House of Commons - International Development

Select Committee on International Development Third Report

IV CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Linking to the international development agenda

CLIMATE CHANGE, POVERTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

95. Environmental issues and poverty are closely linked and must be tackled together. Many poor people make their living from or depend on natural resources and are concerned about environmental issues. Links between tackling poverty and addressing environmental issues therefore need to be recognised in the strategies and policies of donors and recipient countries alike. We welcome the fact that DFID is encouraging developing countries to make such links.[266]

96. But DFID, along with most other donors, has paid too little attention to global climate change.[267] DFID's evidence made it clear that to them climate change was just one of the many environmental issues threatening development. We disagree. By grouping climate change with environmental degradation or mismanagement of natural resources the long-term nature of climate risks will be overlooked as DFID's policies react to short-term concerns. Climate change must have an identity of its own within DFID's portfolio of work on environmental issues that makes it distinct from short-term environmental concerns. Issues such as desertification, loss of biodiversity, loss of habitat and climate change are all long-term problems requiring global solutions and DFID needs to ensure that they are not lost in a big box just labelled 'the environment'.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

97. The notion of sustainable development has evolved considerably since the Brundtland Commission's 1987 report and the Rio Summit. It is no longer linked solely with the environmental agenda. DFID's memorandum stated that sustainable development recognised the need to address the social, economic and environmental aspects of development.[268] But sustainable development is still sometimes narrowly interpreted as being concerned only with the environment,[269] although in practice it is social and economic development that are addressed while environmental concerns are often marginalised. The tools of cost benefit analysis make the economic dimension of sustainable development easier to grasp, but the social and environmental impacts of polices are more difficult to assess. Saleemul Huq argued that consideration of climate change helped to focus attention on sustainability rather than just on the developmental aspects of sustainable development. It enabled a long-term perspective on development to be taken on issues such as energy policy, disaster management, population growth and consumption. In his view, a climate change perspective brought the issue back to "¼the sustainable development paradigm rather than the immediate development paradigm which many people are locked into, both national governments and aid agencies.".[270]

Figure 16: The triangle shows the three major dimensions of sustainable development. Examples of linkages between the economic, social and environmental dimensions are shown along the sides of the triangle with important issues that interact with all three dimensions shown inside the triangle.[271]

98. Because climate change is seen as accelerating irreversible changes in habitats and biodiversity, the policy response has tended to focus on durability. We are encouraged that DFID recognises that conservation does not have to exclude economic use of natural resources. As Clare Short told us, forestry and logging can be carried out sustainably.[272] However, the Tyndall Centre argued that wealth creation and sustainability do not always go hand in hand. Sometimes a move from cash crops to food crops and a return to traditional farming methods produces a more sustainable livelihood for the rural poor (who are often adversely affected by increasing industrialisation in an economy).[273]

99. The development pathway the world choses to follow will affect future vulnerability. Population growth and future economic development will affect the scale of the impacts of climate change. A world with lower population and where wealth is more equitably distributed will suffer less from the adverse impacts of climate change.[274] Climate change and sustainable development are interdependent. If development is to occur in a way that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable then sustainable development has to be made the central goal of any global climate regime.[275] And climate change polices must form a part of any overall sustainable development strategy.[276] DFID's policies should reflect the interdependency between sustainable development and climate change.

100. The IPCC's rejection of a proposal to prepare a technical report on climate change and sustainable development represents a missed opportunity.[277] We believe the UK government should be pushing the IPCC to pay greater attention to adaptation, the linkages between climate change and sustainable development, and the identification of 'no-regrets' and 'win-win' responses. Developing countries should also be encouraged by the UK Government to apply pressure within the IPCC on the same issues. The IPCC needs to develop its capacity to deal with sustainability and development. Currently, all of its Technical Support Units (TSUs) are based in developed countries. Development agencies often have little direct role in the IPCC's operations. Vulnerability has been defined solely in terms of climate change, rather than integrating climate change exposure and climatic risks or disasters. The IPCC's work is driven more by future climate scenarios than present climatic risks, the need for adaptation, or coping capacity. But the recent appointment of a new chair, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, offers an opportunity to reorient the IPCC process towards a development first agenda. DFID should support efforts to orient the IPCC toward climate risk management, including present climatic variability and disasters, as part of ongoing development planning. DFID could also examine the scope for jointly funding a Technical Support Unit with a leading developing country to examine development and equity issues, promoting research to develop innovative projects on climate change adaptation in developing countries, and supporting policy dialogues in developing countries.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

