Biblioteca

This technical document provides a brief overview of available funding and technical support opportunities for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Africa. Further to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiatives, it introduces the relevant World Bank initiatives, the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) African Carbon Support Programme (ACSP), the Africa Carbon Asset Development Initiative (ACAD), the Intra-ACP Climate Support Facility (CSF), the African Biofuels and Renewable Energy Fund (ABREF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP)’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Carbon, and Germany’s Programme of Activities (POA) Support Facilities. The introduction of these initiatives also highlights some measures and available facilities for assisting African countries to further develop their capacities in preparing for climate change mitigation and related projects.

This manual encompasses and shares lessons learned from key technologies and mechanisms that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has supported to date, encompassing renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and innovative financing. Case studies on fuel cell buses, concentrating solar power, and wind energy are examples of how GEF support spurs innovation in developing and transition countries. The brick-making program highlights how energy efficiency can be improved drastically, and be scaled up through South-South technology transfer. The innovative financing case study illustrates the merits of financial instruments in promoting investments for technology transfer. This manual also hopes to raise a deeper awareness of efforts to catalyze technology transfer, and to inspire the readers to scale up efforts to address climate change challenges in partnership with the GEF.

This analytical report describes how United Nations organizations use the information provided by space-based technologies to monitor the Earth’s climate system and support decision-making about climate change adaptation, prediction and mitigation, including addressing the needs identified under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also provides an overview of the global observing systems co-sponsored by several United Nations organizations and the International Council for Science that coordinate Earth observations on behalf of United Nations Member States. United Nations organizations are making full use of space-based technologies in order to build a safer, better world for all. This document also aims to provide a clear understanding of how these technologies are enhancing our ability to manage planet Earth and to address the critical challenges that we are facing.

This manual aims at improving national legal and regulatory regimes to support and facilitate the development and implementation of measures for adaptation to climate change. It builds on an in-depth study that was done on the legal, regulatory and institutional measures required for adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change in the Asia-Pacific region which pointed, inter alia, to the recognition by governments of the need for establishing policy, regulatory and legal frameworks as a necessary pre-requisite for successfully developing and implementing measures for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change across various sectors of national activity. The project found that appropriate policy, legal and institutional underpinnings are essential pre-requisites for the development and implementation of adaptation measures. It also supports the sharing of experiences and lessons learned from this pilot project with other developing countries through the formulation of a set of draft legal provisions that could serve as a reference tool to policy makers and legal drafters of a larger number of countries, in their efforts to further strengthen existing legislation to support and facilitate adaptation.

This analytical report builds on the first volume and communicates experiences of selected Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in addressing adaptation through National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and other adaptation initiatives. It draws on these experiences and others from the rest of the other LDCs, to present additional best practices and lessons learned in addressing adaptation through the NAPAs and other initiatives. It covers experiences on institutional arrangements for coordinating adaptation work at the national level, working with several agencies in initial considerations on monitoring and evaluation of adaptation efforts, accessing and mobilizing financial resources, and deploying programmatic approaches. For many LDCs, these best practices and lessons learned will provide valuable information when addressing adaptation since they present a variety of experiences that they could consider, tailor, and use for their specific situations. These lessons will also be particularly useful for countries that are embarking on the NAP process.

This analytical report provides rich scientific and policy information about current mitigation and adaptation science. It also highlights recent climate change projections, including expected impacts, and reviews key mitigation sectors and technologies. It focuses on “traditional” Global Environment Facility (GEF) support policies and mitigation opportunities in energy efficiency, renewable energy, REDD+, and a number of other key strategies and sectors. The report argues for a strong GEF role in such emerging sectors with high mitigation potential as urban systems combining transport, buildings, water supply, waste treatment, food supply and land use zoning, AFOLU (Agriculture, Forest and Other Land Use), agri-food supply systems – including emerging and often controversial mitigation opportunities such as short-lived climate forcers and carbon capture and storage.

This analytical report seeks to inform a broad audience about permafrost and communicate to decision-makers and the general public the implications of changing permafrost in a warming climate. It defines basic terminology and describes fundamental physical and biological processes that shape the permafrost landscape using the best scientific information available from published literature. The report discusses the impacts of a changing climate on ecosystems and human infrastructure in regions with significant presence of permafrost, as well as the impacts of thawing permafrost on global climate. Graphics, illustrations and photographs help to explain complicated concepts and ideas in a way that is easily understood and visualized by a non-scientific audience. This report also builds upon other reports written in recent years. This report aims to fill gaps by providing a concise, highly readable and fully up-to-date description of permafrost and future social, economic and environmental impacts of changing permafrost in a warming climate.

These guidelines aim to provide climatologists with the essential information on observation networks and systems to help ensure that their outputs are adequate for the comprehensive needs of climate services, applications and research. In these guidelines, emphasis is placed on equipping climatologists with information relevant to their own operations and research needs as opposed to attempting to cover all nuances of systems and networks. This guidance will also give greater attention to infrastructure that they are more likely to encounter in their day-to-day activities as opposed to other networks and systems.

This activity report is based on a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) workshop organised to build the capacity of health professionals and climate scientists in the Greater Horn of Africa on practical applications of climate information and prediction services in the health sector for improved decision-making and better management of health services. The objective was achieved through lectures, practical demonstrations, laboratory exercises, plenary discussions, and field excursions. In concluding the workshop, the participants suggested several items as follow-up actions, including a similar workshop to review progress of previous interactions; enhancement of the interaction between climate scientists and health experts; implementation of national action plans by multi-disciplinary teams and other relevant organizations and institutions; and maintaining regular communication among the group.

This activity report is based on a World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Expert Meeting aimed at identifying the current state of climate information that potentially could be used by water managers that would suit their requirements. The meeting served as a platform to identify current uses of climate information in water management and to provide an overview at which scales climate information has the greatest potential for use now and the near future. Likewise, gaps and deficiencies in present knowledge and research were identified. The meeting showed that climate predictions and seasonal climate outlooks at present have the highest potential to be more readily used, while predictions of climate variability and change are not yet ready to be applied from an engineering point of view. Additionally, other techniques are required to improve prediction skills to reduce large uncertainties. The meeting concluded that all possible information should be processed in such a way that it would allow the development of adaptation processes and activities despite prevailing uncertainties. Major outcomes of the expert meeting include the encouragement to develop demonstration projects; and an agenda and work plan for a WMO initiative on “Improvement in Water Resources Planning through the Use of Climate Information”.

This activity report is based on the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Conference on “Living with Climate Variability and Change: Understanding the Uncertainties and Managing the Risks”, which was organized to review the opportunities and constraints in integrating climate risks and uncertainties into decision-making in the core socio-economic sectors. The conference gathered climate scientists and user communities to collate their experiences in managing risks of climatic origin and to build a framework for future strategies. The conference drew on experience presented by experts from both private and public organizations. The main results of the conference are synthesized in this report. It is hoped that the summaries and syntheses of discussions and recommendations presented in this report will be a valuable source of information to the wide range of institutions, organizations and consortia of organizations engaged in supporting the society to deal with climate variability and change.

This activity report highlights some risks of climate variability and climate change adaptation and how to better understand and manage them through the development and application of science and knowledge of climate information and prediction. As part of this observation, the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) was initiated and led by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Its goal is to foster the enhancement and incorporation of climate information and prediction into planning, policy and practice on the global, regional, national and local scales. The GFCS also aims to advance global collaboration through multidisciplinary partnerships, improved governance, climate observations, monitoring, research and prediction. These, with exchanges of capacity-building and experiences, could increase the availability of, access to and use of climate services for all countries. This publication also illustrates the benefits of good practices in climate services, such as water management, agriculture and food security, disaster risk reduction and health. These illustrations are for reflecting on how all nations can use climate information to improve their lives and economies in sustainable ways.

These lecture notes are intended to enhance familiarity with the broad scope of topics related to climate change. They provide material on the science of climate change assuming that the users already have a basic understanding of geophysical fluid dynamics, and relevant physical processes such as radiation transfer, diffusion, the hydrological cycle, and cloud physics along with some understanding of air chemistry, hydrology, and oceanography. A list of reference of advanced level material is also available.

Ce manuel concerne la gestion durable des ressources en eau face aux demandes pressantes d’une population croissante dans une période où les besoins sont multiples et les ressources limitées. Dans les pays arides et semi-arides, cette situation est encore plus préoccupante compte tenu des aléas climatiques. Ainsi, il est vital de maîtriser plus particulièrement les eaux de surface qui conditionnent bien souvent la réussite des projets agricoles. Ce manuel donc dirige les lecteurs à travers la destination à des concepteurs de petits barrages. Ses recommandations peuvent être étendues et utilisées dans d’autres pays aux caractéristiques géographiques similaires.

This analytical report focuses on farmers in West and Central Africa and their potential to increase production and lead the way to robust growth and development needed in Africa. It recognises that his cannot be achieved without improving the management of available water resources in the region. IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), through its West and Central Africa Division (WCA), invested in supporting farmers and farmers’ organizations to achieve household food security and respond to growing market demand through activities that strengthen their ability to manage risk and increase returns. This document is part of wider efforts within the division to capitalize on the experience and knowledge among the IFAD staff, and to improve the ways in which they share knowledge and use it to enhance future project design, direction and strategy.

This manual roots for natural resources as the foundation from which rural poor people can overcome poverty. It argues that planners and implementers of natural resource development projects do not always profit from the lessons learned – either information is lost or it is not easily accessible or changing circumstances may limit its value. This is why this manual encourages learning from the past. It does so by selecting case studies and citing how natural resources can be used to for sustainable management.

This analytical report reviews the importance of fisheries and aquaculture, with particular reference to poor people in the developing world, and the likely impact of climate change on these activities and on food security. It highlights some practical measures that can be taken to adapt to the expected effects of climate change. These focus in particular on building the capacity of communities to adapt to climate change in ways that allow them to moderate potential damage, to take advantage of new opportunities and to cope with the consequences of climate change, and on enhancing the resilience of communities and the ecosystems on which they depend. The authors recommend basing interventions as much as possible on local practices and traditions.

This analytical report argues that an integrated farming system consists of a range of resource-saving practices that aim to achieve acceptable profits and high and sustained production levels, while minimizing the negative effects of intensive farming and preserving the environment. Based on this principle of enhancing natural biological processes above and below the ground, this report outlines a series of ways of attaining farming sustainability, and evaluates each of their advantages and disadvantages.

This analytical report focuses on agricultural productivity and on supporting the resumption of rural development processes to help the affected population back on the path of sustainable development. Livestock plays a significant role in these dynamics. The loss of livestock during an emergency situation disrupts the livelihoods of affected households and has long-term effects on both their current and their future income. Following these issues, this report is documented around three principles and highlights various solutions, by evaluating each of their advantages and disadvantages.

This analytical report analyses some of the key issues linking climate change and development practices in livestock and farming systems. It draws on knowledge gained from IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development)-supported projects and programmes, and documents some of the experiences and the lessons learned in addressing livestock and climate change. The report also briefly examines the different effects of climate change on livestock, agricultural management and gender issues. It builds on these concepts and strategies to provide recommendations for project design, together with possible solutions promoting both adaptation and mitigation activities in development projects.