More than 30 African Development Bank (AfDB) task managers, as well as environment and climate change specialists, attended a two-day workshop on the AfDB's new Climate Safeguards System (CSS) from 11 to 13 October 2011 in Tunis, Tunisia to learn how CSS can support project teams in their efforts to mainstream climate risks into the AfDB's operations.

The first day of the training offered an overview of the CSS climate screening process, which helps project teams assess their project's climate vulnerability and define adaptation measures and options to address them. The second day of training was dedicated to applying the screening process to specific sectors. The pilot stage of the new CSS targets Africa's most vulnerable sectors: agriculture, water, energy and transport.

Additional components of the CSS include Country Adaptation Factsheets, provided to AfDB staff in charge of designing or updating Country Strategic Papers (CSPs) as a way to better integrate the climate change agenda into CSPs, and the Climate Information Portal, which provides relevant climate data and information useful for Bank projects.

The workshop also offered staff members an opportunity to feed their inputs to the process and to test the online system. This event was sponsored by the AfDB's Quality Assurance and Results Department (ORQR) with financial support from the Finnish Trust Fund. The AfDB has developed the CSS in conjunction with the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP).