Bibliothèque

This document is meant for the use of any centre or organization that might consider becoming a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Climate Centre. It contains brief general information about the concept, scope and organization of a Regional Climate Centre and detailed information about mandatory functions.

This analytical report examines whether climate change undermines human security by intensifying water hazards, such as droughts, floods and water scarcity. It report also assesses vulnerability in relation to climate change-related hazards. The report concludes that climate, hydrological, institutional, political and socioeconomic factors contribute to human insecurity by exacerbating intra- and inter-State conflicts and social tensions. It highlights stronger links between water-related conflicts and political and socioeconomic factors than between water conflicts and climatic factors. While the report identifies democracy and good institutions as the most important variables, it cautions that the importance of each factor is context-specific.

The report emphasizes that adaptation processes influence the effects of climate change on human security. It recommends a normative adaptive framework for all actors and assessing which human security aspects can and should be traded for others. Policymakers can improve adaptive capacity, reduce vulnerabilities and increase human security, according to the report. It recommends, inter alia: promoting and strengthening institutional accountability and functioning; strengthening civil protection and social security systems; improving capacity to implement policies; developing conflict resolution mechanisms; supporting flexible policy cycles, including early warning systems; and mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

This activity report identifies ways that the World Bank  can do more through its projects to reduce the emission of the short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs): black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and fluorinated gases known as HFCs. The review highlights ways the Bank’s investments are already reducing SLCPs and shows where potential exists for even greater reduction.

This activity report contains main results from the Second FAO Workshop on statistic for greenhouse gas emissions, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 03-04 June 2013. The objectives of the workshop were to raise awareness of the importance and link of agricultural statistics for preparing national GHG inventories and mitigation plans to long-term agricultural productivity, food security and environmental sustainability. Additional objectives included the establishment of improved communication as an exchange of relevant knowledge among participants, and the identification of opportunities to improve national data systems. Participants identified the coordination of actions as essential in order to face challenges in meeting commitments under the United Nations Conventions on Climate Change. A regional approach was proposed for learning processes and technical support to enable countries to identify opportunities for common development, considering as priority also the exchange of experiences and the creation of a communication network.

This analytical report focuses on the nexus water-energy, in particular water for energy, and examines the water requirements of power generation. Section 1 of the document examines the existing models, literature, and management frameworks on the nexus, as it seeks to determine what gaps exist. Section 2 describes the water demands of power generation in order to identify potential areas of future uncertainty and delineate areas where integrated energy-water management may improve the reliability of operating power plants and the viability of proposed schemes. Section 3 describes possible solutions that may alleviate challenges resulting from the link between energy and water by improving energy efficiency and integrating water resources management into energy planning.

This analytical report presents an overview of water use and irrigation across six countries to support agricultural and rural development decisions related to the sustainable use of water and land. The overview covers Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It follows the last publication on Central Asia released over a decade ago, and provides a regional analysis and chronological analysis of change over this time. The survey presents both country and transboundary river basin profiles. It relies on data from global indicators and national monitoring, and describes the legislative and institutional framework for water management. It outlines a series of climate change impacts, and describes the lingering effects of the Aral Sea crisis. The report also includes a comprehensive glossary of terms.

This analytical report provides an overview of how the North African region is coping with climate change. It highlights the vulnerability of the region and the potential impacts on key sectors. Significant efforts made by countries are underlined through analysis of mitigation and adaptation measures implemented. Several suggestions are made to guide government approach to clean development and a green economy.

This technical document explores the possibility of expanding the funding available for adaptation measures by raising a levy on international transport services. It first underlines the link between climate vulnerability and impact in Africa, it then reviews the international negotiations related to climate change. It proceeds to describe the impact of air and marine transport on the climate and argues for an increase in the funding available for adaptation. It finally proposes to raise a levy on international transport to fill the gap.

This technical document lays out the current state of knowledge regarding direct and indirect impacts of environmental factors on health across Africa. While there are many uncertainties in magnitudes of climate change, particularly with timing, the existing literature makes interesting observations about potential health impacts and the populations that could be most at risk. The document presents the potential impacts climate change may have on human health and analyses the various direct and indirect impacts that climate change will have on African populations. Due to the emerging nature of the issue and literature, there are many gaps in knowledge on the impacts climate change will have on human health.

