Turning the Tide: The Gender Factor in Achieving the Land Degradation Neutrality

This analytical document focues on the number of people negatively affected by land degradation is growing rapidly. Poor rural women in developing countries are critical to the survival of their families. But Crop failures, water scarcity and the migration of traditional crops are damaging rural livelihoods. Action to halt the loss of more fertile land must focus on households. At this level, land use is based on the roles assigned to men and women. 

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Organization: UNCCD, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland

Topic: Agriculture and Food, Land Use Management, Gender, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English, French, Spanish

Pivotal Soil Carbon

This technical document focuses on the link between environmental change and carbon. When contained in greenhouse gases, carbon is a part of the problem. But in its organic form in the soil, carbon represents a major part of the solution. Increasing soil carbon builds a reservoir and helps to offset greenhouse gas emissions. It also contributes to the fertility of the soil, the foundation for all land-based  natural and agricultural ecosystems.

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Organization: UNCCD

Topic: Agriculture and Food, Land Use Management, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2015

Language: English, French, Spanish

Land in Balance: The Scientific Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality

This technical document provides an overview of the scientific conceptual framework for land degradation neutrality (LDN). The conceptual framework creates a common understanding of the LDN objective and consistency in approaches to achieving LDN.

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Organization: UNCCD

Topic: Land Use Management, COP23 List of UN Publications, Policy Instruments

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English, French, Spanish

Sustainable Land Management for Climate and People

This guidance document provides scientifically-sound guidance for decisionmakers to help develop Sustainable Land Management (SLM)  strategies and related policies that promote synergies and address trade-offs between multiple objectives related to Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD), climate change mitigation and adaptation, and for creating an enabling environment to overcome possible barriers for selection and large-scale implementation of effective SLM practices considering local realities.

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Organization: UNCCD

Topic: Land Use Management, Science, COP23 List of UN Publications, Policy Instruments

Type of material: Guidance Document

Publication date: 2017

Language: English, French, Spanish

Scientific Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality

This technical document provides a scientifically-sound basis for understanding and implementing Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), and to inform the development of practical guidance for pursuing LDN and monitoring achievement of LDN target. The LDN conceptual framework focuses on the goal of LDN and the supporting processes required to deliver this goal, including biophysical and socio-economic aspects, and their interactions. 

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Organization: UNCCD, Science-Policy Interface

Topic: Land Use Management, Ecosystems, Science, COP23 List of UN Publications

Publication date: 2017

Language: English, French, Spanish

Sustainable Land Management Contribution to Successful Land-Based Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

 This report categorises and assesses a diverse array of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices and identifies their potential to create synergies between combating Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD), and achieving climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. It outlines potential solutions for combating desertification and land degradation. The design and benefits of SLM practices primarily depend on the highly variable local environmental, socioeconomic and cultural conditions.

Download file: English

Organization: UNCCD, Science-Policy Interface

Theme: Adaptation

Topic: Economic and Development Planning, Land Use Management, Ecosystems, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Activity Report

Publication date: 2017

Language: English

Global Land Outlook

This analytical document presents a vision for transforming the way in which we use and manage land. It underscores how land is key to human security and future wellbeing, the thread that holds together the fabric of society. It considers challenges we collectively face: from the pressures of population growth, climate change, urbanization, migration, and conflict to food, energy, and water insecurity. In all its dimensions, human security is increasingly fragile and in many parts of the world, land degradation and climate change are now recognized as contributing factors to a sense of growing instability.

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Topic: Land Use Management, Ecosystems, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2017

Language: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian

Imperatives for Sustainable Delta Futures

This analytical document focuses on river deltas, as they are significant in the global economy and support large human populations and biodiversity. Deltas, due to their global relevance, require targeted attention and action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The impacts of climate change and sea level rise tend to be intensified by direct anthropogenic modifications (e.g. river control structures, coastal embankments, and upstream reservoirs) on the delta plain.

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Organization: UNU, UNU-EHS

Topic: Urban, Water, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

World Risk Report 2016

This reports showcases the way in which logistics and infrastructure play a crucial role in determining whether an extreme natural event turns into a disaster. During extreme natural events, a fragile infrastructure can have grave consequences for the local population, for whom it represents a direct threat. In addition, it delays the effective potential for those affected to help themselves and impedes humanitarian relief provided by the local authorities or from abroad.

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Organization: UNU, Universitat Stuttgart, Bundis Entwicklung Hilft, UNU-EHS, Universitat Stuttgart, Bundis Entwicklung Hilft

Topic: Urban, Risk Reduction/Management, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Activity Report

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

Collection Methodology for Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities

This technical document provides cities with a methodology on how to collect data or information from key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities (SSC). This set of KPIs for SSC were developed to establish the criteria to evaluate ICT´s contributions in making cities smarter and more sustainable, and to provide cities with the means for self-assessments.

