AP-PLAT participated in the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2021

Date 6-9/JUL/2021
Location Virtual event

Dr. Yuji Masutomi from AP-PLAT introduced AP-PLAT activities at the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2021.

Asia-Pacific Climate Week is one of the Regional Climate Weeks (RCWs) organized before the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP). The purpose of RCWs is to bring together diverse regional stakeholders and provide space for a grassroots exchange of knowledge and locally relevant best practices. By engaging with key regional actors, RCWs play a critical role in bringing regional needs and outcomes to the global climate change processes.

Every year the RCWs are held in three regions: Africa, Latin-America and Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific. (The Middle East and North Africa will be added as the fourth region from 2022.)

This year, the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2021 (APCW 2021) was held as a virtual event on 6–9 July 2021 in the run-up to the COP 26 conference in November in Glasgow.

Virtual Thematic Sessions were divided into three tracks:

  • Track 1: National actions and economy-wide approaches
  • Track 2: Integrated approaches for climate-resilient development
  • Track 3: Seizing transformation opportunities

Dr. Masutomi introduced AP-PLAT on two occasions:

  1. Presentation at the Track 2 session “A Climate Resilient Society through Effective Scientific Knowledge Sharing and Adaptation Capacity Building” (8 July, 11:00-11:55 JST)
  2. Presentation at the side event “FAIR Climate Services” (9 July, 8:00-9:55 JST)

The first occasion was a policy-oriented session that included speakers from the government, academia and research. The second occasion was a side event hosted by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and discussed the technical aspects of climate information systems.

1.“A Climate Resilient Society through Effective Scientific Knowledge Sharing and Adaptation Capacity Building”

8 July, 11:00-11:55 JST

This session evolved around the topic of effective interaction among climate science, policy and action, as well as on climate-related capacity-building in developing countries. Presenters introduced good practices showing how climate science can be used to design plans and implement actions needed for the Asia-Pacific region. AP-PLAT was introduced in the context of enhancing capacity development using scientific knowledge and tools to increase the capacity of individuals and institutions in the region to build climate resilience.

Dr. Masutomi giving presentation at the “A Climate Resilient Society through Effective Scientific Knowledge Sharing and Adaptation Capacity Building” session

Session lead:
Mr. Peter King / Senior Policy Advisor, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

Co-lead:
Mr. Tetsuo Kuyama / Programme Director, IGES

Speakers (in the presentation order):
Dr. Yuji Masutomi / Section Head, Center for Climate Change Adaptation, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan (NIES)
Dr. Sanjay Srivastava / Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP)
Dr. Buddhi Marambe / Senior Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Dr. Neera Shrestha Pradhan / Senior Water and Adaptation Specialist, The International for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
Ms. Ladda Viriyangkura / Senior Policy Advisor, Rice Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Government of Thailand

Session partners:
National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

2.“FAIR Climate Services”

9 July, 8:00-9:55 JST

This event discussed the concept of FAIR data and its extension to FAIR climate services, with FAIR being Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Participants shared their ideas about the design and implementation of location-based climate information systems that meet FAIR principles. Participants expressed their hope to hold similar session at the African Climate Week planned in September.

Dr. Masutomi introducing AP-PLAT tools at the “FAIR Climate Services” side event.

Moderator:
Nils Hempelmann / Open Geospacial Consortium (OGC)

Speakers (in the presentation order):
David Huard / Consortium on Regional Climatology and Adaptation to Climate Change (Ouranos)
Michio Kawamiya / IPCC Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments (IPCC-TG)
Angel Lopez Alos / European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
Eduardo Pechorro / European Space Agency (ESA)
Yuji Masutomi / Center for Climate Change Adaptation, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan (NIES)
(Names listed without honorifics)

Additional Information

APCW 2021 was hosted by the Government of Japan and organized by the following partners:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
World Bank
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

(Posted : 13/JUL/2021)