The Government of Canada Funded - UNDP Support for Fiji COP23 Presidency Project Final Project Report
Project Title: Support for Fiji COP23 Presidency Project ID: 00110295 Implementing Partner: United Nations Development Programme Project Budget: Total: USD $1,085,019 Project Start and End Date: 01 April 2018 – 30 June 2019 Period Covered In This Report: 01 April 2018 – 30 June 2019 SDG’s Supported by The Project: Goal 13: Take Urgent Action To Combat Climate Change and its Impacts
1. Project Purpose
The Government of Fiji held the Presidency of the 23rd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from November 2017 till December 2018. This was the first COP Presidency from a small island country that is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, therefore, it had gathered a lot of attention worldwide. The preparation for, and conduct of a COP Presidency is complex which involves political, technical and organizational aspects. The outcome of COP23 and the work undertaken in 2018 must maintain the momentum of the Paris Agreement and advance the work of the UNFCCC, including making progress on the Paris Agreement implementation guidelines.
The Government of Canada had provided financial support to assist Fiji’s successful COP Presidency. The Government of Canada had noted that it was an important milestone for COP23 to be chaired by a small island developing state, to ensure that the concerns and priorities of Fiji and other SIDS were fully reflected in the COP process. This project enhanced efforts, already supported by UNDP, to integrate Pacific SIDS concerns and priorities as well as helping build a strong Fijian COP23 Presidency and national climate change team. It is also assisting in a deeper and more vibrant Canada-Fiji relationship.
The project’s aim was for Fiji and Pacific’s strengthened engagement in the UNFCCC process. This was be achieved through two major outputs:
1. Support Fiji’s engagement in the development and implementation of the Talanoa Facilitative Dialogue, the Climate Action Pacific Partnership and the Global Youth Forum;
2. Fiji National Climate Negotiations team can effectively negotiate informed climate actions and advocate for gender inclusion.
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2. Project Results
Output 1: Support Fiji’s Engagement in the development and implementation of the Talanoa Facilitative Dialogue, Climate Action Pacific Partnership and the Global Youth Forum
Activity 1.1 Talanoa Facilitative Dialogue
The design of the Talanoa Facilitative Dialogue (TFD) was agreed at COP23 in 2017 and was conducted throughout 2018. To increase the ambition of Parties’ climate actions and support over time, the Paris Agreement and accompanying COP decisions establish a collective momentum for countries to reflect on the current state of implementation and inform future actions and support. It started in January 2018 with a Facilitative Dialogue, then will continue with Global Stocktake every five years from 2023. The success of the Talanoa Facilitative Dialogue was to be enhanced by clear scientific information and signals of political intent and actions to implement and enhance ambition, including the ambition of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Supporting Fiji and Pacific deliver and enhance the NDCs was crucial for the success of this process.
The Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) Fiji The LCOY Fiji was held from 13-15 September 2018 at the Holiday Inn in Suva, Fiji. It was a gathering of young people passionate about environmental and climate change issues. LCOY Fiji was an official event authorized by YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and supported by the Government of Canada through UNDP and the Fiji COP23 Presidency.
The objectives of supporting LCOY Fiji were to provide capacity building and policy training to prepare youths for their involvement in the upcoming climate negotiations; facilitating the sharing of knowledge and experience in the broader context of climate change between the youth participants; building and enhancing youth networks and movements to create an open forum of discussion; and a Talanoa dialogue where everyone has equal opportunities to share their knowledge and experiences.
The outcomes of this LCOY Fiji contributed to the Talanoa Dialogue process led by the Fiji COP23 Presidency. The participants transformed their discussions into a written as well as video submission to the Talanoa Dialogue responding to the three main questions of the Talanoa Dialogue – Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?
President of Fiji, His Excellency Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konusi Konrote officiated at the closing of LCOY Fiji with an address to delegates. His Excellency’s support contributed towards motivating the youth to become climate champions. The event also received a lot of media coverage as a result.
Budget Utilized: USD $10,000 from the project had contributed to the successful hosting of this forum.
