Working Group on Adaptation to Climate Change

The Third Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the Carpathian Convention (Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 25-27 May 2011) by its Decision COP3/15 emphasized the importance of climate change and its impact for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention and decided to establish a Working Group on Climate Change (WG Climate Change).

At COP5 (Lillafüred, Hungary, 10-12 October 2017), the Parties adopted an amendment to the Carpathian Convention to emphasize the importance of the climate change issues in the region: the new Article 12bis on Climate Change (CC/COP5/DOC43).

Article 12bis on Climate Change requests Parties to pursue policies aiming at both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation in all sectors relevant to the Convention. For adaptation, it highlights that Parties to the Convention shall, inter alia, promote transnational cooperation and foster local adaptation planning processes and the implementation of actions, especially in the most vulnerable areas and sectors. Article 12bis also addresses disaster risk reduction by promoting to take integrated measures for risk reduction, especially regarding extreme weather events.

WG Climate Change’s mission encompasses driving the effective implementation of Article 12bis on climate change with a specific focus on elevating climate change awareness and action within Carpathian mountain areas. By fostering regional cooperation and information exchange, WG Climate Change seeks to illuminate the interdependencies between climate issues and other key areas of focus under the Carpathian Convention. These include safeguarding biodiversity, promoting sustainable forestry and tourism, enhancing agricultural practices, and ensuring the prudent management of water resources and river basins.

Overview of activities, documents and results