Closing knowledge gaps for climate adaptation
Last week the Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI) convened in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to discuss ways to close climate change adaptation knowledge gaps for islands in the Indian Ocean and countries in the Hindu Kush region. Organized by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN Environment (UNEP), IWMI and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the intensive three day conference featured delegates from over 10 different countries.
IWMI and ICIMOD prepared the scoping papers that identified knowledge gaps that could act as barriers to successful implementation of adaptation initiatives across different sectors in the Indian Ocean Island States and Hindu Kush region respectively. Upali Amarasinghe, Indika Arulingam (Intern), Sashan Rodrigo (Consultant), and Christopher Patacsil (Intern) represented IWMI. Together, the participants debated and revised the adaptation knowledge gaps, performed multi-criteria analyses to prioritize the most important gaps for the respective regions (Hindu Kush, Large Islands, and Small Islands), and drafted action plans to mobilize resources and organizations to address them effectively. Both IWMI and ICIMOD hope to collaborate with the countries in the future to provide tools, data and information that is currently insufficient.
