Highlights of UNDP’s COP 8 contributions
UNDP’s team included HQ and Regional Centre staff, the Equator Initiative Team and the SGP National Coordinators from Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the highlights of UNDP’s contributions were several plenary statements, side events, book launches and moderated discussions, and the Community Taba organized by the Equator Initiative. Contributions focused on local community projects and initiatives, notably experiences of the Small Grants Programme; GEF project experiences with financing biodiversity; and promoting country experiences with mainstreaming and integrating biodiversity into policy planning and MDG strategies.

UNDP delivered several key note speeches, including an official opening statement, and a statement addressing the COP ministerial segment plenary, stressing the importance of reducing the rate of biodiversity loss to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

UNDP also supported the 20th Session of the Global Biodiversity Forum, (24-25 March), a multi-stakeholder forum that aims to foster critical dialogues on biodiversity issues. The Forum’s agenda revolved around the topic of “Sustainable Ways to Conserve and Equitably Share Biological Diversity: Implementing the 2010 Targets”. UNDP’s presentation focused on the importance of endorsing the 2010 biodiversity target as part of the MDG framework to make biodiversity everybody’s business. Please see [Forum coverage]

A UNDP major side event explored how to Incorporate Biodiversity into National Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Strategies: Lessons from Experience. Introduced by Frank Pinto and moderated by John Hough, UNDP GEF, country experiences and insights were presented from the Philippines, Brazil, Malaysia, Maldives, Tanzania and South Africa on how to successfully integrate biodiversity targets and commitments into national development plans and MDG strategies. [Introductory Speech] [GEF presentation] [Side event report]

The SGP and the Equator Initiative launched a new publication, entitled, Community Action to Conserve Biodiversity: Linking Biodiversity Conservation with Poverty Reduction – Case studies from Latin America and the Caribbean, with thirty case studies on lessons learnt from the successes of community-based biodiversity enterprises. The cases were selected from across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Equator Initiative hosted the Community Taba, which gathered grassroots environmental leaders from around the world. Around 80 community representatives from over 40 countries met to present their work, debate priority issues, build capacity and networks, and draft a mutual declaration. The Taba also brought people together to learn first-hand about some of the Equator Initiative projects in Brazil. The Community run for the duration of the conference. Materials, such as agenda, participants, photos, media material etc. are available online.
For a full overview about UNDP’s contributions, please see the calendar of activities. For further information, please contact Charles McNeill, John Hough and Gelila Terrefe, EEG NY.

4th World Water Forum
16 -22 March 2006, Mexico City
The World Water Forum, a tri-annual major international event on water, an initiative of the World Water Council and hosted by the Government of Mexico, was convened from 16-22 March in Mexico City with over 20,000 participants. The Forum’s main objectives are to raise political awareness on critical water issues, stakeholder networking and promoting discussion and knowledge exchange. For a comprehensive summary report on all sessions and events, ranging from sanitation to IWRM to financing issues and much more, please see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin Summary report and the various 4th WWF outcome documents on thematic and regional sessions, political declarations, keynote speeches and side events, available online.

UNDP’s participation at the 4th WWF focused on awareness-raising through the launch of several reports and publications; capacity-building through day-long training sessions in IWRM and several other activities. For a full schedule of activities, please check the UNDP calendar of activities. One major highlight was the launch of a policy report examining water and poverty linkages, as part of the Poverty and Environment Partnership (PEP). A newly updated version of UNDP’s Resource Guide on Gender Mainstreaming into Water Management was presented in cooperation with the Gender & Water Alliance. CAP-NET also led a number of capacity-building and training sessions, including a full day ‘Mega-Session’ on implementation of IWRM in national plans, featuring case studies and UNDP experiences across regions, e.g. IWRM in Kazakhstan; training courses on gender and water, water law, conflict resolution, and e-learning with various partners at the learning centre. A new partnership between UNDP and Columbia University will lead to a joint production of a Lessons Learnt & How-to-Handbook based on Water Supply and Sanitation, based on case studies that were presented during the WWF Water Supply and Sanitation Theme Day (to be published in August 2006). Other joint events included sessions with UNICEF, UN Habitat and WHO on water supply and sanitation, MDGs and Gender issues, and side events and theme sessions on risk management and transboundary waters. (Shared, with thanks, by Carlos Linares, Joakim Harlin, Susanne Schmidt, Tim Hannan, EEG NY, and Paul Taylor, CAP-Net).

