.
http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=11061
http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=9881
http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=8429
http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=10100
http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=8455
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http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=7945
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Note the piece on Education for All [EFA] , “LAC Regional Meeting Adopts Lima Statement on Education, Post-2015 Agenda”
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(Curtain Raiser of Mercury INC) SIXTH SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE TO PREPARE A GLOBAL LEGALLY BINDING INSTRUMENT ON MERCURY
Earth Negotiations Bulletin
A Reporting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations
Volume 28 Number 28 – Monday, 3 November 2014
SIXTH SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE TO PREPARE A GLOBAL LEGALLY BINDING INSTRUMENT ON MERCURY
3-7 NOVEMBER 2014
http://www.iisd.ca/mercury/inc6/
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ENB: Tenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Review Committee to the Stockholm Convention on POPs – Summary & Analysis
Volume 15 Number 214 – Sunday, 2 November 2014
SUMMARY OF THE TENTH MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION’S PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS REVIEW COMMITTEE
27-30 OCTOBER 2014
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Bonn Climate Change Conference – October 2014 – Issue #1 Ad-hoc Working Group Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP)
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WHO broadens assistance as Ebola diagnosed in Mali
UN WIRE UN-Foundation
UNICEF: Child poverty rises in wealthy countries
UN official: “Security” today includes development goals, energy access
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Ban: “Entrenched poverty” lingers, harms societies
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Ban urges donors to support UN Ebola trust fund
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WHO: 10,000 new Ebola cases weekly are possible
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WHO’s Chan: An informed public can stem Ebola’s disruption
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Ban urges countries to pledge more to fight Ebola
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ENB: Convention on Biological Diversity COP 12 & Nagoya Protocol COP/MOP 1 – Issue #9
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Video Recruitment – IISD Reporting Services
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@IISDRS Coverage of #IPCC 40
Fortieth session of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-40)
27-31 October 2014 | Copenhagen, Denmark
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ipcc40/
The 40th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-40) will meet from 27-31 October at the Tivoli Conference Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, to consider and finalize the Synthesis Report (SYR), which integrates and synthesizes the findings from the three Working Group reports that comprise the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) for policymakers into a more concise document. The Panel will approve, line-by-line, the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) and adopt the draft SYR.
In addition to approving the SPM and adopting the SYR, IPCC-40 is also expected to address, inter alia: the IPCC programme and budget through 2017; admission of observer organizations; future work of the IPCC; communication and outreach activities; request for a technical report on climate change, food and agriculture; the IPCC Executive Committee’s report; implementation of the IPCC conflict of interest policy; a number of progress reports, including by the Task Force on Greenhouse Gas Inventories and preparations for the Expert Meeting on potential studies of the IPCC process; and matters related to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and other international bodies.
A press conference to present the SYR is expected to take place on 2 November at the Tivoli Conference Center, with participation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri and Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization Michel Jarraud, as well as report authors.
The third meeting of the Task Force on the Future Work of the IPCC will meet immediately prior to IPCC 40 on 26 October to consider, among other things, the refined Options Paper prepared by the Task Group Co-Chairs, which draws on submissions from governments, scientists, observer organizations, Technical Support Units and the Secretariat.
The AR5 has been under preparation for six years and consists of the SYR and contributions by the three working groups. The Panel adopted Working Group I’s contribution on the physical science basis of climate change in Stockholm, Sweden, in September 2013. The Panel adopted Working Group II’s contribution on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability in March 2014 in Yokohama, Japan. Working Group III’s contribution on mitigation of climate change was adopted in April 2014 in Berlin, Germany.
IISD RS will produce daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis from this conference. Kindly return to this site on Monday, 20 October 2014, for more information.
Daily and Summary coverage will be available athttp://www.iisd.ca/climate/ipcc40/
Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter
Specific funding for the coverage of this meeting has been provided by the IPCC Secretariat, the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Aramco, as well as by Japan’s Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).
Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI
Vice President, Reporting Services and United Nations Liaison
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
United Nations Office
300 E 56th St. Apt. 11D – New York, NY 10022 USA
Direct Line: +1 973 273 5860 Plaxo public business card: http://kimogoree.myplaxo.com
Email: kimo@iisd.org Mobile phone: +12128107701 Skype: kimogoree Twitter: @kimogoree
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@IISDRS announcing the Workshop on International Arrangement on Forests beyond 2015
Workshop on International
Arrangement on Forests beyond 2015
“A Country-Led Initiative in Support of the UN Forum on Forests”29-31 October 2014 | Beijing, China
http://www.iisd.ca/forestry/cli/wiaf2015/
@IISDRS announcing @theGEF #GEF47Council, CSO Consultation and 17th LDCF/SCCF Council
Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Consultation meeting with Civil Society Organization (CSOs), Forty-seventh meeting of the GEF Council, and 17th meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) Council
27-30 October 2014 | Washington, DC, United States of America
http://www.iisd.ca/gef/council47/
IISD – ENB: – Bonn Climate Change Conference – October 2014 – Issue #4
IISD: Sustainable Develop Policy & Practice
IISD: ENB – Bonn Climate Change Conference – October 2014 – Issue #2
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@IISDRS Announcing the report of the 16th Global Meeting of the #regionalseas Conventions and Action Plans
Sixteenth Global Meeting of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Seas Conventions and Actions Plans
29 September – 1 October 2014 | Athens, Greece
http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/rscap/2014/
The summary report from this meeting is now available in PDF format at:http://www.iisd.ca/download/pdf/sd/crsvol186num4e.pdf and in HTML format at: http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/rscap/2014/html/crsvol186num4e.html
The 16th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSCAPs) took place in Athens, Greece, from 29 September to 1 October 2014.
The objectives of the meeting were to: discuss the role of the RSCAPs in the process of developing a sustainable development goals (SDG) on oceans within the post-2015 development agenda; present progress in the implementation of the Regional Seas Strategic Directions 2013-2016; discuss the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) and regional actions on marine litter; and discuss the development of a roadmap for implementing the visioning priorities for the next 10 years.
Around 50 participants attended the meeting. Participants were representatives of 16 regional seas conventions and action plans, of UN organizations and intergovernmental organizations, and the media.
During the three days of the meeting, the representatives of the RSCAPs interacted intensively through presentations, open discussions and brainstorming sessions on a long-term vision for the RSCAPs.
On the first day of the meeting, UNEP launched the report “The Importance of Mangroves: A Call to Action” at a press conference on the 40th Anniversary of the Regional Seas Programme.
The RSCAP Bulletin is a publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) <info@iisd.ca>, publishers of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin © <enb@iisd.org>. This issue was written and edited by Camellia Ibrahim and Laura Russo. The Editor is Brett Wertz <brett@iisd.org>. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <kimo@iisd.org>. Funding for coverage of this meeting has been provided by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). IISD can be contacted at 161 Portage Avenue East, 6th Floor, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0Y4, Canada; tel: +1-204-958-7700; fax: +1-204-958-7710. The opinions expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD. Excerpts from the Bulletin may be used in other publications with appropriate academic citation. Electronic versions of the Bulletin are sent to e-mail distribution lists (in HTML and PDF format) and can be found on the Linkages WWW-server at <http://www.iisd.ca/>. For information on the Bulletin, including requests to provide reporting services, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <kimo@iisd.org>, +1-646-536-7556 or 300 East 56th St., 11D, New York, New York 10022, USA.
Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI
Vice President, Reporting Services and United Nations Liaison
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) — United Nations Office
300 E 56th St. Apt. 11D – New York, NY 10022 USA
Direct Line: +1 973 273 5860 Plaxo public business card: http://kimogoree.myplaxo.com
Email: kimo@iisd.org Mobile phone: +12128107701 Skype: kimogoree
Where: 2-6 October Pyeongchang, 7 Bangkok, 8-12 cycling Joburg to Durban, 14-17 Pyeongchang
Notice:This email and any attachments may contain information that is personal, confidential, legally privileged
and/or copyright. No part of it should be reproduced, adapted or communicated without the prior written consent of the author.
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ENB – Seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety – Summary & Analysis
IISD
IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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ENB: Convention on Biological Diversity COP 12 & Nagoya Protocol COP/MOP 1 – Summary & Analysis
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ENB Writer Recruitment – IISD Reporting Services Deadline Wed. October 22nd
Please share with your colleagues and networks.
If international affairs are a part of your career path, this is an excellent experience, with good career building value, as you observe first hand the major negotiations, provide coverage and analysis working with ENB’s writing team.
Visit http://www.iisd.ca/2014/10/13/enb-writer-recruitment-iisd-reporting-services/
Pam
IISD: ENB UN Climate Summit 2014 – Final Summary
Browser Version
Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in collaboration with the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General
PDF format
Volume 172 Number 18 – Friday, 26 September 2014
SUMMARY OF CLIMATE SUMMIT 2014 23 SEPTEMBER 2014
Climate Summit 2014 convened at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 23 September 2014. The Summit brought together 100 Heads of State, together with government ministers and leaders from international organizations, business, finance, civil society and local communities, to mobilize the political support and momentum necessary to reach a global agreement on climate change in 2015 and galvanize action on the ground across all sectors.The Summit began with a high-level opening ceremony, followed by three parallel plenaries hearing national action and ambition announcements by Heads of State and Government. The morning ended with a joint conclusion and a private sector forum high-level luncheon took place thereafter. National action and ambition announcements by ministers took place in two parallel plenaries in the afternoon.During the afternoon, multilateral and multi-stakeholder action announcements took place in three parallel sessions addressing eight action areas: finance; energy; forests; agriculture; resilience; industry; transport; and cities. Thematic discussions also took place in parallel, on: climate science; voices from the climate front lines; climate, health and jobs; and the economic case for action.
A number of major initiatives, coalitions and commitments were announced or launched during the Summit, such as: the adoption of a New York Declaration on Forests, which contains commitments to halve the loss of natural forests by 2020 and strive to end it by 2030; a total pledge of US$2.3 billion made to the Green Climate Fund (GCF); the launch of the Global Alliance of Climate-Smart Agriculture; the announcement by the insurance industry of intention to create a climate risk investment framework by 2015 in Paris; and the launch of a new Compact of Mayors.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The international political response to climate change began with the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, which sets out a framework for action aimed at stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” The Convention, which entered into force on 21 March 1994, now has 195 parties.
In December 1997, delegates to the third Conference of the Parties (COP) in Kyoto, Japan, agreed to a protocol to the UNFCCC that committed industrialized countries and countries in transition to a market economy to achieve emission reduction targets. These countries, known as Annex I parties under the UNFCCC, agreed to reduce their overall emissions of six GHGs by an average of 5% below 1990 levels in 2008-2012 (first commitment period), with specific targets varying from country to country. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005, and now has 192 parties.
LONG-TERM NEGOTIATIONS IN 2005-2009: Convening in Montreal, Canada, in 2005, the first Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 1) decided to establish the Ad Hoc Working Group on Annex I Parties’ Further Commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) in accordance with Protocol Article 3.9, which mandated consideration of Annex I parties’ further commitments at least seven years before the end of the first commitment period.
COP 11 created a process to consider long-term cooperation under the Convention through a series of four workshops known as “the Convention Dialogue.”
In December 2007, COP 13 and CMP 3 in Bali, Indonesia, resulted in agreement on the Bali Roadmap on long-term issues. COP 13 adopted the Bali Action Plan (BAP) and established the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) with a mandate to focus on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and a shared vision for long-term cooperative action. Negotiations on Annex I parties’ further commitments continued under the AWG-KP. The deadline for concluding the two-track negotiations was Copenhagen in 2009.
COPENHAGEN: The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, took place in December 2009. During the high-level segment, informal negotiations took place in a group consisting of major economies and representatives of regional and other negotiating groups. Late in the evening of 18 December, these talks resulted in a political agreement, the “Copenhagen Accord,” which was then presented to the COP plenary for adoption. After 13 hours of debate, delegates ultimately agreed to “take note” of the Copenhagen Accord. In 2010, over 140 countries indicated support for the Accord. More than 80 countries also provided information on their national mitigation targets or actions. Parties also extended the mandates of the AWG-LCA and AWG-KP until COP 16 and CMP 6 in 2010.
CANCUN: The UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, took place in December 2010, when parties finalized the Cancun Agreements. Under the Convention track, Decision 1/CP.16, inter alia, recognized the need for deep cuts in global emissions in order to limit the global average temperature rise to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Parties agreed to consider strengthening the global long-term goal during a Review by 2015, including in relation to a proposed 1.5°C target.
The Cancun Agreements also established several new institutions and processes, such as the GCF, which was created and designated as an operating entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism.
Under the Protocol track, the CMP urged Annex I parties to raise the level of ambition towards achieving aggregate emission reductions, and adopted Decision 2/CMP.6 on land use, land-use change and forestry. The mandates of the two AWGs were extended for another year.
DURBAN: The UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, took place from 28 November to 11 December 2011. The Durban outcomes covered a wide range of topics, notably the establishment of a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, a decision on long-term cooperative action under the Convention and agreement on operationalization of the GCF.
Parties also agreed to launch the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) with a mandate “to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties.” The ADP is scheduled to complete these negotiations by 2015, with the new instrument entering into effect in 2020. In addition, the ADP was mandated to explore actions to close the pre-2020 ambition gap in relation to the 2°C target.
DOHA: The UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, took place in November and December 2012. The conference resulted in a package of decisions, referred to as the “Doha Climate Gateway.” These include amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to establish its second commitment period and agreement to terminate the AWG-KP’s work in Doha. The parties also agreed to terminate the AWG-LCA and negotiations under the BAP.
WARSAW: The Warsaw Climate Change Conference took place from 11-23 November 2013, in Warsaw, Poland. Negotiations focused on the implementation of agreements reached at previous meetings, including pursuing the work of the ADP. The meeting, among other things, adopted an ADP decision that invites parties to initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), and resolves to accelerate the full implementation of the BAP and pre-2020 ambition.
