CANSA Afghanistan: Celebrating International Day of Climate Action 

Future Generations Afghanistan (FGA) on behalf of CANSA Afghanistan and National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) together with Environmental Community Committees (ECCs) celebrated the International Day of Climate Action on 24-25 October 2018 in Nangarhar Province, Eastern Afghanistan. The celebration was attended by a high-level NEPA delegation from Kabul including:

1. Mr Ezattullah Sediqi, Deputy Director General, NEPA
2. Mr Mohammad Wasel Bazegh, Senior Advisor to NEPA
3. Mr Mohammad Atta Ahmadi, Head of Planning Department, NEPA
4. Mr Ahmad Fateh Yousufzai, Climate change expert, NEPA

CRT/Nepal: National Event on Eco Village Development Project

CRT/N in collaboration with Bethanchok Rural Municipality organised a half-day “Knowledge and Experience Sharing Workshop on Eco-Village Development Concept” on 11 September 2018 in Kathmandu to share and review the work that CRT/N has conducted since 2015 in the Bethanchok Rural Municipality of the Kavrepalanchok District among its stakeholders.

The objectives of the workshop included:

• To share achievements and learning from Eco-Village Development Programme 
• To inform on the policies that the Municipality has adopted for the development of Eco-Village 
• To gather suggestions and recommendations from stakeholders for up-scaling this concept in other areas

OXFAM India: Making India’s NDMP Inclusive 

A national consultation on ‘Making India’s National Disaster Management Plan Inclusive’ was organised by Oxfam India in collaboration with Sphere India, Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA) and Inter Agency Group, KInter-Agency at Residency Tower, Thiruvananthapuram Kerala on 23rd November, 2018.

The consultation was inaugurated by Mr P.H Kurian IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management, State Relief Commissioner and Convenor, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority in the presence of Dr Anil Kumar Sinha, IAS (Retd), founder Vice-Chairman, Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, Government of Bihar; Prof Vinod Menon, Founder Member, National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India; and 40 other participants from various non-government organisations working in the field of disaster management and experts in the field from the states of Assam, Bihar, Kerala, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

The objective of the National Consultation was to discuss the various chapters of the draft National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), 2018 and suggest modifications to the draft to make it operationally robust and strategically comprehensive to address the concerns of social inclusion, transboundary disaster risk reduction, improved co-ordination, all while addressing regional/inter-state diversities, accountability to affected population and the role of civil society organisations.

SDPI Pakistan: Orientation for Newly-elected Parliamentarians

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) recently organised an orientation session with the newly elected parliamentarians to discuss climate change issues in the context of sustainable development goals.

Members of the SDPI’s Women Parliamentarian caucus and Green Parliamentarians caucus, Minister for State on Climate Change Ms Zartaj Gul, Advisor to Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Malik Amin Aslam participated at the session and agreed that work needs to be done in collaboration. Nearly 40% of Pakistan currently do not have access to toilets, 90% wastewater goes untreated and over 70% of waste is not collected at all. The PTI government reiterated its intention to overcome these issues while also planning to continue planting its 10 billion tree tsunami.

NCC, BD: Roundtable on the "Desired Role of the Parliament"

At a roundtable organised by Network on Climate Change in Bangladesh (NCC,B) on 11th October 2018, demands were made to amend the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Act 2010 and to form a National Climate Commission led by the Prime Minister.

The roundtable titled, “Desired Role of the Parliament Members for Enhancing Governance on Climate Finance in BD” was conducted the IPD Seminar Room of Minister Hostel, National Parliament.

NCC,B co-ordinator Mizanur Rahman Bijoy presented the keynote by proposing a draft recommendation of the National Climate Commission to increase the role of the Parliament Members through amendment of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Act 2010. The roundtable went on to discuss the positive impact Bangladesh had created for combatting climate change and also brought to light the shortcomings with regard to climate finance and the implemented climate programmes not reaching the most vulnerable in the country. 

WOTR India: Experts Call for Action to Protect Small Farmers 

Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) organised an international consultation on ‘Adapting Agriculture in Semi-arid India to a Global Temperature Rise of 1.5°C’ on October 3-4, 2018 in Pune, India.

The event brought together experts from research institutes including agricultural research institutes, international universities, departments within the Government of India and Maharashtra, NGOs and farmers. This consultation attempted to connect the science and policy interfaces to practice, in the context of its impact to global temperature rise on small farmers.

The conference considered the implications of climate change in the sectors including:

• Land Use and Land Cover Changes
• Water Resources
• Agriculture Production Systems
• Climate Financial Services.

INECC India: Building Agendas towards Resilient Food Choices

INECC recently organised a roundtable with food media, food writers and food journalists on India’s food sovereignty within a climate-changing context. The aim was to communicate the macro and micro views of the whole food system, the role of each participant, and highlight avenues of communication and collaboration in order to build a stronger food system, which addresses everyone from producers to consumers while working towards the SDGs that relate to food.