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Photo: The youth participants with President of Fiji, His Excellency Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konusi Konrote during the closing of the LCOY Fiji.
“Your Climate Change Story” Global Video Competition The Fijian COP23 Presidency, in partnership with UNDP, called on storytellers from around the world to participate in a global video competition to collect climate change stories that highlight action being undertaken by individuals, organizations, governments and partnerships to curb the emissions that are warming our planet and build greater resilience to the impacts of climate change. The competition was inspired by the Talanoa Dialogue, a global process requested by Parties to the UNFCCC to take stock of collective efforts to reduce emissions and build greater resilience, in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement, and to support the preparation of updated or new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
At its core, the Talanoa Dialogue was about stories. More than seven thousand stories had been collected as part of the process, many of which detailed innovative and inspiring action that is taking place on the ground. The Fijian COP23 Presidency wanted to make sure stories like these were shared as widely as possible, in order to inspire others to action and to spread the message that, although time is running out, the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees above the temperature of the pre-industrial age is still obtainable.
To support this goal, the global video competition enlisted the creativity and passion of filmmakers and story tellers to use the power of video to collect stories that respond to one of the three main questions of the Talanoa Dialogue – Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? Compelling and inspiring stories about the climate action being undertaken by governments, civil society groups, businesses, investors, the scientific community and others around the globe. Filmmakers and storytellers from around the world responded to our call, delivering an overwhelming array of creative ideas and original insights. The competition ran run until 30 November 2018, after which the COP23 Presidency selected seven videos ranked from first place to seventh place. 1st place was awarded €4,000; 2nd place €3,000; 3rd place €2,000; 4th place €2,000; and, 5th place €1,000.
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Key Highlights: • 118 video entries were received from 31 countries, including the United States, Canada, Kenya, Australia, Mexico, Fiji, the Philippines, Greenland, Scotland, Brazil, Argentina, Namibia, Italy, New Zealand, Madagascar, Spain, Algeria, India, Sweden, Bulgaria, Hungary and Iceland;
• 39 videos were shortlisted based on four creative clusters: Evidence of Climate Change; Manifesto or Case Studies; Little Action and Local Movements; and Creative Story Telling;
• Out of these 39 videos, 7 winning videos were selected. The winning videos can be viewed on the COP23 Presidency’s website https://cop23.com.fj/climate-change-story/
• The winning videos were premiered on social media platforms – Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Across platforms, the winning videos generated more than:
▪ 7,163,709 impressions ▪ 3692,347 minutes viewed ▪ 1,7881575 video views ▪ 318,949 engagements
• The Your Climate Change Story Global Video Competition overall generated 318 total organic mentions, by 252 unique authors across all social media platforms. The competition engaged audiences around the world.
• The seven videos have also been used as public awareness tools in Fiji through cinema advertising to reach out to public when they go to watch latest popular movies.
Photo: One of the seven successful videos - Save The Earth.
Budget Utilized: USD $48,000 was used for consultancy of Userfarm, a video production crowdsourcing platform of filmmakers, to conduct this video competition, including awarding the cash prizes for the winning videos; purchasing the video rights of the seven successful videos; and utilizing the seven videos for public awareness through cinema advertising.
Talanoa Talks on Climate Change Mimicking a TEDx type of inspirational ideas platform, the Talanoa Talks on Climate Change was held at the Royal Institute in London on 29 November 2018 - the eve of the world convening for major climate
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talks in Poland for COP24. The Talanoa Dialogue’s purpose was to share stories, build empathy, and help leaders make wise decisions for the collective good. The Fijian Prime Minister – President of the COP23 Talks – joined extraordinary speakers from all over the world to share their stories and discuss the way forward at the most pivotal time yet.
Photo: Extraordinary lineup of speakers for the Talanoa Talks in London
The event in London was attended by a full house audience of 350 people in auditorium and many others viewing the live stream online.