101. Clare Short said that climate change would add to the difficulties of meeting the Millennium Development Goals.[278] DEFRA's submission recognised that action to tackle climate change was intimately linked with the achievement of the MDGs[279] and that without serious action to tackle climate change and to integrate it into all areas of policy, the achievement of the MDGs could be in jeopardy.[280] DFID's Departmental Report for 2002 made clear that progress towards MDGs was slowest in sub-Saharan Africa and, on current trends, Africa was unlikely to meet any of the MDGs.[281] Climate change will compound the problem as both the IPCC and the evidence we received made clear that Africa would face a significant number of adverse affects from climate change (see paragraph 20 and figure 7). Climate risk can only make achievement of the MDGs even harder. Climate change could prevent the MDGs being achieved or undermine development in the longer-term, unless development investment includes some element to improve capacity for adaptation.[282] However, tackling climate change is compatible with both the achievement of the MDGs and sustainable development. But, it needs to be considered at an early stage in policy formulation and needs to be properly integrated. We welcome the work within DFID to examine the impact of climate change on the MDGs.[283]

Table 14: Impact of climate change on Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals with targets	Possible adverse impacts
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than US$1 a day Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger	Decreased crop yields Increase pressure on government and private flood insurance systems Increased economic losses and damage to infrastructure Loss of livelihoods Decreased potential for use of hydroelectric power
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling	Secondary impacts from weakened economic and human systems Damage to infrastructure
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015	No direct impacts Indirect impacts through reinforcement of traditional gender roles under weakened economic systems e.g. child bearing, collecting firewood and water
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate	Heat stress increases risk of death and serious illness for urban poor Malnutrition due to decreased food availability Extended range and activity of some pest and vector-borne diseases Increase death and injury associated with extreme events Increased risk of infectious diseases and epidemics associated with extreme events
Goal 5: Improve maternal health Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio	Increased risk of death and serious illness for urban poor Malnutrition due to decreased food availability Extended range and activity of some pest and vector-borne diseases Increase death and injury associated with extreme events Increased risk of infectious diseases and epidemics associated with extreme events
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases	Extended range and activity of some pest and vector-borne diseases Increased risk of infectious diseases and epidemics associated with extreme events
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and program and reverse the loss of environmental resources Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water Have achieved, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers	Increased flood, landslide, avalanche and mudslide damage Increased risk of forest fires Decreased water resource quality and quantity Displacement of people in coastal areas especially in megacities and associated peri-urban areas. Increased damage to coastal ecosystems, coral reefs and mangroves Increased soil erosion
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction—both nationally and internationally)	Exacerbation of regional resource conflicts makes it more difficult to establish systems for good governance, trade and finance.

Policy coherence and integration in developed countries

POLICY INTEGRATION

102. Having agreed an international framework, many countries are well into the process of formulating specific climate policies. Policy integration and coherence are probably the cheapest and the most effective contributions any government can make towards climate protection. Without proper integration and coherence, policies to protect the climate will be undermined, countered and rendered ineffective by other policies. Climate protection needs to be a fully integrated component of policies on energy, agriculture, transport, trade and industry, as well as international development and cooperation. These policies should always seek to protect or at least ensure a minimal impact on the climate.[284] Benito Müller, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said "Climate change needs to be mainstreamed in development policy, not the other way round. It is not environmental protection; it is human impacts which count in the developing world.".[285] Integration and coherence must extend to policies at local or regional level as issues like urban planning can have an important impact.[286] Figure 17 shows a schematic representation for an integrated framework.

103. Any policy for action on climate change and climate risk should cover four key areas:

Raising awareness across all sectors, countries, communities;
Mitigation to reduce greenhouse gases;
Adaptation to manage the effects of climate change;
Research to monitor changes, refine progress and define the effects more precisely and to develop tools to deal with it.[287]

Figure 17: Climate change—an integrated framework. Schematic representation of an integrated assessment framework for considering climate change.[288]

104. At present there is a lack of policy coherence and integration nationally as well as internationally.[289] All government actions need to support measures taken to address climate change. Cooperation cannot just be across government departments and between international agencies, it must also link environment and development goals. While DEFRA is working to reduce climate impacts and limit emissions, other departments continue to support and subsidise the use of fossil fuels. Greenpeace told us that ECGD had provided support for 140 fossil fuel and nuclear power generation projects in thirty-eight countries between April 1992 and April 2001. To date it had not invested in any renewable energy projects other than some large and medium sized hydroelectric projects.[290] DFID said that they had advised ECGD on the approaches it might take to looking at the environmental consequences of export credits but said it was for ECGD to make the decisions and seek further advice where it could find it.[291] Work undertaken to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases should not be undermined by other policies, such as support given to fossil fuel projects where suitable renewable alternatives exist. We urge ECGD to help focus investments in developing countries on sustainable solutions through the application of its sustainable development guidelines.

