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This report intends to make an assessment of what the fight against climate change – prevention, mitigation and adaptation – means for the world of work, of the challenges and opportunities involved, and of how to contribute to the just transition to environmental sustainability that will serve to advance both decent work opportunities for all and the protection of the planet.

This publication provides information on climate change and access to clean energy solutions, as they are increasingly important, judging from the impact the changing climate already has on the livelihoods of populations world-wide. This issue contains articles related to 1) The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment Report 2017, 2) Frankfurt School’s new E-Learning Programme in Climate Adaptation Finance, 3) The Green Climate Fund Readiness Programme, 4) Adaptation and renewable energy trends, and 5) news, project updates and events.

This guidance document aims to integrate the agriculture sectors in the formulation and implementation of NAPs. The guidelines are intended to be used by decision-makers, authorities and experts working on the agriculture sectors and global climate change experts in developing countries to better understand the need and opportunities for adaptation in the agricultural sectors. These guidelines were developed in a consultative process involving 15 countries and 20 international agencies, 

This report focuses on the loss that forests contribute to annual greenhouse gas emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. It compiles cases demonstrating that aligning the actions of stakeholders involved in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) can make a greater and more sustained contribution to the forest sector’s ‘mitigation potential’ and to addressing the core drivers of weak forest governance.

This analytical document addresses the specific challenge of building resilience to climate change and focuses attention on the population groups and communities that are disproportionately affected by climate hazards. It argues that, in the absence of transformative policies which coherently address the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development, building climate resilience will remain elusive and poverty and inequalities will worsen.

This technical document focuses on the importance to monitor droughts, as they are a normal part of the climate, and they can occur in any climate regime around the world, even deserts and rainforests. Droughts are one of the more costly natural hazards on a year-to-year basis; their impacts are significant and widespread, affecting many economic sectors and people at any one time. The handbook addresses the needs of practitioners and policymakers  and is considered as a resource guide/material for practitioners.

This guidance document highlights the activities that the Technology Executive Committee undertook in 2016 to accelerate climate technology development and transfer. TEC’s key messages and recommendations for 2016 are included. These policy messages may assist countries in their transition onto low‑emission and climate‑resilient development pathways.

This report focuses on the impact on children’s rights when children are forced to flee from home because of climate change. It reveals that, despite the enormous risks they face, children have been almost entirely overlooked in the emerging debate, research and policies on climate-driven migration and displacement. It sets out the vital steps that states must take to place children’s rights at the heart of international and national climate, humanitarian, disaster risk reduction, development, and migration strategies.

This guidance document  for preparing technology action plans (TAPs), is designed to assist countries in making informed decisions in their technology choices, and to articulate their own technology actions and formulate appropriate activities. Building on lessons from earlier  technology needs assessment (TNA) efforts, it offers a systematic approach for conducting TAPs in order to address barriers and accelerate development, transfer, deployment and dissemination of priority technologies.

This report provides an analysis of the status of gender equality in national climate policy in light of the Paris Agreement. It also presents a framework for integrating gender equality into Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) planning and implementation. This report analyses the degree to which the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted as of April 2016 have recognized and/or integrated gender equality.

This activity report provides an overview of measures taken to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaption, as climate change is affecting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries, including Small Island Developing States, landlocked countries, arid- and semi-arid areas and countries where people are dependent on natural resources. The farming, pastoralist, fishing and forest communities that provide the bulk of the planet’s food are hardest hit by climate change. For these communities, adaptation to climate change means food security. 

This booklet describes how soils constitute the largest store of terrestrial carbon. When managed using Sustainable Soil Management (SSM) techniques, soils can play an important role in climate change adaptation, and mitigation and can enhance the provision of ecosystems services by storing carbon (carbon sequestration) and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

This analytical document provides data and information to allow for informed decision-making on the contribution sustainable charcoal production and consumption can make to climate change mitigation. It explores the potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale, from greening of the charcoal value chain. It can be done at all stages of the value chain, especially in wood sourcing and carbonization but also in transport, distribution and end-use efficiency.

This guidance document provides a conceptual analysis and important practical lessons learned from implementing carbon taxes around the world. Recent years have seen renewed and growing interest in carbon taxes that put a price on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This resurgence in interest has come as over three-quarters of the world have developed Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement and are looking for cost-effective ways to achieve these emission reduction goals. 

This guidance document focuses on how forests and trees  are fundamental for food security and improved livelihoods. Forests can be an essential component when designing well-balanced adaptation and mitigation strategies against climate change in countries’ INDCs. Sustainably managed forests can also help countries to move from a heavy-impact fossil-fuel lead economy to one with a lighter impact. 

This infographic on the actions that need to be prioritized to improve the adaptive capacity in agriculture sectorsto ensure food security and build resilience against climate change impacts. It creates understanding on the most vulnerable groups to climate impacts, and how countries with intended contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, can be supported.

This guidance document explains how UNDP is addressing El Niño and La Niña phenomena.  2015-2016 Ehas been one of the strongest on record for E l Niño, affecting deeply the lives and livelihoods of more than 60 million people across 40 countries. It has devastated crops and killed livestock, in some cases dried up water-sources in others caused massive flooding, driven up malnutrition rates, increased disease outbreaks and caused significant migration. 

This guidance document aims at calling to scale up action in order for countries to deliver zero-carbon economic growth and development for all. Just as the risks and impacts of climate change induced hazards vary between countries, so do the capacities of countries to address them. Developing countries often have less capacity and resources to reduce emissions, adapt to climate impacts, and manage the uncertainty of climate risk, whilst they are confronted with pressing development challenges.

This analytical highlights the nature of the challenges that agriculture and food systems are facing now and throughout the 21st century, and provides some insights as to what is at stake and what needs to be done. What emerges is that “business as usual” is no longer an option but calls for major transformations in agricultural systems, in rural economies and in how we manage our natural resources.

This guidance document provides an intoduction to the UNESCO climate change initiative,  which works in all its domains—education, culture, the sciences and communications—to address climate change holistically. It seeks to reinforce the scientific, mitigation and adaptation capacities of countries and communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.