Photos: Speakers and participants at the Talanoa Talks in London
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In addition, the COP23 social media channels engaged with and promoted the Talanoa Talks event and videos in several ways prior to, during and following the event on November 29, 2018. The Talanoa Talks overall generated 3,648 total organic mentions, by 2,024 unique authors across all social media platforms. The event engaged audiences around the world. The live event, along with the clipped speaker videos and promoted content across platforms generated more than:
▪ 5,141,207 impressions ▪ 317,117 minutes viewed ▪ 1,338,824 video views ▪ 86,843 engagement
Videos from the Talanoa Talks are available for viewing on YouTube link https://bit.ly/2VU4wWz and the full live stream video is available on Facebook link https://bit.ly/2APDaUf
Photo: Selected tweets coming out from the Talanoa Talks. #Talanoa4Ambition
Budget Utilized: USD $50,000 was used for hiring of 5x15, a London based event management company, to organize the Talanoa Talks event. The expenses included venue hire; video and livestream; staging design; audio and lighting; catering; branding; marketing; speech coaching of the speakers; tickets, flights, and other logistics for speakers; and the management costs on the day of the event.
Shipping of Talanoa Dialogue Artifacts for COP24 During COP24 in Poland, the Fiji COP23 Presidency was to co-chair the High Level Talanoa Dialogue. To support the organizing of the Talanoa Dialogue at COP24, the project assisted with shipping of Fijian artifacts to use during the Talanoa Dialogue. A shipping agency in Europe was used to transport Fijians artifacts from the Fiji Mission in Brussels to the COP24 venue at Katowice, Poland.
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Picture: A sample of some of the Fijian traditional items used during the High Level Ministerial Talanoa Dialogue at COP24 on 11 December 2018. Photo Credit: IISD Reporting/ENB
Budget Utilized: USD $2,000 was used for transportation costs to of Fijian artifacts to Poland.
Support for Fijian Youth Delegation to be part of the official Fiji National Delegation to COP24 The project supported the participation of four Fijian youth to be part of the official Fiji country delegation to COP24. The youth selected were Ms. Ashna Pratap and Ms. Harshana Charan representing the youth organization Project Survival Pacific, and Mr. Raeed Ali and Mr. Sivendra Michael representing the youth organization Alliance for Future Generations. Their selection was done by the Fiji Government based on their merit, experience, and contribution to Fiji upon return from COP24. Gender balance was also a criterion when selecting the youth delegates.
Picture: UNDP Pacific’s tweet on the youth participation support by the project.
Budget Utilized: USD $20,000 was used towards supporting youth participation at COP24 in the official Fiji Party delegation.
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Activity 1.2 The 2nd Climate Action Pacific Partnership (CAPP) Conference
The Climate Action Pacific Partnership (CAPP) program is an initiative of the UNFCCC Climate Action Agenda Program and developed under the leadership of Fiji COP23 Presidency High-level Climate Champion Minister Inia Seruiratu. The partnership aims to support and strengthen the participation of Pacific Small Island Developing Sates (P-SIDS) in the global climate action agenda, by bringing together relevant stakeholders to promote the exchange of ideas, innovations, and solutions. It seeks to drive transformative outcomes and initiatives to boost climate action in the Pacific, and to help inspire urgently needed increases in ambition and action elsewhere. Following the success of the first CAPP Conference in 2017, the project supported the second CAPP Conference held at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva, Fiji from 26-27 July 2018. About 300 delegates from Pacific islands governments, members of the diplomatic core, private sector and civil society actors attended the CAPP Conference.
A Talanoa Dialogue for the Pacific Small Island Developing States (P-SIDS) Leaders was held during the second Climate Action Pacific Partnership (CAPP) Conference. The Pacific Talanoa was the region’s contribution to the Talanoa Dialogue, which is being undertaken by the global community this year to help countries implement and enhance their national climate commitments, known as NDCs. The Pacific Talanoa gathered together Pacific island leaders, representatives from regional neighbors – Australia, New Zealand and Canada – Pacific business, Pacific civil society, science and the global investment community. The stories shared by participants were vivid and compelling, highlighting both the devastating impacts of climate change in the region, as well as some of the innovative responses being undertaken to build greater resilience to them and to further reduce the region’s already low emissions. The outcomes from the Pacific Talanoa, as well as the broader CAPP Conference, are being summarized and will be formally submitted to help guide the global political leaders’ dialogue at COP24, which will be co-chaired by Fiji and Poland.
