APENA3 – Methodology and steps for the preparation of three pilot climate adaptation strategies and implementation plans in Ukraine

APENA 3 ”Strengthening the capacity of regional and local administrations for implementation and enforcement of EU environmental and climate change legislation and development of infrastructure projects” is an EU-funded project, targeting to effectively raise Ukrainian public authorities capacities at local and regional level in designing and implementing key reforms. The main feature of Component 3 is the development of climate adaptation strategies followed by implementation plans for three Ukrainian Oblasts. Following an evaluation process, the Oblasts of Ivano-Frankivs’ka, L’vivs’ka and Mykolaivs’ka were determined to be the most appropriate in which to undertake the above activities. The first important step, was to identify the sectors of interest in relation to climate change, in Oblast but also National level utilizing the experiences and know-how from Europe and internationally, since the pilot Strategies and Implementation Plans, will be used as a guidance for other Oblasts in the future to elaborate regional climate adaptation planning. The selected sectors include agriculture, forests, biodiversity and ecosystems, water management, fisheries, coastal areas, tourism, critical infrastructure, energy, health, built environment and cultural heritage. The next step in the methodology is the vulnerability and risk assessment. The project team will identify the appropriate climate indices to evaluate vulnerability and risk based on specific climatic impact drivers for the respective sectors. Sensitivity and exposure analysis will follow in order to identify the degree of vulnerability of each sector and geographic area in the three pilot Oblasts. Based on the previous assessment, impacts will be identified and examined in terms of likelihood and severity, guiding the team to determine the risk. The various challenges (stakeholder engagement, sectoral issues identification, collection of climate data etc.) in the use of climate data will be identified and tackled in this stage. Following the preparation of the project’s scientific basis, the Experts team will determine sectoral adaptation thematic pillars, that will include horizontal and location specific measures and actions for the evaluated sectors.