CGIAR System Organization - Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers
CGIAR System Organization - Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers
21/11/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 21/11/2024 13:57
Unveiling the Climate Smart Governance Dashboard at COP29: Empowering Data Driven Decision Making for a Resilient Future
by Giriraj Amarnath, Issa Ouedraogo, and Martina Mascarenhas
The Climate-Smart Governance (CSG) Dashboard was pre-launched at the COP29 Senegal Pavilion in Baku earlier this week, with representatives from the CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Directorate of Climate Change, Ecological Transition and Green finance (DCCTEFV), Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition, Senegal.
Jointly developed by IWMI and DCCTEFV, the CSG dashboard is an innovative tool designed to assist nations in climate investment priorities and planning to promote social and economic development. It provides access to critical climate-related data, including hazard information, vulnerability assessments, climate scenarios, and project tracking tools. Senegal can utilize the dashboard to make informed decisions to enhance climate resilience and achieve its national climate goals by integrating such data.
Giriraj Amarnath, Principal Researcher, IWMI, and ClimBeR Governance for Resilience Lead provided an overview and demonstration of the CSG Dashboard and its applications. His presentation showcased a more in-depth look into how the dashboard bridges the gap between climate adaptation and investment planning and contributes to strengthening the NAP process and its implementation.
He demonstrated what users can expect from the dashboard from a country perspective; in Senegal's case for instance - the distribution of climate investment across adaptation, mitigation, and cross-cutting projects, distribution of climate investment based on multi-hazards, and even the sector-wise distribution of adaptation investment.
"CSG monitors and tracks the progress of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and cross-cutting projects. It enables governments, NGOs, businesses, and individuals to track efforts in addressing the impacts of climate change at different scales and levels and identify areas where additional action is needed."
The various modules it contains such as Investment Portfolio Planning enable users to evaluate the potential impacts on GDP under different climate scenarios across sectors and stress levels and let them visualize, analyze, and interpret a wide range of information that can then be used to direct climate adaptation interventions and investments.
The event featured presentations from dashboard application and early adopters, such as Sri Lanka, where the dashboard was implemented in April this year. Professor Buddhi Marambe, lead agriculture negotiator for Sri Lanka at COP shared his insights on how the CSG dashboard has benefited Sri Lanka so far, what considerations need to be made, and the challenges faced.
"There is a firm concern to make sure that there will be a special allocation or budget lines identified in Sri Lanka for climate change. Doing so, however, requires an informed decision-making process, and that is where the beauty of this Climate Smart Dashboard comes in. To me, it goes beyond a dashboard. It connects people - connects provincial-level people with national government establishments and makes sure that messages pass through effectively. "
"I think it's one of the best sources we have. Of course, things must be populated further, I do understand. We have such a system right now and it's the duty of the government, NGOs, and the private sector, with the support of the focal point to make sure that the relevant information is uploaded and updated so that we can make better, and more informed decisions."
Lamine Diatta, from the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition (METE), Senegal, provided some insights into the current context of where things stand in the country. He highlighted the dashboard's role in supporting Senegal's efforts to establish institutional agreements that facilitate effective climate adaptation actions.
"We have a national committee on climate change but now the approach is how to institutionalize climate change. This dashboard will help us see the progress we are making and the progress in every sector, how we cover the country in terms of territories, and what the gaps are. This information will help when we design our next NDCs, because now we have learned everything about the gaps, which sectors are better covered, and which sectors are not. The dashboard will also help us when designing the NAP, as we will be able to identify any data or investment gaps, see how we can best direct our partners, and best plan for the National Adaptation Plans (NAP)."
Key considerations for adoption and implementation
Moderated by Issa Ouedraogo, Senior Scientist, Climate Action team - Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and ClimBeR Country Lead Senegal, panelists discussed how to leverage the dashboard for effective climate action and provided key insights and recommendations for its successful implementation and wider adoption:
- An action-oriented approach. Substantial amounts of data have been collected from different institutions, so we must ensure that all institutions involved in data collection play a part in implementing the dashboard.
- Capacity building. Prioritize capacity-building initiatives to encourage broader use of climate change information and the dashboard. Strengthen the capacity of the government and private sector agencies through targeted training programs, particularly in early adopter countries like Sri Lanka. Position the dashboard as a valuable tool for information sharing and training, especially for younger generations, empowering them to make informed decisions about climate action.
- The need for an iterative and dynamic portal. The portal must be iterative so that the country in question is able to change things and improve aspects, depending on the context. A fixed portal will not be very country-friendly. The high-end applications that the portal provides need to be upgraded continuously as well.
- A continuous partnership. Partners from METE call for a continuous partnership with IWMI noting that the dashboard's enhancement must be a continuous process, beyond the lifetime of the actual project.
- An integrated approach to breaking silos and fostering collaboration. Senegal calls for an integrated approach to enhance their collective impact; the dashboard can play a very important role by strengthening communication and collaboration between partners.
- Project tracking for better investment. Panelists highlighted that the dashboard can be utilized to track project performance and facilitate efficient coordination and collaboration among stakeholders for better investment and more targeted interventions.
- Cross Learning and Knowledge sharing. In addition to the dashboard's potential for capacity building and tracking feedback, opportunities such as this - to exchange knowledge, share experiences of early adoption, and learn from each other. For instance, the case of Sri Lanka's innovative approach to implementing two types of budget lines-at both the national and provincial levels, and how Senegal plans to build on this strategy to enhance its climate adaptation efforts.
This pre-launch event at COP29 highlights the importance of developing innovative and relevant tools that help countries coordinate and collate information for more informed decision-making but also demonstrates the importance of cultivating strong partnerships at multiple levels and scales to ensure that developing countries take ownership, building a resilient future.
The CSG Dashboard will be officially launched in Dakar, Senegal from December 3rd- 4th. Watch this space for updates.
Related reading:
Innovation Brief: Supporting nations to prepare for and adapt to climate hazards
Access the CSG Dashboard online here
Blog: Helping communities help themselves: early warning systems help save lives