Photo: Canadian Ambassador H.E. William Crosbie speaks during the opening of the CAPP Conference on 26 July 2018 as the Prime Minister of Fiji, Honorable J.V. Bainimarama looks on.
Budget Utilized: USD $271,000 from the project was utilized for this event, contributing towards the hosting costs such as venue hiring, accommodation for Pacific Government representatives and their daily subsistence allowance for their participation. 8 | P a g e
Activity 1.3 Global ACE Youth Forum
The first-ever Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Youth Forum held on 29 April 2018 at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany was a collective project of the COP23 Presidency, UNFCCC Youth Constituency - YOUNGO, the Government of Canada, the UNFCCC, and UNDP. It brought together over 110 participants from more than 70 countries.
The ACE Youth Forum was strategically timed to coincide with the SB-48 session of the UNFCCC (30 April to 10 May), as the primary objective of the AYF was for the participants to produce ACE-related recommendations which could feed into the ACE negotiations set to take place during the negotiation session. The forum also sought to build the capacity of its youth participants to undertake ACE actions upon returning home.
A major component of the ACE Youth Forum was the inclusion of Global South Scholarships (the GSS), which provided full financial and other support that enabled roughly 40 youth from the Global South to join the meeting in Bonn. Another crucial element of the project was the Advocacy and Training Support (ATS) program, whose purpose was to support realization of the forum’s two objectives: 1) generating outcomes that influenced SB-48 and, 2) enhancing the capacity of the participants for ACE actions back home.
An intensive program of online pre-sessions, an in-person preparation event on 28 April, and rigorous advocacy of the ACE Youth Forum Outcomes during the course of the SB-48 negotiations on ACE lead to the definite success of those ACE Youth Forum goals.
The support provide this youth forum resulted in the production of the AYF Outcomes (ACE recommendations), which were subsequently included in all three outcome texts from the official UNFCCC ACE negotiations during the Bonn May 2018 negotiation session. The recommendations from the youth forum positively contribution to the negotiations and were included in the texts for adoption at COP24 in December 2018.
Budget Utilized: USD $137,000 from the project was given for the hosting of the ACE Youth Forum.
Photo: Participants at the ACE Youth Forum held in Bonn, Germany on 29th April 2018
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Output 2: Fiji National Climate Negotiations Team Effectively Negotiate Informed Climate Actions and Advocate for Gender Inclusion
Activity 2.1 Negotiations Training
First Training Session
A UNFCCC negotiations expert, Mr. Chad Carpenter was brought in as a consultant to deliver the first phase of the negotiations training for 12 members of the Fiji National Climate Change Negotiations Team. The training sessions held between 13 and 29 August 2018 in Fiji covered the inter-linkages of the Paris Agreement Work Program (PAWP), status of negotiations to be covered during the September 2018 Bangkok session and skills training on drafting negotiation texts. Mr. Carpenter also held a number of one-on-one sessions with the team members to assist them in preparations for the negotiations topics they were covering. Mr. Carpenter and the Fiji COP23 Support Project Coordinator Mr. Krishneil Narayan also helped draft the national team’s strategy for the UNFCCC Bangkok session of the negotiations.
The training and advisory support for the team continued during the UNFCCC Bangkok Climate Conference between 30 August and 11 September 2018, during which time Mr. Chad Carpenter and Mr. Krishneil Narayan were attached with the negotiations team to provide one-on-one support for the team members as the negotiations progressed. UNDP’s Global Climate Change Advisor Ms. Cassie Flynn also provided support to the Prime Minister of Fiji and COP23 President as his special advisor.
Picture: First training session being conducted by Mr. Chad Carpenter with the members of the National Climate Change Negotiations Team.
