Climate Change and Governance in Afghanistan.

In order to identify past achievements and current and future entry points for the further mainstreaming of climate change into the country’s national development framework, the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) developed in 2015 this report on climate change governance in Afghanistan. To dictate the urgency were the last projections for Afghanistan, which suggest that by 2100 the country will see a strong increase in mean annual temperature coupled with an overall decrease in water availability. The most vulnerable sectors have been identified in: (i) agriculture; (ii) biodiversity and ecosystems; (iii) infrastructure and energy; (iv) forestry and rangelands; (v) natural disasters; and (vi) water. For each sector, the document provides an overview of the governance and concerned institutions, explains the climate impact projections and suggests entry points for the integration of climate change into Afghanistan’s plans, policies, strategies, and projects.
The result of this report is a series of recommendations to strengthen the country's adaptive capacity. It is necessary in particular: (i) finalization and implementation the either proposed or developed development plans; (ii) the implementation of capacity-building programmes to raise awareness of the situation at all levels; (iii) involvement of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), particularly including women and youth; (iv) integration of climate change issues into higher education curricula; (v) identification of the technological needs for both adaptation and mitigation; (vi) promotion of public-private partnerships to increase availability of funds and resources; (vii) protection of infrastructure from extreme weather events through climate-proofing projects; (viii) conduction of scientific research and piloting of drought resistant crop varieties and Affordable Micro-irrigation Technology (AMIT); (ix) priority given to provide accessible energy to rural populations and stimulate rural economic growth; (x) conduction of survey of forest and rangeland species to identify the most resilient to climate change and subsequently integrate these findings into national forestry and rangeland management policies; and (xi) promotion of community-based water harvesting, water conservation, and watershed management techniques and practices in rural areas.
The suggested recommendations, arranged according to urgency (short-, medium-, and long-term), with regard to the main themes, deal with: overall governance; strengthening of climate science and projections; global climate finance and resources; resilience of agricultural sector; resilience of biodiversity and ecosystems; impact on infrastructure and energy; resilience of forests and rangelands; resilience to natural disasters and climate-related health risks; resilience in water sector (particularly for rural areas).
The report contains 2 Annexes: Overview of Climate Relevant National Projects (I) and Overview of Relevant Governmental Institution Structures (II).