CAP-Net News
Cap-Net has received new funding from the EU Water Facility supporting capacity building on IWRM and on water supply and sanitation in Africa and the Caribbean. The programme will be carried out through the capacity building networks in West Africa, the Nile, WaterNet in Southern Africa and the Caribbean. Additional funding is expected to be agreed soon. The next phase of Cap-Net will follow up on a recent IWRM training session with UNDP country officers from the Arab region to generally improve linkages between UNDP country staff and local capacity building initiatives. (Shared, with thanks, by Paul Taylor, CAP-Net).

Highlights of UNDP’s drinking water, sanitation and water resources management portfolio
This short brief features a number of UNDP’s water programme and project portfolio highlights, with project descriptions and a brief analysis of budget allocations across all regions [Brief] (Shared, with thanks, by Carlos Linares, EEG NY)

2nd United Nations World Water Development Report
WWDR 2, a joint report of 23 UN agencies (UN Water) was officially presented on World Water Day, 22 March 2006. It presents a comprehensive picture of freshwater resources in all regions and most countries of the world as it tracks progress towards the water-related targets of the MDGs and examines a range of key issues. Sixteen case studies look at typical water resource challenges and provide insights into different facets of the water crisis and management responses. UNDP contributed a chapter on Water Governance. The English version of the Report is now freely accessible online [Read more]

Second Conference of the Parties (COP-2) to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
1-5 May 2006, Geneva, Switzerland
Over 450 participants, representing more than 165 governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies, attended COP-2. COP-2 was faced with developing the processes and mechanisms that will adequately support progress towards effective implementation of the Stockholm Convention. The conference considered several reports on activities within the Convention’s mandate and adopted 18 decisions on, inter alia, DDT, exemptions, financial resources and mechanisms, implementation plans, technical assistance, synergies and effectiveness evaluation. UNDP was presented through Suely Carvalho, MPU/GEF POPs, who highlighted in her interventions the importance of synergies and harmonization of efforts at the national and global levels.
For full coverage of the meeting, please see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin Meeting Summary.

GEF NCSP – Workshop on the use of long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) model
3-7 April 2006, Cairo, Egypt
This first hands-on training workshop on long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP), organized by the GEF National Communications Support Programme (NCSP), initiated a series of an integrated package of technical support services that the NCSP will provide to countries as they prepare their Second (Third, or Initial, as appropriate) National Communications. The LEAP model has been identified by many countries as a useful tool to facilitate mitigation analysis within the framework of the preparation of National Communications. A total of 33 participants from 19 countries attended the workshop. A brief workshop report is available, including the workshop agenda [Report]. (Shared, with thanks, by Martha Perdomo, NCSP).

From the Country Offices, Regional Centres and SURFS

RBAP – Technical Consultation Meeting for Asia-Pacific Gap Analysis Reports on access to energy for the poor
27-28 March, 2006, Bangkok, Thailand
The Regional Energy Programme for Poverty Reduction (REP-PoR) in the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok launched rapid assessments of access to energy services at national levels in the Asia-Pacific region in mid-2005. Overall, this initiative aimed to highlight issues that hinder access to energy services by lower income groups, close to or below the poverty line. The process was initiated through two planning workshops in August (Asia/Bangkok) and September (Pacific/Samoa) 2005, involving key experts, UNDP Country Office focal points and national consultants to arrive at a common framework of assessment. Subsequently, 15 countries in Asia and all 15 Pacific Islands States initiated a ‘rapid assessment and gap analysis of access to energy’, supported by 18 Country Offices. Country-level/sub-regional stakeholder consultations with government and civil society representatives were organized to determine each country’s specific energy–poverty linkages and related gaps and to identify mechanisms and strategies to address these challenges. A draft national gap analysis report was prepared for each country in Asia and a sub-regional report for the Pacific. A recently held two-day follow-up workshop reviewed the status of the national and sub-regional reports, discussed the major cross-cutting findings and challenges and identified best practices for further advocacy work at national level. All related material from national reports, and regional synthesis reports will be made available online soon [Read more] (Shared, with thanks, by Nandita Mongia and Rajan Velumail, RC Bangkok).