Second Training Session
The second climate change negotiations training for the Fiji National Team to COP24 and the staff of the COP23 Fiji Presidency team was conducted over a 3-week period between 05 November and 23 November 2018 in Fiji prior to the team’s departure to Katowice. Two UNDP climate negotiations consultants, Mrs. Daniela Carrington and Mr. Chad Carpenter, were brought in to provide this training. Between the two, Mrs. Carrington and Mr. Carpenter covered an array of topics relevant to discussions at COP24 Katowice such as adaption, finance, mitigation, Talanoa Dialogue, Registries to name a few. The two consultants were also attached with Fiji Delegation for the whole duration of COP24 in Katowice as technical advisors providing on-ground support to the delegation as the negotiations unfolded.
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Picture: First day of the 3-week training in November 2018 for the Fiji National Climate Change Team in preparations for COP24.
Budget Utilized: USD $90,721 was used towards training of the Fiji national negotiation team. This was mainly used towards paying for costs of the two trainers; their travel logistics while being attached with the team whilst in Fiji, Bangkok and Katowice; and catering during training days.
Production of COP24 Negotiations Pacific Compass Guide With support from the Fiji Government, UNDP collaborated with Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to produce a pocket sized COP24 Negotiation Pacific Compass Guide. The booklet included briefs on topics that were to be negotiated at COP24, as well as, Pacific’s key messages or positions for each of those topics. This compass guide was given to all the Pacific Island country delegations to use as tool to assist them in negotiating during COP24.
In reviewing the Pacific’s engagement at COP24 the Pacific island negotiators attending a meeting in Fiji on 10 May 2019 said that they found the COP24 Negotiation Pacific Compass Guide very useful.
Budget Utilized: USD $3,000 was used to support the printing and designing of the compass guide booklets for the entire Pacific delegation to COP24.
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Pictures: Covers of the pocket-sized cue cards COP24 Negotiations Pacific Compass Guide
Activity 2.2 NDC Enhancement
‘Achieving Just Transformation in the Pacific’ Breakfast Event
A ‘just transition’ for workers and communities as the world’s economy responds to climate change was included as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The evidence shows that the shift to a resilient, low carbon economy will boost prosperity and be a net driver of job creation. There will be transitional challenges, however, for workers, communities and countries as this shift takes place.
But, what does just transition or just transformation mean in the Pacific islands’ regional context. To support dialogue on this topic, UNDP and Fiji COP23 Presidency organized the ‘Achieving Just Transformation in the Pacific’ breakfast event along the sides of the 3rd Climate Action Pacific Partnership Conference on 14 May 2019. Speakers includes representative from ILO, WHO, a gender and social inclusion officer from the Government of Solomon Islands and the Canadian High Commissioner to New Zealand and the Pacific, H.E. Mario Bot. The event was attended by about 60 people from across the region.
Pictures: Left: Panel speakers of the Just Transformation breakfast event. Right: Canadian High Commissioner H.E. Mario Bot
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The event discussions heard that just and equitable transformations to tackle climate change in the Pacific region must take into consideration decent jobs for workers, account for health implications of people during transition and include meaningful participation of women as agents of transformations.
Budget Utilized: USD $10,000 was used to catering and hosting of the event.
NDC Enhancement of Fiji
The Paris Agreement established a process to dynamically raise ambition, based on a five-year cycle of global stocktaking and revised nationally determined contributions (NDC). The first round of this cycle involved the 2015 submission of NDCs prior to the negotiation of the Paris Agreement. Subsequently, the Paris Agreement established 2020 as the next milestone, requesting “those Parties whose intended nationally determined contribution pursuant to decision 1/CP.20 contains a time frame up to 2030 to communicate or update by 2020 these contributions and to do so every five years thereafter pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 9, of the Agreement”.
COP24 in Poland reiterated this request and welcomed the leaders’ summit to be convened by the United Nations Secretary-General on the margins of the 2019 UN General Assembly. The leaders’ summit is intended to be a stepping stone on the pathway to a critical mass of parties coming forward with updated NDCs in 2020, as per the Paris Agreement. This is by no means a foregone conclusion, given the indicative nature of this request and the currently unfavorable domestic in the major players and unconducive geopolitical context.
