Decision -/CP.71

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling its decisions 11/CP.1, 10/CP.2, 11/CP.2, 12/CP.2, 2/CP.4, 8/CP.5 and 10/CP.5,

Noting the extension of funding through the expedited procedures of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for countries to address capacity-building needs identified in decision 2/CP.4 enabling Parties to maintain and enhance relevant national capacities, and for the preparation of second national communications,

Noting also the launching of the GEF Country Dialogue Workshops, which have been designed to strengthen national coordination and capacity-building and to promote awareness-raising, and the results of the first phase of the GEF Capacity Development Initiative, a strategic partnership between the GEF Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme, which were forwarded to Parties in accordance with decision 10/CP.5,

1. Decides that, in accordance with Articles 4.3, 4.5 and 11.1 of the Convention, the GEF, as an operating entity of the financial mechanism, should provide financial resources to developing country Parties, in particular the least developed and the small island developing States amongst them, for the following activities, including those identified in paragraph 7 of decision -/CP.7:

(a) Strengthening, in particularly vulnerable countries and regions identified in stage I activities and especially countries vulnerable to climate-related natural disasters, the implementation of country-driven stage II adaptation activities, pursuant to decision 2/CP.4, paragraph 1 (a), that build upon work done at the national level, either in the context of national communications or of in-depth national studies, including national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs);

(b) Establishing pilot or demonstration projects to show how adaptation planning and assessment can be practically translated into projects that will provide real benefits, and may be integrated into national policy and sustainable development planning, on the basis of information provided in the national communications, or of in-depth national studies, including NAPAs, and of the staged approach endorsed by the Conference of the Parties in its decision 11/CP.1;

(c) Supporting the continuation of the "country-team" approach, which enhances the collection, management, archiving, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data on climate change issues and increases national commitment to the implementation of the objective of the Convention;

(d) Enhancing the capacity of their subregional and/or regional information networks to enable such networks to serve as repositories of climate change related information on vulnerability and adaptation assessments and geographic information systems;

(e) Improving climate change related data collection (for example, local emission and regional factors) and information-gathering, as well as the analysis, interpretation and dissemination of these data to national policy makers and other end-users;

(f) Strengthening and, where necessary, establishing:

(i) National, subregional or regional databases on climate change;

(ii) Subregional and/or regional climate change related institutions and "centres of excellence", to enable these institutions and centres to provide a supportive framework, which would include information retrieval and technical support;

(g) Developing and implementing, as appropriate, prioritized projects identified in their national communications;

(h) Undertaking more in-depth public awareness and education activities and community involvement and participation in climate change issues;

(i) Building the capacity, including, where appropriate, institutional capacity, for preventive measures, planning, preparedness for disasters related to climate change, including in particular, contingency planning for droughts and floods in areas prone to extreme weather events;

(j) Strengthening existing and, where needed, establishing early warning systems for extreme weather events in an integrated and interdisciplinary manner to assist developing country Parties, in particular those most vulnerable to climate change;

(k) Supporting the continuation of GEF-related programmes which assist Parties that are at various stages of preparing and/or completing their initial national communications;

2. Invites the GEF:

(a) To continue its efforts to minimize the time between the approval of project concepts, the development and approval of the related projects, and the disbursement of funds by its implementing/executing agencies to the recipient countries of those projects;

(b) Further to streamline its project cycle with a view to making project preparations simpler, more transparent and country-driven. In this regard, the project cycles of its implementing/executing agencies should be coordinated with the GEF project cycle;

(c) To urge its implementing/executing agencies to be more responsive to requests for GEF assistance from developing country Parties for climate change related project activities aimed at implementing the guidance of the Conference of the Parties;

(d) Further to encourage the use of national and regional experts and/or consultants to enhance project development and implementation; in this regard, it should make its list of national and regional experts and/or consultants publicly available;

(e) To give consideration to measures to increase opportunities available to developing country Parties for accessing GEF funds for climate change activities aimed at implementing the guidance of the Conference of the Parties, including a review of the adequacy of the number of implementing/executing agencies available to deliver GEF programmes and projects;

3. Urges the GEF to adopt a streamlined and expedited approach to financing activities within the framework for capacity-building in developing countries (non-Annex I Parties) contained in decision -/CP.7;

4. Requests the GEF to include in its report to the Conference of the Parties at its seventh session the specific steps it has taken to implement the provisions of this decision and to include information on its implementation of the framework for capacity-building in developing countries (non-Annex I Parties) contained in decision -/CP.7;

5. Requests the GEF, as an operating entity of the financial mechanism, to provide financial support to implement the capacity-building framework annexed to decision -/CP.7 and further to support, enhance and implement its capacity-building activities in accordance with this framework.

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1 This text was given limited distribution at the second part of the sixth session under the symbol FCCC/CP/2001/L.4/Rev.1.