Biblioteca

This technical document assesses the strengths and weaknesses in the capacity building services being provided against Cambodia REDD+ readiness needs. It notices that in the space of three years, capacity building and training efforts have transformed REDD+ from a little-known concept to one which is recognized, discussed and on the agenda of the Royal Government of Cambodia and that alongside awareness raising at a national level, substantial progress has been made in capacity building for policy development and environmental safeguards. However key gaps remain. Recommendations for addressing these gaps are provided in the last section of the document.

This activity report includes the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Annual Report for 2011 which also provides a comprehensive overview of the Biennial Work Programme 2010-2011. It focuses on UNISDR’s work with partners to deliver results and measures achievement against the strategic objectives for these two years, including 1) disaster risk reduction accepted and applied for climate change adaptation; 2) measurable increases in investment in disaster risk reduction; 3) disaster-resilient cities, schools and hospitals; and 4) strengthened international system for disaster risk reduction.

This activity report presents a summary of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) challenges and successes in 2010. It is stressed that the year has seen a comprehensive effort to deal with key challenges: clearer, simpler procedures and requirements have been adopted, together with more challenging targets and timelines; the secretariat’s programme that supports the CDM was restructured; and dialogue with and between stakeholders was increased.

This analytical report, prepared for the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Istanbul, Turkey in May 2011, assesses the efforts made through the United Nations system, in particular through the Rio Conventions and by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), to address climate change and environmental vulnerability in the LDCs over the last decade. Further, it makes recommendations for the next decade of 2011 – 2020. In addition, the publication touches on vulnerability and how the consideration of vulnerability could be improved in defining the criteria for the graduation from LDC status.

This analytical report is a synthesis of the voluntary contributions of 21 Nairobi work programme partners, demonstrating their commitment to achieving the objective of the Nairobi work programme.

This analytical report aims to share information on a decade of experiences, best practices and lessons learned in addressing adaptation in least developed countries (LDCs) through the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) process. NAPAs provide a process for the LDCs to identify priority activities that respond to their urgent and immediate needs with regard to adaptation to climate change, taking into account that further delay could increase vulnerability or lead to increased costs at a later stage. It is hoped that the publication will offer insights for replicating and learning from these lessons on a larger scale. Also available in Portuguese.

This brochure stresses that in the 20 years since their inception, the Rio Conventions have made important progress in advancing their work. Given that climate change, biodiversity and desertification are interconnected, the conventions explored possible cooperation in these areas. The increasing awareness of gender in the context of sustainability adds a new opportunity to further strengthen cooperation among the three Rio Conventions. In this sense, this is an interesting and exciting time for all three conventions, because gender awareness is at an all-time high in the context in which the conventions function.

This brochure stresses that the Rio Conventions – the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – acknowledge the important contribution of forests to the achievement of their respective objectives and provides a snapshot of the synergies and linkages with respect to forests between combating climate change and desertification and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

This brochure published on the occasion of the Rio+20 Conference highlights the roles of the Rio Conventions’ processes involved in biodiversity, combating desertification/land degradation and climate change as important contributors to the global sustainable development agenda, drawing attention to successes and future opportunities. It stresses that the Rio Conventions collectively offer a range of tools, services and expertise that assist vulnerable countries and communities in enabling effective adaptation and achieving sustainable development.

This technical document offers a summary of the most important financing and support opportunities available to Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Africa and other under-represented regions. It highlights the Nairobi Framework, which was established to achieve a more equitable regional distribution of CDM projects and ensure that less developed regions can enjoy the benefits of the CDM. It then outlines some of the support programmes available for CDM projects in Africa, including: the UNFCCC loan scheme for countries with fewer than ten registered projects; the Africa Carbon Asset Development initiative; the Carbon Fund for Africa; the African Biofuels and Renewable Energy Fund; the UN Development Programme (UNDP)’s Millennium Development Goals Carbon Facility; various World Bank carbon funds and initiatives; and various national programmes for the purchase of Certified Emission Reductions, such as Germany’s KfW Carbon Fund.

