Biblioteca

This brochure presents the challenges that climate change poses to food security and introduces the concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) activities in this area.

This technical document proposes a rapid screening methodology to examine the 14 existing National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans (NAFSIPs) in Africa, prepared in the context of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), to ascertain their potential to generate climate change benefits. The screening showed that the activities planned would generate climate benefits in terms of adaptation to slow-onset climate change (60%), adaptation to extreme events (18%) and climate change mitigation (19%).

This technical document synthesizes the results of a literature review reporting the evidence base of different sustainable land management practices aimed at increasing and stabilizing crop productivity in developing countries. By assessing the impact of adopting sustainable land management practices on the level of food production, this paper highlights the state of knowledge on where synergies between food security and climate change mitigation in croplands are most likely to be found.

This technical document provides a brief review of the benefits from various agriculture-based practices and technologies that have the potential to increase food production and the adaptive capacity of the food production system, as well as reduce emissions or enhance carbon storage in agricultural soils and biomass, focusing in detail on empirical evidence concerning costs and barriers to adoption, both from household and project-level data. Findings indicate that up-front investment costs can be a significant barrier to adoption for certain investments and practices, and furthermore, the evidence also supports the hypotheses that opportunity and transactions costs across a wide range of investments and practices. Additionally, potential synergies between food security, adaptation and mitigation opportunities, as well as costs, can differ substantially across different agro-ecological zones, climate regimes, and historical land use patterns.

This technical document aims to highlight recent experiences with country-level implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) to identify some key lessons to incorporate in ongoing efforts to expand the use of the approach in developing countries. Section 1 describes the evolution of the concept of CSA since the Hague conference. Section 2 introduces the building blocks for developing a CSA strategy and combines them into a coherent framework. In sections 3 to 6 the paper goes into more depth on the building blocks, the data needed and potential approaches for prioritizing action. Finally section 7 provides some guiding principles on CSA investments. This background document has been prepared for the Second Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change organized in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 3-7 September 2012.

This technical document examines how landscape approaches can be used in developing integrated multipurpose production systems that are environmentally and socially sustainable. It assesses the key policy, governance, financial and institutional interventions required, and looks at how a landscape approach can support the adoption of climate-smart agriculture and generate green growth. Finally, the paper considers how synergies between the agriculture and forestry sectors can be improved and how this can be facilitated through Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus other sutainable forest practices (REDD+) implementation. This is a background document prepared for the Second Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change, organized in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 3-7 September 2012.

This technical document stresses that while the effects of climate change on food safety, animal and plant health is a relatively new area of study, and information and data gaps persist, available evidence indicates that the effects are real and likely to increase in the future. In particular the document considers how climate change will affect sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) risks in the future. It highlights the need to effectively regulate the interface between trade and SPS risks, as trade is crucial to ensure continued access to food as part of the response to climate change but improperly regulated trade may contribute towards the spread of SPS risks to new regions.

This technical document provides general and statistical information on forest products markets and related policies in the UN Economic Commission for Europe region (Europe, North America and the Commonwealth of Independent States). It includes discussions on carbon markets and renewable energy. The review begins with an overview chapter, followed by a description of the macro-economic situation. Next it includes an analysis of government and industry policies affecting forest products markets. Five chapters are based on annual country-supplied statistics, describing: wood raw materials, sawn softwood, sawn hardwood, wood-based panels, and paper, paperboard and wood pulp. Additional chapters discuss markets for wood energy, certified forest products, value added wood products, forest carbon and innovative wood products.

This technical document outlines the lessons that have been learned by a range of different stakeholders in Viet Nam, as a result of their involvement in different activities and discussions during Phase 1 of the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) country programme. They demonstrate a widespread appreciation of the inclusive nature of REDD+ discussions but also some persistent misunderstandings about the nature of REDD+, its likely benefits, and its limitations. The wealth of experience generated during Phase 1 of the Programme offers important lessons, both for the design of Phase 2 of the Programme in Viet Nam, and for other UN-REDD and REDD+ country programmes around the world.

This technical document presents the main findings, conclusions and recommendations from an assessment of the effectiveness of Training and Awareness Raising (T&AR) implemented by the The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) Viet Nam Programme between October 2009 and December 2011. It highlights key successes, concerns and recommendations including the important progress made in raising general awareness and a thorough “Free Prior, and Informed Consent” process, which was successfully completed in Viet Nam in 2010.