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Organization: ITU, CBD, UNECLAC, FAO, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNESCO, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNHABITAT, UNIDO, UNU, UNWOMEN, WMO

Topic: Industry, Urban, Technology, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2017

Language: English

Connecting Cities and Communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

This guidance document provides an overview of how cities can use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also maps the case studies to the various international agreements as well as the SDGs.

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Organization: ITU, CBD, UNECLAC, FAO, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNESCO, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNHABITAT, UNIDO, UNU, WMO

Topic: Economic and Development Planning, Technology, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Guidance Document

Publication date: 2017

Language: English

Implementing Sustainable Development Goal 11 by Connecting Sustainability Policies and Urban-Planning Practices through ICTs

This guidance document provides a study of the advantages of using ICT technologies to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 11, by facilitating the missing linkages that exist between sustainability policies and urban-planning practices through digitally-enabled urban actions.

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Organization: ITU, CBD, UNECLAC, FAO, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNESCO, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNHABITAT, UNIDO, UNU, WMO

Topic: Urban, Technology, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Guidance Document

Publication date: 2017

Language: English

Enhancing Innovation and Participation in Smart Sustainable Cities

This analytical document provides a series of case studies on smart governance, smart people and smart economy, which will catapult successful smart city practices into the global spotlight.

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Organization: ITU, CBD, UNECLAC, FAO, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNESCO, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNHABITAT, UNIDO, UNU, WMO

Topic: Urban, Technology, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2017

Language: English

Making Climate Risk Insurance Work for the Most Vulnerable: Seven Guiding Principles

This policy document illustrates how well-designed climate risk insurance – when applied in conjunction with other disaster risk management measures and strategies – can protect people against climate shocks by acting as a safety net and buffer shortly after an extreme weather event.

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Organization: UNU, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, UNU-EHS, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative

Topic: Finance, Population Dynamics, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Policy Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

Toolkit for the Indicators of Resilience in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes

This toolkit provides practical guidance for making use of the “Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS)” in the field. The indicators are a tool for engaging local communities in adaptive management of the landscapes and seascapes in which they live. By using the tested methods presented in this toolkit, communities can increase their capacity to respond to social, economic, and environmental pressures and shocks, to improve their environmental and economic conditions.

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Topic: Environment, Land Use Management, Ecosystems, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Other

Publication date: 2014

Language: English

Nuclear Power and the Paris Agreement

This analytical document summarizes the potential role of nuclear power in climate change mitigation and sustainable development, as all low-carbon energy technologies, including nuclear power, are needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the rise of global temperatures to below 2°C. 

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Organization: IAEA

Theme: Science

Topic: Economic and Development Planning, Energy, Science, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

Guide to Banking and Sustainability

This guidance document addresses what a sustainable bank looks, by opting for a hands-on, practitioner-oriented format to prioritise action over theory. Banking supervisors and regulators have demonstrated growing awareness of the materiality of sustainability issues, as shown by the establishment of the Financial Stability Board Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. 

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Organization: UNEP

Topic: Economic and Development Planning, Finance, Financial Mechanisms

Type of material: Guidance Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

Unleashing the Potential of the Internet of Things

This technical document presents a compendium of the first set of ITU international standards for  Internet of Things (IoT), providing a resource to standards experts interested in contributing to the work on IoT and Smart Cities and Communities (SC&C). This compendium is also expected to assist the wide variety of stakeholders interested in implementi ng these IoT standards or calling for adherence to standards in policy and regulatory frameworks relevant to IoT. 

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Organization: ITU

Theme: Science

Topic: Technology, COP23 List of UN Publications, Policy Instruments

Type of material: Analytical-Technical Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities: The Case of Dubai

This report showcases Dubai’s journey towards becoming a smart city, a venture worthy of emulation by other aspiring smart cities around the world. To assist aspiring smart sustainable cities in their journeys, this case study also derives best practices based on Dubai’s current activities. 

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Organization: ITU, Smart Dubai

Theme: Science

Topic: Urban, Technology, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Activity Report

Publication date: 2016

Language: English

Practitioner's Guide to Strategic Green Industrial Policy

This guidance document provides advice on the evolving concept of Strategic Green Industrial Policy (SGIP) for policy practitioners. It details tools that can be applied to what industrial policymakers may consider to be relatively under-explored territory. And indeed, some of the changes required for a transition to a green economy imply significant restructuring (if not disruption of technological paths). This guide also aims to ease this transition by providing detailed guidance, highlighting a number of changes that are relatively easy to implement.

Download file: Guide, Supplement

Topic: Economic and Development Planning, Industry, COP23 List of UN Publications

Type of material: Guidance Document

Publication date: 2016

Language: English