Acceptance of Offer to Participate in the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience

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1 Acceptance of Offer to Participate in the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience 1. Country or countries submitting PPCR Acceptance of Offer to Participate: Republic of Niger 2. Name of Government and /or Regional Agency(ies) submitting Acceptance: Government of the Republic of Niger represented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance 3. Name and contact information of designated CIF Government Focal Point(s): YAKOUBOU MAHAMAN SANI Head, Office for Development Affairs Ministry of Economy and Finance Telephone: Fax: yakoubousani@yahoo.fr 4. Please provide a short confirmation of your country s willingness and commitment to being a pilot country under the PPCR The Government has expressed its full support for the choice of Niger to serve as a pilot country in this Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). It confirms its complete willingness to make every effort to ensure the success of this undertaking (cf. LN /ME/F/CCD/DGPS of March 13, 2009).

2 5. Who was consulted and involved in preparing this Acceptance? This issue was raised with Niger through the Ministry of Economy and Finance by means of letters of January 29 and February 3, 2009, respectively, from the Program Manager for the Climate Investment Funds (Administrative Unit), and the World Bank s Resident Representative in Niger. Based on instructions received from the Government, the Minister of Economy and Finance informed the Head of the Office for Development Affairs to accept the invitation to participate in the program and designated the latter as the Focal Point for Niger in the context of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF). In order to draft this acceptance response, the Focal Point undertook a series of consultations with the main public and private institutions working in the area of climate change in the country. The list of institutions involved with this process is provided below: 1. Office for Development Affairs (Ministry of Economy and Finance); 2. Executive Secretariat of the National Environmental Council for Sustainable Development (Office of the Prime Minister) ; 3. Office of the Environment and Living Conditions (Ministry for the Environment and Combating Desertification); 4. Office for Studies and Programming (Ministry of Agricultural Development); 5. Office for Studies and Programming (Ministry of Livestock Services and Animal Industries); 6. Office for Renewable and Domestic Energy (Ministry of Mines and Energy); 7. Office for Studies and Programming (Ministry of Public Health); 8. Environmental Education Unit (Ministry of National Education); 9. Faculty of Sciences, Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey (Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Technology); 10. Office for Water Resources (Ministry of Hydraulics); 11. Office for National Meteorology (Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation);

3 12. Office for Studies and Programming (Ministry of Public Health); 13. Institute of Agronomic Research in Niger; 14. National Center for Solar Energy; 15. National Geographic Institute of Niger; and 16. National Chamber for Consultation with NGOs working in the development field. 6. What would be the primary goal and objectives for the PPCR in your country(ies)? (If available, please attach a short list of projects/programs already identified or under development that would be relevant to delivering these objectives.) Niger is highly vulnerable to climate change. Because of its geographic location, low income, weak institutional capacity, and well as its heavy reliance on climatesensitive sectors such as agriculture, it has been one of the countries most hard hit by climate change. It is therefore essential to address the problem of climate change so that Niger can achieve its development and poverty reduction goals, as set forth in the National Accelerated Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). Through implementation of the PPCR pilot program, Niger has set itself the following objectives: Testing the effectiveness of the adaptation options proposed in the context of NAPA and many other activities proposed in strategies and sectoral action plans related to climate change; Capitalizing on experiences and good practices related to the incorporation of risk and adaptation to climate change into national planning; Completing the process of identification of real capacity-building needs (technical, human, and institutional), as well as technological needs over the long term. Mobilizing all future financing for purposes of adaptation and spearheading adaptation activities based on a global and programmatic approach.

4 7. (a) Briefly outline the current status of integration of climate change into your national policies and development plans. Following ratification of the [Framework] Convention on Climate Change in 1995, Niger drafted a National Environmental Plan for Sustainable Development (NEPSD), which serves as a frame of reference for all policies related to the environment and sustainable development. It is composed of six major programs, among them the Climate Change and Variability Program. In November 2000, the country submitted its first national communiqué to the Sixth Conference of the Parties. It also formulated its strategy and action plan for climate change in The drafting process of the second national communiqué, which began in 2006, will soon be completed and the document will be submitted to the next Conference of the Parties to be held in 2009 in Copenhagen. The National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA, Niger) to climate change was prepared in Fourteen priority adaptation options were identified. b) Which existing national and sectoral strategies and programs are particularly relevant in your country(ies) for the process of integrating climate resilience into development planning (including the National Adaptation Program of Action or NAPA)? In Niger, the national objectives that are best suited to the incorporation of protection measures against the impacts of climate change into development plans can be found in both national and sectoral strategies, in particular the Rural Development Strategy (RDS) and the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA, Niger) to climate change. Consequently, the Rural Development Strategy sets forth the objective of reducing the incidence of rural poverty from 66 percent to 52 percent by 2015, through the creation of conditions for sustainable economic and social development, while guaranteeing food security for the population and the sustainable management of natural resources. These specific objectives will include, inter alia: Risk prevention, food security improvement, and the sustainable management of natural resources in order to secure the living conditions of the populations by: - mobilizing water resources with a view to safeguarding the various types of crop production; - continuing and intensifying actions to prevent and manage food crises and natural disasters; - improving the nutritional and healthy quality of food in rural households; - facilitating access to natural resources to allow for sustainable management; and - ensuring the safe use of the environment and preserving the environment.

