ACCO Adaptation Working Group Public Meeting

Goals of the public launch were to introduce the Adaptation Working Group (AWG) to the public, and then discuss and gather feedback on its prospective scope of work. The AWG’s proposed scope is to:

• Effectively communicate climate science and climate change impacts

• Integrate adaptation into business and operating risk management

• Assist members in the development of regional and/or sectoral adaptation strategies

A partial recording of this session is available online at:

• https://workgreen.webex.com/workgreen/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=10006292&rKey=9f10dc9fc121bcab

Primary Takeaways:

• Uniform need for tailored methodologies to incorporate and operationalize climate science and adaptation into organizations. Emphasis at the leadership level. Examples include shared BMPs, lessons learned, check-lists, partnerships, and workshops.

• Concerns were raised whether AWG was the appropriate venue to fill gaps in climate communication. Scientific, academic, and advocate communities are working on closing these gaps. ACCO is a conduit that connects those communities with members, partners, and working groups under one umbrella.

• Need for better identification of the opportunities, as opposed to the harmful effects, that arise from climate change.

• Emerging need in training personnel, generally and at different scales and in different sectors/disciplines.

• Need to explore and identify redundancies and maladaptation. Emphasis was on how adaptation planning interacts with natural resources and ecosystems to avoid redundant systems and approaches and avoid unnecessary and expensive maladaptation.

• Wide acknowledgement that regional partnerships have to be developed and strengthened.

Questions for AWG to Address:

• How will the AWG distinguish different risks for different sectors? In other words, risks to property are different from risks to operations.

• How can ACCO AWG translate impacts along different time horizons and satisfy the different needs of various stakeholder groups. For example, local governments have long-term perspectives, where most companies do not. How will the AWG address these issues while catering to various needs?

Next Steps:

• Research – The AWG will conduct research (including a survey) to explore successes, opportunities, barriers, and needs. The findings from this survey will serve to drive the development of tools and resources needed by climate professionals in support of their efforts to drive adaptation strategies.

• Adaptation Workshop – Partnering with USGCRP; will take place September 2011 in Chicago, Illinois.

• Examine opportunities for collaboration /coordination with other NGO, government and regional adaptation efforts.

• Identify niche areas for AWG in order to avoid redundant efforts

• AWG will begin convening its members by web conference call in June/July 2011.  Additionally, an in person meeting will be scheduled in conjunction with the above-referenced Adaptation Workshop.

Additional information on meeting discussions, questions and answers, etc. appear in the full recap report.