PREPARATIONS FOR CLIMATE SUMMIT 2014: On 24 September 2013, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited global leaders and participants from business, finance, civil society and local communities to convene in September 2014 for the UN Climate Summit. The Summit, while not part of the official negotiating process under the UNFCCC, aims to mobilize political will to reach a global climate agreement at the Paris Climate Change Conference in December 2015 and galvanize action on the ground across all sectors
Abu Dhabi Ascent: Held from 4-5 May 2014 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Ascent was hosted by Secretary-General Ban and the Minister of State and Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change, Sultan Al Jaber, UAE. The Ascent brought together 1,000 government ministers, and business, finance and civil society members to discuss new initiatives and partnerships to address climate change that would be further developed in the lead-up to the UN Climate Summit.
The Abu Dhabi Ascent identified action areas around which elements of the Climate Summit have been organized, including: short-lived climate pollutants; forests; agriculture; cities; transportation; resilience, adaptation and disaster risk reduction; climate finance; and economic drivers.
REPORT OF THE MEETING
OPENING CEREMONY
On Tuesday morning, 23 September, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened Climate Summit 2014, thanking world leaders for showing “a bold commitment to a low-carbon society.” Recalling the goal to achieve economy-wide decarbonization by 2100, he emphasized the role of public finance institutions in mobilizing resources, notably promised under the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Bill de Blasio, Mayor, City of New York, emphasized the tragic deaths in New York due to extreme weather events and underscored the urgency for a global movement to tackle climate change. He announced the goal of New York to reduce 80% of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.
Rajendra Pachauri, Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), highlighted three main messages: the unequivocal human role in causing climate change; the urgency to accelerate the pace of action; and the availability of tools to cope with the impacts of climate change. He concluded that business-as-usual is not an option, adding that the cost of inaction will be “incredibly higher” than the cost of action.
Al Gore, former Vice President of the US and Nobel Laureate, emphasized the opportunities to act on climate change, highlighting job creation, innovation, economic growth and prosperity. He underscored the significant expansion of the green bond market and concluded by saying that “political will is a renewable resource.”
Li Bingbing, Actress and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador, expressed her personal concern about the climate threat and stressed that the youth are eager to see their leaders taking action to develop a low-carbon economy.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Actor and UN Messenger of Peace, addressed the Summit as a “concerned citizen” and stated that climate change must be promptly addressed. Noting the need to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, he underscored that renewable energy (RE) is good economic policy and called for “courage and honesty” from global leaders.
Underscoring the problem of climate refugees, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, civil society representative, Marshall Islands, delivered a statement and recited a poem she wrote to her child, in which she promises to fight for a safe planet.
NATIONAL ACTION AND AMBITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
PLENARY 1: Morning: This session was chaired by Secretary-General Ban. José Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission, noted that the European Union’s GHG emissions have fallen by 19% since 1990, while GDP rose by 45%. Looking forward to finalizing a new global climate agreement at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in 2015, he restated the Commission’s reduction target of 40% of domestic emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
Barroso explained that 20% of the EU budget for 2014-2020 (€180 billion) will go to climate action and announced an allocation of more than €3 billion in grants over the next seven years to support sustainable energy in developing countries, to leverage between €15-€30 billion in loans and equity investment in sustainable energy infrastructure. He further announced the provision of a total of €14 billion in public climate finance to partners outside the EU.
President Park Geun-hye, Republic of Korea, announced that Korea will submit a plan to support the post-2020 climate regime and work with the GCF and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). She pledged up to US$100 million to the GCF, including US$50 million previously pledged.
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark, announced an allocation of US$70 million to the GCF in addition to US$350 million provided since 2010 for climate finance. She highlighted the Danish Climate Investment Fund, a public-private partnership to finance climate-friendly projects in developing countries and emerging markets.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia, outlined a voluntary domestic pledge to reduce GHG emissions by 26% up to 2020 compared to business-as-usual, with an offer to increase reductions to 41% with international support. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Estonia, noted that EU commitments only cover 14% of all global emissions but that the EU will achieve greater emission reductions than is required by 2020.
President Sauli Niinistö, Finland, outlined the country’s long-term goal of becoming carbon neutral, with 80% emission reductions by 2050 and plans to phase out coal power plants by 2025. He also highlighted a national strategy to double the number of clean technology businesses by 2020.
President János Áder, Hungary, underlined that the country has achieved 40% emission reductions over the last 25 years and that its GDP has increased. President Andris Bērziņš, Latvia, noted national reductions in GHGs by almost 60% and called for a new legally-binding agreement by the end of 2015, applicable to all parties.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Italy, said his country will contribute a significant amount to the GCF. On renewables, he said that as of August 2014, 45% of the country’s electricity was from RE.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt, noted that adaptation is a priority for Arab countries, as well equity and common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR). He said a new legal framework should not replace the UNFCCC.
President Anote Tong, Kiribati, called for genuine commitment and sacrifice to address the challenge of climate change and outlined his country’s contribution to marine protection in the Pacific and the formation of the Coalition of Atoll Nations.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya, called for new international commitments and scaled-up actions, with developed countries taking responsibility based on common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDRRC). He underscored the need to operationalize the GCF, and looked forward to reaching a final agreement in Paris.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea, called for those countries whose technologies have caused climate change to assist developing countries to mitigate climate change. President Donald Ramotar, Guyana, called for deeper cuts in emissions from industrialized countries and emphasized that the 2°C goal cannot be achieved without REDD+.
President Peter Mutharika, Malawi, urged developed countries to provide finance, technological transfer and capacity building to address loss and damage. President Nicos Anastasiades, Cyprus, called on states to meet obligations in accordance with the timetable set out in Warsaw and called for the highest possible ambition.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon, noted efforts to conserve forests and land use. President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, Madagascar, noted that climate change is now a general reference point for all national actions and called for commitments to be “brought to life based on a solutions agenda.” He called for measures to speed up access to renewable resources.
President Hassan Rouhani, Iran, noted that political disputes have become an obstacle to agreement and that Iran is ready to engage with other countries. He called for a comprehensive agreement on climate change.
Saying that his country is the eighth most vulnerable in the world, President Danilo Medina, Dominican Republic, expressed hope that COP 21 in Paris would result in a global decisive agreement. President Juan Orlando Hernández, Honduras, noted that his country is one of five most vulnerable in the world.
President Fuad Masum, Iraq, expressed appreciation for efforts to develop a new protocol or legal agreement and supported an inclusive and just approach. Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, Japan, pledged funding to train 14,000 experts in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change in developing countries.
Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Iceland, expressed his full support for the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative and announced that it will increase support for the geothermal initiative of the World Bank. He reported that Iceland and Namibia have formed a group of friends on desertification, land degradation and drought in order to find sustainable development solutions.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkeviĉius, Lithuania, said his country reduced GHG emissions by 56% compared to 1999 levels and reached the 22% RE target set by the EU. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Ethiopia, said the country is in the process of establishing the institutional framework for a green climate economy. He announced that Ethiopia has abolished fossil fuel subsidies and started to produce biofuels.
President Christopher Loeak, Marshall Islands, noted that his country has taken strong actions to cut carbon emissions and, by law, all public buildings and infrastructure will be made more climate-resilient. He announced that Marshall Islands will table national climate adaptation legislation by January 2015.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Republic of Ireland, said his country is implementing legislation to underpin national climate change efforts and that climate justice is a key element of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Malta, announced that Malta remains fully committed to providing financial and technical support to developing countries, by, among other things, offering scholarships for climate-related fields of study.
President Alpha Condé, Guinea, called for taking decisions on funding measures for adaptation and mitigation. President Joseph Kabila, Democratic Republic of the Congo, noted plans to develop his country’s hydroelectric power capacity with the intention of meeting 35% of Africa’s energy needs.
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Grenada, explained that the country has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US as a pilot country of the regional energy initiative and with New Zealand for assistance in developing Grenada’s geothermal capacity. He called for a price on carbon to be introduced domestically and regionally on a voluntary basis.
Pietro Cardinal Parolin, Holy See, underscored the moral imperative to act, noting that market forces alone are not sufficient. He said the Vatican is taking steps to reduce consumption of fossil fuels through diversification and energy efficiency (EE) projects.
James Fletcher, Minister for Sustainable Development, Saint Lucia, noted that delayed mitigation impacts on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and increases their adaptation costs, expressing hope for an ambitious agreement with significant GHG reductions in Paris.
Afternoon: Mary Robinson, UN Special Envoy for Climate Change, serving as Co-Chair, welcomed participants to the afternoon plenary session. Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos, Greece, said climate policies are critical to both economic recovery and a sustainable environment. He expressed firm support for putting a price on carbon and endorsed it as an action for the Climate Summit.
Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, Cuba, said environmental destruction cannot be solved by preventing the development of those who need it most. He noted that Cuba has focused its mitigation efforts on archipelago and coastal areas.
Oldemiro Balói, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Mozambique, called for increased ambition for emission reduction targets, including through implementing the Warsaw Framework Decision on REDD,+ the Doha Amendment, the GCF and the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage.
John Pundari, Minister for the Environment, Conservation and Climate Change, Papua New Guinea, said the country has committed US$50 million to the Pacific Regional Assistance Programme. He also: called for inclusion of REDD+ in the 2015 climate agreement; supported the World Bank’s call for carbon pricing; and urged all countries to capitalize the GCF.
Eladio Loizaga, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paraguay, pledged forest certification for environmental services and indigenous communities, as well as projects to reverse the degradation of natural resources, and said the country’s national climate change policy is a main pillar of its national development plan.
Aurelia Frick, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture, Liechtenstein, reinforced its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and ratifying the Doha Amendment in December 2014. She said Liechtenstein will provide CHF600,000 for climate finance in 2015, and will continue to strengthen the involvement of the private sector in future projects.
Erlan Idrissov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kazakhstan, announced plans to decrease the energy intensity of GDP by 50%, and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40%.
Barbara Hendricks, Federal Environment Minister, Germany, announced US$1 billion in initial funding for the GCF, and called on others to pledge substantial funds before COP 20 in Peru. She outlined Germany’s commitment to reduce emissions by 40% of 1990 levels by 2050.
Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, India, noted its Development Without Destruction Programme and commitments, including on higher energy consumption with lower carbon intensity. He encouraged financial and technical support and capacity building for developing countries.
François Bausch, Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, Luxembourg, announced a contribution of US$5 million to the GCF. He said COP 20 in Lima will enable parties to “set down a framework” for the Paris agreement, which needs to be simple, dynamic and flexible, and address financial aspects of combatting climate change.
Lorena Tapia, Minister of Environment, Ecuador, said despite contributing only 0.01% to global GHG emissions, her country is taking action to address climate change, including by building eight hydroelectric plants and reforesting 500,000 hectares.
Amir Peretz, Minister of Environmental Protection, Israel, supported a new global agreement on climate change, and said it has invested major resources in GHG reduction, with a focus on EE.
Rovana Plumb, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Romania, said her country has operationalized its Climate Strategy and Action Plan, focusing on transport, agriculture, infrastructure and EE.
U Wunna Maung Lwin, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, Myanmar, announced a nationwide programme of forestation, reforestation and protected areas, and pledged its support to the efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in responding to climate change.
Dunya Maumoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maldives, stressed the irony that despite their contribution to global GHG emissions being only 0.0003%, their entire existence is under threat. She called for an investment of US$1.5 billion for mitigation and adaptation in the Maldives.
Ousmane Ag Rhissa, Minister of Environment and Sanitation, Mali, announced a goal to make RE 10% of its energy mix by 2020 and the creation of an upper sustainable development council to coordinate efforts and strategies.
Hina Rabbani Khar, Foreign Minister, Pakistan, recalled recent flooding that displaced millions, among several other disasters triggered largely by climate change. She called for negotiating a “win-win” outcome on climate change, and said the world is facing “not just a threat, but also a threat multiplier.”
Noulinh Sinbandhit, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR, highlighted its commitment to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. He stressed that since so many Lao people rely on natural resources including forest products, synergy between sustainable forest management and rural development campaigns is essential.
Ali Saleh Al-Omair, Minister of Oil, Kuwait, said his country is working to diversify energy sources, through the use of wind and solar power, and highlighted that the oil sector is beginning to manage its GHG emissions.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy, Portugal, said citizens will not accept failure in Paris, which he said should produce a single, global, rules-based, legally-binding agreement, preferably a protocol, applicable to all, to keep the temperature increase to below 2°C. He also highlighted Portugal’s recently launched “Compromise for Green Growth.”
Carlos Raúl Morales, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guatemala, committed to the Bonn Challenge of restoring forests in highly-vulnerable lands, with a goal of restoring 3.9 million hectares, as well as investments in solar energy, reducing carbon emissions, and collective management of land resources with indigenous peoples.
Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Jamaica, said his country will continue to reduce GHG emissions as far as practicable, and committed to expanding renewables to 20% of the energy mix by 2030 and doubling RE by 2060.
Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liberia, announced a national strategy on gender and climate change and new partnerships with Norway to reduce GHG emissions from deforestation and promote the use of sustainable energy.
Lubomír Zaorálek, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic, pledged its support for the World Bank’s “Putting a Price on Carbon” Initiative, and announced the provision of US$12 million to developing countries for fast start financing, and US$5.5 million to the GCF over the next two years.
Abdyldaev Erlan Bekeshovich, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kyrgyzstan, said mountains as ecosystems are the most vulnerable to climate change, and highlighted hydropower as “the most important condition for achieving sustainable development,” suggesting that large hydropower stations could address both GHG and water scarcity in mountain regions.
Lina Pohl, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, El Salvador, said developed countries must take action of a similar magnitude to what is happening, highlighted the Warsaw International Framework on Loss and Damage, and noted national mitigation actions, including an integrated transportation system in San Salvador.
Mario Lopes da Rosa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Guinea-Bissau, said his country has begun preparations for a national adaptation long-term plan and called for technical and financial support, and technology transfer, to facilitate mitigation and adaptation.
Osman Saleh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eritrea, called for “global solutions and local actions.” He said climate change poses bottlenecks to food security and poverty eradication.
Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qatar, outlined its National Vision for Qatar in 2020, which involves diversifying the economy, reducing emissions and striving for greater EE.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, Fiji, highlighted a national green growth strategy with goals to promote clean energy and called for support to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems.
