsible government ministries.