This technical document considers the intertwined challenges of food security and climate change, potential impacts of climate change on agriculture, and the impact of agriculture on climate. It further develops and illustrates with concrete examples the concepts of increasing resource efficiency and building resilience as guiding principles to address these challenges. It shows how changing practices in the field can drive sustainable economic development. This background paper was prepared for the “Second Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change”, organized in Hanoi, Vietnam, 3-7 September 2012.

This document stresses that smallholder farmers can contribute significantly to climate change mitigation but need incentives to adapt their practices. Incentives from selling carbon credits are limited by low returns to farmers, while improved food security, economic benefits and adaptation to climate change are more fundamental incentives that should accompany mitigation. The document concludes that designing agricultural investment and policy to provide up-front finance and longer term rewards for mitigation practices will help reach larger numbers of farmers than specialized mitigation interventions.

This manual gives leaders a practical snapshot of urban planning that can help to improve their communication with planners and address key challenges, including resilience to climate change. Although its contents are relevant for large cities, the guide primarily targets leaders of rapidly growing intermediate cities (those with a population of between 20,000 and 2,000,000) in developing and emerging countries. The first section of the guide discusses why local leaders should think of urban planning as a way to achieve their goals. The second section is built around ten “how to” topics that answer questions which leaders are frequently faced with and features a number of sample approaches of what leaders could do.

This activity report includes the proceedings of a workshop on the implementation of Article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the least developed countries, held in Bonn, Germany, from 19 to 21 June 2012. It includes good practices, lessons learned and experiences in undertaking activities related to climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and access to information shared by participants. The status of the implementation of the amended New Delhi work programme on Article 6 of the Convention in the least developed countries was also assessed and emerging needs and priorities, which could be included as possible elements of a successor work programme, identified.

This activity report presents the activities of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for fiscal year 2012 – from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 – in the area of climate change. The GEF, as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC, has provided financing to country-driven projects. The report is presented in response to COP Decision 12/CP.2 that adopted and brought into force a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the COP and the GEF Council that provides, inter alia, that annual reports of the GEF will be made available to the COP through the Secretariat.

This analytical report aims to provide an analysis of the current level of integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in the Pacific region, with an emphasis on the policy and institutional environment. The analysis includes seven Pacific island countries: Cook Islands, FSM, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. The study shows that despite the fact that there is typically a low level of integration at the operational level, countries are making efforts to develop Joint National Action Plans (JNAPs) for DRM and CCA, as well as move towards integrating their institutional platforms for DRR and CCA.

This technical document identifies the implications of decisions 2/CMP.7 to 5/CMP.7 on the previous decisions on methodological issues related to the Kyoto Protocol, including those relating to Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, it indicates which technical issues are relevant to the implementation of these decisions in the second commitment period in view of the experience gained in the first commitment period. The document further outlines areas where further guidance is needed from Parties.

This document has been prepared to support the in-depth discussion on capacity building at the first meeting of the Durban Forum on Capacity-building, held at the thirty-sixth session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), and for further consideration by the SBI at its thirty-seventh session. It compiles and synthesizes information on capacity-building work undertaken by relevant bodies established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), namely the Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention, the Least Developed Countries Expert Group and the Technology Executive Committee.

This manual is designed to assist participating countries to carry out Technology Needs Assessments (TNA) in the building sector. Based on the TNA, a Technology Action Plan (TAP) can be developed to identify barriers to the acquisition, deployment and diffusion of priority technologies. Practical actions can then be determined to overcome these barriers, in order to realise the building sector’s mitigation potential. The guidebook’s primary audience group consists of national TNA teams, which comprise a broad range of stakeholders from government institutions, NGOs and the private sector, including professionals from the building industry. It is intended to be a source of information and technical knowledge on climate change mitigation in the building sector for these stakeholders, especially those in countries and regions, where accessibility of such information is limited.

This flyer notes that climate change impacts and risks are global in their nature, geographically diverse and are increasingly being felt across a range of systems and sectors essential for human livelihood and well‐being. It also highlights that the United Nations system collectively offers a range of tools, services and expertise to assist vulnerable countries and communities to enable effective adaptation in their efforts to achieve sustainable socioeconomic development, through knowledge sharing, strengthening of technical and institutional capacities, and the provision of financial and technological support.