Prime Minister Tom Thabane, Lesotho, emphasized commitment to the UNFCCC and its objectives, saying that the least developed countries (LDCs) deserve special attention due to high vulnerabilities.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Minister of State for the Environment, Peru, and Co-Chair of the session, closed the plenary.
PLENARY 2: Morning: President François Hollande, France, and President Ollanta Humala, Peru, co-chaired Plenary 2. Speakers emphasized: GCF pledges; domestic mitigation, finance, and adaptation efforts; intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs); and a binding and effective treaty in Paris 2015.
Opening the session, Hollande announced a French commitment of US$1 billion to the GCF over the next four years. Calling for a first draft of the Paris agreement in Lima, Humala announced Peru would present its third National Communication and its Biennial Emissions Update Report at COP 20.
On climate finance pledges and INDCs, Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway, pledged about US$33 million to the GCF in 2015, with the official amount to be announced at the first formal GCF pledging meeting in November 2014. She promised an INDC in early 2015 and announced forest partnerships through 2020 with Peru and Liberia to combat deforestation.
Vice President Simonetta Sommaruga, Switzerland, said Switzerland will: consider a minimum of US$100 million pledge to the GCF; ratify the Kyoto Protocol’s second Commitment Period; and unveil an ambitious INDC in early 2015.
President Borut Pahor, Slovenia, called for milestones to fulfill the US$1 billion in climate finance and also INDCs by major emitters in first quarter 2015. Deputy Prime Minister Andrian Candu, Moldova, underscored their EU Association Agreement and compliance with EU targets.
On country actions, President Manny Mori, Federated States of Micronesia, highlighted SIDS leadership on climate through, inter alia: the Palau Declaration of Ocean, Life and Future; the Majuro Declaration of Climate Leadership; and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) work plan on enhancing mitigation ambition to close the 2040 mitigation gap.
President Tommy Remengesau, Palau, said it would join Micronesia’s efforts on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Nepal, emphasized Nepal’s support of the Doha Amendment and the country’s national climate policy, with both national adaptation plans and local adaptation plans.
President Juan Carlos Varela, Panama, described legislation to grant authority to Panama’s environment ministry to implement climate change measures. He also discussed plans to take advantage of energy efficiency in the new lines of the Panama canal.
President Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico, noting domestic priorities on carbon taxation, a national emissions registry, and GHG trading, said Mexico would support a Paris agreement and proposed an intergovernmental panel on water and adaptation.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoa, said it would reduce fossil fuel use by 10% by 2016, matched by a 10% increase in RE, and aspire to 100% RE power by 2070.
President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippines, outlined his country’s efforts to decrease illegal logging, support early warning systems, engage stakeholders on disaster risk financing and insurance policy frameworks, and implement legislation to decrease disaster risk and improve disaster response.
President James Michel, Seychelles, stated that many SIDS face unsustainable debt levels, which hamper their efforts to improve resilience and implement DRR measures. He called for considering establishing a vulnerability index for SIDS.
President Faure Gnassingbé, Togo, outlined national-level actions to address climate change, including partnering with the UN Development Programme to develop a 2014-2018 action plan for sustainable development that supports the environment while eradicating poverty.
Prime Minister Siale‘ataongo Tu‘ivakanō, Tonga, noted that his country has implemented climate change and DRR policies, and urged the UN Security Council to consider climate change as an existential threat.
Prince Albert II, Monaco, said that Monaco hopes to reduce its GHG emissions by 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80% by 2050. President Tomislav Nikolić, Serbia, urged adopting a long-term DRR framework at the Third UN World Conference on DRR, to be held in Japan in 2015.
President Filip Vujanović, Montenegro, highlighted the role of the Climate Summit to mobilize support and contribute to the acceptance of climate change as an essential issue. President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Mongolia, said the country’s herdsmen are already feeling the impact of climate change and stressed that the time to act is now.
King Felipe VI, Spain, noted its “unwavering commitment to this great challenge” through EU reduction targets and domestic efforts. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka, noted Sri Lanka’s commitment to sustainable development.
President Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger, stressed that the impact of climate change is visible: Lake Chad has lost 90% of surface water in 20 years. He said Niger will continue its efforts on reforestation and develop a strategy for a sustainable forest sector.
President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritania, stressed the need for technology transfer, and contributions to and operationalization of the GCF. President Mohamed, Tunisia, called for “radical solutions” to avoid travelling down a “collective suicide path.”
President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Namibia, said financial resources are needed for developing countries to comply with their commitments and urged for more technology transfer to help increase countries’ resilience and decrease reliance on fossil fuels.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago, supported net zero global emissions by the end of the century. Vice President Moisés Omar Halleslevens Acevedo, Nicaragua, called for a legally-binding global climate agreement to be reached in 2015, based on the principle of CBDR.
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden, said Sweden aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 and have zero net emissions by 2050. Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, Swaziland, said the world needs to “move from intention to reality” when addressing climate change. He called for assistance with capacity building, financial support and technology transfer.
Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda, Tajikistan, lamented the degradation of Tajik glaciers, and called for action to address this. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, Timor Leste, called for universal action on climate change and a binding agreement in 2015.
Chief Executive Matteo Fiorini, San Marino, said San Marino supports a global effort to end deforestation by 2030. He noted substantial domestic investments in RE in industry and buildings aiming for 20% reductions in GHGs.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria, said Nigeria has launched a food production recovery programme that grows more food in the dry season, and noted domestic progress on reducing gas flaring and improving gas pipeline infrastructure.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Netherlands, described its “Resilient City Initiative,” where the Netherlands is sharing knowledge on water management with 2000 cities worldwide.
Edna Molewa, Minister of the Environment, South Africa, stated that a global climate agreement must balance adaptation and mitigation, and suggested that a global adaptation goal be adopted as part of such an agreement. Hakima El Haiti, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment, Morocco, said climate concerns have been mainstreamed into Moroccan legislation, policies and institutional arrangements.
Afternoon: Co-Chairs, John Kufuor, former President of Ghana and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, and COP 18 President Marcin Korolec, Poland, welcomed participants.
Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, Belgium, said his country supports agreement in Paris, emphasizing that all countries must take part so that “efforts by some do not come to nothing due to others’ laissez-faire attitude.” He stressed that Belgium plans to reduce emissions by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
Say Sam Al, Minister of Environment, Cambodia, said an agreement should be based on CBDR. Ramtane Lamamra, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Algeria, said adaptation is already being implemented through a green belt and innovation in a green economy, but that aid at the international level through finance and technology transfer is imperative.
Julie Bishop, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Australia, said Australia will reduce emissions by 5% by 2020, which will be a 22% reduction from business-as-usual levels and is comparable with other major economies. She said they have committed US$2.5 billion to domestic emission reductions. Bishop stressed that all major emitters must act, noting they will consider their post-2020 emission reductions in 2015 in a manner that safeguards their economic growth and responds to climate change.
Winston Lackin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suriname, called for partnerships to address issues and urged governments to accept binding commitments. Peter Ẑiga, Minister of Environment, Slovakia, said the financial crisis should not hinder efforts to combat climate change, but should rather be seen as an opportunity.
Alexander Bedritsky, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change, Russian Federation, said transparent systems for compliance will be needed under a new climate agreement. Mankeur Ndiaye, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senegal, said an agreement in Paris should include adaptation, technology transfer and sufficient means of implementation, urging that the unique situation and vulnerabilities of each country be recognized.
Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia, said reducing GHGs should not undermine economic growth or sustainable development, and stressed that the international response must respect the principles of the UNFCCC, in particular CBDR.
Luis Almagro, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uruguay, noted his country’s commitment to reaching an agreement in Paris, based in part on CBDR, saying COP 20 in Lima should not be a stepping-stone but a forum for concrete action.
Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Singapore, called for a mandate to engage constructively on the road to Paris, while encouraging countries to act now domestically. He highlighted Singapore’s voluntary 16% reduction of emissions below the 2020 business-as-usual level.
Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, Canada, stressed that all major emitters should step up and take action, highlighting Canada’s leadership as a founding member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) and current chair of the Arctic Council.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, United Arab Emirates, said constructive partnerships are needed to address climate change. Huseyngulu Baghirov, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan, highlighted that the country’s economic growth has been based on clean technology and that the government has been actively engaged in mitigation efforts.
Tshekedi Khama, Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Botswana, urged the adoption of a legally-binding climate agreement in 2015, whose implementation can be measured and verified.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand, stated that all countries have a responsibility to address climate change, but the extent to which they do this may differ between countries. Hector Marcos Timerman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Argentina, stated that development cannot be decoupled from climate change.
Samura Kamara, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sierra Leone, called for support for capacity building, predictable, scaled-up additional finance and full capitalization of the GCF. He highlighted that the country’s five-year development plan is based on inclusive green growth.
Nikola Poposki, Minister of Foreign Affairs, FYR Macedonia, outlined national efforts to reduce emissions, saying the most cost-effective approach to energy supply for the country is replacement of coal-fired power plants with natural gas, hydropower and solar facilities.
Ali Ahmed Karti, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sudan, said sustainable development is the logical framework for developing countries’ contributions to addressing climate change, due to the challenges they face. He underscored adoption of their national adaptation programme of action, which identifies the urgent needs for the most vulnerable and affected areas.
Mwansa Kapeya, Minister of Lands, Natural Resources and the Environment, Zambia, said they are piloting national adaptation programmes of action in the agriculture, energy, industrial processes and waste management sectors, but that they require medium- and long-term support to further these efforts. He outlined programmes in climate-smart agriculture, efforts to scale-up EE and deploy RE under the SE4ALL initiative and development of sustainable forest management and REDD+ strategies.
Jean Couldiaty, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Burkina Faso, said reducing GHGs requires the involvement of all stakeholders at all levels, including civil society and the private sector.
Camillo Gonsalves, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Consumer Affairs and Information Technology, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said his country is aiming for its electricity generation to be based solely on RE sources by 2030.
Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cameroon, highlighted the establishment of a climate change observatory to assess and note the impacts of and take relevant action for climate change in Cameroon. Savior Kasukuwere, Minister of Environment, Climate and Water, Zimbabwe, said the second National Communication and National Climate Change Plan assisted in defining national mitigation and adaptation actions.
Riad Malki, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Palestine, noted that climate change has affected their food and water supplies, saying that these effects are exacerbated by conflict. Christian Sossouhounto, Minister of Environment, Sanitation, Housing and Urban Affairs, Benin, said “humanity has proven that it has the ingenuity to combat climate change.”
Mbaïon Djiberki Rosine, Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Chad, called for a significant, but not necessarily legally-binding, climate agreement in Paris. Aramayis Grigoryan, Minister of Nature Protection, Armenia, noted the use of ecosystem approaches to address climate change, but stressed that regional cooperation is needed for this to be successful.
Abdallah Deng Nhial, Minister of Environment, South Sudan, reaffirmed that they are in the process of acceding to global environmental agreements addressing climate change, and of adopting a national legal framework to address environmental issues.
Lazaro Nyalandu, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania, emphasized his country’s emission reduction contributions, including legal protection of 28 million hectares of forests, a national programme to phase out charcoal use in urban areas and introduce wind and solar in off-grid rural communities, and exploration of hydropower and geothermal opportunities.
PLENARY 3: Sam Kahamba Kutesa, President of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, opened plenary three, stating that the Climate Summit is building momentum to catalyze action.
President Evo Morales, Bolivia, on behalf of the G-77/China, declared climate change as currently one of the most serious global challenges and called on developed countries to provide US$70 billion per year until 2016 and US$100 billion by 2020. Urging respect for the provisions and principles of the UNFCCC, he emphasized the need for the post-2015 climate agreement to also focus on adaptation.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei Darussalam, reported on the country’s reduction of energy consumption and improved forest conservation, while stating the intention to improve marine conservation through, for example, the Coral Triangle Initiative.
President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil, stated that a new climate agreement must be legally-binding and respect the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC. She reported the successful reduction of deforestation in Brazil, which has avoided on average 650 million carbon tons per year since 2009. Rousseff also noted the robust role of renewables in the country.
President Bakir Izetbegović, Bosnia and Herzegovina, recalled the damage caused by severe floods in 2014 and stated that the reduction of natural disasters must be a priority for the post-2015 climate agreement.
President Luis Guillermo Solís, Costa Rica, reaffirmed their commitment to become carbon neutral by 2021, noting that 90% of their power production is RE-based and that with a hydropower project coming online in 2016, this will increase to 100%. He stressed that it is fundamental to support middle-income countries, calling for real international solidarity.
President Yoweri Museveni, Uganda, said industrialization and lack of electricity cause deforestation and reduction in biomass, and stressed that preservation of forests and wetlands in the Congo and South Sudan is crucial.
President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela, said capitalism is not sustainable and that “only when the last fish is caught and the last tree cut will major powers realize money cannot be eaten.” He emphasized “green economy” is capitalism in disguise and called for development that focuses on social and ecological aspects.
President Michelle Bachelet, Chile, said the country will reduce emissions by 20% by 2020, conditional on international support, and highlighted its goal of producing 45% of electricity by RE by 2025. She noted introduction of a tax on carbon emissions, and said an international agreement adopted at COP 21 should focus on the right to develop, CBDR, engagement of civil society and the transformative power of education.
President Bujar Faik Nishani, Albania, reported that it has implemented climate policies in line with EU regulations and declared that climate change is a threat to security due to conflicts over resources. He underlined the development of a new domestic plan for 2014-2020, that will mainstream climate change concerns into other policy sectors.
President Ivo Josipović, Croatia, noted a significant drop of GHG emissions between 2008 and 2012, and emphasized the multidimensional nature of climate change, notably related to security and human prosperity.
President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, Colombia, underscored the small impact of Colombian emissions on global climate change but recognized the importance of protecting the Amazonian region. He reported the development of a national adaptation plan and supported the achievement of the 2°C temperature target.
President Rosen Plevneliev, Bulgaria, recalled the 20th anniversary of the UNFCCC and highlighted the importance of EE when tackling climate change. He noted Bulgaria’s target of reducing 18.5% of GHG emissions by 2020 compared to 2005 and declared that energy “should not be used as a weapon.”
