Regional Framework for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the WANA Region

Abstract

WANA Region is mostly arid or semiarid, therefore climate extremes (particularly drought) are frequent events. Agriculture is constrained with limited land and water resources, as well as inadequate capital investment and poor marketing facilities. Climate change (CC) is a global recognized phenomenon including warming, sea level rise and greenhouse gas emissions. In spite of the fact that several scenarios are forecasting occurrence of CC events, degrees of certainty are questioned by many researchers, to the extent of even citing some CC benefits from temperature rise and CO2 enrichment in enhancing agriculture outputs. The agriculture sector, as much as it could be a victim of CC; has a significant mitigation role. International organizations focused lately on CC mitigation and adaptation plans, including the FAO Conference on CC Adaptation and Mitigation in Beirut in 2006 and the ICARDA International Conference on CC and Food Security in Jordan in 2010. A Regional Adaptation Framework is presented to address climate change including a multidisciplinary approach, covering the following issues: (i) move from emergency to risk management, (ii) sustainable management of the natural resource base (land, water, forestry, fisheries); (iii) relevant policy reform and legislation; (iv) enabling capacity to adapt to climate change with regional cooperation and partnership; and (v) enhancing the role of research including potential of resources, land and water and indigenous water-saving techniques.