Against this background, the actions of smaller developing countries are important to ensure that sufficient momentum and attention is created around the 2020 NDC deadline, and the subsequent process to raise the ambition of NDCs (2023 stock-take and 2025 NDC revision deadline). Fiji has consistently been a leader among the vulnerable countries and has submitted an ambitious NDC under the Paris Agreement.
The Fiji Government had identified The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an India based think tank dedicated to conducting research for sustainable development, to assist Fiji in devising a revised NDC for intimation at the 2019 United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit and ensure that revised NDC and its presentation allows for maximum impact in terms of facilitating greater global ambitions.
A Letter of Agreement (LOA) was signed between UNDP and Fiji Government to provide USD $100,000 to the Fiji Government in order to carry out the revision of Fiji’s NDC. The funds were used to hire TERI to:
• Review existing documents and studies related to Fiji’s mitigation potential, policies, and adaptation risks and measures, as well as the global context for the updating of Fiji’s NDC; • Hold a stakeholder consultation on potential rationale and contours for the revised NDC; • Frame the contours of the revised NDC and inputs to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit.
Budget Utilized: USD $100,000.
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Scoping Options for the Pacific Climate Finance and Insurance Incubator (Drua Incubator)
The Fijian Government sought assistance in planning for, accessing and managing finance to support its climate plans, policies and programs including innovative climate insurance mechanisms. Through this project, UNDP and the World Resource Institute (WRI) provided the Climate Change & International Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Economy with research and related support focused on Fiji’s access to and use of climate finance with the view of developing a climate finance roadmap that will be communicated in Fiji’s enhanced NDC.
Special emphasis was put on Fiji’s use of climate-related insurance considering the vulnerability of the country and the need to protect the poor and most vulnerable from the effects of climatic disasters. The development and deployment of climate insurance products will enable more timely and reliable post- disaster response, reducing humanitarian impacts, helping poor and vulnerable people recover more quickly, increasing local adaptive capacity and strengthening local resilience. This complements on-going efforts to avert, minimize and address climate and disaster risks.
A Climate Finance and Insurance Advisor from WRI, Ms. Lauren Sidner, was hired for a short-term consultancy to assist Fiji Government with work related to climate finance and insurance. The advisor’s main tasks were to:
• Research into the potential for leveraging domestic and foreign insurance to protect against sudden and slow onsets of climate change and provide recommendations. This included helping to provide materials in support of the Pacific Climate Finance and Insurance Incubator, also referred to as the Drua Incubator, an initiative that aims to help incubate financial and insurance products that meet the specific requirements of pacific small island development states;
• Analyze of options for creating a climate finance strategy. The Fijian Government may wish to create a climate finance roadmap to help create a clearer plan for accessing and distributing finance aimed at helping the country implement its climate-related plans. The advisor helped with initial scoping for the creation of such a strategy for incorporation into the enhanced NDC.
• Advice on engagement with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other development finance institutions. The Fiji Development Bank is an accredited entity to the GCF but is yet to access finance from the GCF. The advisor provided assistance to the Ministry of Economy and the Fiji Development Bank as they seek to develop a strategy accessing funds from the GCF and similar institutions.
The Climate Finance and Insurance Advisor has submitted her recommendations to the Fiji Government for consideration.
Budget Utilized: USD $30,000 for hiring of Climate Finance and Insurance Consultant from WRI to carry out the scoping exercise.
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Activity 2.3 Climate Change and Gender
In 2017, the Gender Action Plan (GAP) was adopted during the 23rd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under Fiji’s leadership as COP23 President. The GAP aims to advance women’s full, equal and meaningful participation and promote gender-responsive climate policy and the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the implementation of the Convention and the work of Parties, the secretariat, United Nations entities and all stakeholders at all levels. The GAP sets out, in five priority areas to achievement of its objectives:
A. Capacity-building, knowledge sharing and communication - The GAP seeks to enhance the understanding and expertise of stakeholders on the systematic integration of gender considerations and the application of such understanding and expertise in the thematic areas under the Convention and the Paris Agreement and in policies, programmes and projects on the ground. B. Gender balance, participation and women’s leadership - The GAP seeks to achieve and sustain the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in the UNFCCC process. C. Coherence - The GAP seeks to strengthen the integration of gender considerations within the work of UNFCCC bodies, the secretariat and other United Nation entities and stakeholders towards the consistent implementation of gender-related mandates and activities. D. Gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation - The GAP aims to ensure the respect, promotion and consideration of gender equality and the empowerment of women in the implementation of the Convention and the Paris Agreement. E. Monitoring and reporting - The GAP seeks to improve tracking in relation to the implementation of and reporting on gender-related mandates under the UNFCCC.
