Climate change – what next after the 2C boundary?
This Friday, another frustrating round of negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ends in Bonn/Germany. It is highly doubtful that the international community will be able to agree on a treaty that would commit all industrialised countries and emerging economies to binding emissions reduction targets by the end of 2015.
Read MoreWhy climate change has become a big threat to vulnerable African countries
Climate change and its consequences present an enormous threat to human development today. It is with this understanding that UN agencies are meeting in Bonn, Germany, to advance agreements on climate change, anchored around the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). For most African countries, climate change has not only become a key policy priority as reflected in their national communications to the UNFCCC, but also the reason for a more concerted engagement in the global climate change debate.
Read MoreWhat is the 'polluter pays' principle?
The 'polluters pays' principle is the commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment. For instance, a factory that produces a potentially poisonous substance as a byproduct of its activities is usually held responsible for its safe disposal.
Read MoreClimate vulnerability and capacity of ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam
Vietnam is likely to be one of the most significantly impacted nations in the world from climate change due to its long coastline, high dependence on agriculture and relatively low levels of development in rural areas. For the poorest communities, the impacts of climate change will have particularly acute consequences. This report looks at one of Vietnam's ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous region of the country and considers their vulnerability to climate change and capacity to adapt.
Read MoreRedrawing the energy-climate map: world energy outlook special report
The energy sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and limiting these is an essential focus of action. The World Energy Outlook has published detailed analysis of the energy contribution to climate change for many years. But, amid major international economic preoccupations, there are worrying signs that the issue of climate change has slipped down the policy agenda. This Special Report seeks to bring it right back on top by showing that the dilemma can be tackled at no net economic cost.
Read MoreWill climate change lead to more flooding?
Because warmer air can hold more water, climate change will give the potential for stronger rainfall events. What this means for the risk of flooding, however, will vary widely from location to location depending on local climatic changes that at present are difficult to predict with confidence.Floods can be caused either by an excess of rainfall leading to greater surface runoff or by storm surges raising the sea level. Human activity can increase the risks, for example by paving over areas which were previously covered by vegetation, reducing the capacity of the land to absorb rainfall and causing it to run off more quickly. Planning decisions – such whether to build houses in flood plains or position caravans next to the sea – can also affect society's vulnerability to floods.
Read MoreWhat's the 'hydrogen economy'?
The term "hydrogen economy" refers to the vision of using hydrogen as a low-carbon energy source – replacing, for example, gasoline as a transport fuel or natural gas as a heating fuel. Hydrogen is attractive because whether it is burned to produce heat or reacted with air in a fuel cell to produce electricity, the only byproduct is water.
Read MoreEl Salvador mining ban could establish a vital water security precedent
Five hundred scientists meeting in Bonn last month warned that 9 billion people would face the consequences of severe water shortages within a generation or two, but did not point the finger at industries devastating fresh water supplies. Meanwhile, a battle against a metal mining industry that has ravaged freshwater supplies in El Salvador shows just how difficult it is for a developing country to build economic alternatives for a water-secure future.
Read MoreMitigating disasters; a promising start
A ten-year United Nations plan to make the world safer from natural disasters went into effect in 2005. With 2015 nearing, countries are now assessing how well it has worked. The Hyogo Framework for Action spelled out what all countries had to do over the following ten years to make disasters less disastrous. This review finds that signing on to the Hyogo process is one thing, but there is not much evidence of the framework making the world a safer place. Since the advent of the framework some of the most devastating disasters have occurred and disasters have become more frequent, hovering now at around 1000 a year. The paper argues that although the reason for this is not clear, climate change is often blamed. Disasters are also becoming more catastrophic, as population growth makes increasing numbers of people vulnerable to the impact of disasters. The paper concludes that the future of the Hyogo framework is not clear, but it will be on the agenda of upcoming discussions.
Read MoreEnvironmental challenges of CC
The biological components of our environment have evolved in harmony with the physical and climatic surroundings. The presence, characteristics, structure and behavior of both individual organisms and co-assemblages, or communities, of organisms are largely determined by climate. The ability of natural communities to adapt to changing climate, and nature of community change is of utmost importance to the survival of man.
Read MoreREDD+ in the Congo Basin: on the need for a gender perspective
In the Congo Basin, women and men carry out quite similar livelihood activities - farming, hunting and collecting various forest products - but in very different ways. Research on forests and gender suggests this differences should be taken into consideration when designing forest management strategies. Certain REDD+ projects, while helpful for men, have been shown to pose a risk to the livelihoods of women. Evidence shows that assessing the specific needs and attitudes of both women and men early on in pilot REDD+ projects helps not only to promote fair implementation, but also with overall success rates. In this interview, an expert from the Center for International Forestry Research provides useful information in regard to the specific difficulties REDD+ creates for women, as well as about the ways gender can be taken into account when tackling deforestation and degradation.
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