Amandla

A new report - 'Restricting Growth: The Impact of Industrialised Country Climate Strategies on the World’s Poor' – was launched by World Growth at at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban.

The report reveals how proposals on land use and forestry advanced by industrialized countries (the so-called REDD measures) will reduce economic growth in developing countries and increase the likelihood that efforts to regulate global emissions will fail.

Report by World Growth International

Note from Polity.org.za

 

 

South Africa’s National Climate Change Response Policy, which was approved by Cabinet this week, would help the country map out a socioeconomic transition to a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy and society, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said on Friday.

The policy would seek to balance the objectives of job creation, economic growth, environmental sustainability and reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions...

From Polity.org.za

Link to full white paper:

http://www.parliament.gov.za/content/2011-10-12%20The%20National%20Climate%20Change%20Response%20White%20Paper~1.pdf

While cities take up approximately 2 per cent of the Earth’s land mass they cause up to 70 per cent of the worlds total CO2 emissions.

 

In Resolution 40/202 of 17 December 1985, the UN General Assembly designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day.

In 2011, the theme of World Habitat Day is Cities and Climate Change. The effects of urbanization and climate change are converging in dangerous ways. The results of this convergence threaten to have unprecedented negative impacts on quality of life, and economic and social stability.

Resources: Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements 2011

SG's message

Documents

 

From UN Pulse :  Permanent Link: 3 October: World Habitat Day

 

BACKGROUND PAPER

A changing climate forcing people to move

Climate is a key determinant for today’s demography. Climatic conditions change over time due to natural climate variability, but changes in global mean temperature have been relatively small since the end of the last ice age. Now we are on our way to change our climate beyond this natural variability. Climate change is gaining momentum, and the international community is struggling to reach agreement on how to deal with it. Without concerted and decisive action, we face a high risk of environmental and social disruption that would change living conditions fundamentally throughout the globe.

 

The implications for human welfare and security, and for our strategies for adaptation, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian aid and protection of displaced people, could be far-reaching. There is little doubt that factors such as the deterioration of agricultural land, desertification, reduced access to water and sea-level rise will make parts of the earth less habitable. Such slow-onset change is expected to be the most important driver of human displacement related to climate change in the future. However, the frequency and intensity of sudden-onset hazards such as floods, hurricanes and other extreme weather events are already increasing in accordance with climate model projections.

Such sudden-onset events are having a significant immediate impact and are reason for serious concern...[More] 

 

Presentations and Abstracts

Live webcast

The Global Corruption Report is the first comprehensive publication of its kind to explore the corruption risks related to tackling climate change. From international policy-making to national level mitigation and adaptation strategies and with a special focus on the forestry sector, the GCR draws on the expertise of more than 50 experts and practitioners from the anti-corruption movement and the climate change field.

The world Economic and Climate Report is divided into two distinctive parts. Part 1 discusses: Understanding the links between climate change and development, Reducing human vulnerability, Biodiversity and ecosystem services in a changing climate, Managing land and water to feed nine million people and protect natural systems, Energizing development without compromising the climate, and Part 2 discusses: Integrating development into a global climate regime, Generating the funding needed for mitigation and adaptation, Accelerating innovation and technology diffusion, Overcoming behavioral institutional inertia.The report is available full text .PDF

UN Pulse:  Permanent Link: World Development Report 2010

DISCUSSION PAPER FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, December 2010

Discussion Paper Carbon Taxes 81210.pdf Click on link to  download the paper in pdf.

Link to paper on the SA Treasury website:

The 2010 World Youth Report focus on youth and climate change, and is intended to highlight the important role young people play in addressing climate change, and to offer suggestions on how young people might be more effectively integrated as individuals and collective agents of change within the realm of climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Report is designated to assist youth and youth organizations in educating themselves and to become more actively involved in combating the threat of climate change. Download the report from the website (full report, pdf).

UN Pulse: Permanent Link: World Youth Report 2010

A website launched on Friday will help track whether rich countries are keeping a pledge to come up with $30-billion in climate aid for the poor, seen by the United Nations (UN) as a "golden key" to progress in talks on global warming.