Under each of these five priority areas, the GAP had identified activities to achieve the priorities.
Gender Breakfast at UNFCCC SB48 Session
To support the implementation of Priority Area A.1 of the Gender Action Plan, UNDP and Fiji COP23 Presidency through support from Government of Canada helped organize a working Gender Breakfast during the 48th session of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies in Bonn, Germany on 04 May 2018 to help discuss the operationalization of GAP. The breakfast provided an opportunity for National Gender and Climate Change Focal Points (NGCCFPs) attending the UNFCCC Bonn intersessional session to identify any capacity building needs they may have to perform their roles; and to discuss opportunities, challenges and financial mobilization in the implementation of GAP.
Ms. Catherine Stewart, Head of Delegation for Canada, spoke at this event on the topic of “Mobilizing financial resources and technical expertise for the implementation of GAP”.
The formal report and recommendations coming out of the Bonn Gender Breakfast is accessible on the UNFCCC website via the link https://bit.ly/2VSrqxz.
Budget Utilized: USD $16,000 was put towards successful hosting of the Gender Breakfast in Bonn. This included catering and logistics costs
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Picture: Participants during the Gender Breakfast in Bonn.
Pacific Regional Talanoa on Progressing the Gender Action Plan One of the recommendations from the Gender Breakfast organized in Bonn in May 2018 was to organize more of such dialogue events at regional levels. Taking into consideration the recommendations made at the Gender Breakfast, a Pacific Regional Talanoa on Progressing the Gender Action Plan was organized by UNDP on 13 May 2019 in Suva, Fiji to enable national gender focal points in the Pacific region and partners to identify and discuss opportunities in the implementation of the GAP in the Pacific region.
The Pacific Talanoa was organized during the 3rd Climate Action Pacific Partnership Conference to take advantage of the regional government representatives, development partners and civil society actors attending the important regional gathering. About 40 people from across the region attended the Talanoa session. The project supported national gender focal points from the Governments of Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga to participate.
Picture: Participants in discussion during the Pacific Talanoa on Gender Action Plan.
2019 will prove to be a crucial year for GAP. The COP25 negotiations in Chile will mark the end of the two-year lifespan of GAP upon which it is up for review by the Parties. Through this Pacific regional Talanoa on progressing the GAP the was to showcase the status of implementation of GAP in the Pacific region to inform the Pacific negotiators who will be championing our region at COP25.
The Pacific Regional Talanoa on Progressing the Gender Action Plan enabled national gender focal points in the Pacific region and partners to identify opportunities and challenges in the implementation of the 16 | P a g e
GAP and ways to mobilize the resources and technical expertise required for successful implementation of the GAP. The outcomes of this Talanoa will feed into the Pacific preparations for the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit in September 2019 and to COP25 Climate Talks in December 2019.
Several recommendations were made by the actors in the gender and climate action space in the Pacific, including the need for more awareness and activities to be done with regards to fully accomplishing the priorities of GAP in the region. These recommendations could form the basis of further investment in integrating gender into all of climate change work in the region that would go beyond the timeframe of this project.
Budget Utilized: USD $16,000 was put towards successful hosting of the Pacific Talanoa on Gender Action Plan. This was mainly used to support travel for national gender focal points from 5 Pacific island countries to attend the Talanoa and related logistics.
