Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative
Adaptation knowledge gaps have been identified as a key barrier to successful adaptation actions. And while knowledge about adaptation is growing, the persistence of such gaps highlights the need for a better alignment of the supply and demand for adaptation knowledge exchange.
The Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI) addresses this issue by identifying and prioritizing adaptation knowledge gaps and catalyzing collaborative action to close these gaps. LAKI is a joint action pledge under the Nairobi Work Programme (NWP) between the UN Climate Change and UNEP through the GAN Secretariat and its regional networks to address knowledge barriers hindering the implementation and scaling up of adaptation action.
The first phase of LAKI focuses on understanding the critical knowledge gaps through a priority-setting workshop. To date, these workshops have been convened across seven subregions: Andean, West Asia/Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), North Africa, Southern Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, Hindu-Kush-Himalayan andin the Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The workshops have covered a total of 52 countries including 17 SIDS, 11 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and 13 African countries and identified a total of 150 knowledge gaps for targeted knowledge users.
Building on the first phase, the second phase of the LAKI, brings together organizations to identify and develop joint activities that will actively close the identified priority knowledge gaps. The second phase has been conducted in the West Asia/Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and North Africa in 2021-2022, and, most recently, in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan in 2023-2024.
The GAN Forum
GAN organizes its own Global Adaptation Network Forum. Two have been held so far, one in Panama City in March 2015 and another in Abu Dhabi in March 2018. Its reputation as a well-connected convenor enables GAN to bring together a wide range of partners to promote adaptation knowledge exchange. These fora host many adaptation experts and typically focus on a small number of key issues. We work closely with the Adaptation Committee of the UNFCCC to integrate their work into the Forum.
The last forum in Abu Dhabi provided a significant contribution to the Talanoa Dialogue, an ongoing international discourse on climate adaptation. ‘Talanoa’ is a traditional word used across the Pacific to signify a dialogue of openness, trust, inclusivity and participation.
In addition to its own forum, GAN supports its regional adaptation networks with their regional adaptation fora. For example, in March 2021, GAN provided resources and planning to its regional Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN) with its 7th APAN Forum. GAN led on UNEP’s co-leadership of the Nature-based Resilience Stream together with IUCN. Participants at the APAN Forum developed recommendations on five enabling conditions for delivering inclusive resilience, economic sector resilience, nature-based resilience, and local community resilience to climate change in the Asia-Pacific region. Sessions were captured by graphic recordings and are available on the APAN YouTube channel.
Adaptation Learning Exchanges
Adaptation practitioners across the world deal with similar challenges, and face-to-face information exchanges are acknowledged as an effective method of learning. The knowledge and expertise of the GAN Secretariat and its partners allow it to identify key emerging issues in adaptation.
In 2016-17, GAN carried out four pilot Learning Exchanges in which practitioners shared their experiences of developing techniques for resilience. In southern Africa, four Mozambican cities had a Learning Exchange with the eThekwini municipality in South Africa. The Mozambicans were able to share detailed solutions with their South African counterparts to tackle erosion, catchment management and sea level rise, while the South African experts reciprocally imparted engineering and ecosystem-based solutions for resisting coastal erosion. Another exchange occurred between two grassroots organisations working with impoverished communities in India and Malawi. The results included the valuable transfer of information on technologies for locally produced, organic-based fertilizer that can produce healthier crops, significant cutbacks in costs and reduced water use.
Additionally, in 2017 GAN supported another 4 learning exchanges in Latin America through REGATTA. In conjunction with the Chilean Ministry of Environment and the Mexican Centre for Research in Food and Development, participants from Mexico revealed an innovative participatory methodology to assess vulnerability to climate change. In turn, participants from Chile shared their unique framework for strengthening community governance. Learning exchanges were also conducted between adaptation practitioners in Colombia and Honduras, and included: i) Sharing planning tools for adaptation, ii) implementing ecosystem-based adaptation measures, and iii) learning processes aimed at the inclusion of gender and generational change.
GAN seeks to build these learning activities into the work of UNEP and other partners, so these exchanges can be more widely used as a tool for sharing knowledge on how to undertake adaptation action.