The UN-backed site (www.faststartfinance.org) so far lists cash promises by six European donors including Germany and Britain and 27 recipients from Bangladesh to the Marshall Islands. Many of the developing nations have blank entries on the amount of aid received.
Rich countries promised at a UN climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009 to provide poor nations with "new and additional" climate funds "approaching $30-billion" for 2010 to 2012. Until now, there has been no official site to track compliance.
Countries fill in their own entries on the website, without checks.

"I strongly called on other countries to join," Dutch Environment Minister Tineke Huizinga said of the Dutch-led initiative during a meeting of 46 nations in Geneva reviewing financing for the fight against climate change... [More] From Polity.org.za

Why this initiative?

www.faststartfinance.org aims to provide transparency about the amount, direction and use of fast start climate finance, in turn building trust in its delivery and impact.

Development of the website was initiated by the government of the Netherlands, with support from the governments of Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Norway, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

The website was launched by Ms. Tineke Huizinga, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Netherlands, at the Geneva Dialogue on Climate Finance, on 2 September 2010...

This review of the World Bank Group's water strategy, calls for better information and a more integrated approach to water management. It notes highly satisfactory outcome ratings for World Bank water projects, and an appropriate emphasis on high-priority countries, that is, countries whose people face obstacles to their access to water. From Polity.org.za

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/sustainingwater.pdf

 

 

 

 

Enabling people living in poverty to adapt

Climate change is fast pushing communities, particularly the poorest and most marginalized, beyond their capacity to respond. Across the world, subsistence crops are approaching the limits of their viability as temperatures change; erratic rainfall patterns and changing seasons are upsetting agricultural cycles and leaving many struggling to feed their families; and rising sea levels are causing the inundation of crops and the contamination of water supplies with salt water.

This report draws on case studies from around the world and Oxfam’s experience working with rural communities to set out what is needed and a range of interventions that are available, to enable people living in poverty to adapt to climate change. Nonetheless, there are limits to adaptation, and without rapid and significant global mitigation, these options will be quickly lost.

Oxfam’s approach brings together experience in the areas of livelihoods, natural resource management, and disaster risk reduction. Uncertainty and risk can be managed using robust decision making in order to build adaptive capacity from household to national and global levels. Climate change forces us to draw the strands together, not only to lift people out of poverty, but also to enable them to manage risk and uncertainty and to shape, create, and respond to changes throughout their lives.

Poverty, more than any other factor, determines vulnerability to climate change and limits adaptive capacity. This report identifies the combined need for a combination of bottom-up and top-down processes in order to create the enabling

Presentations:

• Risks and Opportunities Workshop Presentation
  Climate Change Risks & Opps Workshop - 14th August 2009

• Research Launch Seminar
  Low Carbon Growth Seminar - 6 May 2010

Reports:

Final Research Report

Full Report

Executive Summary

1. Introduction
2. National Context: Outline of the South African Economy
3. Climate Change: Overview of Risk and Opportunities
4. Risks and Opportunities for the South African Economy
   
   
   • Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
   • Mining & Quarrying
   • Manufacturing
   • Utilities (Electricity, Gas and Water)
   • Construction
   • Trade, Catering & Accommodation Services
   • Transport, Storage & Communication
   • Financial, Insurance, Real Estate & Business Services
   
   
5. Key Areas for Consideration
6. Envisaging a Way Forward for South Africa
7. Conclusion

References
List of Acronyms
Glossary of Terms

Economic Sector Reviews

Provided below are reviews of each of the major economic sectors in South Africa. The reviews provide an overview of economic trends in each sector, and form important contextual background for the additional research under the project.

