Priority Areas

The five GCCA priority areas include :

• Adaptation: Building on the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and other national plans: in-depth research on the likely effects of climate change and reliable climate observation is essential for all adaptation measures. Furthermore this information needs to be translated into practical information for use by policy and decision-makers. The GCCA supports developing countries improve their knowledge base on the effects of climate change, so as to develop and implement adaptation strategies.

UNFCCC Adaptation factsheet

• Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): About 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation. In LDCs, 62 % of total emissions originate in land-use change, primarily deforestation. The GCCA seeks to decrease the CO2 emissions from developing countries by creating incentives for forest protection, while preserving livelihoods and ecosystems depending on forests.

UNFCCC REDD factsheet

• Enhancing participation in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): The CDM has the potential to bring significant foreign investment to poor countries given that it costs less for industrialized countries to invest in emission abatement in developing countries than at home. At the same time, developing countries receive advanced technologies helping them in their own sustainable development efforts. So far, however, the poorest countries have attracted only few CDM investors. By building capacities and providing technical support, the GCCA will try to level the playing field and promote a more equitable geographic distribution of CDM projects. 

• Promoting Disaster Risk Reduction: There has clearly been an increase of natural disasters linked to extreme weather events, resulting from climate change. The GCCA will assist the most disaster prone countries in building their capacities to prepare for, mitigate and prevent natural disasters.

• Mainstreaming climate change into poverty reduction development strategies: Climate change affects many sectors and needs to be integrated or "mainstreamed" into poverty reduction efforts to ensure sustainability. The Alliance will strengthen the on-going implementation of the EU Action Plan on Climate Change and Development (focused on mainstreaming) in the most vulnerable countries.

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