Biblioteca

This activity report summarizes the main results from Third International Workshop on the Socio-Economic Impacts of Ocean Acidification (12-14 January 2015, Monaco), which gathered 53 experts from the natural and social sciences from 20 countries. The workshop considered how ocean acidification could affect different coastal communities and identified potential solutions. Despite uncertainties, particularly related to combined effects with other major environmental stressors, we know enough to act, and action should be taken now. 

This brief provides a guide of three interacting stressors facing the ocean: acidification, warming, and deoxygenation. In the future many parts of the ocean are likely to experience more than one of these environmental stressors at the same time, since they are driven by the same underlying process – increases in atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases. These “hot spots” will not only be warmer, but are also likely to be more stratified, have increased acidity and contain less oxygen, increasing the stress on marine life in ways that may be more than the simple addition of each.

Acting together these stressors could more rapidly threaten biogeochemical cycles, ecosystems and the goods and services the ocean provides to society, thereby increasing the risk to human food security and industries depending on productive marine ecosystems. Furthermore, changes in the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and ocean will impact on climate change.

This brief presents the highlights of the Frequently Asked Questions about Ocean Acidification (2010, 2012), a detailed summary of the state of ocean acidification research and understanding. The FAQs and this fact sheet are intended to aid scientists, science communicators, and science policy advisors asked to comment on details about ocean acidification. In all, 63 scientists from 47 institutions and 12 countries participated in writing the FAQ, which was produced by the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Project, the United Kingdom Ocean Acidification Programme, and the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA). More information and contacts can be found at any of these websites or at the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre’s website. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report findings on ocean acidification can be viewed at www.ipcc.ch.

This policy document explains the significance of these changes in the ocean. The document is based on a scientific paper recently published in Science (Gattuso et al., 2015), which synthesizes recent and future changes to the ocean and its ecosystems, as well as to the goods and services they provide to humans.

This analytical document is the first comprehensive comparative assessment of the numerous issues involved in geological disposal, ranging from geology, environmental issues, risk assessment and costs to legal, public acceptance and psychological perspectives. 

Many IAEA Member States face the dilemma in the formulation of their national energy strategies whether to continue relying on fossil fuels or to introduce/expand nuclear energy. Geological disposal is explored in many countries as the appropriate way to isolate the resulting wastes (carbon dioxide and radioactive waste) from the biosphere. 

This analytical document demonstrates that the current global energy system raises a wide array of concerns ranging from resource depletion and technological development to environmental impacts. Global coordination and cooperation are needed to foster economic development through sustainable energy strategies and to avoid environmental calamities like climate change. The document brings together visions, in-depth analyses and innovative ideas about how to resolve the ‘Energy for development’ predicament. 

Le présent rapport montre de manière détaillée le rôle que peut jouer l’électronucléaire pour atténuer le changement climatique mondial et pour d’autres problèmes de développement et d’environnement. Il examine aussi des thématiques plus larges d’articulation entre la question des changements climatiques et l’énergie nucléaire comme les coûts, les investissements, le financement, la sûreté, la gestion des déchets et la non-prolifération. Les développements récents relatifs aux ressources disponibles, à l’évolution des marchés de l’énergie et aux derniers progrès techniques y sont également présentés.

This guidance document provides a comprehensive set of indicators that cover the key aspects of nuclear power development. Methodology sheets are provided to help users in data collection, quantification and interpretation of the indicators. The methodology sheets adopt the well established and proven templates developed for the publication Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development, published by the IAEA in 2005. The application of the indicators is flexible. Users can select a subset of indicators that are most relevant for the questions they wish to explore in a given exploratory study or decision making process.

This analytical document summarizes the insights drawn from detailed studies undertaken by researchers in participating IAEA Member States. The multi-country study in 2010–2014 asked questions such as: 1) What has been the influence of reform and non-reform factors in shaping the technological landscape in various countries? and 2) What are the prospects for nuclear power under alternative market reform schemes? 

This technical document covers topics relevant to Member States in the process of evaluation of future electricity supply options and strategies, from resource evaluation to electricity demand analysis and connections to overall social, economic and demographic developments. This document is an outcome of a study carried out in West Africa, providing a coherent sub regional platform for the development of a robust policy framework for an enhanced and sustainable provision of electricity services to support socio economic growth.

This guidance document presents projections of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the world’s nuclear power generating capacity. The document is now in its 36th edition.

This guidance document provides a comprehensive review of the potential role of nuclear power in mitigating global climate change and its contribution to other economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges. The document also examines broader issues relevant to the climate change–nuclear energy nexus, such as costs, financing, safety, waste management and non-proliferation. Recent and future trends in the increasing share of renewables in overall electricity generation and its effect on nuclear power are also presented.

This guidance document explores the possible contribution of nuclear energy to addressing the issues of sustainable development through a large selection of indicators. The document reviews the characteristics of nuclear power in comparison with alternative sources of electricity supply, according to economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainability. The findings suggest the contribution that can be made by the development and operation of nuclear power plants in contributing to more sustainable energy systems.

This flyer presents the Online Solution for Carbon Analysis and Reporting (OSCAR) for the postal industry, which is the latest tool offered, free of charge, by UPU to its 192 members. The tools assists in creating comprehensive reports on greenhouse gas emissions with 20 key carbon performance indicators that enable postal services to track their progress overtime, benchmark their performance against industry averages, and ultimately to reduce and offset their emissions.

The video «About OSCAR» is available here. 

This guidance document provides a comprehensive overview on Smart Sustainable Cities and includes the 21 Technical Reports and Specifications developed by the Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG-SSC).

This guidance document provides an overview of e-waste management in Latin America. The document also suggests 10 key steps and provides some guidance to countries how to handle e-waste.

This guidance document aims to support REDD+ planning in Kenya through the development of maps on the distribution of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, potential additional benefits of implementing REDD+ activities, and different implementation possibilities for REDD+ strategy options.

This brief elaborates on UNFCCC guidance to achieve transparency, consistency, comprehensiveness and effectiveness when informing on how all the UNFCCC REDD+ safeguards, also known as the “Cancun safeguards”, are being addressed and respected. 

This guidance document aims to capture and synthesize the state-of-the-art knowledge on country approaches to REDD+ safeguards, with the primary aim of facilitating information exchange among REDD+ countries. The findings of this document were informed by a consultative process engaging a number of countries who have made progress with their country approaches to safeguards.

This guidance document offers practical design considerations for safeguard information systems (SIS) in line with UNFCCC requirements. The optional design elements discussed herein were informed by a consultative process engaging different REDD+ stakeholders – countries, donors and civil society.