Newsletter Issue no1 October 2011 www.seeclimateforum.

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Newsletter
Dear reader, We are pleased to present the first issue of the newsletter of the South East Europe Forum on Climate Change Adaptation, containing information on current project activities, updates from the civil society organization (CSO) networks in Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, as well as relevant news related to climate change and disaster risk reduction in South East Europe (SEE). The idea of the IPA project SEE Forum on Climate Change Adaptation has been jointly developed by the Austrian, Croatian, Macedonian and Montenegro Red Cross with the main purpose to raise awareness about the humanitarian consequences of climate change in the SEE region. In cooperation with the Serbian project partner, the Centre for Monitoring and Evaluation, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre in the Hague, the World Wide Fund For Nature and the Institute for Economic Promotion of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, this project shall contribute to an increased participation of CSOs in national and regional cooperation on climate change adaptation. We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter and for more detailed information on our project, please visit www.seeclimateforum.org!

PROJECT EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

EU Acquis Trainings focusing on Climate Change Adaptation
As an integral part of the SEE forum on Climate Change Adaptation project, members from all four national networks from Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia will receive an EU acquis training. Participants shall get acquainted with existing legislation of the EU on climate change adaptation and identify the existing gaps in their countrys legislation with a view to their aspirations to become EU members. The training will tackle these issues by provision of know-how, exchange of knowledge and experience and transfer of best practice cases from Europe in climate change adaptation strategies. The trainings will take place in October 2011 in Podgorica and Zagreb, and in November 2011 in Skopje and Belgrade, facilitated by a representative of the Federal Environment Agency from Austria.

Regional Training on Advocacy Strategies

3 4 November 2011; Belgrade, Serbia As part of the project activities, a regional training on advocacy strategies will take place in the beginning of November 2011. The aim of this training is to develop and strengthen advocacy capacities of the network members from Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

In this issue:
Climate Risk Assessment Training EU Acquis Trainings Training on Advocacy Strategies News from National Networks Other Regional CSOs News

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Newsletter Issue no1 October 2011 www.seeclimateforum.org

The training will build on the existing advocacy knowledge and practically develop the network members lobbying skills, helping them to develop strategies to bring their key messages from their national climate risk assessments to decision-makers and opinion leaders. The training will be facilitated by an expert of the Institute for Economic Promotion of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.

At the same time potential gaps, such as the availability of scientific data, were addressed and potential synergies discussed. Participants got a clearer picture of the complex process of climate risk assessments and elaborated their national terms of reference along the networks priority areas, to be used for the risk assessment. As regards the purpose of the envisaged assessments, which shall be finished by mid-2012 and brought together on a regional level, almost all present network members agreed to use it for awareness-raising and communication, educational work and planning of further actions in the field of climate change and disaster risk reduction.

REGIONAL PROJECT EVENT REVIEWS

Climate Risk Assessment Training

14 -16 September 2011; Struga, Macedonia In view of strengthening the CSO networks capacities in elaborating national climate risk assessments, a regional training was held in Struga (Macedonia), from 14 to 16 September 2011. The workshop was organized by the Macedonian Red Cross with the support of the Austrian Red Cross, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The workshop was attended by over 40 participants, from different sectors and backgrounds, such as CSOs, governmental institutions and hydro-metrological institutes from Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. They had the opportunity to find out more about climate vulnerability assessments, their purpose and added-value. Further, inputs on experience and best practice in climate vulnerability assessments provided by the RC/RC Climate Centre and the WWF deepened the participants understanding on the topic and lead to the identification of methods for assessing climate related risks focusing on national and sectoral vulnerabilities.

Macedonian Network participants

The beautiful venue of the training at the Ohrid Lake contributed to a good working atmosphere and the workshop strengthened the CSO network members expertise to conduct national climate risk assessments. On this occasion ties among network members from all four countries were strengthened, which contributed to valuable regional exchange and cooperation.

