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NEWS

Future-proofing FONERWA’s projects

Author

CCKE

Date

July 26, 2016

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A factsheet and climate information training will ensure future FONERWA applications consider both current and future climate change impacts. Julio Araujo of FCFA’s Coordination, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange Unit (CCKE) travelled to Kigali, Rwanda with Paul Watkiss of the Global Climate Action Partnership (GCAP) share their insights.  Rwanda’s climate and environment fund, FONERWA, is in the process of creating a call for proposals for its next round of funding. Part of this process is a training workshop, where FONERWA staff will help the applicants build up their proposals and ensure that the correct criteria are met. In order to aid the process, FCFA and GCAP have been working with FONERWA, Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and MeteoRwanda to produce a climate factsheet for the fund as well as provide training for those that will use the factsheet. Part of the proposal criteria is a case for the impacts of climate and climate change in applicants’ projects. While an initial assessment on the state of climate information usage within FONERWA applications showed that most projects were engaging with information on the current climate, consideration for future climate change was largely non-existent. As such, this new factsheet contains the key current trends and future climate projections for Rwanda and will be used by FONERWA to provide coherent and simple climate information for applicants. The factsheet will assist applicants who are now expected to consider long-term climate change in their applications to the fund. To complement this resource, FCFA and GCAP hosted an interactive training workshop where 16 participants were introduced to the methodology behind the climate data, how to interpret figures and a discussion around the projections for Rwanda specifically. The aim was to ensure participants are equipped to accurately and appropriately use the information available. The workshop will form part of a set of trainings for the fund, leading up to the forthcoming applicants’ workshop, where the FONERWA staff will then train the applicants on how to integrate climate information into their projects. Not only was the workshop useful for participants, but it also provided insight for FCFA in shaping resources. The participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire, which was designed to assess the current state of understanding of climate change information amongst the FONERWA staff. Questions exploring the key climate projections, current and future climate risks and the implications for FONERWA projects were addressed. Droughts and flooding became a common theme amongst the answers. Generally the participants had a handle for the current climate and its impacts, however there was little knowledge on the future projections for Rwanda. There was also consensus that the applicants and staff relate more to their experiences than to general examples or theory. This is such that recent events should be used to drive examples of how the climate impacts certain sectors. Further questionnaires will be circulated at subsequent trainings to assess the progress made. The factsheet is currently in use by the participants, and a second iteration – further shaped by the insights provided at the workshop – will be placed on the FONERWA website where all applications to the fund will have access to the latest climate information in Rwanda. Read the first version of the Rwanda factsheet.