President Heinz Fischer, Austria, said more needs to be done in Austria, Europe and internationally to limit warming to below 2°C and to halve global emissions by 2050. He stressed the need for a new legally-binding climate agreement that is “fit for the 21st century,” as well as the integration of climate change into the post-2015 development agenda.
President Ikililou Dhoinine, Comoros, highlighted the exposure of his country to disaster risk, saying that change has been so swift, populations have trouble adapting to it. President Alassane Ouattara, Côte d’Ivoire, noted that implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action is important to reduce disaster risk. He said the country is working to restore forest cover and promote RE to reduce GHG emissions, noting the goal to increase RE to 20% of the energy mix by 2030 and efforts to increase EE by 20%.
President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Republic of Congo, outlined the joint efforts of Congo Basin countries to comprehensively manage their forests through sustainable forest management, REDD+ and other initiatives.
President Catherine Samba-Panza, Central African Republic, noted the country’s vulnerability to both climate change and poor socioeconomic conditions, underscoring the negative impact of conflict on natural resources.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey, declared that all countries must be included in a legally-binding agreement in 2015 based on CBDR and reported that between 1999 and 2012, Turkey has mitigated 21% of GHG emissions, excluding action on deforestation, and reduced 50% of its carbon intensity. He reported the goal of increasing the share of RE and improving forest protection.
Vice President Manuel Vicente, Angola, highlighted the establishment of a multidisciplinary committee to tackle climate change adaptation and called for the full capitalization of the GCF. Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich, Belarus, reported on the successful reduction of one-third of GHG emissions since 1999, despite an increase in GDP, and requested more attention to clean technologies and green investments.
Vice President Therence Sinunguruza, Burundi, expressed support for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and the Durban platform on enhanced action, and presented on the kick-start of Burundi’s adaptation roadmap.
Prime Minister Antoni Martí, Andorra, noted that, as a country with a population of 70,000, it cannot do much to reduce global emissions, but that it does feel the impacts of climate change. He stressed that climate change agreements must be integrated into national policies, saying the issue of climate change highlights the need for effective multilateral action.
Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Barbados, called for ensuring that global warming stays below 1.5°C, noting voluntary contributions in the area of RE and EE, which will be accomplished through taxes and concessions. He said Barbados is leading and catalyzing investment in biofuel at the national level.
Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga, Tuvalu, said the time to pander to the fossil fuel industry is over and committed to increasing RE to 100% of the energy mix by 2020. He said elements of an agreement should include specific provisions on adaptation, including easy access to funding, a loss and damage mechanism, as well as economy-wide emission reductions by developed countries.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh, stressed that, despite being an LDC, Bangladesh has allocated large amounts of its own funding for domestic adaptation to issues such as saline intrusion and coastal flooding. She emphasized that the new agreement must: include adaptation and loss and damage; balance adaptation and mitigation; and include INDCs that are measurable and verifiable.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda, underscored his people’s frustration at a world where major powers talk of democracy and human rights, but are reluctant to admit climate change is real. He lamented failure to fully capitalize the GCF.
Kenred Dorsett, Minister of Environment and Housing, Bahamas, stated that climate change is “serious business” and explained that, with an increase in temperature of 3.7-3.8°C by 2100, Bahamas will no longer exist. He reported on the 30% increase of RE usage and declared that a legally-binding agreement by 2015 must be a benchmark for changing business models.
Deputy Prime Minister Raşit Meredow, Turkmenistan, highlighted his engagement in assisting the development of clean technology in Central Asia and the advancement of a national climate change strategy. He concluded by encouraging a systemic and multilateral approach to support decisions made in Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban and Rio de Janeiro.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh, Vietnam, presented on the country’s development of a green growth strategy and national adaptation plan, explaining that these are intended to reduce GHG emissions in the energy sector by 10-20%.
Prime Minister David Cameron, United Kingdom, emphasized the historical commitment of the UK to tackle climate change and reported, inter alia, that his country is on track to cut 80% of emissions by 2050. He stated that RE use doubled in the last four years and that the first green climate investment bank has been created with £1 billion investments in carbon capture and storage. He underscored the UK’s commitment to provide nearly £4 billion in climate finance over five years as part of its commitment to keep investing 0.7% of its GDP as part of its international aid goal.
JOINT CONCLUSION OF THE MORNING NATIONAL ACTION AND AMBITION ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Barak Obama, US, highlighted the role of the US in building international coalitions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), notably methane, and the success in moving forward the target of reducing GHG emissions by 17% by 2017 compared to 2005. Stating that leaders cannot “condemn our children to a future that is beyond our capacity to repair,” he declared that “big nations” have the responsibility to provide leadership in this process. He declared that the US is on track to meet the pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, noting the US will put forward a new emission reduction target early in 2015.
President Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzania, for the Committee of the African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change, stated that Africa requires financial support to implement climate policies and urged leaders to take serious action on climate finance. He emphasized adaptation priorities, climate-smart agriculture and establishing a legally-binding agreement in Paris as key global priorities.
President Baron Waqa, Nauru, for AOSIS, called for developed countries to lead, while noting SIDS have set some of the most ambitious targets in the world on climate change. He called for initial capitalization of the GCF at the level of US$15 billion and encouraged quick development of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage.
Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, China, said China has legislation in place to ensure a 40-45% reduction in carbon intensity by 2020 from 2005 levels. He noted China will announce its post-2020 ambition on climate change as soon as possible to markedly reduce carbon intensity and aim to bring about peaking of emissions as early as possible.
Zhang highlighted that China will double its current financial contribution to establish a South-South fund for climate change and will provide US$6 million to the UN Secretary-General to facilitate South-South cooperation on climate change. On an agreement in Paris, he stressed sticking to the UNFCCC framework, including CBDRRC, meeting commitments, including on emission reductions, finance and technology transfer, and strengthening action for the future.
Chair Kutesa provided the highlights of Plenary 3 noting, inter alia: the call for a functional GCF; the need to support the most vulnerable countries; the growing use of RE; and the convergence on the 2°C target.
President François Hollande, France, and President Ollanta Humala, Peru, reported on the outcomes of Plenary 2 and stressed that finding a solution for climate change is finding a solution for poverty and inequality. President Humala urged for “concrete action” in Peru.
Secretary-General Ban closed the morning session, restating the need to provide leadership and invited global leaders to seize the moment to build a successful pathway towards 2015.
MULTILATERAL AND MULTI-STAKEHOLDER ACTION ANNOUNCEMENTS
In the afternoon, multilateral and multi-stakeholder action announcements addressed eight action areas: finance; energy; forests; agriculture; resilience; industry; transport; and cities. These sessions are summarized below.
FINANCE: The session on finance was co-chaired by President Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico, and President Park Geun-hye, Republic of Korea.
Panel One: Low Carbon Finance: Co-Chair Nieto called for strengthening transparency and defining climate finance, and for efficient monitoring, reporting, and verification systems for finance. He underlined the need for adequate resources for capacity building and clean technologies, and for governments to foster “friendly” private investment. Nieto announced his country’s US$10 million contribution to the GCF.
Co-Chair Park emphasized private and public sector cooperation, low carbon transition, infrastructure, and clean technologies. She said governments should send clear and consistent signals for creating enabling environments and noted that her country will be the first Asian country to introduce an emissions trading scheme in January 2015. Park announced that the Republic of Korea will contribute to the successful operationalization of the GCF up to US$100 million.
Secretary-General Ban emphasized that climate change poses a risk to financial markets and undermines resilience, and asked governments to present bold commitments consistent with their obligations and capabilities. He acknowledged contributions from governments and expressed hope that others would emulate this.
Ban further highlighted the need for the private sector to redirect investments commensurate with the scale of the climate change challenge, and to boost green financing and green bond markets.
Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank, stressed that governments, investors and business need to work to together to maximize opportunities, price carbon, remove fossil fuel subsidies, and use public finance to unlock private investment. He noted that green bonds have been successful and that the Bank has committed US$42 billion to climate-related activities over the last four years.
Brian Moynihan, President, Bank of America, announced the Finance Initiative, which will invest US$10 billion in clean energy projects, issued the first green bond a year ago and identified ways to raise US$120 billion by 2020 in contributions to SE4ALL for RE, EE and energy access.
Jean-Yves Hocher, CEO, Credit Agricole, highlighted intention to cooperate with development finance institutions and noted that US$300 billion in green bonds will be raised by 2020. He also committed to underwrite US$20 billion in green bonds by COP 21 in Paris.
Matt Anderson, CEO, Swedish Pension Fund, called for reallocating capital from polluting companies to more carbon-efficient companies. He said the Fund will lead a coalition of institutional investors committed to decarbonizing US$100 billion and to disclosing the carbon footprint of at least US$500 billion in assets under management.
Enrique Garcia, President and CEO, Development Bank of Latin America, on behalf of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), explained that the IDFC is the world’s largest source of public-private finance and is on track to increase direct green climate financing to US$100 billion a year for new climate finance activities by the end of 2015.
Angelien Kemna, CEO, APG Asset Management, on behalf of the Global Investor Coalition on Climate Change, said investment in green real estate has doubled in the last two years but called on governments to develop predictable regulatory and policy frameworks. She announced that three major Northern American and European pension funds would accelerate low-carbon investment across asset classes up to US$31 billion or more by 2020.
Shaun Tarbuck, International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, and International Insurance Society, announced the insurance industry’s intention to create and monitor a climate risk investment framework by COP 21 in Paris, and also committed to double its green investments to US$84 billion by the end of 2015 and increase climate smart investments to 10 times the current amount by 2020.
Anthony Hobley, CEO, Carbon Tracker, expressed his organization’s interest in working with the energy sector and financial institutions to develop the right tools to reduce risks, noting that many high-cost projects are also carbon-intensive and present a risk.
Panel Two: Public Leadership and Smart Policies: Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway, called on governments to ensure that policies and frameworks promote the “right kind of investments.” She described the GCF as a game changer in the international response to climate change, noting that her country’s total contribution will be announced during the GCF pledge meeting in November 2014.
Gerd Müller, Minister for Development Cooperation, Germany, noted that his country is the world’s second largest donor of climate finance, and that it has quadrupled official funding over the last decade to €1.8 billion and pledged US$1 billion to the GCF.
Annick Girardin, Minister for Development, France, highlighted the country’s US$1 billion contribution to the GCF, calling for the Summit to provide new impetus to change economies and move forward while eliminating non-compatible investments.
José Manuel Durão Barroso, President, European Commission, said the EU was leading by example on emission reductions as well as financial commitments to partners, and that for 2014-2015, it would provide US$2.2 billion to developing countries in public grant financing.
Luciano Coutinho, President, Brazilian Development Bank, on behalf of the International Finance Club, noted that some members were considering allocating more than 50% of financing to green programmes and projects. He highlighted a successful new initiative in Brazil, the Climate Fund Program, which aims to guarantee resources to support projects or studies and finance undertakings that seek to mitigate climate change.
Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), said the IDB is committed to increasing lending for climate change and anticipated that lending would total US$1.8 billion in 2015. He reported that the Bank is working to develop risk mitigation instruments for investors.
Wrapping up the session, Co-Chair Park noted inter alia, that institutional investors have pledged to decarbonize US$100 billion by COP 21. She said that commercial banks were committed to issuing green bonds by 2015. She observed that the insurance industry would double its green investments to US$84 billion by the end of 2015.
Park said pledges by the private sector involved more than US$200 billion of financial assets by the end of 2015 and would propel countries to low-carbon and resilient economies, with SIDS and LDCs seeking their fair share of the pledges. She hoped that others would add to the capitalization of the GCF and called on governments and the private sector to look at implementation beyond this Climate Summit.
ENERGY: This session was co-chaired by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark, and President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya.
Co-Chair Thorning-Schmidt called for innovating and accelerating action on energy, describing energy as a driver of economic growth. She noted that Denmark is hosting the energy efficiency hub in collaboration with UNEP.
Co-Chair Kenyatta noted that the energy challenge had moved on to how best to finance and accelerate the development of renewables, highlighting the launch of the Africa Clean Energy Corridor, an initiative of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), to promote renewable power in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson, African Union Commission, highlighted challenges in Africa due to unreliable energy access, noting that Africa’s agenda to transform its economy will only succeed if the region can generate enough energy. She reported that Africa had decided to leapfrog development by putting sustainable energy upfront.
Handson Sindowe, Copperbelt Energy Cooperation, Zambia, highlighted his company’s activities, noting that Zambia is battling an electricity supply deficit but that RE through the Africa Clean Energy Corridor is poised to address this challenge. Francesco Starace, CEO, ENEL s.p.a., noted the need for an energy transmission and distribution system to minimize costs and maximize stability.
President Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoa, highlighted the Third International Conference on SIDS held in his country in August and the Samoa Pathway that was an outcome of the conference. He launched the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative, which is supported by IRENA and is aimed at deploying renewables in SIDS.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Chairman, Madsar, UAE, emphasized that RE is the climate solution that all countries can get behind and that the UAE has committed US$500 million in concessional finance. Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO, ABB Ltd., noted the enormous untapped potential in EE. He highlighted the need to stimulate action by providing clarity and certainty in the regulatory framework, and called for appropriate policies to incentivize desired behavior and raise awareness.
Saul Billingsley, Director-General, FIA Foundation, highlighted the global fuel economy initiative comprising six organizations and aimed at improving fuel consumption of cars and light vans. Charles Holliday, Chairman, Bank of America, noted that SE4ALL would double the rate of global energy efficiency by 2030 and that making buildings smarter is a low risk but high return strategy.
Barbara Hendricks, Minister of Environment, Germany, noted her country’s participation in the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative, adding that €3 million would be committed to this. Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, EC, said the EU had mobilized €600 million in grants to fight energy poverty and that €3 billion would be mobilized for sustainable energy.
Hans Schulz, Vice President, IDB, highlighted support for geothermal energy in Latin America and the Caribbean, building on experience in the Clean Technology Fund.
Summing up, Co-Chair Kenyatta said SIDS are leading by example by setting an ambitious RE deployment agenda and that there is clear evidence that all regions have the potential to harness renewables and contribute to the global shift towards RE use.
