Learning Events

This workshop provides an opportunity for local authorities to build capacities to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity, a platform to exchange lessons learned and good practices in local and national efforts to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity, and a venue for city-to-city cooperation in implementing local action plans for biodiversity conservation. It targets high-level authorities and experts from local governments, representatives from NGOs and community-based organizations, academic institutions, and other local actors within the Asia-Pacific region.

This e-learning course aims to develop participants’ understanding of the climate change policy framework, by building an appreciation of the science, causes and impacts of climate change, the history of the policy making process and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) framework. It also considers the challenges currently facing diplomats and international decision makers in making progress with what is currently on the negotiating table. At the end of this course, participants should be able to: 1) comprehend climate change science and the observed and projected impacts of climate change; 2) track and explain the international climate change policy framework; 3) define both climate change mitigation and adaptation; 4) appreciate international considerations for climate change decision-making; and 5) appraise the key issues in the ongoing international climate change negotiations.

This webinar focuses on issues related to adaptation finance in developing countries. In particular, it reviews the following issues, namely: 1) the potential of existing and new sources of public finance in addressing adaption finance needs of developing countries; 2) insight emerging from the experience of bilateral and multilateral adaption financing mechanisms in scaling up financial resources in the short, medium and long term; 3) the role of the financial mechanism of UNFCCC in mobilizing scaled up financial resources to address climate adaptation related financing need of developing countries; 4) assessment of replicability and scalability of types of adaptation funding models based on the experience of various funds; and 5) the potential of private sector engagement in adaptation activities.

This e-learning course covers key aspects of renewable energy and energy efficiency policies and discusses how they can contribute to green growth strategies. It aims to provide a better understanding of the policy instruments used to promote the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in developing countries. The course begins with an overview of the range of policy tools available, including price instruments (e.g. feed-in tariffs), quantity instruments (e.g. tradable renewable energy certificates) and standards (e.g. building codes for energy efficiency). As an example, the course discusses the opportunities provided by these policy tools, together with the challenges of implementation. The course ends with a discussion on how these policies can be integrated into overall green growth strategies at the national level.

This event aims to raise awareness of the importance and opportunities of using information and communication technology (ICT) standards to build a green economy. It brings together leading specialists in the field of environment, from top policy-makers to engineers, designers, planners, government officials, regulators, standards experts and others. Besides a series of forums, it includes a workshop on Environmental Sustainability for the ICT Sector and a workshop on Submarine Communications Networks for Climate Monitoring and Disaster Warning.

This workshop aims to evaluate the UNEP-GEF Carbon Benefits Project (CBP) tools for their usefulness, efficiency, and applicability. The organizers expect to define recommendations at the workshop that contribute to the validation of the tools and their potential uptake by GEF projects, and wherever possible by other partners. The target audience includes a number of scientists on carbon measurements and monitoring, the GEF Agencies, and project practitioners. A number of the tools will be demonstrated at the Wildlife Works Project in Rukinga.

This webinar provides an update on the latest science and knowledge in the areas of global health adaptation priorities and processes and information about case studies of countries that have begun to show innovative ways of responding to the climate change and health adaptation agenda. It is part of the Climate Change and Health Webinar series. The webinar lasts 90 minutes with opportunities to ask questions of the panel.

This workshop is a hands-on training event for the Africa region on mitigation assessment held by Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (CGE).

This course explores sustainable development and the interaction among its constituent components (environment, society and economy) in four key areas; Water, Agriculture, Extreme events and Biodiversity. Recognizing that one of the greatest challenges now facing humanity is climate change, one of the 6 weeks of the course is entirely dedicate to educate participants on climate change and its impacts.

This workshop seeks to scope what the Global Environment Facility (GEF) could do to deliver global environmental benefits by focusing on the role of soils. The intention of the workshop is to provide the evidence base for the future strategy of the GEF land degradation focal area. A group of leading scientists on soils along with the GEF Agencies and project practitioners contribute to the discussions.

This course constitutes a contribution to environmental capacity building for the protection and sustainable use of the available water resources in the light of climate change. It addresses both water quantity and quality issues within an integrated water management. Therefore the curriculum comprises lectures, seminars, site visits and excursions on aspects like: meteorology (climate, water cycle); hydrology (water balance, basic hydraulics, catchment hydrology, hydrology of extremes); groundwater (groundwater flow, water extraction and safe yields, artificial groundwater recharge); surface water (irrigation, principles of reservoir design); urban water (urban water infrastructure, waste water treatment); and decision support systems among others. This course is especially designed to meet the professional demand of experts working in environment protection with special focus on urban water management and climate change adaptation.