Climate Change Adaptation in the Drini Mati River Delta and Beyond: Policy Paper

Effectively adapting to the impacts of climate change to ensure environmental
sustainability, ongoing economic growth and to meet the development needs
of all Albanians is a critical challenge. There is an imperative for policy action
to stimulate and coordinate adaptation action by all levels of Government (National, Regional and Local), the private sector and among the Albanian community. This has been clearly demonstrated by the project “Identification and
Implementation of Adaptation Response Measures in Drini-Mati River Deltas
(DRMD)”, supported by GEF/Government of Albania/UNDP.
The need for climate change adaptation policy has been recognized by the 2012
European Union (EU)Progress Report, recognizing that a ‘more strategic approach’ to addressing climate change is required given that ‘progress has been
limited’ in this regard stressing that ‘preparations in the area of climate change
remain at a very early stage’. At present, the EU does not have specific legislation
or policy with respect to climate change adaptation; in contrast, there is a suite
of EU aquis in relation to climate change mitigation through Greenhouse Gas
reduction, including low-carbon economic growth. The EU White Paper on
Climate Change Adaptation, subject to consultation in 2012, provides an indication of the future direction that the EU may take.As such it is recommended that
Albania engage with the EU during 2013 as a formal policy strategyto ensure
alignment to the EU position on climate change adaptation as it emerges.
To support Albania to take a more strategic approach to climate change adaptation and to ensure that the lessons from the DRMD project are learned and
mainstreamed across priority policies, sectors and programmes, seven Policy
Strategies are put forward for discussion