The Cancun Agreements: Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention

II. Enhanced action on adaptation

11. Agrees that adaptation is a challenge faced by all Parties, and that enhanced action and international cooperation on adaptation is urgently required to enable and support the implementation of adaptation actions aimed at reducing vulnerability and building resilience in developing country Parties, taking into account the urgent and immediate needs of those developing countries that are particularly vulnerable;

12. Affirms that enhanced action on adaptation should be undertaken in accordance with the Convention, should follow a country-driven, gender-sensitive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional and indigenous knowledge, with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions, where appropriate;

13. Decides to hereby establish the Cancun Adaptation Framework encompassing the provisions laid out below, with the objective of enhancing action on adaptation, including through international cooperation and coherent consideration of matters relating to adaptation under the Convention;

14. Invites all Parties to enhance action on adaptation under the Cancun Adaptation Framework, taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and specific national and regional development priorities, objectives and circumstances, by undertaking, inter alia, the following:

• (a) Planning, prioritizing and implementing adaptation actions, including projects and programmes,and actions identified in national and subnational adaptation plans and strategies, national adaptation programmes of action of the least developed countries, national communications, technology needs assessments and other relevant national planning documents;
• (b) Impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessments, including assessments of financial needs as well as economic, social and environmental evaluation of adaptation options;
• (c) Strengthening institutional capacities and enabling environments for adaptation, including for climate-resilient development and vulnerability reduction;
• (d) Building resilience of socio-economic and ecological systems, including through economic diversification and sustainable management of natural resources;
• (e) Enhancing climate change related disaster risk reduction strategies, taking into consideration the Hyogo Framework for Action, where appropriate, early warning systems, risk assessment and management, and sharing and transfer mechanisms such as insurance, at the local, national, subregional and regional levels, as appropriate;
• (f) Measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to climate change induced displacement, migration and planned relocation, where appropriate, at the national, regional and international levels;
• (g) Research, development, demonstration, diffusion, deployment and transfer of technologies, practices and processes, and capacity-building for adaptation, with a view to promoting access to technologies, in particular in developing country Parties;
• (h) Strengthening data, information and knowledge systems, education and public awareness;
• (i) Improving climate-related research and systematic observation for climate data collection, archiving, analysis and modelling in order to provide decision makers at the national and regional levels with improved climate-related data and information;

15. Decides to hereby establish a process to enable least developed country Parties to formulate and implement national adaptation plans, building upon their experience in preparing and implementing national adaptation programmes of action, as a means of identifying medium- and long-term adaptation needs and developing and implementing strategies and programmes to address those needs;

16. Invites other developing country Parties to employ the modalities formulated to support the above-mentioned national adaptation plans in the elaboration of their planning effort referred to in paragraph 14 (a) above;

17. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to elaborate modalities and guidelines for the provisions of paragraphs 15 and 16 above, for adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth session;

18. Requests developed country Parties to provide developing country Parties, taking into account the needs of those that are particularly vulnerable, with long-term, scaled-up, predictable, new and additional finance, technology and capacity-building, consistent with relevant provisions, to implement urgent, short-, medium- and long-term adaptation actions, plans, programmes and projects at the local, national, subregional and regional levels, in and across different economic and social sectors and ecosystems, as well as to undertake the activities referred to in paragraphs 14–16 above and paragraphs 30, 32 and 33 below;

19. Acknowledges the need to strengthen, enhance and better utilize existing institutional arrangements and expertise under the Convention;

20. Decides to hereby establish an Adaptation Committee to promote the implementation of enhanced action on adaptation in a coherent manner under the Convention, inter alia, through the following functions:

• (a) Providing technical support and guidance to the Parties, respecting the country-driven approach, with a view to facilitating the implementation of adaptation activities, including those listed in paragraphs 14 and 15 above, where appropriate;
• (b) Strengthening, consolidating and enhancing the sharing of relevant information, knowledge, experience and good practices, at the local, national, regional and international levels, taking into account, as appropriate, traditional knowledge and practices;
• (c) Promoting synergy and strengthening engagement with national, regional and international organizations, centres and networks, in order to enhance the implementation of adaptation actions, in particular in developing country Parties;
• (d) Providing information and recommendations, drawing on adaptation good practices, for consideration by the Conference of the Parties when providing guidance on means to incentivize the implementation of adaptation actions, including finance, technology and capacity-building and other ways to enable climate-resilient development and reduce vulnerability, including to the operating entities of the financial mechanism of the Convention, as appropriate;
• (e) Considering information communicated by Parties on their monitoring and review of adaptation actions, support provided and received, possible needs and gaps and other relevant information, including information communicated under the Convention, with a view to recommending what further actions may be required, as appropriate;

21. Invites Parties to submit to the secretariat, by 21 February 2011, views on the composition of, and modalities and procedures for, the Adaptation Committee, including on proposed linkages with other relevant institutional arrangements;

22. Requests the secretariat to compile these submissions into a miscellaneous document, to be made available by the fourteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, and to prepare a synthesis report based on those submissions by the fourteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention;

23. Requests the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, taking into account the above-mentioned submissions and synthesis report, to elaborate the composition of, and modalities and procedures for, the Adaptation Committee, for adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth session;

24. Also requests the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, in elaborating the above-mentioned modalities and procedures, to define, as appropriate, linkages with other relevant institutional arrangements under and outside the Convention, including at the national and regional levels;

25. Recognizes the need to strengthen international cooperation and expertise in order to understand and reduce loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including impacts related to extreme weather events and slow onset events;

26. Decides to hereby establish a work programme in order to consider, including through workshops and expert meetings, as appropriate, approaches to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change;

27. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to agree on activities to be undertaken under the above-mentioned work programme;

28. Invites Parties and relevant organizations to submit to the secretariat, by 21 February 2011, views and information on what elements should be included in the work programme, including the following:

• (a) Possible development of a climate risk insurance facility to address impacts associated with severe weather events;
• (b) Options for risk management and reduction, risk sharing and transfer mechanisms such as insurance, including options for micro-insurance, and resiliencebuilding, including through economic diversification;
• (c) Approaches for addressing rehabilitation measures associated with slow onset events;
• (d) Engagement of stakeholders with relevant specialized expertise;

29. Requests the secretariat to compile these submissions into a miscellaneous document and to prepare a synthesis report based on those submissions, to be made available for consideration by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation at its thirty-fourth session, and with a view to making recommendations on loss and damage to the Conference of the Parties for its consideration at its eighteenth session;

30. Invites Parties to strengthen and, where necessary, establish regional centres and networks, in particular in developing countries, with support from developed country Parties and relevant organizations, as appropriate, and to facilitate and enhance national and regional adaptation actions, in a manner that is country-driven, encourages cooperation and coordination between regional stakeholders and improves the flow of information between the Convention process and national and regional activities;

31. Notes that an international centre to enhance adaptation research and coordination could also be established in a developing country;

32. Invites all Parties to strengthen and, where necessary, establish and/or designate national-level institutional arrangements, with a view to enhancing work on the full range of adaptation actions, from planning to implementation;

33. Decides that all Parties should use existing channels to provide information, as appropriate, on support provided and received for adaptation actions in developing countries and on activities undertaken, including, inter alia, progress made, experiences, lessons learned, and challenges and gaps in the delivery of support, with a view to ensuring transparency and accountability and encouraging best practices;

34. Invites relevant multilateral, international, regional and national organizations, the public and private sectors, civil society and other relevant stakeholders to undertake and support enhanced action on adaptation at all levels, including under the Cancun Adaptation Framework, as appropriate, in a coherent and integrated manner, building on synergies among activities and processes, and to make information available on the progress made;

35. Requests the secretariat to support the implementation of the Cancun Adaptation Framework, including related institutional arrangements under the Convention, in accordance with its mandate and subject to the availability of resources;

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