DONOR ACTION AND COORDINATION

105. In general, donors do not recognise climate change as a development problem and overall there has been little funding of work on adaptation.[292] Effort among donor agencies and specialist bodies established to deal with climate change and climate protection is often duplicated. In addition, many organisations are now being asked to work on areas that are beyond their core competencies.[293] It has not been possible to quantify the aid flows that directly support the UNFCCC or that relate directly to climate change.[294] However, interest in donor activity is growing; the German technical cooperation agency, GTZ, recently commissioned a paper on adaptation to climate change.[295] DFID could influence the focus on adaptation and work to develop a greater understanding of the importance of adaptation among donors.[296]

106. Adaptation to climate change must be considered by donors in cases where a development project or programme has long-term goals expected to last for decades.[297] Examples might include infrastructure projects, or projects, such as forestation, that cause slow changes in patterns of land-use. Climate change could affect the sustainability or even success of donors' projects and programmes in several ways:

there may be a risk to a project and its deliverables from climate change impacts;
the intended beneficiaries may be vulnerable to climate change impacts or to the effects of mitigation policies; or,
the project could increase a community's or an ecosystem's vulnerability to climatic hazards.[298]

107. Donors need to establish evaluation criteria and performance indicators relevant to climate change. They should also consider developing a general criterion for development investment that focuses on long-term sustainability, in addition to existing criteria for poverty focus, gender balance and environmental protection.[299] Some form of climate impact assessment is needed, just as environmental impact assessments have become the norm for large infrastructure projects.[300] At the very least, risk and vulnerability assessments should be conducted alongside environmental impact assessments.[301] The Tyndall Centre recommended assessing the impact of climate change on existing and planned projects.[302] They also recommended identifying vulnerability hot-spots, so that capacity building and adaptation programmes can be properly targeted. DFID told us that it was currently reviewing its environmental screening procedures and would consider how climate impacts should be incorporated into the process.[303] We recommend that DFID encourage other donors, bilateral and multilateral, to develop evaluation criteria and performance indicators for climate change. Donors, including DFID, should begin carrying out climate impact assessments that review both the potential impact of climate change on a project and the impact of any project on climate. DFID could play a leading role by developing such criteria and then spreading best practice. The outcomes from the research DFID has commissioned should be used to help develop the criteria and indicators.

108. Clare Short was clear about the need for developing countries to integrate climate considerations and risks into their national strategies and planning processes.[304] How they do this will depend on the support they are given to help address the lack of information on, and the lack of local capacity for addressing, climate change. While donors are primarily focused on 2015 as the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, many developing countries need to be taking a longer-term view for policy development. Given the dependence of many countries on donors and the fact that countries will often respond to what they perceive are donor priorities, it is important that DFID and other donors show that climate change is an issue that deserves serious consideration within the context of their national and local priorities.[305]

109. There has been some criticism of the failure by donors, notably the World Bank, to integrate goals on climate protection into their mainstream activities.[306] Criticism has centred around energy policy and the reform of energy sectors in developing countries where decisions have been driven more by price than social or environmental considerations. Export credit agencies have attracted similar criticism as they play a vital role in controlling and restricting the investments made by development banks. Through its position on the board of the MDBs and through the advice it provides bodies like ECGD, DFID must ensure that climate change is recognised as an issue and that the policies and actions of these organisation will not increase climate risk.

110. DFID should assess which actors and institutions are best placed to work on climate change using criteria of equity, efficiency and effectiveness. Some interventions, like many current proposals for reducing greenhouse gases, may not be the most equitable or efficient but they are effective; others that are more equitable may not be so effective.[307] DFID should assess the comparative advantage of donors and encourage those with particular expertise on climate change issues to take a lead. DFID also needs to examine the scope for working with UN agencies on climate issues. Andy Haines, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told us that UN agencies often did not have sufficient staff to co-ordinate the surveillance and research work on climate change and health; the World Health Organisation (WHO) had one person working part-time on climate and health. Sari Kovats, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, agreed that WHO lacked the capacity to support individual assessments in particular countries .[308] It may be possible for other agencies, such as bilateral donors like DFID, who have a presence on the ground, to work in partnership with WHO on such assessments.