• Agriculture Forestry & Fisheries
• Mining
• Manufacturing
• Food Beverages & Tobacco
• Textiles, Clothing & Footwear
• Wood & Paper
• Petroleum, Chemicals, Rubber & Plastics
• Metal & Machinery Equipment
• Other non-metallic products
• Transport Equipment
• Electrical Machinery & Apparatus
• Radio, TV etc.
• Utilities
• Construction
• Retail & Tourism
• Communications
• Financial Services, Insurance & Business Services
• Transport & Storage

Climate change and the urban poor. Risk and resilience in 15 of the world's most vulnerable cities

This report outlines lessons learnt regarding the rincipal effects of climate change on 15 cities in low-income countries, and what makes them vulnerable to these effects. Coastal cities are susceptible to a rise in sea level and are made vulnerable by the low-lying land they are often built on, while dryland cities suffer from scarce water resources due to extended periods of climate change-induced drought. In these and other inland cities, the level of poverty, the rapid pace of urbanization and a lack of education about climate change increase vulnerability and aggravate the effects of climate change. Innovative urban policies and practices have shown that adaptation to some of these effects is possible and can be built into development plans. These include community-based initiatives led by organizations formed by the urban poor, and local governments working in partnership with their low-income populations.

Areas: Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh, Benin, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Sudan, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi

Published by IIED, 2009

The new website Low Carbon World is a joint project between Low Carbon Economy and the United Nation's Climate Neutral Network CN NET in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP.The main aim of this website is to facilitate the move to global low carbon economies by sharing and transfering knowledge and simplify access to information and tools that can be difficult to trace. This is crucial for combating dangerous and escalating climate change. Profile: South Africa

From UN Pulse: Permanent Link: UNEP: A New "Low Carbon World" Website launch     

 

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has issued a flag ship report titled State of World Population 2009: Facing a Changing World: Women, Population and Climate . This report argues that reproductive health care, including family planning, and gender relations could influence the future course of climate change and affect how humanity adapts to rising seas, worsening storms and severe droughts. The report is also available in Français, Español, Русский, العربية and Chinese.

From Un Pulse: Permanent Link: UNFPA:State of World Population 2009

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released an information note, How Close Are We to the Two Degree Limit? (pdf). The note warns that countries will have make more ambitious pledges on greenhouse gas emissions to keep temperatures from increasing more than 2 degrees Celsius (news release).

UN Pulse : 

Permanent Link: Report: Keeping Global Temperature Increase Below 2 Degrees Celsius

 
Global Climate Network Discussion Paper 3: Low-Carbon Jobs in an Inter-Connected World (January 2010)

This report from the Global Climate Network shows that low-carbon technology can not only achieve climate change goals, but also create new jobs, boost economic growth and help improve access to...[more]

From: Polity.org.za

http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/25474_25469_gcnlowcarbonjobs.pdf

Accord signed at the end of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen COP 15/CMP 57 to 18 December 2009

http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf

http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport/copenhagen-2009

Some recent posts: 

Obama climate deal founders at Copenhagen

A global warming deal worked out by US President Barack Obama and four other countries, including SA, faces mass opposition at Copenhagen.

'Meaningful' climate deal reached?

World leaders have reached a "meaningful" climate accord but it is not sufficient to combat the threat of global warming, senior officials say.

Main Issues slideshow

The main issues facing the delegates at the Copenhagen conference summarised in photographs in our informative slideshow. Click on link below:

http://www.mg.co.za/multimedia/2009-12-08-a-time-for-change

FROM BELEM TO COPENHAGEN: CHALLENGING DOMINANT GOVERNANCE PARADIGMS
Salma Maoulidi
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/61096

 

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has issued a report on population dynamics and climate change. The report broadens and deepens understanding of a wide range of population-climate change linkages. Incorporating population dynamics into research, policymaking and advocacy around climate change is critical for understanding the trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions, for developing and implementing adaptation plans and thus for global and national efforts to curtail this threat. UN Pulse: Permanent Link: UNFPA Report: Population Dynamics and Climate Change

official conference website: http://unfccc.int/2860.php

Resources:

• Conference programme
• Conference documents
• UN System Climate Change Gateway

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a new report, Food Security and Agricultural Mitigation in Developing Countries: Options for Capturing Synergies (pdf), examining how strategies for climate change mitigation can benefit agriculture, food security, and development (news release). UN Pulse: Permanent Link: Climate Change and Agriculture

On 7 December 2009, world leaders will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark, to respond to one of the greatest challenges facing humanity: climate change. To support the negotiations, (UNEP) has launched discussion series of working papers aimed at contributing to the discussions on climate change issues, including those under consideration in the UNFCCC Climate Talks. The progressive series is available in the (UNEP’s Copenhagen Series) website.