Co-Chair Thorning-Schmidt said EE is the cost-effective pathway to decarbonize society but that it requires clever policies and a more systematic approach. She said the energy accelerator platform is game-changing by focusing on five high-impact opportunities.
FORESTS: Co-chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia, and Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway, this session launched the New York Declaration on Forests. The Co-Chairs noted that the Declaration for the first time sets a timeline for halting forest loss, namely to halve the rate of loss of natural forests by 2020 and strive to end natural forest loss by 2030.
Co-Chairs Yudhoyono and Solberg also noted a complementary goal of reforesting an area the size of India within the next 15 years, which aims to reduce carbon emissions equivalent to three times India’s CO2 emissions, and positively impact on farmers, communities, and social development.
Solberg emphasized government and private sector action to transform markets by taking deforestation out of value chains. Yudhoyono highlighted Indonesia’s key commitments to forests: reducing 26% of GHGs unilaterally by 2020 and up to 46% with support in the forest sector.
Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever Global, explained that dozens of businesses, governments, subnational governments, NGOs and indigenous peoples signed the Declaration. He stressed that climate change threatens business and stability.
Franky Widjaja, CEO, Golden Agri-Resource, said his company has been deforestation-free since 2011 and intends to continue engaging stakeholders and working with NGOs, including Greenpeace and The Nature Conservancy. He described their major initiative in Indonesia, which maps palm areas that can be planted and identifies which high-carbon areas should be preserved.
David MacLennan, CEO, Cargill, said their new palm oil policy is “the right thing to do.” He offered Cargill’s expertise in helping other actors in Indonesia undertake their own high-carbon stocks assessments and committed to reporting on their palm oil policy four times yearly.
Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International, urged additional action to: adequately protect peat lands; increase the amount of protected areas, especially for indigenous peoples; and continue Indonesia’s moratorium on new clearing of primary forest and peat land. He said Greenpeace cannot accept forest offsets, if the purpose of these is to allow continued pollution by fossil fuels.
Edwin Vasquez, Coordinator, Coordinating Body of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin, urged for clearer rights for indigenous peoples and for countries that have ratified the International Labour Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention to implement it.
Agustin Teras Narang, Governor, Central Kalimantan State, Indonesia, discussed his state’s membership of the Governor’s Climate Forest Task Force. He said member states have agreed to reduce deforestation by 80% by 2020 in the Rio Branco Declaration, if funding is made available.
AGRICULTURE: President Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger, and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Netherlands, co-chaired the session. Issoufou introduced the session, mooting agriculture as part of the solution to climate change. With recent droughts in Niger, Issoufou said the country is already feeling the cost of responding to climate change.
Issoufou explained that Niger has launched the 3N initiative “Nigeriens feeding Nigeriens” to protect equipment, stock feeders, agriculture, and stockbreeders from desertification, including by planting trees. He said this is why Niger was one of the founding members of the Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Alliance created in June 2014, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Rutte announced the launch of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture, which promotes food security and action on climate change. He said the Alliance has three main goals: sustainable and equitable increases in agricultural productivity and incomes; resilient food supply and livelihoods to climate change; and reduced GHG emissions wherever possible.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria, discussed food security and agriculture, noting the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, which sets targets for member states to achieve by 2025 including: ending hunger; making 30% of pastoral, farmer and fisher households resilient; and improving social security for rural workers.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chair, African Union Commission, emphasized that women in Africa are 70% of the agriculture workforce, and commitments must be made to empower women through land rights and access to markets. Ishmael Sunga, CEO, Southern Africa Confederation of Agricultural Unions, stressed that scalable solutions, notably related to investments in research and development, are critical.
Don Thompson, CEO, McDonald’s, said McDonald’s sources from 5.5 million farmers around the world and that 35% of its carbon footprint and 33% of its water footprint comes from beef. He reported that McDonald’s has pledged to use only verified sustainable beef by 2016.
Thompson said McDonald’s has partnered with WWF and Wal-Mart to convene a global roundtable on sustainable beef to develop standards consistent with climate-smart agriculture.
Mike Duke, Chairman, Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, Wal-Mart International, pledged that Wal-Mart will work with suppliers and other partners over the next 10 years to improve water and yields, and to reduce GHG emissions in food supply chains.
Sonali Bisht, Founder and Advisor, Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education, said her organization has been working to help protect smallholder farmers from crop failure due to changing weather patterns.
Juan Lucas Restrepo Ibiza, Chair, Global Forum on Agricultural Research, said his organization links science and society, highlighting the role of research and development networks in meeting the challenge of climate-smart agriculture. He highlighted that the organization is committed to working with the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture to actively support research into new systems, increase understanding of local knowledge, and support partnerships.
RESILIENCE: Co-Chair Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, Japan, opened the session on resilience, saying Japan has an adaptation initiative to support developing countries with a particular focus on SIDS, and would be sharing experience and knowledge in the field of adaptation within three years. He proclaimed that 2015 will be a big year for DRR with: a Post-Hyogo Framework for Action under the World Conference on DRR; the post-2015 development agenda; and a new international agreement on climate change in Paris.
Co-Chair Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Barbados, highlighted challenges faced by LDCs and SIDS and outlined initiatives undertaken by Barbados to reduce disaster risk. He urged synergies between risk management and sustainable development for effective climate and disaster resilience through scaled-up action.
President Yoweri Museveni, Uganda, highlighted the importance of capacity building to increase resilience. Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Grenada, congratulated the World Bank for issuing the first catastrophe bond to help Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CRIF) diversify beyond reinsurance markets into capital markets. He expressed hope that CRIF would find synergies with similar innovative risk financing efforts underway in the Pacific and African regions.
Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, EC, announced it would increase its support of vulnerable regions, including Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, to €180 million and increase its current contribution to the Global Climate Change Alliance by €70 million. He said the EU is supporting post-disaster needs assessments and recovery guides in conjunction with the World Bank and the UN.
John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, US, announced initiatives under the Obama administration: an executive order for all US agencies to integrate climate resilience into overseas aid; public release of US data in 2015 and provision of technical support to help local and regional planners prepare for weather related disasters; coordination of a US effort to develop reliable risk outlooks for extreme weather events over longer time horizons; and a new public-private consortium on climate data.
Janet Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation, presented the “US$100 million in 100 Cities” challenge to spur resilience in 100 cities worldwide, emphasizing the importance of focusing on ecosystem resilience and the built environment for climate resilience and noting the Foundation is investing US$500 million in building economic, social and climate resilience.
Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, stressed the urgency of integrating and strengthening the use of climate information at all levels of disaster planning. He noted that the organization is quadrupling the number of cities in which it implements comprehensive urban disaster risk programmes.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chairperson, Governing Board, African Risk Capacity, said the organization has piloted drought insurance policies purchased by, inter alia, Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, and reinsured by Swiss RE. With cooperation from the UN World Food Programme, she said they expect another eight countries to join in 2015, and announced the launch of an extreme climate facility, which will issue catastrophe bonds in the range of US$500 million to US$1 billion in 2016.
Michael Liès, CEO, Swiss RE, argued the importance of risk-based pricing and pledged to use Swiss RE’s financial capacity and expertise to help nations develop DRR solutions. He committed that by 2015, Swiss RE would advise 50 countries on climate DRR and offer insurance protection of US$10 billion.
Jack Dangermond, CEO, ESRI, announced a new grant programme for GIS applications and committed to earmark US$500 to support capacity building for land-use planning for risk-averse development planning.
Dominic Casserley, CEO, Willis, described Willis Re’s “1 in 100” initiative that would work between now and Paris to determine how this risk metric could be applied to public and private accounting standards, to better prepare entities for climate risk. He pledged to report on progress.
INDUSTRY: Doris Leuthard, Federal Chancellor, Switzerland, and Gina McCarthy, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, US, chaired this session.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Namibia, stated that partnerships must embrace both environmental and economic aspects in order to ensure prosperity.
Helge Lund, CEO, Statoil, and Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense Fund, announced the launch of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership under the CCAC. They explained that oil and gas industry leaders including BG Group, ENI,Pemex, PTT, Southwestern Energy and Statoil, together with national governments, have committed to systematically reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production, and publicly report on progress in a transparent, credible manner. They underlined the relevance of systematic monitoring and reporting in order to achieve progress in reducing emissions.
Khalid Al-Falih, CEO, Saudi Aramco, expressed his organization’s commitment to a low-carbon future. He emphasized the importance of leveraging innovation and technology as a way to improve production and expressed willingness to join the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership.
Kevin Fay, Executive Director, Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, announced support by a number of governments, as well as IGOs and NGOs, to begin negotiations in 2014 on an amendment to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol. He noted that emissions accounting and reporting would remain under the UNFCCC.
With the support of global refrigerant organizations representing 90% of air conditioning and refrigerant emissions, Mike Lamach, Chairman and CEO, Ingersoll Rand, announced the Global Refrigerant Management Initiative on HFCs in servicing. He explained that the initiative partners have committed to reduce global emissions in the sector by 30-50% within 10 years. He also announced broad sector support for the Global Cold Food Chain Council to reduce the use and emissions of HFCs and enhance EE in the cold food chain.
Citing the difficulty in measuring emissions from freight, Sophie Punte, Executive Director, Smart Freight Centre, announced the Green Freight Global Plan of Action, which commits a number of governments to work with companies, such as Deutsche Post DHL, Hewlett Packard, Volvo and IKEA, to expand and harmonize freight programmes that reduce black carbon and CO2 emissions from global freight transportation.
On municipal solid waste (MSW), Parks Tau, Mayor, City of Johannesburg, South Africa and 30 other cities committed to take “ambitious action” to reduce SLCP emissions. Antoine Frérot, Chairman and CEO, Veolia, endorsed the MSW initiative and invited other mayors to join, recalling that SLCPs contribute to 40% of current GHG emissions.
TRANSPORT: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago, and Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, EC, co-chaired the session. Highlighting the challenges, opportunities and importance for the sector to reduce emissions, they invited announcements related to public transport, railway, electric vehicles and aviation.
On public transport, Alain Flausch, International Association of Public Transport (UITP), announced the UITP Declaration on Climate Leadership. He noted approximately 350 climate pledges from 110 public transportation groups, on new electric and hydrogen bus initiatives, rail lines, metro extensions, trams and other sustainable transportation actions. He explained that the goal is to double global market share of electric and hydrogen-fueled public transport by 2025, in order to avoid over one million tons of CO2 emissions.
On railways, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, International Union of Railways, launched the Low Carbon Sustainable Rail Transport Challenge. He underscored that the initiative, which includes 240 rail sector members in more than 50 countries, aims to reduce CO2 emissions from rail by 75% from 1990 levels by 2050, with the goal of saving one gigaton of CO2 emissions through increased EE and increased rail use for passenger transportation and freight.
On electric vehicles (EV), Wang Chuanfu, BYD Group, announced the Urban Electric Mobility Vehicles Initiative. He outlined how governments, the private sector and NGOs would work together to increase the share of EV, including buses and taxis, to 30% by 2020 with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions in cities by 30% by 2050. He noted that infrastructure to support EV development is also crucial.
Pierre Mongin, RATP Group, outlined the Group’s goal of developing an electric or biodiesel bus system with zero CO2 and particulate emissions, and zero noise.
Alex Rugamba, African Development Bank, highlighted that at Rio+20, eight multilateral development banks committed US$175 billion to assist developing countries to develop more sustainable transport. He reconfirmed support for projects related to green freight, public transport, railway, EV and others, and expressed willingness to consider providing lending and non-lending support where requested.
On aviation, Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, International Civil Aviation Organization, announced a number of mitigation actions including: more efficient and sustainable technology and fuels for new aircrafts; revisions to reduce emissions from existing aircrafts; improved infrastructure and air traffic management; and designing an effective, global, market-based measure for international aviation for implementation by 2020.
Cornie Huizenga, Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport, commented that all of the commitments from this session, together with commitments announced on fuel economy and green freight, have the potential to create transformational change for the sector.
Concluding, Co-Chair Hedegaard highlighted that the actions proposed will have many co-benefits and that, if all efforts were combined, the International Energy Agency estimates that a low-carbon transport sector could yield savings of US$70 trillion by 2050.
Co-Chair Persad-Bissessar emphasized the potential for these announcements to catalyze low-carbon transport infrastructure financing, innovation and emission reductions, while facilitating “better integration of transport in the climate negotiations.”
CITIES: Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Italy, and President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, Tunisia, co-chaired the session. Co-Chair Renzi recalled that urban areas are home to half of the world’s population, but generate around 80% of global economic output. Co-Chair Marzouki underlined that full cooperation and coordination of subnational partners is vital for robust national climate action.
John
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Announcing @IISDRS Summary and Video of the CCAC High-Level Assembly
Fifth High-Level Assembly of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC)
22 September 2014 | New York, United States of America
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ccac/hla/
The fifth High-Level Assembly of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) took place on 22 September 2014 in New York, US, ahead of the UN Climate Summit that took place on 23 September 2014 in New York. Attracting 197 representatives and partners, the Assembly convened at the New York Marriott East Side Hotel for a two-hour session on Monday 22 September.
The CCAC High Level Assembly opened with a pre-recorded message from the UN Secretary-General before proceeding to consider a number of initiatives to be presented on the floor of the UN Climate Summit. Participants also heard an update on the science of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs), considered a summary of the CCAC’s highlights and progress during 2014 and key deliverables for the future, and discussed its deliverables for consideration at the Summit. The Coalition also appointed new Working Group Co-Chairs, approved its Steering Committee membership, and extended its mandate for another five years.
Members accepted an invitation from Switzerland to host the next High-Level Assembly in Geneva in May 2015 on the margins of the World Health Assembly, when members will invite their health counterparts to join them in a dialogue on mutual concerns.
The Summary of this meeting is now available
in PDF format at http://www.iisd.ca/download/pdf/sd/crsvol172num17e.pdf
and in HTML format at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ccac/hla/html/crsvol172num17e.html
Our CCAC Video is available at: http://www.iisd.ca/videos/climate/ccac-hla/
Coverage of this meeting by IISD Reporting Services was funded by the CCAC.
Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI
Vice President, Reporting Services and United Nations Liaison
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) — United Nations Office
300 E 56th St. Apt. 11D – New York, NY 10022 USA
Direct Line: +1 973 273 5860 Plaxo public business card: http://kimogoree.myplaxo.com
Email: kimo@iisd.org Mobile phone: +12128107701 Skype: kimogoree Twitter: @kimogoree
Where: NYC through 30 September, 2-6 October Pyeongchang, 7 Bangkok, 8-12 cycling Joburg to Durban, 14-17 Pyeongchang
http://www.iisd.ca/videos/climate/ccac-hla/
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ccac/hla/
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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IISD: Linkages
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ISSD bij worldbank
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RSCAP Bulletin – Sixteenth Global Meeting of the UN Environment Programme Regional Seas Conventions and Actions Plans – Final Summary
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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Announcing the SDG Listserv from IISD Reporting Services and Merger of Websites on Post-2015 and Sustainable Development
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Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – ‘The Sustainable Development of SIDS Through Genuine and Durable Partnerships’
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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ENB – Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States – Issue #2
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WHO: World Health Organization Conference on Health and Climate – Final Summary
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Announcing @IISDRS Coverage of the @CCACoalition High Level Assembly
Fifth High-Level Assembly of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC)
22 September 2014 | New York, United States of America
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ccac/hla/
The fifth High-Level Assembly of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) will take place at the New York Marriott East Side on 22 September 2014, the eve of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Change Summit at the UN Headquarters.
The CCAC is a voluntary international coalition of governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations working with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to address short-lived climate pollutants including black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
The High-Level Assembly is expected to focus on contributions that the CCAC partners will make to the Secretary-General’s Summit and its objective of raising the level of global ambition on climate change. Participants are expected to agree a joint statement and action plans on methane, HFCs, freight, and solid waste.
IISD RS will provide digital coverage and a summary report of the High-Level Assembly. Kindly visit this site on Monday, 22 September 2014, for more information.
Summary and digital coverage will be available at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ccac/hla/.
Coverage of this meeting by IISD Reporting Services is funded by the CCAC Secretariat.
Vice President, Reporting Services and United Nations Liaison
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) — United Nations Office
300 E 56th St. Apt. 11D – New York, NY 10022 USA
Direct Line: +1 973 273 5860 Plaxo public business card: http://kimogoree.myplaxo.com
Email: kimo@iisd.org Mobile phone: +12128107701 Skype: kimogoree Twitter: @kimogoree
Where: NYC through 30 September, 2-6 October Pyeongchang, 7 Bangkok, 8-12 cycling Joburg to Durban, 14-17 Pyeongchang
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Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – ‘The Sustainable Development of SIDS Through Genuine and Durable Partnerships’
1-4 September 2014 | Apia, Samoa
http://www.iisd.ca/sids/
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CLIMATE-L Digest for Monday, September 08, 2014.
1. APAN Photo Contest 2014 – The Top Ten (Your Vote on Facebook)
2. Biochar: skyscrapers for soil biota and much more 3. Slides: a special “top” category in the 2015 climate agreement
4. Weather report from 2050: Denmark
5. Climate Change Daily Feed – 8 September 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice
6. Announcing the SDG Listserv from IISD Reporting Services and Merger of Websites on Post-2015 and Sustainable Development
Subject: APAN Photo Contest 2014 – The Top Ten (Your Vote on Facebook)
APAN Photo Contest 2014 – The Top Ten (Your Vote)
After receiving 371 photos submitted from around 140 photographers across the Asia-Pacific region, we have shortlisted the top ten photos!
Now it’s up to the APAN Photo Contest 2014 Judging Panel to decide the first, second and third prize winners based on the following criteria:
a) Relevance to the contest theme and climate change adaptation
b) Interpretation, creativity and the message of the photo
c) The photo composition and the quality of the photo
Like, share and vote on Facebook – most ‘liked’ photo wins US$250!
You can also serve as a judge by visiting the “APAN Photo Contest 2014 Top Ten (Your Vote)” Facebook album and like for your favourite photo. The photo with the most ‘likes’ will be named the Popular Choice Award winner and receive US$250.
APAN Photo Contest 2014 Top Ten (Your Vote) Facebook album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.555832231210401.1073741836.156048397855455&type=1
The two-week voting period starts 08 Sep 2014, 10:00AM (GMT +07:00) Bangkok Time and ends 22 Sep 2014, 05:00PM (GMT +07:00) BangkokTime.
Below are the photo titles and photographers:
- · Harvesting Rice Using a Boat – Aji Styawan (Indonesia)
- · Harmony – Reu Dawner Flores (Philippines)
- · Planting Rice– Danang Sujati (Indonesia)
- · Bakhawan Eco-Park – Danilo O. Victoriano Jr. (Philippines)
- · Ensure Life – Prashanta Kumar SAHA (Bangladesh)
- · Water scarcity – Dilip Lokre (India)
- · Sea Erosion – SL Shanth Kumar (India)
- · Human Within Ocean and Sky – Van Thanh PHAM (Vietnam)
- · Mangrove Restoration – Maulana Gogo
- · Tonle Sap Stilt House – John LANDER (United States)
The results for all prizes will be announced in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the 4th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum on 1-3 October 2014.
Please share this album widely with your friends and family – and get everyone involved!
Many thanks and all the best!
The APAN Photo Contest 2014 team
Subject: Biochar: skyscrapers for soil biota and much more
We happily announce a new book on Biocharculture, based on the work of Sai Bhaskar Reddy. Biochar is charcoal that is used for other purposes than heating. It makes a contribution on many fronts: it improves the capacity of the soil to retain moisture but also nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. It helps regulate soil temperature and contribute to climate change mitigation. It improves soil life – with pieces of biochar serving as ‘skyscrapers for millions of soil biota’. All this contributes to higher water and land productivity. Biochar can also be used for many other functions.
All this is described in the easy-read that can be downloaded from
http://metameta.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Biocharculture-Book_20_8_2014_finalSF.pdf
For free hard copies please write to: saibhaskarnakka@gmail.com
MetaMeta Team
Subject: Slides: a special “top” category in the 2015 climate agreement
These slides (PDF copy) provide information about the idea that FIELD is exploring of a special category in the 2015 climate agreement, which would only be open to countries whose NDCs are above-adequate.
(http://www.field.org.uk/papers/slides-a-special-category-in-the-2015-climate-agreement)
Related article “Countries need an incentive to bid ambitious climate plans”
(http://www.rtcc.org/2014/08/29/countries-need-an-incentive-to-bid-ambitious-climate-plans/)
FIELD – Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development
Twitter: @FIELDLegal / Facebook
Third Floor / Cityside House / 40 Adler Street
London E1 1EE / Tel: + 44 (0)20 7096 0277
Registered charity no. 802 934
Company Limited by Guarantee and Incorporated in England and Wales Reg. No. 2463462
Subject: Weather report from 2050: Denmark
The third in our series of possible future weather scenarios in support of the UN Climate Summit:
http://www.wmo.int/media/climatechangeimpact.html
Michael Williams
Chief, Communications and Public Affairs
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
CP 2300, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
+41-22-730-8315 // +41-79-406-4730 (cell)
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and www.wmo.int
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IISD: Post-2015 Policy & Practice
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IISD: Climate Change Daily Feed – Climate Change Policy & Practice
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IISD: Linages Update
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ENB – Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States – Issue #4
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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IISD: Post-2015 Policy & Practice
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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IISD: Post-2015 Policy & Practice
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Press Release: World Bank moves to undermine the rights of indigenous peoples
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dc4caa0ad8267e9e91f18c213&id=d4bc8c69b6&e=ec908e3d54
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IISD: Post 2015
Download now: http://pubs.iied.org/
Kate Wilson
Engaging for change: read IIED’s plans for the next five years and tell us what you think – www.iied.org/strategy
IIED is a company limited by a guarantee and incorporated in England. Reg. No 2188452. Registered office: 80-86 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK. VAT Reg. No. GB 440 4948 50. Charity No. 800066. OSCR No 039864 www.iied.org
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http://www.iisd.ca/linkages-update/226/
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ENB – Thirteenth session of the UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals – Summary & Analysis
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IISD: Post 2015 Policy & Practice
http://post2015.iisd.org/post2015-update/2014-07-28/
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IISD: Post-2015 Policy & Practice
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ENB – Thirty-fourth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer – Summary & Analysis
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
http://uncsd.iisd.org/sd-update/2014-07-25/
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https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/18376
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6th BRICS Summit – Fotaleza Declaration and Action Plan
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
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Dear All,
Have you played #SDGHaiku on Twitter? Here’s mine:
The Contact Group met bracketing text in need of implementation
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Mobilizing researchers to end poverty in Africa
Dear All,
PHOTO: UN Photo/Mark Garten
Over the past 15 years, GDP growth in Africa has been higher than in the rest of the developing world. Despite the tremendous economic growth, poverty reduction in Africa was less impressive, with nearly half of the population still living on less than US$1.25 a day per capita (2010).
Scholars from all over the world recently gathered in Paris for the Annual Bank Conference on Africa (ABCA), to discuss ways to make economic growth work better for the poorest families in Africa.
In his opening remarks, Makhtar Diop, World Bank vice president for Africa, reminded the audience that “the legitimacy of the World Bank is not the dollar amount we put on the table; it is the knowledge and healthy policy dialogue it encourages.”
The ABCA conference creates a platform for scholars to put forward their research and get feedback. Most key issues were discussed, such as the optimal balance between growth, inequality and poverty reduction, and better ways to help poor people manage risks.
For more information, please click here.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/
Ibrahim SIDIBE
Countyr Representative YPARD – Mali
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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A compilation of items recently posted to the Sustainable Development Policy & Practice knowledgebase
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New SDG-forest publication
Dear colleague
New IIED briefing on forests and SDGs now available for use by negotiators and policy makers: ‘Sustainable Development Goals: a forest module for a transformative agenda’
At a glance :
- · Recommends working towards a transformative ‘forest module’ that addresses outcomes and enablers, moving beyond a limited focus on sustainable forest management, deforestation and reforestation
- · The UN Open Working Group’s zero draft finds a strong set of goals and targets, yet with several potentially serious trade-offs and missing issues
- · To ensure policy coherence, there must be resolution of trade-offs for forests and people arising from elements of goals on food security and agriculture (goal 2) and economic growth and industrialisation (goals 8, 9 and 10)
- · Enabling transformative change requires the inclusion of watershed ecosystem restoration, participatory and negotiated land-use planning, mention of both individual and collective forest rights, emphasis on strengthening forest and farm producer organisations, and redistributive justice in forest land allocation
- · Application of our modular approach can help negotiators seek coherent outcomes across the Goal framework and enable integrated implementation at the national level
Read more: http://pubs.iied.org/17248IIED.html
Best wishes
Kate Wilson
Publications and marketing manager
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
80-86 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8NH | T: +44 (0) 20 3463 7399
D: +44(0)20 3463 1546 |
www.iied.org | twitter:@iied | IIED newsletters: www.iied.org/sign-up
Engaging for change: read IIED’s plans for the next five years and tell us what you think – www.iied.org/strategy
IIED is a company limited by a guarantee and incorporated in England. Reg. No 2188452. Registered office: 80-86 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK. VAT Reg. No. GB 440 4948 50. Charity No. 800066. OSCR No 039864 www.iied.org
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ENB – Second meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development – Issue #7
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ENB – Second meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development – Issue #6
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IISD: – Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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#OWG13 Coverage from @IISDRS
Thirteenth session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
14-18 July 2014 | UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
http://www.iisd.ca/sdgs/owg13/
The thirteenth and final session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will convene from 14-18 July 2014, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. This will be the fifth scheduled “decision making” meeting of the group. The OWG was established through UNGA decision 67/555, and was called for in the outcome of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20).
The session will be preceded by three days of “informal informals” from 9-11 July 2014. Discussions will be based on a new “zero draft” of the SDGs.
IISD RS will produce daily web updates and a summary and analysis from this session. Kindly return to this site on Monday, 14 July 2014, for more information.
Summary coverage will be available at http://www.iisd.ca/sdgs/owg13/
Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter
*Funding for IISD Reporting Services’ coverage of the OWG13 has been provided by the
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI
Vice President, Reporting Services and United Nations Liaison
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) — United Nations Office
300 E 56th St. Apt. 11D – New York, NY 10022 USA
Direct Line: +1 973 273 5860 Plaxo public business card: http://kimogoree.myplaxo.com
Email: kimo@iisd.org Mobile phone: +12128107701 Skype: kimogoree Twitter: @kimogoree
Where: NYC in July
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EDUCATING FOR SUSTAINABILITY — UNECE: Aarhus Convention MOP 5, PRTR Protocol MOPP 2, and their Joint High-Level Segment – Final Summary
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Post 2015 Policy & Practice – International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP2014)
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
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ENB: Second meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development – Issue #5
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Earth Negotiations Bulletin
A Reporting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations
PDF format French version Back to IISD coverage
Volume 33 Number 6 – Monday, 7 July 2014
HLPF-2 HIGHLIGHTS
Thursday, 3 July 2014
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ENB: Second meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development – Issue #4
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Earth Negotiations Bulletin
A Reporting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations
PDF format French version Back to IISD coverage
Volume 33 Number 5 – Thursday, 3 July 2014
HLPF-2 HIGHLIGHTS
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
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@IISDRS Coverage of #Aarhus MOP-5 and #PRTRs MOPP-2
Fifth session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP-5) to the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) and Second session of MOP to the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs MOPP-2)
First UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
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Twelfth session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
16-20 June 2014 | UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
http://www.iisd.ca/sdgs/owg12/
#HLPF Coverage from @IISDRS
Second meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF-2) – “Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and charting the way for an ambitious post-2015 development agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals”
IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
IISD: Linkages Update
IISD: Post 2015 Development Agenda
Subject: SDplanNET Resources for National Policy Planning and Implementation of Post-2015 Agenda
Reply-To: Livia Bizikova <lbizikova@iisd.ca>
SDplanNET releases a series of resources to advance national policy planning and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs. Key resources include Summary of Capacity-building Needs to Advance Sustainable Development Planning and Implementation, series of briefing notes on critical issues such on a potential role of National Sustainable Development Councils and similar bodies in the design and delivery of the SDGs, monitoring and reporting on SDGs, SDGS at the subnational level.
http://www.iisd.org/measure/gov/sd_strategies/ ; www.sdplannet.org
SDplanNet is administered by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), the Africa Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPSN) and is sponsored in its current phase by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
SDplanNet is a sustainable development planning network created to help government professionals at the national and subnational levels share best practices and build capacity in the preparation and implementation of strategies for sustainable development and inclusive and fair green economies.