111. DFID should also ensure that support for work on climate change by multilateral agencies links with the poverty reduction agenda. Action on climate change needs to be reflected in Country Assistance Strategies and Country Strategy Papers. These should make the appropriate links to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSSDs), National Adaptation Programmes for Action (NAPAs) and other national strategies of developing countries. Donors must also take account of the impact their projects and programmes will have on climate and the impact climate will have on their programmes through some kind of climate impact assessment.

BUILDING SCIENTIFIC AND INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

112. Greater scientific capacity is needed within developing countries to help them develop solutions and inform the policy-making process. Andy Haines, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stressed the need to build capacity in developing countries through both south-south and south-north collaboration.[309] Africa has suffered a tremendous brain drain, with the result that today most African scientists do not work in Africa.[310] Benito Müller told us of a scientist friend from Senegal who claimed that he could live on a first-class airline seat the whole of the year as a consequence of the international conferences he was asked to attend but, at the same time, he could not afford a research assistant.[311] The south has many talented and dedicated scientists who can bring new ideas and a different perspective to collective problems like climate change. But they need proper support. Adequate resources and infrastructure are needed to encourage scientists to remain in their own countries and to build a scientific community capable of carrying out research on local priorities and advising policy makers accordingly.

113. Building scientific capacity to monitor issues, such as changes in the prevalence of disease in response to climate change, are essential. During our recent visit to West Africa we visited the Kintampo Health Research Centre in Ghana, which has strong links with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and saw at first hand how institutional links can help in building scientific capacity. There are a number of practical measures that donors and developing countries could support to help build scientific capacity, including:

Developing research and training centres that can become centres of excellence in the South and at the same time enhancing regional and international co-operation through both south-south and north-south institutional links. Activities in this area should involve both governments and private sector organisations.
Promoting scientific education and expanding scientific literacy.
Supporting interdisciplinary approaches that integrate economic, social, and environmental issues and focus on sustainable development.
Promoting and supporting the development of new technologies.
Supporting initiatives such as UNESCO's International Fund for Technological Development in Africa and the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South's (COMSATS) technical assistance fund.
Investing in infrastructure and training in new information and communications technologies.
Developing a suitable legal framework in developing countries and internationally to ensure the protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

114. If climate change is to be properly integrated, institutions will need to be strengthened, both in developed and developing countries. Donors should help to promote boundary institutions that can translate climate risks and the need for adaptation and mitigation into viable strategies at national and local levels. Donors must make the development of scientific and institutional capacity to deal with climate risk one of their top priorities. DFID has a good understanding of the importance of knowledge and technology transfer, through south-north and south-south linkages. This isn't the case with all bilateral donors: the US blocked a G77 and China group proposal at the WSSD Prepcom in Bali for a developing countries network of scientific centres of excellence in developing countries.[312] The US argued instead that developing countries should support existing networks. We hope that scientific and technical cooperation will feature strongly at WSSD. DFID should work with the scientific and technical communities to build, enhance and maintain links between the scientific and technical communities in developed and developing countries on bilateral and multilateral levels. We are aware that the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) are looking into this issue and we look forward to seeing the results of their work. We would encourage both DFID and POST to work closely on this as it can only be of mutual benefit.

DFID'S POLICY

115. Any efforts to reduce poverty and empower the vulnerable are likely to increase resilience to climate change.[313] Both will contribute to better adaptive capacity and reduced vulnerability as will improvement in the management of natural resources.[314] Saleemul Huq recommended that DFID took a livelihoods approach to developing policies and made sure that the policies were both pro-environment and pro-poor.[315] DFID's work on sustainable livelihoods, its work on mainstreaming environmental issues, and its efforts to build international constituencies for development are having some effect. However, the evidence DFID gave to the Committee made clear that DFID did not have a climate change policy per se. Their responses to our questions referred to the general principles of development (country-driven, sustainable livelihoods, mainstreaming environment) and offered few specific programmes related to climate change. Richard Manning explained that DFID had selected eleven countries[316] where it would work to incorporate environmental issues, sustainable development and climate change into country policies.[317] We look forward to seeing how the work in these countries, to incorporate environmental issues, sustainable development and climate change, develops. Adrian Davis, DFID, thought that adaptation would be main focus of DFID's climate change activities. We agree that adaptation should be DFID's main priority in terms of action on climate change. DFID should consider developing a specific policy on adaptation. This could promote adaptation, and ensure that adverse effects are moderated and benefits realised while maladaptation is avoided.

