Several hundred millions of dollars have already been spent in climate change capacity-building projects Why capacity gaps have not been met? What are some limitations of the current initiatives? How can we change the trend?

Stop Sending Consultants- Invest in Universities Naznin Nasir & Saleemul Huq Water Security and Climate Change Conference Köln, Germany 20 September, 2017

Background To combat climate change countries need to scale up both efforts to reduce emissions increase resilience to the impacts of climate change Not all countries are at the same level of development or have same capabilities The countries that are most vulnerable are also often the ones with least capacities and resources For the Paris agreement to be effective and universal, capacity building of those vulnerable nations is fundamentally important Our work explores the role of Universities in building long-term climate capacity in the developing nations WRI 2015, Huq 2016

Typical face of Capacity Building Developed countries allocate funds through their own official development agencies These agencies assign private consultancy companies from their own country Consultants are sent to provide short-term assistance usually done by workshops delivered in a foreign language After multiple visits by the designated consultants, some report writing, and it is assumed capacity building has happened a major part of the capacity building funding flows back to the donor country

Lesson’s from Existing Initiatives During COP21 negotiators from developing countries termed current capacity building practices to be inefficient, costly and unsustainable. More pragmatic and ideal way of doing things would be to engage institutions within the countries themselves for driving capacity building.

Fourah Bay College- Sierra Leone (1827) Why Universities Universities are among the most sustainable institutions that one can think of!! For over thousands of years universities have been building capacities Money spent as an “investment” not just as an “expenditure” Fourah Bay College- Sierra Leone (1827) Hoffmeister et al. 2016

Workshop on Role of Universities in Implementing the Paris Agreement Discussed how universities could be more relevant in climate capacity building

How universities can enhance their role Building stronger global alliances Research without boundaries Enhanced access to information for enhancing mutual capacities Capacity development of the educators Distance learning and student exchange programmes Hoffmeister et al. 2016

What are some challenges Disciplinary division may hinder interdisciplinary research Applied research vs. fundamental research Deliverables of climate capacity building should more than peer reviewed publication Lack of incentive for northern universities to engage with southern universities Capacity building partnerships should be two ways Limited capacity of LDC universities high level of bureaucracy within university systems

Thinking Beyond the Horizon A new paradigm of thinking is needed to bridge the capacity gap Long-term sustainable capacity building initiatives are needed University systems should be an integral part Universities have to be more innovative in collaborating with each other Address structural challenges hindering effective participation in capacity building initiatives Knowledge should not be flowing in all direction not just north to south

‘Climate change is real, so should be capacity building’ Thank You