Livia Bizikova PhD.
Senior researcher
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
75 Albert street, Suite 903
Ottawa, K1P 5E7, ON, Canada,
Tel: +1 (613) 288 2024 / Fax: +1 (613) 238 8515 / Skype: livbizik
Subject: SDplanNET Resources for National Policy Planning and Implementation of Post-2015 Agenda
Reply-To: Livia Bizikova <lbizikova@iisd.ca>
SDplanNET releases a series of resources to advance national policy planning and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs. Key resources include Summary of Capacity-building Needs to Advance Sustainable Development Planning and Implementation, series of briefing notes on critical issues such on a potential role of National Sustainable Development Councils and similar bodies in the design and delivery of the SDGs, monitoring and reporting on SDGs, SDGS at the subnational level.
http://www.iisd.org/measure/gov/sd_strategies/ ; www.sdplannet.org
SDplanNet is administered by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), the Africa Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPSN) and is sponsored in its current phase by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
SDplanNet is a sustainable development planning network created to help government professionals at the national and subnational levels share best practices and build capacity in the preparation and implementation of strategies for sustainable development and inclusive and fair green economies.
Livia Bizikova PhD.
Senior researcher
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
75 Albert street, Suite 903
Ottawa, K1P 5E7, ON, Canada,
Tel: +1 (613) 288 2024
Fax: +1 (613) 238 8515
Skype: livbizik
Subject: New policy brief published on coherent governance for the SDGs
Reply-To: “Arima, Makiko” <arima@unu.edu>
Dear colleagues,
We are please to direct you to a new policy brief produced by the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), the Earth System Governance project, and the Sustainability Transition beyond 2015 project. “Coherent Governance, the UN and the SDGs” explores opportunities for creating a coherent governance system that links international and domestic efforts for the post-2015 agenda on sustainable development.
This policy brief was produced by an international group of experts on environmental governance led by Prof. Steven Bernstein (University of Toronto) and Prof. Joyeeta Gupta (University of Amsterdam), and is the fourth in the POST2015/UNU-IAS Policy Brief Series.
The brief sets out five key messages:
1. The High-Level Political Forum can be a lead “orchestrator of orchestrators” but will require high-level participation, innovative modalities for North–South dialogue, and links with intermediaries inside and outside of the UN system.
2. Monitoring and review processes are crucial and the HLPF meetings with the UN General Assembly can serve to revise the SDGs as data from these system reviews become available.
3. Reviews could be organized around common challenges (countries with megacities or those dealing with declining freshwater) in order to maximize systemic assessments.
4. The new Global Sustainable Development Report should not just collect other reports, but bring together knowledge to fill implementation gaps and identify possible transition pathways.
5. Governance of the SDGs should focus on mobilizing action at multiple levels.
“Coherent Governance, the UN and the SDGs” can be downloaded here: http://i.unu.edu/media/ias.unu.edu-en/project/2218/Post2015_UNU-IAS_PolicyBrief4.pdf.
Previous briefs from the POST2015/UNU-IAS series can be downloaded here: http://ias.unu.edu/en/research/sustainability-transformation-beyond-2015.html#outputs
Makiko Arima
United Nations University
Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)
https://www.facebook.com/UNU.IAS
From: “stakeholderforum ” <stakeholderforum@stakeholderforum.org>
Date: June 27, 2014 8:35:35 AM EDT
Subject: Biefing Note: High Level Political Forum
Reply-To: “stakeholderforum ” <stakeholderforum@stakeholderforum.org>
Briefing Note on the Second Session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
Briefing Note on the Second Session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (30 June – 8 July 2014)
In preparation for the second session of the High-Level Political Forum, scheduled from 30 June – 8 July, 2014 at UN Headquarters in New York, Stakeholder Forum has produced a briefing note on the body’s role, remit, schedule of work and means of stakeholder engagement. This informative document will help interested stakeholders become familiar with the HLPF, which will act as the new institutional home and highest level body for sustainable development within the UN system.
Download the briefing note here.
See www.SD2015.org for more information and resources
Subject: Building Capacity to Implement the Post-2015 Development Agenda – Register
Reply-To: Livia Bizikova <lbizikova@iisd.ca>
‘Building Capacity to Implement the Post-2015 Development Agenda’
High Level Political Forum Side Event
18:15 – 19:30, 3rd July, Conference Room C, UN HQ, New York
This event will explore the potential relationship between the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) and capacity building and innovative practice sharing efforts for national-level sustainable development planning, implementation and monitoring, in the context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
A panel of distinguished speakers – providing perspectives from Governments, the UN System and Stakeholders – will initiate an interactive dialogue on capacity building and innovative practice sharing efforts for sustainable development planning, implementation and monitoring and the steps to help coordinate these efforts among and within countries.
Speakers and Panellists
Chair: Farooq Ullah, GN-NCSDS and Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future
- · SDplanNet – Darren Swanson, Novel Futures
- · Government of Finland – Annika Lindblom, Ministry of the Environment
- · Organization of American States – Department of SD – Cletus Springer
- · UNDESA – Division for SD – Ndey-Isatou Njie
- · UNDP – Poverty Environment Initiative – George Bouma
- · Sustainable Development Solutions Network – Emmanuel Guerin
- · UN Global Compact – (TBC)
Closing Remarks: Nikhil Seth, UNDESA
This side event will also provide a brief summary of outcomes of SDplanNet’s recent regional workshops series on national level sustainable development planning and implementation, along with recommendations from the global Sustainable Development Transition Forum hosted by the UN Office for Sustainable Development in Incheon, Republic of Korea.
SDplanNet is operated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, and the African Technology Policy Studies Network. GN-NCSDS is operated by Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future.
This event is open to all HLPF participants. If you would like to attend but do not have a valid New York UN Grounds Pass or have not registered to participate at the HLPF through an ECOSOC accredited organisation, please RSVP to Jack Cornforth by 3pm BST on Tuesday 1st July: jcornforth@stakeholderforum.org
Livia Bizikova PhD.
Senior researcher
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
75 Albert street, Suite 903
Ottawa, K1P 5E7, ON, Canada,
Tel: +1 (613) 288 2024
Fax: +1 (613) 238 8515
Skype: livbizik
Subject: Side event notice
Reply-To: Mayumi Sakoh <ms@millennium-institute.org>
Hello,
Please post this side event notice on the Post 2015 list.
High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Side Event
Small food producers and family farmers as agents of change for sustainable agriculture and food systems in the post 2015 agenda
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
1:15-2:30 pm
UN Headquarters, NYC
Conference Room 6, NLB
Organized by:
- · Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations
- · Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations
- · FAO, IFAD, and WFP
- · Biovision, Millennium Institute, IASS and World Animal Protection
Speakers:
- · Ms. Sharon Brennen-Haylock, Director, Liaison Office of FAO to the UN, on behalf of IFAD, WFP and FAO (Co-Chair)
- · H.E. Ambassador Irene Susan Natividad, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the UN (Co-Chair)
- · H.E. Ambassador Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN
- · Mr. Jesse Laflamme, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs
- · Dr. Molly Anderson, College of the Atlantic’s Sustainable Food Systems Program (tbc)
- · Dr. Jes Weigelt, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)
- · Ms. Adrienne Gardaz, UN Global Compact
Objectives
– Discuss how small food producers and family farmers, including women, can contribute to the implementation and monitoring of progress of an ambitious post-2015 development agenda.
– Build on the momentum created by the International Year of Family Farming 2014.
– Present examples of policies and action plans to increase productivity, income and resilience of small food producers and family farmers, while protecting the natural resource base.
– Discuss the potential role of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in monitoring food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture, and in sharing lessons among different stakeholders in a post-2015 world.
For more information, please contact Mayumi Sakoh at ms@millennium-institute.org
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Subject: UNFCCC Momentum for Change interactive annual report
Dear colleagues,
I’d like to draw your attention to three exciting updates from Momentum for
Change. An initiative of the UNFCCC, Momentum for Change seeks to inspire
and catalyze action on climate change by shining a light on innovative and
transformative climate action taking place around the world.
1. Annual report: We’re pleased to share our interactive annual report for
2013. The interactive summary is full of inspiring illustrations, images
and stories of people making a real difference on climate change. There’s a
link to download the full report at the end of the summary.
http://unfccc.int/mfc2013/
2. Podcast series: The new Momentum for Change Podcast profiles positive,
transformative climate action stories from across the globe.
http://unfccc.int/secretariat/
3. Side event at the Bonn Climate Change Conference: Take a look at some of
the highlights of our special event that showed how the urban poor in
developing countries are leading climate action. https://vimeo.com/97955983
Visit www.momentum4change.org to learn more.
Best regards,
Sarah Marchildon
Communications Officer
Momentum for Change Team
United Nations Climate Change Secretariat
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1
53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49 228 815 1065
Email: smarchildon@unfccc.int
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climate-l digest: June 27, 2014
For further details, and to register for Africa Carbon Forum 2014, please
visit: http://www.africacarbonforum.
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Climate Investment Funds Stakeholder Day and 2014 Partnership Forum
22-24 June 2014 | Montego Bay, Jamaica
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/
The summary of this meeting is now available in PDF format at http://www.iisd.ca/
The Country Approach to Safeguards Tool (CAST) has been released!
The UN-REDD Programme is pleased to announce the release of the Country Approach to Safeguards Tool (CAST), an interactive tool for REDD+ countries to plan and review the development of their approaches to safeguards.
The Country Approach to Safeguards Tool (CAST) is an Excel-based, interactive tool designed to be voluntarily applied by REDD+ countries in order to support their planning efforts for safeguards and safeguard information systems (SIS) – related activities, carried out in response to the relevant UNFCCC decisions. CAST includes a comprehensive library of tools and resources relevant to country approaches to safeguards, including both those of UN-REDD as well as those developed by other key programmes and initiatives. It may be broadly applied to the full scope of activities related to REDD+ safeguards and SIS in a country, rather than limited to UN-REDD supported activities. Given this, CAST may be used by any REDD+ country, rather than being limited for use by UN-REDD countries. The design and content of CAST has greatly benefited from country feedback gathered through several regional and country-level meetings, as well as inputs from global experts on REDD+ safeguards and SIS.
Building off of the UN-REDD Framework for Supporting the Development of Country Approaches to Safeguards, CAST can support countries to:
- Identify and prioritize activities (and/or review activities undertaken to date) to develop or further develop their approach to safeguards in the context of the national REDD+ strategy;
- Identify tools, guidelines and resources available to support each activity or area of work;
- Clarify how the processes and tools of various safeguards approaches, including those of the FCPF’s Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) and the CCBA-CARE REDD+ Social and Environmental Standards (REDD+ SES), correspond to generic steps and activities to plan and implement a country approach to safeguards.
To download CAST in English, click here. CAST will be available in both French and Spanish on the UN-REDD website, un-redd.org, in July 2014.
Please also refer to the accompanying CAST User’s Guide for more information on the structure of CAST as well as further guidance on how to use the tool. Like CAST, the User’s Guide is currently available in English only but will also be translated to Spanish and French and made available on the UN-REDD website in July 2014.
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Have your say! Take part in IIED’s consultation on forests and SDGs
Dear colleague
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has launched a consultation to find out what people think is most important for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) process from a forestry perspective. We start with a survey asking five main questions, which should take not more than five minutes to complete.
Take part in the survey now!
- English: http://www.
go-knuts.com/surveys/iied- forests-en.html - French: http://www.
go-knuts.com/surveys/iied- forests-fr.html - Spanish: http://www.
go-knuts.com/surveys/iied- forests-es.html
The five-question survey is the first part of consultation aimed at gathering as wide a range of views of forestry and the SDGs as possible. Also planned are an online discussion game next week and a webinar on Wednesday 06 August.
Background
With forests and landscapes with trees such an important part of a number of different SDG, we recommend working towards a transformative ‘forest module’. More information on this is available in our discussion paper, while a synopsis and key policy pointers can be found our briefing paper. The modular approach improves on the more limited current focus on sustainable forest management, deforestation and reforestation targets. It makes explicit the diversity of targets needing inclusion and resolution in order to create an enabling environment that would yield much greater sustainable development outcomes for forests, landscapes and livelihoods. As the negotiation phase nears, our assessment of the UN Open Working Group’s zero draft finds a strong set of goals and targets, but containing several potentially serious trade-offs and missing issues. The OWG has now finalised its report, to be submitted to the General Assembly, and this shows some changes with respect to the ‘zero draft’ we assessed. However, there is still scope for incorporating some of our recommendations and potential value in applying our suggested approach. We believe that the application of our modular approach can help negotiators seek coherent outcomes across the goal framework and enable integrated implementation at the national level. But we want to know your thoughts on the most important sustainable development outcomes delivered by forests, and the key levers of change.
The consultation
Our consultation begins with a short survey that is available in English, French or Spanish. We want to know what you think is most important for the SDGs from a forestry perspective through this short survey. The second part of the consultation will be launched in late July. This online discussion game will offer the opportunity for you to give your views, take a look at the thoughts of your peers, and comment on and rate one another’s ideas. Then, in early August, IIED will host a webinar to discuss the issues raised. We will present some of the ideas and invite participants to respond and discuss the suggestions.
More information will be available on the IIED website or you can email us with any questions via forestry@iied.org.
Best wishes
Kate Wilson
Publications and marketing manager
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
80-86 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8NH | T: +44 (0) 20 3463 7399
D: +44(0)20 3463 1546 |
www.iied.org | twitter:@iied | IIED newsletters: www.iied.org/
Engaging for change: read IIED’s plans for the next five years and tell us what you think – www.iied.org/strategy
IISD: Post 2015 Development Agenda – Policy & Practice
From: “Leong, Alvin K.” <aleong@law.pace.edu>
New post on Post2015.org – what comes after the MDGs?