116. In our view, DFID does not need to change its policies radically but a greater emphasis should be placed on mainstreaming climate considerations through other policies. We see the development of indicators and a system for climate impact assessment as crucial in monitoring climate considerations. Richard Manning reassured us when he told us that DFID did not see climate change as irrelevant to the poverty agenda and recognised that over time they were closely linked.[318] But DFID's own evidence to the Committee said that "climate change, while important, is only one factor in the set of environmental opportunities and risks".[319] We remain concerned that DFID sees climate change as a subset of environmental issues rather than the most urgent.[320] If climate change is taken to be just another environmental problem it will be lost among all the short-term considerations.

117. DFID must build its own capacity on climate change if it is to target the most vulnerable effectively and give the best advice on policy integration.[321] We recognise that DFID has been active in international negotiations including the Conference of Parties (CoP) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). Richard Manning described work in progress to raise awareness of climate change across the department and said senior management had been briefed on climate change.[322] We are encouraged at the emphasis that is now being placed on climate change within DFID. Awareness-raising activities, dissemination of new research findings and the production of an internal briefing document following the presentation to senior managers on the science of climate change are all helpful. The work with DEFRA to provide summaries of IPCC findings, especially where these identify regional/sectoral climate impacts, and summaries of the ongoing international process will be invaluable. We welcome the research work that DFID and other UK government departments have commissioned, particularly on how the prospects for reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals are likely to be affected by climate change. We look forward to seeing the results and watching how DFID will use them to inform and influence policy.

118. Developing countries need help to adapt to climate change.[323] DFID should identify areas that are particularly vulnerable such as sub-Saharan Africa, which has suffered falling GDP over recent decades and which will suffer adverse impacts from climate change.[324] Looking at the distribution of natural disasters could identify other countries that are priorities for adaptation and help to target measures in those affected worst.[325] The UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol require that each country must inform others about its national climate change activities. This is done through papers known as National Communications (NC). Many developed countries have submitted their second National Communication and developing countries have started to submit their first. Although there is limited material on climate change in developing countries for DFID to draw upon, National Communications should provide a useful starting point. All DFID country and regional offices should obtain relevant National Communications as a starting point for discussing actions on climate change.

THE ROLE OF INSURANCE

119. Ian Davis, Cranfield Disaster Management Centre, told us that insurance was a powerful tool for dealing with risk.[326] It can spread risk across the global economy and protect investments in infrastructure. The insurance industry had considerable expertise in risk management. Globally it is three times larger than the fossil fuel industry, with control over some thirty per cent of the world's stocks and shares.[327] The insurance industry is interested in developing countries as new markets. However, a lack of political stability in some countries has meant many companies regard investments there as carrying too high a risk. In a stable country and with a cooperative government, the insurance industry could probably offer premium incentives for climate risk reduction measures, could reinstate damaged infrastructure in a more resilient way and could be a source of advice on risk management.[328] Premium incentives may be a useful way of encouraging developing countries to adopt and mainstream sensible policies on climate change and sustainable development. We would see a dialogue between donors, recipient governments and the private sector, particularly insurers, as constructive and beneficial. DFID might find a closer dialogue with the insurance industry worthwhile. Perhaps this could be achieved through the UNEP Finance Initiative or through the UK Advisory Committee for Natural Disaster Reduction.[329]

120. We agree with David Crichton that there is a certain irony in the World Bank insisting on insurance during construction for infrastructure projects but no continuing requirement for insurance once the bridge or road is handed over.[330] DFID should examine whether there should a requirement for continuing insurance cover once a project is completed and handed over. This should include an assessment of how developing countries could finance such a requirement.

Climate change in the policies of developing countries

121. The likely impacts described in chapter 2 mean climate change is of direct relevance to development goals such as tackling poverty, ensuring food security, water, access to sanitary living conditions, and access to energy.[331] We have already seen that the most adverse impacts will be in developing countries where populations are the most vulnerable and least able to adapt, but climate change does not feature prominently within the policies of these countries.[332] This is probably due to a combination of competing priorities and a lack of knowledge and capacity to address climate risk. While sustainable development will help to reduce vulnerability over time, it is unclear whether it can occur fast enough to make a difference (even despite the uncertainties over the rate of climate change).

