12 June 2013, Gustav Stresemann Institut, Bonn, Germany—the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) organised a workshop to showcase the national-level process on loss and damage in Bangladesh over the last 15 months. Dr. Akio Takemoto, APN Secretariat Director, introduced APN new focused activities on loss and damage and explored opportunities for collaboration at the workshop.

The work has been undertaken as part of the Loss and Damage in Vulnerable Countries Initiative, in partnership with Germanwatch, the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), with support from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).

More than 30 experts and negotiators participated in the workshop. Though it focused primarily on activities undertaken at the national level, they are seen as part of a wider context of activities carried out by a consortium of organisations, addressing multiple aspects of loss and damage from the adverse effects of climate change.

The following presentations were given at the workshop;

• Introduction and setting the context: what does the Doha decision on loss and damage mean for processes at the national level? (Dr. Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCCAD)
• Evidence of loss and damage on the ground: key findings of a case study of four villages in coastal Bangladesh (Mr. Md Golam Rabbani, Fellow, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies)
• Key findings from a study on approaches to address loss and damage (Professor Ainun Nishat, Vice Chancellor, BRAC University)
• Assessing microinsurance as a tool to address loss and damage, (Professor Mizan R. Khan, Department of Environmental Science and Management, North-South University)
• Key findings from research to investigate the legal and institutional context for addressing loss and damage in Bangladesh (Mr. M. Hafijul Islam Khan, Executive Director, Centre for Climate Justice-Bangladesh)
• Loss and damage: an opportunity for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation integration (Dr. Munjurul Hannan Khan, Visiting Scholar, University of Manitoba)

APN’s New Activities on Loss and Damage

After these presentations, Dr. Akio Takemoto introduced APN focusing on the new activities on loss and damage associated with climate change impacts under the APN Climate Adaptation Framework. Particularly he explained the following points:

• the new focused activities are financially supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, aiming at contributing to UNFCCC/COP19 and other international forums;
• activities of high priority could include studies on limits to adaptation, gap analysis on regional needs, and methodologies in response to loss and damage;
• APN will organise a workshop in August 2013 in Kobe to discuss activities of high priority and partnership development, how to promote sub-regional based joint activities and what types of outputs are required to input to UNFCCC loss and damage agenda;
• Following the workshop, APN will launch a call for expressions of interest in autumn 2013 for activities addressing high priority issues.

APN’s Engagement in SBSTA38

APN was also represented in SBSTA 38 by Dr. Andrew Matthews, co-opted member to the APN Steering Committee, who attended the Research Dialogue held on 4 June 2013 and highlighted APN activities to support identification of policy priorities and regional capacity development actions, including supporting the region’s young research community.

More information about APN’s participation in the research dialogue: https://www.apn-gcr.org/2013/06/06/apn-at-sbsta38-research-dialogue/