EUROCLIMA+ is holding a meeting in Managua to present a climate change scenario viewer and to train technicians from the Ministry of the

Environment and the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies on the management of scenarios to anticipate the impacts of climate change and plan adaptation measures.

Managua, March 13 - Between March 9 and 10, a meeting with users of climate change scenarios took place in Managua to present a regional web viewer of climate change scenarios and to train technical staff of the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER) and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), both institutions with competence in the country’s climate change matters.

The activities are part of the EUROCLIMA+ programme, ”Generation of Regionalised Climate Change Scenarios for Central America”, which is being coordinated by FIIAPP. Its objective is to accompany the Central American region in the strengthening of its meteorological services and in the generation of regionalised climate scenarios with resolution adequate for the planning of adaptation measures, prepared following a common methodology. 

The activities revolved around two objectives: to present the results of actions in the Central American region and in the country and to train the technical staffs of MARENA and INETER in the management of the generation of regionalised climate change scenarios for their use in impact and adaptation matters.

The activities were inaugurated by the Vice-Minister of MARENA, Cro. Javier Gutiérrez, who at the opening of the workshop, emphasised the importance of having studies and the generation of climate information that would help the decision-making process. Sara Covaleda, technician of the EUROCLIMA+ programme at FIIAPP, presented the activities that are being developed in Nicaragua from the program, highlighting the importance of having regionalised scenarios to develop specific impact and vulnerability studies and assess the needs for adaptation to climate change in various socio-economic sectors (such as production, civil defence or infrastructure) and ecological systems.

Jorge Tamayo, of the Spanish State Agency for Meteorology (AEMET), contextualised the project within the framework of the cooperation of the Ibero-American networks of meteorology, water and climate change, and Ernesto Rodríguez, of the same institution, presented the Central America Climate Change Scenario Viewer and its functionalities to national users. It should be noted that this viewer is very similar to that of AdapteCCa, as it has been created thanks to the learning of AEMET in its development. Finally, Luis Miguel Barranco, from the Centre for Public Works Studies and Experimentation (CEDEX) presented an example of the use of information from regionalised climate scenarios in the planning of adaptation measures in a specific sector, in this case, the water sector.

In addition, technical training workshops were held with the staff in charge of climate change issues at MARENA and INETER, particularly in the management of the generation of regionalised climate change scenarios for use in impact and adaptation matters. During the workshop, concepts and methodologies related to climate change scenarios were reviewed, analysing examples of limitations in their use, best practices and their application in two sectors highly affected by climate change.

During these days, activities were also identified for the second phase of the project, in order to ensure and consolidate the functioning of the viewer and the use of scenario information for adaptation measure planning. Therefore, the first step is for the country to define or prioritise the sectors with which it intends to work and identify appropriate sectoral indicators, which can be computed with their level of uncertainty. Additionally, it was proposed to establish a national work table for the topic of scenarios, use of the viewer for decision making, continuing with capacity strengthening, and progressive updates of the viewer, with the organisation of national data, so that it allows the visualisation and use of this tool for information, exploration and climate projection for Nicaragua.

About EUROCLIMA+ 

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme financed by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), and UN Environment.

Contact EUROCLIMA+ · Climate Governance at FIIAPP 

Daniel Fernández: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.