SYNERGY IN NATIONAL POLICIES AND STRATEGIES

122. The proper integration of climate policies within national policies on social, economic and environmental issues enhances the capacity of countries to deal with climate change. Many of the policies necessary to ensure climate protection or to mitigate climate impacts could have ancillary benefits and national policies should recognise such benefits.[333] The British Bangladeshi Professional Association stressed the importance of linking strategies on climate change with national sustainable development objectives. It believed climate change was more than a long-term environmental issue and had to be recognised as a short and medium-term development issue.[334] Climate change has largely been ignored in NSSDs.[335] Developing countries must integrate actions on climate change into their national strategies. Ministries of Finance must be involved in this process, as the costs associated with the longer-term impacts of climate change have to be considered now.[336]

123. Most donors are keen to support initiatives where there is effective policy integration. DEFRA told us the UK would consider providing support for adaptation where it was a credible part of an overall poverty reduction strategy.[337] Policy integration should be a priority for developing countries not least because it might release donor funding for adaptation.

Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

124. Developing countries have been asked to prepare freestanding national studies for various multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). As every MEA has its own format, separate plans had to be produced for each one. The net effect was the development of plans that lacked coherence and coordination and that contained little of any practical value.[338] Saleemul Huq, IIED, called for better integration of multilateral environmental agreements saying, "It is much more important than just doing another standalone plan which will be left on the shelf or brought to international meetings but not have any relevance for the country.".[339] DFID and other donors should be working to ensure that existing strategies are pulled down from the shelves, dusted off and revised. New strategies should take account, from the outset, of the need for an integrated policy framework. Climate change must be a part of such a framework. The MEAs could reduce the burden on countries by adopting similar reporting conventions but the ultimate goal must be to have them properly integrated within national policies.

Linking NSSDs, PRSPs and NAPAs

125. DFID recognised the impacts of climate change were fundamental to the development prospects of many poor countries and called for adaptation measures to be placed in the context of national poverty reduction strategies and other development processes.[340] However, there is little evidence that National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSSDs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are addressing poverty in a way that takes account of environmental issues and resources. National plans lack coordination.[341] DFID suggested that poverty reduction strategies provided the ideal vehicle for ensuring that poverty and environment issues were properly integrated into other policies and programmes, especially macroeconomic policies. If correctly developed, PRSPs could serve a dual purpose by serving as national strategies for sustainable development as well. Sectoral polices needed to recognise poverty and environment linkages. We believe that climate change can be mainstreamed through PRSPs. Climate change strategies should, however, remain distinct from short-term environmental strategies to avoid them becoming lost among short-term competing priorities.

126. Guidelines for the preparation of National Adaptation Programmes for Action (NAPAs) were established at CoP-7 in Marrakech. The development of NAPAs is a vital part of building policy coherence and mainstreaming climate change considerations in developing countries. However, little guidance exists on what could or should be included. A least developed countries expert group was established to help the preparation of NAPAs and promote the exchange of best practice. It acts in an advisory capacity to least developed countries on the preparation of NAPAs and capacity building needs. DFID has a representative on the group.[342] Plans for a fund to provide the necessary financial resources for the preparation of the NAPAs were discussed and are to be taken forward by the GEF. We support DFID's aim of ensuring that NAPAs become an effective part of the mainstreamed response to climate change.[343]

127. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) recommended that the UK government should help and encourage policy integration by ensuring that NSSDs included climate change issues and actions.[344] This policy integration should go further. The National Communication, NAPA, PRSP, NSSD, and other similar policies and reports should be a consistent, coherent set of documents, committed to the same sustainable development path and recognising the interdependency of issues like poverty reduction, the environment, climate change and sustainable development. Developing countries may not need help to develop specific policies on climate change if they can be encouraged and helped to design all their policies in a way that minimises the impact on the climate. DFID and other donors may have to support some capacity and institution-building activity to ensure that the machinery of governments in developing countries can deliver coherent and integrated policies. We do not underestimate the challenge this presents; there are many examples of incoherent policies in developed countries. DFID should sponsor some research to determine the need for capacity and institution building in developing countries. Saleemul Huq, IIED, stressed the importance of climate models in helping countries prepare plans for mitigation and adaptation.[345] DFID and DEFRA worked with the Hadley Centre on a portable computer model that can be run on a personal computer.[346] This is intended for use in developing countries to help develop understanding and inform planning using a model that better reflects local circumstances.[347]