From UN PULSE 
Permanent Link: The Road to Copenhagen: UNEP's Discussion Series.

The World Economic and Social Survey 2009
http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/

The World Economic and Social Survey 2009: Promoting Development, Saving the Planet, was launched today. This flagship publication from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) argues that failing to address the current level of global inequality over the next half century or more, while the world goes about trying to solve the climate problem, is economically, politically and ethically unacceptable. It contends that low-emissions, high-growth pathways for development are both feasible and necessary. Download the report in full (pdf) from the web site.

UN Pulse: Permanent Link: The World Economic and Social Survey 2009 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a new climate change web site, www.undpcc.org.  The site is a knowledge database for information on key climate change issues, with a focus on analyses of international climate negotiations as well as the economic and policy implications of climate change.

Key features of the web site include:

• Publications database, which contains over 600 documents on climate change in different languages
• Periodic summaries of the UNFCCC negotiations leading to the 15th Conference of the Parties which will take place in Copenhagen in December 2009.
• Project materials, including national issues papers on key sectors, reports from national inter-ministerial dialogues on climate change and a UNDP user guidebook for assessing investment and financial flows.
• Public and private thematic and country groups where members can participate in discussions as well as post documents, questions or comments to obtain feedback from other group members.

UN Pulse: Permanent Link: UNDP Climate Change Web Site

Climate change, energy and food : high-level conference on world food security: the challenges of climate change and bioenergy

http://www.fao.org/foodclimate/hlc-home/en/

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has published Migration, Climate Change and the Environment (pdf), a policy paper on the connection between environmental changes and migration. The paper identifies current and potential migrations caused by a shifting climate.

IOM's Enhanced and Integrated Approach regarding Information on Return and Reintegration in Countries of Origin "IRRiCO" website aims to provide information on health care, education, employment, and more for migrants considering a return to their countries of origin.

UN Pulse Permanent Link: IOM: New policy brief and migration website

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has issued its Developing Country Interests in Climate Change Action and the Implications for a Post-2012 Climate Change Regime report (full-text, pdf). This report discusses essential elements and implications of any post-2012 climate regime in developing countries. UN Pulse permalink

WHO : climate change and human health
This page is produced by the World Health Organization and focuses on climate change and human health. Information is provided about the current world state of climate change and human health, together with links to resources to help with learning about climate change, WHO climate change and health programme activities, current news, and recent publications. From: Intute.ac.uk
http://www.who.int/globalchange/climate/en/index.html

ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy
The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy is a research centre collaboration between the London School of Economics and the University of Leeds. Starting in early 2009, the Centre's mission is "to advance public and private action on climate change through rigorous, innovative research". The Centre has five research themes: developing climate science and economics, climate-change governance for a new global deal, adaptation to climate change and human development, governments, markets and climate-change mitigation and the Munich Re Programme: Evaluating the economics of climate risks and opportunities in the insurance sector. Users can find out more about their work from the website, including brief details on the membership, governance and funding of the Centre. From: Intute.ac.uk
http://www.cccep.ac.uk/

From the news release:

The United States faces the potential for abrupt climate change in the 21st century that could pose clear risks to society in terms of our ability to adapt.

“Abrupt” changes can occur over decades or less, persist for decades more, and cause substantial disruptions to human and natural systems.

A new report, based on an assessment of published science literature, makes the following conclusions about the potential for abrupt climate changes from global warming during this century.

* Climate model simulations and observations suggest that rapid and sustained September arctic sea ice loss is likely in the 21st century.
* The southwestern United States may be beginning an abrupt period of increased drought.
* It is very likely that the northward flow of warm water in the upper layers of the Atlantic Ocean, which has an important impact on the global climate system, will decrease by approximately 25-30 percent. However, it is very unlikely that this circulation will collapse or that the weakening will occur abruptly during the 21st century and beyond.
* An abrupt change in sea level is possible, but predictions are highly uncertain due to shortcomings in existing climate models.
* There is unlikely to be an abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere from deposits in the earth. However, it is very likely that the pace of methane emissions will increase.