RBAP - Developing a UNDP Regional CDM Strategy for Asia-Pacific
30-31 March 2006, Bangkok, Thailand
UNDP Regional Centre Bangkok, in cooperation with the International Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES/Japan) hosted a two-day consultative workshop on the “Development of a Regional Strategy on the Clean Development Mechanism.” The workshop was organized in light of increasing strategic UNDP engagement in carbon financing, including the recently launched UNDP MDG Carbon Facility. The workshop participants encompassed UNDP Country Office CDM Focal points as well as Government CDM focal points/representatives and key experts. The principal objective of the workshop was the identification and discussion of elements for the development of a new Asia-Pacific Regional Strategy on the Clean Development Mechanism, which is currently being finalized. The workshop fostered knowledge-sharing by reviewing the most recent decisions and developments on CDM procedures & modalities; taking stock of emerging environmental commodity markets and carbon financing and UNDP’s specific services in this regard; looking at UNDP Country Office Capacities and CDM activities and discussing national level experiences with CDM to-date. Major discussions revolved around the need to define clear poverty reduction criteria for the approval of CDM projects and to re-focus CDM in sectors that are pertinent to poverty reduction and the MDGs. All relevant workshop materials will be made available online soon. For more information, please also consult IGES [Read more]. (Shared, with thanks, by Nandita Mongia and Rajan Velumail, RC Bangkok).

RBEC - Regional CoP on Water Governance - WaterWiki
The Regional Water CoP has launched a periodic “What’s new” mailing series with updates, announcing major additions to the main knowledge and collaboration tool of the CoP, the WaterWiki knowledge platform. For more information, please contact Juerg Staudenmann, RC Bratislava [WaterWiki].

UNDP/UN Workshops/conferences

Upcoming - IAIA - 26th Annual Conference on International Association for Impact Assessment
23-26 May 2006, Stavanger, Norway
The Conference will focus on how impact assessment contributes to poverty eradication and sustainable development and is organized around four main themes: energy, land-use planning, biodiversity and development. Several training courses and special meetings are offered prior to the conference and technical visits related to energy and other development issues will take place during and after the Conference. UNDP’s participation at the Conference will feature, inter alia, a keynote speech by Olav Kjørven, Director of the Energy and Environment Practice. The Guidance on Applying SEA in Development Cooperation, prepared by the OECD DAC SEA Task Team (co-chaired by DfID and UNDP), will be launched during the Conference at a special session. [Read more] (Shared, with thanks, by Linda Ghanime, EEG NY)

Upcoming - UNDP-UNEP GEF NCSA - Provisional schedule of regional Capacity Development/NCSA Workshops through 2006
The UNDP-UNEP GEF NCSA is conducting a series of regional Capacity Development/NCSA Workshops for 2006. Upcoming workshop dates have been set for the following regions: Arab States: 7-10 June, Rabat with 12 Arab States NCSAs; Caribbean: 11-15 September, St Lucia, with 14 Caribbean NCSAs; Latin America: 18-22 September, Panama with 19 Latin American NCSAs; Asia: 20-24 November, Bangkok, with ca. 12 Asian NCSAs (early-middle stage); Pacific: 27-30 November, with 14 Pacific Island NCSAs. (Shared, with thanks, by Peter Hunnam, NCSA)

Archive - Third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
13-17 March 2006, Curitiba, Brazil
COP/MOP-3 adopted 18 decisions on: requirements for the handling, transport, packaging and identification of living modified organisms (LMOs) destined for contained use or for intentional introduction into the environment; documentation requirements of LMO shipments for food, feed and processing; risk assessment and risk management; liability and redress; compliance; the need to establish subsidiary bodies; monitoring and reporting; [Summary Report]