ENERGY AND TRANSPORT POLICIES

128. Subsidies that distort water, energy and transport markets need to be reformed. Many are simply inefficient, some create perverse incentives and others are biassed against the poor and could be better targeted. Energy policy is crucial; developed and developing countries will have to facilitate a transition from mainly fossil fuel based energy production to low carbon and renewable alternatives. They will have to help industry to use initiatives like emissions trading and CDM. Long-term investments in clean technologies will require clear and stable policy regimes in many countries.[348] DFID should press multilateral agencies to consider energy sources and efficiency and where appropriate and possible, donors should foster the use of renewable sources of energy. If a project uses fossil fuels or other sources of energy likely to contribute to greenhouse gases, donors should require they are used as efficiently as possible.

129. Transport and transport infrastructure play a vital part in economic development and sustainable growth. The transport needs of developing countries are immense and developing countries often lack the resources needed to build efficient and modern transport systems. Until recently the transport sector deficit in Zambia absorbed twelve per cent of the government's total revenues. Effective transport systems are essential for access to domestic, regional and international markets and for the creation of jobs. Clearly, greater transport capacity is needed if developing countries, particularly those in Africa, are going to meet the MDGs and wherever possible investment in transport should be focused around sustainable transport policies. The developing world already suffers from both poor mobility and high levels of transport-related pollution.[349] DFID and other donors should encourage developing countries to develop sustainable transport polices. This makes sense on economic, social and health grounds as well as from an environmental and climate perspective.

STIMULATING ACTION

130. Developing countries must develop their own objectives to tackle their own specific problems. A country's ability to build a sustainable future will be affected by issues of governance.[350] A lack of resources and capacity hampers the ability to identify and implement appropriate responses to climate change. Corruption, inefficient public services and weak enforcement mechanisms play a major part in the misuse of natural resources and could undermine efforts to reduce climate risk.

131. Many of the key players and policy makers, financial institutions and the private sector, are not engaged in the debate on climate change with developing countries.[351] As a result, much of the work on climate change has taken place within specialisms and within specialists' own spheres of competence. There has been little interaction between climate experts and experts in development or disaster studies either at a research or policy level.[352] Policies to address climate change could have a positive impact on regional economic development just as environmental issues can be tackled in ways that bring economic and social benefits. Many actions can be taken locally and regionally, without waiting for international agreements, particularly on co-ordination and sharing of best practice. The process of building capacity must be participatory and should ensure local communities are involved in its planning.

IMPACT ON INVESTMENT

132. Developing countries have an understandable concern that the imposition of environmental conditions and policies could deter foreign direct investment (FDI).[353] The imposition of sensible environmental conditions would be unlikely to deter a serious investor interested in a long-term partnership. Any conditions imposed would be little different to those they faced elsewhere in the world. FDI far outstrips ODA and is vital for development. It is essential that investments are environmentally and socially sound.[354] However, increased climate risk (such as extreme weather events or sea level rises) could jeopardise a country's ability to borrow and to attract FDI. Shell told us there were a range of external barriers to successful private sector involvement in developing economies, in particular, weak governance, inappropriate legal and policy frameworks to encourage private sector investment, and limited developmental capacity. They acknowledged that while governments, donors and civil society, had historically tackled these challenges there was a role for businesses in tackling these issues.[355] Climate risk adds another potential barrier to FDI unless countries can demonstrate that the risks have been recognised and a policy framework exists or is being developed to address them. Poor disaster preparedness might hamper a country's chance of obtaining insurance cover and could affect its credit rating. Developing countries need to take action on adaptation and mitigation to show that they can manage climate risk.

266 Q166 Back

267 Ev 131 Back

268 Ev 1 [para 2] Back

269 Ibid. Back

270 Q93 Back

271 IPCC, 2001, Third Assessment Report, Synthesis Report-Technical Summary. Back

272 Q152 Back

273 Ev 61 Back

274 Ev 39 Back

275 Huq et al, 2002, IIED Opinion: Climate Change and Sustainable Development Beyond Kyoto Back

276 Q49 Back

277 Ev 73 [para 23] Back