This technical document performs a spatial analysis of Mozambique’s Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) policy framework to assess the impact of local government-level ICT on the poor. Given the socio-economic importance of Mozambique’s coastal cities and their susceptibility to regular climate hazards, the country’s ICT policy framework is evaluated by analyzing the efficacy of the aforementioned ICT tools along a dimension that disproportionately affects the poor more, namely vulnerability to flooding – a reality worsening each year due to the effects of climate change. The objective of conducting this case study on Mozambique is to uncover the pattern of municipal ICT impact that may exist in other low-capacity countries with analogous political economy structures in relation to leveraging ICT in public sectors. The study concludes by suggesting measures to link the continent’s ICT boom in citizen-based mobile telephony and internet usage with the rapid rise of public sector ICT phenomena as a promising means to plug service delivery gaps.

This technical document analyzes the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and argues that it is time to rethink the approach to promoting emissions reduction in developing countries with a view to bringing them in better alignment with reductions undertaken in developed countries. It stresses that while CDM promotes emissions reduction in developing countries, it does not reduce the global cost of reduction. It only shifts the burden of investment.

This technical document includes a synthesis and assessment of the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories submitted in 2012. Part I provides information to allow comparisons of GHG inventory data across Annex I Parties, as well as descriptions of common methodological issues. Part II provides a preliminary analysis of individual Annex I Party inventories. In particular, it identifies outstanding issues requiring clarification during the individual review stage of the process. The document contains GHG inventory information compiled in tabular format. The tables provide comparisons of implied emission factors and activity data as reported in the common reporting format, data from international sources, emissions, information on methods used and emission factors as reported by parties.

This analytical report provides an overview of the published scientific literature (primarily peer-reviewed, but also grey) relating to the contribution of traditional/indigenous knowledge to our understanding of global climate change: observations, impacts and opportunities for adaptation.

This booklet reflects on the outcomes of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In particular, it includes 12 questions and answers on forestry, climate change and reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus sustainable management of forests, conservation, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). The responses have been elaborated by twelve climate change and forestry experts gathered in Bali, Indonesia to discuss the implications on the forestry sector in the Asia-Pacific region of decisions taken at COP 15, held on 7-18 December 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This booklet reflects on the outcomes of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In particular, it includes 13 questions and answers on forestry, climate change and reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus sustainable management of forests, conservation, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). The responses have been elaborated by thirteen climate change and forestry experts gathered in Quezon City, Philippines, to discuss the implications on the forestry sector in the Asia-Pacific region of decisions taken at COP 17, held in Durban, South Africa, in November and December 2011.

This analytical report argues that sustained growth is necessary to achieve the urgent development needs of the world’s poor and that there is substantial scope for growing cleaner without growing slower. It highlights that green growth is necessary, efficient, and affordable. This is seen as the only way to reconcile the rapid growth required to bring developing countries to the level of prosperity to which they aspire with the needs of the more than 1 billion people still living in poverty and the imperative of a better managed environment.

This technical document presents the results of a survey through which forest stakeholders provided their views and perceptions on factors that influence the ability of forest managers to respond to climate change. This survey was conducted to facilitate the development of guidelines to assist forest managers to effectively respond to climate change challenges and opportunities. These guidelines will include actions related to both climate change adaptation and mitigation and will be relevant to all types of forests, all management objectives and all types of managers.

This technical document argues that the 2010 Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) 6 decision to introduce the concept of standardized sectoral baselines into the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and extended at CMP 7 in 2011 (Durban, South Africa), could also have a substantial impact on the further evolution of the CDM and its regulation. It is argued that this impact could be even more meaningful if the standardization could be broadened beyond the setting of baselines and applied to the requirements of CDM procedures and project cycle. The study suggests that the current body of procedures and the project cycle of the CDM still contain some serious bottlenecks that prevent the efficient and robust assessment of the projects applying for carbon crediting. Tackling these bottlenecks through the use of standardized assessments, avoiding double-checks, and increasing the predictability of the process, can have an important positive impact on the efficiency of the CDM.

This analytical report brings together information, analyses, and conclusions on issues relevant to the design and implementation of national REDD+ strategies. It aims to promote a discussion on the role of community forest management as a strategic option to promote REDD+ goals, and, conversely, on ways REDD+ can foster community management of forests, both in theory and in practice. The results presented here are based on a fact-finding mission to Brazil by policy makers and experts from six African countries, in February 2011. Key issues related to REDD+ were addressed in seminars, field visits and workshops during a 10-day journey.