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CSO NETWORKS IN SEE

Montenegrin Network Climate Response

The Montenegrin network Climate Response was established and mobilized within the IPA project SEE Forum on Climate Change Adaptation. The network gathers together CSOs from Montenegro, working in the field of environmental protection, education, democracy development, humanitarian assistance, social affairs and in the business sector. The network represents a platform for cooperation between its members, with the purpose of raising awareness within general public and decision makers about climate change and its consequences. Climate Response fosters the promotion and implementation of the highest standards in climate protection and adaptation, in order to reduce the vulnerability of Montenegrin population, especially the most vulnerable groups (e.g. elderly people, children, people with limited access to health care) and to foster sustainable development.

The focal point of the network Climate Response is from Montenegro Red Cross, and other members are Juventas, European Movement Montenegro, CAZAS, Green Home, Ozon, MEDCEM, DOO Telenor, Telecom AD Montenegro, Electric Power Company Montenegro AD, Winsol, Agency for Local Democracy, University of Mediteran and University of Donja Gorica. The network is also supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development, Institute for Public Health, REC, Hydro-meteorological Institute of Montenegro and Agency for Environmental Protection. After the initial network meeting, which took place in April 2011, a tree planting action was organized, together with the representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development and Gorana. This action was in line with the message from International Federation of Red Cross one tree for each volunteer.

Tree planting action in Montenegro

At the moment the Montenegrin network, as well as partner networks in Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia are in the process of developing national climate risk assessments in view of identifying major climate challenges and elaborating recommendations for solutions on policy level.

Members of the Climate Response Network

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Priorities of the Macedonian Network Climate Reaction

The Macedonian CSO network Climate Reaction was formed in the framework of the IPA project SEE Forum on Climate Change Adaptation in May 2011. It gathers CSOs from Macedonia, working in the fields of environment, education, development, democracy, humanitarian and health assistance, social affairs and business.

Croatia: Network for Climate Change Adaptation

Joint Policy Priorities Workshop in Croatia

Joint Policy Priorities Workshop in Macedonia

During a policy priorities workshop held in June 2011, network members decided on their network priorities for the next two years, taking into consideration the second national communication on climate change in Macedonia. The networks priorities are in the fields of health, disaster risk and response, agriculture and forestry, water and energy. Specifically, the network will focus on heat waves and UV radiation, hygiene, floods, fires and earthquakes, irrigation water, droughts, desertification, water temperature and quality, energy efficiency, solar and hydro energy. The purposes of the network are to involve CSOs in the decision making process regarding the climate change issues in Macedonia, to inform the public about the causes and consequences of climate change and to have a bilateral information exchange between civil society organizations and relevant institutions.

The Croatian network for climate change adaptation, initiated by the Croatian Red Cross, gathers CSOs from environmental, humanitarian, economic and social area of work and interest. The network represents a platform, raising awareness on the influence and the consequences of climate change in the Republic of Croatia, in particular within the general population, decision makers and governmental institutions. The network further works on the promotion of sustainable development, disaster risk reduction influenced by climate change with special focus on vulnerable groups at all levels of local and regional self-government. The networks policy priorities were defined during a workshop held in Zagreb in June 2011, and they are in the areas of water, energy, agriculture and forestry, land use and transport, health and disaster risk reduction. The network will use various strategies, such as public campaigns, press and other media visibility to raise awareness of decision makers and the general public about necessity of climate change adaptation (CCA) and damage control of climate change. The network coordinates the cooperation between CSOs, governmental institutions on all levels of local and regional self-government in CCA. Network members exchange information on practical and expert level, both in the regional and international framework.

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Serbian Climate Forum Adaptation for the Future

The Serbian CSO network formed in the framework of the EU project SEE Forum on Climate Change Adaptation, is called Climate Forum and was established in April 2011. In September 2011 a Memorandum of Understanding on the official formation of the network was signed by 17 CSOs from all over Serbia that will act together on emphasizing that climate change is a concern of the Serbia. The goal of the Serbian network is to form partnerships among social, economic, humanitarian and environmental organizations to deal with the challenges they face in the area of the environment and climate change. On top of that, the network will be active in raising awareness of the relationship between climate and development among the general public, state institutions, decision-makers and business sector, but also advocate international climate justice. A valuable perspective on the humanitarian aspect will be given by the Red Cross of Serbia. Climate change will have very significant and negative socio-economic consequences. This general threat requires adaptable management, which enables the participation of all relevant sectors, said Duska Dimovic, the director of the WWF program in Serbia. One of the goals of the project is to improve the sustainable management of natural resources, with the focus on the functionality of different eco-systems, Dimovic said.