5 Capacity building of rural institutions and organizations by: - increasing access by rural actors to information and training; - strengthening information systems on the rural sector; and - improving institutional participation and coordination among all actors. In the RDS, the framework for public interventions in the areas of the environment and sustainable development was defined through the following programs in particular: No.1: Local and community development; No. 2: Local governance of natural resources; No. 7: Strengthening of public institutions in the rural sector; N 10: Environmental preservation; No.11: Efforts to combat food insecurity and irrigation development; No.12: Pastoral development and protection of pastoral systems; No.13: Land restoration and reforestation; and N 14: Ecosystem recovery and Niger River Valley development. NAPA outlines the clear priorities relating to the urgent and immediate activities to be undertaken for purposes of adaptation. A total of 14 options were identified in Niger. With respect to energy, the national objectives are those outlined in the National Benchmark Program for Access to Energy Services [Programme National de Référence pour l Accès aux Services Energétiques PRASE] spearheaded by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and are as follows: Increase access to modern energy services (AMES) in social sectors and other commune-level infrastructure in an efficient and sustainable manner; Promote local economic activities through access to energy services; Increase access by households to modern energy services; and Introduce an institutional framework that facilitates access to energy services and ensure the capacity building of actors around a dynamic public/private partnership. The national and/or sectoral strategies and programs that are particularly relevant for the process of integrating climate resilience are as follows:

6 The National Environmental Plan for Sustainable Development (NEPSD), which serves as the national sustainable development strategy; The National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (NCCSAP); The Renewable Energy Strategy and Action Plan (RESAP); The Rural Electrification Strategy (RES); The National Domestic Energy Strategy (SNED); The National Capacity Self-Assessment for Environmental Management Strategy and Action Plan (NCSA); The National Strategy on Access to Modern Energy Services (SNASEM); The Climate Change Adaptation Program in Africa (being formulated); The climate resilience project for the agricultural sector; The project to build national capacity in the area of climate change; The land restoration component of the President s Special Program; The environment; The National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Manage Natural Resources (PANLCD/GRN); The Energy Policy Statement (EPS); and The Curricula Reform Program at the University of Niamey. 7. How would you plan to manage the PPCR institutionally in terms of which Ministry would lead, which others would be involved, how would it link with any existing climate change coordinating structures, how would co-ordination work across government and with donors? The Executive Secretariat of the National Environment Council for Sustainable Development (SE/CNEDD), in the Office of the Prime Minister, houses the National Technical Commission on Climate Change, and spearheaded the formulation processes for the first and second national communications on climate change, the National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, the NAPA process, the Capacity Self-Assessment for Environmental Management (NCSA), and many other initiatives in the context of multilateral environmental agreements, particularly the post-rio conventions. The planned institutional mechanism places the PPCR under the supervision of this institution, which is the national focal point in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The program will be managed through the Technical Secretariat of the National Commission on Climate Change, the executive body of the National Commission tasked with coordinating the implementation of the convention in the country.

7 The Ministry of Economy and Finance will be responsible for administrative and [text appears to be missing] coordination with the donors, as operational implementation of the actions is the responsibility of the sectoral ministries and institutions participating in the program. 8. How do you plan to involve relevant non-government stakeholders, including NGOs and private sector, in the PPCR process? The members of the National Technical Commission on Climate Change (CTNCC) are representatives from sectoral ministries, research and training institutions, NGOs and development associations, and the private sector. This commission will play a key role in the implementation of the PPCR as indicated above in the description of the institutional framework. 9. What is your initial assessment of the risks to your delivering on the objectives of the PPCR, and how do you propose to deal with these risks? Three risks could imperil achievement of the PPCR objectives in Niger, namely: - Competing jurisdictions between actors involved in [implementation] of the program; - The paucity of human resources trained in the area of climate change; and - The possible refusal of the population to adopt the new technologies that will be proposed. These risks may be addressed by: - Providing a clear definition and distribution of the duties and responsibilities of the stakeholders once the national program has been designed; - Taking into account the issue of human skills in the context of the curricula reform program at the University of Niamey, the capacity-building component of the UNDP Country Support Program, the capacity-building program on climate change, and the CDM of the Institut de l Energie et de l Environnement pour la Francophonie (IEPF); and - Developing and implementing a major communication program aimed at changing the behaviors of and promoting IEC among the population.

8 10. What ideas would you propose for the development and sharing of lessons learned from the PPCR process in your country (ies) at the regional and /or international levels? Niger will make every effort to capitalize on the experiences of the PPCR and share them at the regional and international levels. Methods that have been explored include: The introduction of an operational and effective monitoring-evaluation system; The production and dissemination of information newsletters or magazines; The establishment of a web-based exchange network; and The organization of study tours.