Advancing Capacity to Support Climate Change Adaptation (ACCCA)

The ACCCA project draws on lessons learned about communicating climate risk information in clear terms that are relevant to decision-makers; addressing climate risks and adaptation in an integrated, multidisciplinary way; the importance of engaging stakeholders substantively; and the long-term benefits of partnering institutions from scientific and policy communities for understanding and managing climate change risks.

The project's objectives, methods and activities have been developed through dialogues among the EC, the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and the partner organizations involved in the project. These dialogues have helped focus project activities specifically upon building capacity, engaging civil society, and implementing pilot actions related to the UNFCCC and other multilateral environmental agreements.

The pilot actions selected for funding under ACCCA each aim to achieve the following objectives:

• Identify and prioritize climate risks to stakeholders and the climate influenced decisions that they face;
• Assess available knowledge about risks and adaptation opportunities, as well as synthesize the knowledge in terms that are directly relevant to stakeholder concerns and decision-making needs;
• Develop, test and disseminate risk communication materials that are designed to assist adaptation decisions;
• Use the risk communication materials in stakeholder forums to develop recommendations for climate change adaptation and promote their adoption; and
• Identify critical knowledge gaps that impede effective adaptation decisions and design assessment activities that would generate new knowledge to fill them.