Not only is the cooperation in the field of climate change among social, economic, humanitarian and environmental CSOs inappropriate on the national or local level, but a regional communication platform is also missing. This project will create a platform for the transfer of knowledge, exchange of best practices and joint action in raising awareness and lobbying of all interest groups for the climate change adaptation pointed out Marko Savic, program director at the Centre for Monitoring and Evaluation, and the national project coordinator in Serbia.

NEWS
Disaster Risk Reduction Gains Importance for UN-EU Partnership
13 September 2011; New York, USA Following the opening of the 66th session of the United Nations, the UN-EU Partnerships Report for 2010 was issued. It emphasizes the increasingly important role of disaster risk reduction in the activities of the United Nations and the European Union. This is the first time that the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has contributed to the UN-EU Partnership Report marking the shift in perspective of the partnership from dealing with crisis to strengthening resilience. There can be no question that reducing vulnerability to risks is infinitely preferable to fighting the human suffering and economic consequences of crises, says the report. Read the entire article on UNISDR website or read the report here.

Serbian Network MoU Signing

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4th International Scientific Conference on Energy and Climate Change

23 24 October 2011; Athens, Greece This year the 4th International Scientific Conference Energy and Climate Change of the Promitheas Net will take place from 13 to 14 October 2011 in Athens. The Scientific Committee invites scientists, researchers, PhD candidates and policy makers from all over the world to participate. Further information is available on the conference website.

Start of the Twinning project in Montenegro

The Twinning project is a form of partnership between administrative bodies of EU member countries and countries that are candidates for EU membership, and it started in Montenegro in May. The aim of the project is to prepare the National development plan of Montenegro and to define relevant rules, procedures and institutional framework needed for the implementation of this plan. On the national level, this document will define developing regions and set priorities within these regions, and will be used as a governmental framework for defining its annual policy priorities. The Agency for Environmental Protection of Montenegro will update greenhouse gasses inventory which will be used for the preparation of Second National Communication to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This will be one of the major activities that Agency is conducting in this year.

Serbian Cities Join World Disaster Reduction Campaign

14 September 2011; Serbia Serbia has shown a lot of progress in disaster risk reduction and is now taking a significant step towards establishing a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. It has been announced that 32 Serbian cities have now formally joined the World Disaster Reduction Campaign Making Cities Resilient: "My City is Getting Ready!" The announcement followed the meeting between the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlstrm. The two officials discussed Serbias efforts to shift the country focus from an emergency reactive approach towards pro-active disaster prevention and risk reduction strategy. Read the whole article here.

FUNDING POSSIBILITIES

Training for EU Funding & Programmes for Croatian Organisations

27 - 28 October 2011; Zagreb, Croatia The training focuses on the evaluators perspectives and answers the following questions: How to prepare a competitive proposal? How can I make sure that my idea fits fully the calls topics? What are the differences between the evaluation procedures of IPA, SF, FP7 and other EU programmes? Europa Media in cooperation with two IPA experts organizes a 2-day practical seminar particularly designed for Croatian organisations. The goal is to provide practical information enabling them to win EU projects. For more details please visit: www.eutrainingsite.com/121

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Serbia joins DRR campaign

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The SEE Transnational Cooperation Programme

PUBLICATIONS
Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Guide
The Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Guide is based on five years of experiences from more than thirty national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, particularly in developing countries. The guide deals with the experience of Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers trying to understand and address the risks of climate change. It contains basic information about climate change: the general implications, humanitarian consequences and scientific consensus. Its six modules (Getting started, Dialogues, Communications, Disaster management, Community-based disaster risk reduction and Health) are structured to show real-life experiences and perspectives, a 'how-to' section and specific stepby-step guidance.