The technical document outlines the major sources of international climate finance. It examines, to the extent that information is available, the level of finance that goes into supporting climate change activities in Africa. The paper provides a general assessment of existing financial mechanisms with a view to drawing lessons. Finally, it discusses questions of needs and vulnerability assessment in relation to climate change and financial support in Africa. It concludes that, while there are governance constraints at the global level, African countries need to work, with the support of developed countries, towards stimulating effective domestic demand for climate adaptation and mitigation funds and improving the absorptive capacity of African countries to effectively deploy climate funds.

This technical document reviews existing reserves and geographical distribution of fossil fuels across the African continent, reviews technical options for decarbonising efforts and provides policy recommendations that would enable the use of resources for the continent’s development efforts while ensuring minimisation of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

This technical document aims to propose different policy options that can help integrating renewable energies and climate change. Recommended policies and strategies include: (1) establishment of clear energy and climate change adaptation/mitigation policies in Africa; (2) implementation of renewable energy development-inducing policies; (3) creating conducive environments for private-public partnerships in clean energy development; (4) enhancement of broader regional and continental collaboration in energy and climate change policies; (5) accessing existing international funding sources for promoting less carbon-intensive energy technologies; and (6) implementation of energy portfolio diversification.

This technical documents stresses that energy is a critical input to advancing social and economic development and focuses on bioenergy. In particular, it outlines some of the technical, institutional and political considerations in the formulation of better and meaningful bioenergy strategies for serving Africa’s social and economic development agenda.

This technical document compiles various processes that can be used to promote proper Agricultural Water Management (AWM) in the context of climate change in Africa. It provides a variety of examples of good practices in AWM and then proposes discussions on the scale of agriculture, water productivity and climate proof crop varieties as well as policies and institutional frameworks for improving adaptation to climate change.

This technical document reviews the current status of agricultural production in Africa, the role of agriculture in the economies of African countries and in poverty reduction initiatives, the production trends and the public investments in the sector in recent years. It also assesses the vulnerability of the sector to the short term climate variability and long term effects of climate change. The nexus between agricultural policy and research and development in climate variability and climate change is also explored to identify existing knowledge gaps that prevent agricultural policy development from integrating climate variability and climate change information. The study concludes by making some recommendations vis-à-vis the role of African agriculture in international climate change negotiations.

This technical document provides an overview of the regional hydrogeological framework of Africa, the current state of knowledge of aquifer systems, their development potential and climate change impacts on groundwater, research gaps, and policy implications for meeting the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) of accessing clean water and livelihood goals in Africa.

This technical document presents the nexus of water resources and climate change in Africa. It uses the existing knowledge from relevant literature as well as the authors’ extensive work on water management in Africa. The document looks at major global drivers of change and focuses on water as a decisive natural capital that if managed and used effectively can contribute to economic growth, sustainable development and increased food and energy production in Africa.

This technical document focuses on the link between water and climate change in Africa, underlying the gaps and needs for the continent related to this issue. It first reviews the issue of climate change itself and its expected outcome for the continent, focusing on the expected impact on its water resources. It then provides an analysis of the knowledge gaps and needs of the continent for various themes, including policy, communication, technology and climate change modelling.

This technical document  focused on Africa looks at the coverage and distribution of climate data networks, mechanisms of rescuing the existing data and sharing/access, and look at innovative ways of enhancing the climate change understanding such as technologies, infrastructure and capacity building aspects.

This analytical report seeks to draw attention to the gender dimension of climate change and the need to integrate gender issues in climate change responses, with particular emphasis on women’s concerns. The report is divided into four sections. The first highlights the inevitability of climate change, its impact on the poor and vulnerable, its implications for sustainable development and the need for effective adaptation and mitigation measures. It also underscores how climate change would disproportionately affect women and what needs to be done to ensure that women’s concerns are adequately addressed. The second looks at how climate change would impact key climate sensitive sectors, the gender dimension of the impacts, and proffers recommendations on what should be done to reduce the vulnerability of women to these impacts, and enhance their adaptive capacities. The third provides an overview of financing and capacity building initiatives that could be accessed to fund adaptation and mitigation programmes and projects. The final section makes concluding remarks on the basis of the findings of the preceding sections.