Myanmar’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to Climate Change

Myanmar's climate is changing and climate variability already affects communities and socio-economic sectors in the country. Some climate change impacts are already observable and there is broad scientific consensus that further change will occur. Even with significant global climate mitigation (activities and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions), economic sectors, local communities and natural ecosystems in Myanmar will be strongly affected by climate change as a result of the emissions already in the atmosphere. Adaptation is therefore necessary for reducing Myanmar's vulnerability to climate variability and change. National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) serve as simplified, rapid and direct channels for Least Developed Countries to identify and communicate priority activities to address their urgent and immediate adaptation needs. NAPAs emerged from the multilateral discussions on adaptation measures within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)1,2. Myanmar's NAPA therefore specifies 32 priority activities (referred to as Priority Adaptation Projects) for effective climate change adaptation for eight main sectors/themes (i.e. four Project Options per sector/theme), namely: i) Agriculture; ii) Early Warning Systems; iii) Forest; iv) Public Health; v) Water Resources; vi) Coastal Zone; vii) Energy, and Industry; and viii) Biodiversity.