Travel Support for Women Delegates to UNFCCC Meetings In line with Priority Area B.1 of the Gender Action Plan, the project supported the supported participation of two female youth in the Fiji National Delegation to COP24 in Katowice. The project also supported the participation of three women negotiators from the Fiji National Delegation to the Fiftieth Session of the Subsidiary Bodies of UNFCCC (SB50) held in Bonn from 17 -27 June 2019.
The purpose was to promote travel funds as a means to support the participation of women in national delegations at UNFCCC sessions, including those from grass-roots and local communities from small island developing states as outlined under Priority Area B.1 of the GAP.
Budget Utilized: USD $38,000 was put towards travel support for women delegates.
Activity 3 .0 Project Management
UNDP hired a Project Coordinator and a Project Assistant as the two staff to implement this project. The Project Coordinator Mr. Krishneil Narayan was responsible for overseeing day-to-day functions of the project. The Project Assistant Ms. Sofaia Waqavonovono was responsible for all administrative matters related to the project. USD $ 87,092 was spent on salaries for the two staff over a period of 15 months.
Although audit funds were budgeted under the project, it was later identified that the project did not need to do a separate audit for the project itself because according to the UNDP regulations the project would be audited at the next audit of the UNDP Multi-Country Office in Fiji. During the course of the project it was noticed that the funds being transferred to the Ministry of Economy, Government of Fiji as the implementing partner (IP) was about to exceed USD $300,000. According to UNDP financial regulations, when the funds being transferred to an IP exceeds USD $300,000 within the same 17 | P a g e
programme cycle, a Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) micro-assessment needs to be conducted before further funds could be given to the IP. It was decided during the COP23 Support Project Board Meeting held on 02 October 2018 that the audit funds initially budgeted could be re-directed to conduct the HACT micro-assessment of Ministry of Economy. Based on this decision of the Project Board, UNDP hired Ernest and Young audit firm to conduct the HACT assessment. USD $5,000 was spent from the project for the services of Ernest and Young.
Eight percent (8%) General Management Services (GMS) fee is charged by UNDP on new projects. The GMS fee encompasses costs incurred in providing general management and oversight functions of the organization as a whole. For the Support for Fiji COP23 Presidency Project, the 8% GMS charge of USD $87,092 was incurred.
3. Lessons Learnt and Recommendations
The Fiji COP23 Presidency was unique in that it was the first time a small island developing state (SIDS) presided over the global climate change negotiations process. The Fiji COP23 Presidency becomes a case study for future presidencies being held by an island nation. Overall, the project has made significant contributions particularly to amplify the work of the Fiji COP23 Presidency to effectively deliver its mandate.
Since this was the first time a Pacific island country was president of the UNFCCC COP processes, everyone involved in the implementation of this project depended on the priorities and needs of the Presidency as they evolved guided by the processes under the UNFCCC. There were months when lack of clarity, for example on how the Talanoa Dialogue process would be conducted at COP24, posed significant challenges in order for the project to timely deliver that component of the work. These delays were mainly due to slow and evolving negotiation process at the UNFCCC. For future COP Presidency support these delays must be factored in the timelines during project planning stages.
The project provided significant support to young people by providing them with opportunities to engage in the UNFCCC process; and towards discussions on gender related issues to climate change, particularly in the Pacific island region. It is highly recommended that further funding and sustained interventions be considered in relation to advancing the gender and climate change work in the Pacific island countries and also engaging with Pacific youth on climate change with the aim of building their capacity to become professionals and negotiators in the field that would benefit that Pacific islands. There are still many opportunities to assist the implementation of the Gender Action Plan in all of the Pacific island countries that could be further supported.
The negotiations training provided through this project was extremely beneficial for the Fiji national team in grasping the negotiations skills, especially because the team was made up of very young negotiators who were new to the UNFCCC process. The trainings built the capacity of the team to get up to speed with each thematic area and effectively negotiate for Fiji. The training also supported members of Fiji COP23 Presidency to better navigate the negotiation processes. Using Fiji case as an example, there is a lot of scope to replicate these trainings to other country delegations to UNFCCC. It is highly recommended that further interventions be considered to replicate these training sessions with other small islands developing countries.
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