The South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme aims to develop transnational partnerships on matters of strategic importance, in order to improve the territorial, economic and social integration processes and to contribute to cohesion, stability and competitiveness of the region. Through the programme and its priority axis protection and improvement of the environment project in the field of water management, flood risk prevention, cooperation in management of natural assets and protected areas, as well as in energy and resource efficiency can be funded. The last call of this programme is foreseen to open in October and to close in November 2011. Further information on the call and on national contacts points are available on: www.southeast-europe.net

IPCC Report Climate Change Impacts

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, 'Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability' says the global environment is already affected by climate change and that the increase in global temperatures will lead to an augmentation in drought, flooding and changes to seasonal patterns. Although many of the most vulnerable regions are in developing countries in Africa, Asia as well as island communities around the globe, the entire global community will be affected. As a result, efficient adaptation measures should be coordinated at local, national, regional, and international levels. Read more on the impacts on Europe here.

Calls for Proposals:

Supporting CSOs' contribution in designing, implementing, promoting and monitoring of sustainable development and environment protection policies Cross-border Programme Serbia Montenegro under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance

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Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Europe: A Review of Risk Governance
This study was published by the Council of Europe and it aims to analyse climate related disasters risk reduction governance in the European context. It particularly focuses on the flow of information from researchers to policy makers and the way in which the decision-making process in climate adaptation and risk reduction is commonly managed. The study is limited to Europe and investigates practical cases of European regional and national adaptation strategies. It also looks into specific projects and initiatives addressing Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction The entire document can be found here.

A Climate for Change: Climate Change and its Impacts on Society and Economy in Croatia
This study was published within the Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme in 2008. It is a comprehensive publication on climate change in Croatia and its implications for health, water resources, tourism, agriculture, fishing industry etc. It also deals with the possibilities of climate change mitigation and offers further recommendations. Click on the image to read the report.

Climate Change Health Adaption Strategy and Action Plan of Macedonia

The goal of the Climate Change Health Adaptation Strategy is to plan climate change adaptation measures so as to enable the health system to prevent and/or overcome present and future risks. This system should be able to respond promptly to the risks and problems for peoples well-being and health that are expected to result from climate change in Macedonia. This strategy was developed by the climate change and health committee of the Ministry of Health, with the support of WHO/Europe within the project Protecting health from climate change A seven country initiative, supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation of Nuclear Safety.

Protecting Health in an Environment Challenged by Climate Change: European Regional Framework for Action
The main concern of the Regional Framework for Action is health: protection, promotion, security and the providing of healthy environments in a changing climate in the WHO European Region.

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It was developed by the European Climate Change and Health Task Force, chaired by the United Kingdom and Serbia, with the participation of eight countries, the European Commission, the European Environment Agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Health and Environment Alliance, the Regional Environment Centre. WHO/Europe acted as the secretariat for the Task Force, which was open for participation to all Member States and agencies in the WHO European Region. Read or download the document here.

It assesses models and methods, gives preliminary estimates and suggests ways in which the existing analytical and institutional capacity can be improved.

Sign up for the Newsletter by registering on www.seeclimatefoum.org. The next issue is coming up in January!

The Initial National Communication on Climate Change of Montenegro to UNFCCC

The Initial National Communication on Climate Change of Montenegro to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is important both for the fulfilment of the obligations following the ratification of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and because it can serve as the basis for future activities relating to climate change in Montenegro. It deals with national circumstances, greenhouse gases, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change and possible constraints and requirements. This document was produced by the Ministry for Spatial Planning and Environment and the UNDP Mission to Montenegro, as well as a large number of institutions of the system, international and national technical experts.

The Economic Impacts of Climate Change in Montenegro: A First Look

The Ministry for Spatial Planning and Environment with United Nations Development Programme in Montenegro has prepared a study intended to assess economic losses created by adverse effect of climate change in Montenegro. The areas that the report deals with are agriculture and forests, tourism, water resources and human health in Montenegro.

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