The U.S. Geological Survey led the new assessment, which was authored by a team of climate scientists from the federal government and academia. The report was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program with contributions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation.

Direct to Full Text Report: Final Report of Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.4

Source: USGS

 

From Docuticker

The text of the decisions adopted by the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 14) held in Poznań, Poland, are available on the website. The summary of the informal round-table has also been posted (FCCC/CP/2008/CRP.1/Rev.1).

UN Pulse permalink

The United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) has issued a new report proposing developments in nanotechnology, ocean energy and forestry as potential solutions in responding to climate change. The report questions why innovations in these areas have not yet reached the stage of mass commercialization (summary, full-text).

UN Pulse permalink

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has posted some new publications to its website. These include:

• UNEP Climate Change Strategy (full text, pdf, 971 KB);
• UNEP and Partners: United to Combat Climate Change (full text, pdf, 600 KB); and
• Vital Water Graphics.

UN Pulse permalink

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has issued two reports on its work concerning climate change. The UNEP Climate Change Strategy is built on the analysis of UNEP’s political mandate, the existing portfolio of climate change activities and the areas of distinctiveness. The Strategy provides the foundation for transforming the organization’s engagement on climate change and for developing a results-oriented programme of work (full report, pdf).
UNEP and Partners: United to Combat Climate Change shows how UNEP is building partnerships and momentum to combat climate change (full report, pdf).

UN Pulse permalink

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has issued a press release on the preliminary findings of CarboAfrica, "an international research project of 15 institutions from Africa and Europe that includes FAO." According to Riccardo Valentini, project coordinator, "evidence so far indicates that Africa seems a 'carbon sink', meaning that it takes more carbon out of the atmosphere than it releases." The preliminary findings are the subject of "Africa and Carbon Cycle: the CarboAfrica project," a conference currently being held in Accra, Ghana.

UN Pulse permalink

Localized Pollution Potentially Plays Large Role in Future Climate Change
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

Short-lived gases and particle pollutants — which stay in the atmosphere for just days or weeks — have a greater influence on Earth’s climate than previously thought, according to a new NOAA-led report released today as part of the series of Synthesis and Assessment Reports coordinated by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. The report also says that while these pollutants are generated locally they will have global climate implications.

Such short-lived pollution includes black carbon (soot), low-altitude ozone, nitrates and sulfates. Each type of pollution influences surface temperatures differently — from the cooling influence of sulfate particles, which tend to reflect sunlight, to the warming characteristics of heat-absorbing black carbon.

+ Full Report Docuticker

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has issued a new publication, Kick the Habit: A UN Guide to Climate Neutrality (full text, zipped pdf, 39.3 MB). The report provides an overview of issues related to climate change, the major actors, and strategies to mitigate climate change. Throughout the text, technical terms are defined, providing an integrated glossary of key climate change concepts.

UN Pulse Permalink 

Permalink Docuticker

Hot Politics
Companion website to a 2008 PBS Frontline documentary that looks at the factors behind "the [failure of the] executive branch of the U.S. government ... to join in climate change agreements adopted by much of the rest of the world." Features investigative reports, a timeline of scientific and political developments concerning global warming, interviews, readings and links, a teacher's guide, and more. Annotation copyright LII.ORG
URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hotpolitics/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25899

How will various institutions respond to global warming? It's a multifaceted question, and one that forms the basis of this thoughtful course offered by MIT's Sloan School of Management. Materials for the course are offered as part of MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative, and they include a syllabus, reading suggestions, lecture notes, and several assignments. The course was originally taught in the spring of 2007 by Professors Henry Jacoby and Ronald Prinn, and it also draws on research from the university's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. Visitors can get a sense of the course's basic objectives by looking over the readings and the lecture notes, and interested parties may even want to take on some of the homework assignments offered here. [KMG] Scout Report

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-023JSpring-2007/CourseHome/index.htm