INVITATION: 'Youth and Adaptation' panel at the 2nd Adaptation Forum in Bangkok (13 March 2012)

The Asia Pacific Mountain Network (APMN) of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) together with Adaptation Forum 2012 organisers – the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Knowledge Platform for Asia (Adaptation Knowledge Platform) and the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (Adaptation Network), will be organising a youth session as part of the Second Asia Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum, 12-13 March 2012. Other contributing partners include the Asia-Pacific Media Alliance for Social Awareness (The The Media Alliance), the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEMAO), the Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), the Boishakhi Television and the World Bank (WB).

This special panel aims to bring together Asia Pacific youth and other interested stakeholders attending the Forum to understand the situation, identify gaps and challenges, explore opportunities and develop way forward for engaging youth on climate change adaptation in the context of Rio+20 priority. The event is follow up of the Asia Pacific Youth Forum 2011 organised by ICIMOD/APMN together with more than a dozen partners including AKP and APAN.

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Asia Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum 2012

Bangkok, Thailand

12-13 March 2012

Panel 24: Youth and adaptation, 13 March 2012, Tuesday, 13:30-15:00

Background

Climate change has wide range of effects on environmental and socioeconomic sectors. From water to agriculture to food and human health to biodiversity almost every sector has witnessed negative consequences due to this process largely through the uncertainty it has created and increased climate extreme events. Changes in rainfall pattern has resulted to severe water shortage and flooding. Melting of glaciers has damaged and thus induced flooding has washed away many villages, large constructions, productive top soil and so on. While mitigation is expected to solve the problem in the long run adaptation seems urgent as we cannot run away from climate change affects that have already starting showing strong presence in our daily life.

Human beings have been adapting to the variable climate around them for centuries. Worldwide local climate variability can influence peoples’ decisions with consequences for their social, economic, political and personal conditions, and effects on their lives and livelihoods. The effects of climate change imply that the local climate variability that people have previously experienced and have adapted to is changing and changing at relatively great speed[1]. Need of present day is to develop case specific adaptation measures with a strong involvement of communities (CBA) and considering local environment (EBA). Effective adaptation measures will need easy interfacing between people and resources and established linkages among different stakeholders, environmental realities, social processes, development activities enabling timely response mechanism.

Youth, the most vibrant group in any community, share almost 30% of the world's population. The involvement of today's youth in adaptation decision-making and implementation practice is critical to future sustainability of the planet. The parallel session on ‘Youth and Adaptation’ is developed on this foundation as a follow-up activity of the Asia Pacific Youth Forum on Mountain Issues and Climate Actions in Kathmandu, in August 2011. This activity is financed by the organisers of the Adaptation Forum 2012 and coordinated by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal.

Objective

To understand the situation, identify gaps and challenges, explore opportunities and develop way forward for engaging youth on climate change adaptation.

Panelists:

1. Craig Hobbs, CEO, Asia-Pacific Media Alliance for Social Awareness, Singapore
2. Kevin Charles Kettle, Project Development Officer, SEAMEO SPAFA, Thailand
3. Lucia Grenna, The World Bank
4. Sanjay Vashist, Director, Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), South Asia
5. Tanzima Shahreen, Communication and Outreach Expert/Junior Research Assistant, Boishakhi Television, Unnayan Onneshan, Bangladesh (Asia Pacific Youth Forum Alumni)
6. Tek Jung Mahat, APMN Node Manager, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal

Guiding questions

Q1. What is the level of understanding among youth regarding climate change adaptation? What is the situation among rural and mountain youth?

Q2. How have youth-led, -driven or –oriented activities contributed to adaptation actions? What are the gaps and challenges faced?

Q3. What are the opportunities for and benefits with youth engagement in adaptation? What is the level of youth engagement in global/regional/national processes? UNFCCC COP to national policies and initiatives leve

Q4. How can the education system better serve youth’s needs for climate change adaptation knowledge?

Q5. How media in general and young media reporters in particular can help improve this situation?

Q6. How development organizations and donor agencies see this growth? What can make it more effective?

Based on responses to above questions the panel will distil some recommendations and develop way forward.

Programme

Time	Panelist (s)	Activity (including discussion)
13:30 - 13:35	Mr. Tek Jung Mahat	Introductory presentation
13:35 – 13:45	Ms. Tanzima Shahreen	Youth and adaptation – Reflection from Bangladesh with focus on rural and mountain communities (presentation of a case study including status, challenges and opportunities)
13:45 – 13:55	Mr. Kevin Charles Kettle	Youth capacity building on climate change adaptation
13:55 – 14:05	Mr. Sanjay Vashist	Youth engagements, from national to global level
14:05 – 14:15	Mr. Craig Hobbs	Media perspectives
14:15- 14:25	Ms. Lucia Grenna	Positions of the youth activity promoters
14:25 – 14:55		Floor discussion
14:55 – 15:00	Mr. Tek Jung Mahat	Key conclusions and way forward

Event coordinator

Tek Jung Mahat, ICIMOD, Nepal, tmahat (at) icimod.org

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[1] UNFCCC (2007) Climate Change:  Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptation in Developing Countries. Available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/impacts.pdf (accessed on 18 September 2011)