Subject: The HLPF and Climate Change
Reply-To: “Leong, Alvin K.” <aleong@law.pace.edu>
The High-Level Political Forum and Climate Change
by post2015
Written by Alvin Leong (LLM, JD), Fellow at the Pace Center for Environmental Legal Studies. He can be contacted at aleong@law.pace.edu.
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The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) is a newly formed intergovernmental platform intended to provide high-level political leadership to implement sustainable development on a global scale. Its creation was one of a number of important decisions made at the “Rio+20” United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.[1] The HLPF will meet every four years at the level of Heads of State and Government under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly and every year under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).[2] The ECOSOC meetings will also conduct regular, voluntary and State-led reviews on the follow-up and implementation of sustainable development commitments and objectives, including those related to the means of implementation, within the context of the post-2015 development agenda.[3]
The HLPF has the potential to play a leadership role in addressing the challenge of climate change. At the first meeting of the HLPF on 24 September 2013, the Prime Minister of Norway stated that the inauguration of the HLPF is a chance to put climate change at the top of the international agenda and called for a focus on carbon pricing, climate financing and emissions cuts to reduce global warming.[4]
Full article: URL: http://wp.me/p2kjtP-1oG
Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser:
http://post2015.org/2014/06/26/the-high-level-political-forum-and-climate-change/
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ENB on the Side – First UN Environment Assembly of the UN Environment Programme – Issue #4 —Future Earth
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ENB – First UN Environment Assembly of the UN Environment Programme – Issue #5
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ENB on the side: First UN Environment Assembly of the UN Environment Programme – Issue #5
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IISD: Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Stakeholder Day and 2014 CIF Partnership Forum – Final Summary
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World Bank Group welcomes you to the Africa Carbon Forum in Windhoek, Namibia, July 2-4, 2014
The event is an opportunity to discuss the future of carbon markets, sources of climate finance, on-going international climate change negotiations, examples of low-carbon development strategies, and the latest developments around NAMAs, REDD+, New Market Mechanisms, and the Framework for Various Approaches. The participants of the Africa Carbon Forum will also have the opportunity to participate in a Fair where they can network with key stakeholders and learn more about innovative product lines.
The Africa Carbon Forum 2014 is jointly organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) along with the UNEP Risoe Centre (URC), the World Bank Group (WBG), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).
A total of 30 conference sessions (plenaries, workshops and training sessions) are being organized. Please join us for the following sessions with World Bank Group participation:
- Results-Based Financing: Models, Experience and Lessons Learned
- Landscape Approaches to Climate Change Mitigation in Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses
- REDD+ Processes in Africa: Stocktaking and Opportunities for Support
- Business Models for Promotion of Technologies that Target Energy Access & the Role of Carbon Finance
- PPP’s: Strengthening Investments in Cleaner Technologies & Regional Power Pools
- Scaling-up Renewable Energy for Low Carbon Development
- What Future for CDM? Increasing Demand and Improving Supply
- Hands-On Training for African Negotiators in Preparation for Lima COP
- Market Mechanisms Untangled: Linkages between CDM, NAMA, NMM, and FVA
- Towards a 2015 Global Climate Agreement: Opportunities for Africa on the Road to Paris
For further information, and to register for Africa Carbon Forum 2014, please visit: http://www.
Peter Schierl Knowledge Management Officer, Climate Change Phone: +1 202 458 8338 Fax: +1 202 522 0638 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20433-0002, U.S.A.
IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
A compilation of items recently posted to the Sustainable Development Policy & Practice knowledgebase
Latest News – 25 June 2014
ENB on the Side – First UN Environment Assembly of the UN Environment Programme – Issue #2
ENB on the Side
Coverage of Selected Side Events at the First UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Issue No. 2 – Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Events convened on Tuesday, 24 June 2014
GEMS Water: Global water quality data to inform SDGs
Presented by UNEP/DEWA and UNEP/DEPI
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Earth Negotiations Bulletin
orting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations
Format French version Backt IISD coverage
Volume 16 Number 120 – Thursday, 26 June 2014
UNEA HIGHLIGHTS
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
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Post-2015 Development Agenda Bulletin
Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Volume 208 Number 13 – Wednesday, 25 June 2014
FROM MDGS TO SDGS: HOW CAN MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PARTNERSHIPS CONTRIBUTE TO FINANCING THE POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
23 JUNE 2014
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GMGSF Bulletin – Fifteenth session of the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum – Briefing Note
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Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
PDF format
Volume 223 Number 1 – Monday, 23 June 2014
BRIEFING NOTE OF THE FIFTEENTH GLOBAL MAJOR GROUPS AND STAKEHOLDERS FORUM (GMGSF-15)
21-22 JUNE 2014
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Earth Negotiations Bulletin: First UN Environment Assembly of the UN Environment Programme – Issue #3
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Earth Negotiations Bulletin
Reporting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations
PDF format French version Backto
IISD coverage
Volume 16 Number 119 – Wednesday, 25 June 2014
UNEA HIGHLIGHTS
Tuesday, 24 June 2014
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Twelfth session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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From MDGs to SDGs: How Can Multi-stakeholder Partnerships Contribute to Financing the Post-2015 Development Agenda
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Twelfth session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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ENB on the Side
of Selected Side Events at the First UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Issue No. 1 – Tuesday, 24 June 2014
Events convened on Monday, 23 June 2014
Sustainable Palm Oil: Generating Global Demand and Raising Market Standards
Presented by the Government of Indonesia and the UNEP-UNESCO Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP)
Funding for coverage of UNEA-1 has been provided by UNEP
Related Links
UNEA-1 General Resources
Statements and Recommendations by Major Groups and Stakeholders to UNEA-1
High-level Segment Ministerial Dialogue on Illegal Trade in Wildlife
Symposium on Environmental Rule of Law
Symposium on Financing a Green Economy
IISD RS Resources
IISD RS coverage of the First meeting of the UNEP Open-Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR), 24-28 March 2014, UNEP headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS coverage of the Twenty-seventh Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC27/GMEF), 18-22 February 2013, UNEP headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS briefing note of GMGSF-14, 16-17 February 2013, UNEP headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya (HTML – PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the Twelfth Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council (GCSS-12/GMEF), 20-22 February 2012, UNEP headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS archive of sustainable development meetings
IISD RS summary report of GMGSF-13, 18-19 February 2012, UNEP headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya (HTML – PDF)
UNCSD-L – A mailing list for news on sustainable development policy
Sustainable Development Policy & Practice – A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
POST2015-L – A mailing list focused on internationally-relevant activities related to setting the post-2015 development agenda
Post-2015 Policy & Practice – A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Post-2015 Development Agenda Activities
Linkages Update – Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
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IISD: Post 2015 Policy & Practice
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IISD: World Day to Combat Desertification Global Observance Event – Briefing Note
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World Day to Combat Desertification Bulletin
Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
in collaboration with Connect4Climate
PDF format Back to
IISD coverage
Volume 4 Number 2 – Thursday, 19 June 2014
BRIEFING NOTE OF THE WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION GLOBAL OBSERVANCE EVENT
17 JUNE 2014
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Subject: Ready for CoP 20? New on-line course on Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively under the UNFCCC (22 September – 16 November 2014)
Workshop on the structure, drafting and adoption of United Nations resolutions 30/6/2014
30 Jun – 30 Jun 2014 New York, United States
Multilateral Diplomacy Programme United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Palais des Nations, CH -1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
Email: mdp-elearning@unitar.org Tel: +41.22.917.8716 Fax: +41.22.917.8993 Website: www.unitar.org/mdp
This Course Announcement is a UNITAR e-publication. Featured photos or images are property of UNITAR or royalty free. Photo credits: UN Photo, UNESCO photobank, UNITAR, istockphoto, Fotolia. Copyright © 2013 United Nations Institute for Training and Research. For further information, please contact us at: mdp-elarning@unitar.org or visit our website www.unitar.org. Legal.
Subject: Climate Change Daily Feed – 16 June 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice
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Climate Change: @IISDRS Summary & Analysis from #UNFCCC #SB40 Bonn Climate Change Conference
Bonn Climate Change Conference – June 2014
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
UN Development Group (UNDG) Post-2015 Regional Consultation for Europe and Central Asia Strategic Consultation – “Doing Good to Do Better: Successful Corporate Strategies that Benefit Society”
http://uncsd.iisd.org/sd-update/2014-06-13/
http://uncsd.iisd.org/sd-update/2014-06-11/
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 Subject: REDD+, Low Emissions Rural Development (LED-R) & NAMAs in the UNFCCC
For REDD+ to be successful and part of a coordinated global response to climate change, it must address the drivers of deforestation and degradation and therefore must be addressed in the context of rural development. On the ground, REDD+ must function within complex local contexts juggling rural development needs; livelihoods; services; agricultural practices; local cultural and political circumstances; commodity markets and trade. A new model for Low Emissions Rural Development (LED-R) at regional/jurisdictional scales aims to address these complex problems in a way that achieve or maintain climate stability (both at global and local levels), to increase the capacity of local actors and institutions to adapt to climate change, to increase the sustainability of and ensure equitable access to natural resources, while simultaneously increasing agricultural (and other economic) productivity, job creation and incomes. In the context of the UNFCCC, and irrespective of the evolving ADP negotiations, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) could play an important role in supporting REDD+ and LED-R. This brief working paper highlights some aspects of an emerging LED-R model and the potential for REDD+, LED-R and NAMAs to work in concert.
Download the paper at: http://earthinnovation.
About the Sustainable Tropics Alliance
The Sustainable Tropics Alliance is a network of non-governmental organizations working in regions critical to climate change due to high value carbon stocks and the vulnerability of local populations to climate change. The Alliance seeks to address the lack of an effective policy, market and institutional framework for changing prevailing models of rural development, in which agricultural frontier expansion (whether for large-scale commodity production or subsistence) drives tropical deforestation and forest degradation which turn drives the degradation of a range of other ecosystem services on which local and regional communities depend, including water sources, fish and game, timber, and soil resources.
CLIMATE-L Digest for Wednesday, June 11, 2014.
1. REDD+, Low Emissions Rural Development (LED-R) & NAMAs in the UNFCCC
2. ECO – June 11 2014 3. What national governments can do to accelerate subnational action on climate 4. SB40 (Bonn), MCII Side Event: Climate Resilience & Insurance – Tying National and Community Efforts to 2015 Policy Priorities (12 June, 13:15-14:45, Room TRAM) 5. Bonn meeting: Side-event Renewables working together, Wednesday 11th of June 6. Invitation to side event “Suppressed demand in market mechanisms methodologies”, June 14, 6:30 pm 7. Invitation to side event “The GCF, climate finance and NAMAs – innovative solutions to bring in private sector finance”, June 13, 6:30 pm 8. The Road to Going Zero – How we can stay below 2 deg C 9. Adaptation Knowledge Day V – Presentations Online 10. UNDP and partners announce Equator Prize 2014 winners 11. Climate Pledge-Act-Review tool 12. Climate Change Job Vacancies Update – 11 June 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice 13. Climate Change Daily Feed – 11 June 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice 14. Elementa now offers cross-domain article publication 15. =?Windows-1252?Q?SB40_Side_
From: Earth Innovation Institute < media@earthinnovation.org > Subject: REDD+, Low Emissions Rural Development (LED-R) & NAMAs in the UNFCCC
For REDD+ to be successful and part of a coordinated global response to climate change, it must address the drivers of deforestation and degradation and therefore must be addressed in the context of rural development. On the ground, REDD+ must function within complex local contexts juggling rural development needs; livelihoods; services; agricultural practices; local cultural and political circumstances; commodity markets and trade. A new model for Low Emissions Rural Development (LED-R) at regional/jurisdictional scales aims to address these complex problems in a way that achieve or maintain climate stability (both at global and local levels), to increase the capacity of local actors and institutions to adapt to climate change, to increase the sustainability of and ensure equitable access to natural resources, while simultaneously increasing agricultural (and other economic) productivity, job creation and incomes. In the context of the UNFCCC, and irrespective of the evolving ADP negotiations, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) could play an important role in supporting REDD+ and LED-R. This brief working paper highlights some aspects of an emerging LED-R model and the potential for REDD+, LED-R and NAMAs to work in concert.
Download the paper at: http://earthinnovation.
About the Sustainable Tropics Alliance
The Sustainable Tropics Alliance is a network of non-governmental organizations working in regions critical to climate change due to high value carbon stocks and the vulnerability of local populations to climate change. The Alliance seeks to address the lack of an effective policy, market and institutional framework for changing prevailing models of rural development, in which agricultural frontier expansion (whether for large-scale commodity production or subsistence) drives tropical deforestation and forest degradation which turn drives the degradation of a range of other ecosystem services on which local and regional communities depend, including water sources, fish and game, timber, and soil resources.
Hi all
It’s Time to Come Clean –
Japan, France, Germany and South Korea!
Hi Japan, France, Germany and South Korea: is that soot on your face?
What’s in your wallet? ECO took a quick look and started coughing from the coal soot in there! A healthy ECO was very happy last week to hear parties in Bonn calling for a phase out of fossil fuel emissions by 2050, and news that China and the US were tackling their coal emissions, the coughing version of ECO is very worried. We’re worried we can’t reach that goal until countries put their money where there mouth is, and stop spending public money on coal.This is a waste of scarce resources that could be more wisely spent on renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects, particularly in developing countries.
What a dirty waste it has been! Over the past six years, Export Credit Agencies (ECA) in OECD countries provided at least US$32 billion for coal projects abroad. The good news is that some countries are starting to worry about their laundry bills and are beginning to clean up their act. For example, last year, the United States set a new policy to clean up its international public finance for coal.
Next week’s at the OECD meeting, governments have a chance to decide to move towards ending ECA financing for coal. Sadly, some countries, yes you: Japan, France, Germany and South Korea, with your sooty wallets, appear to be holding up this very smart and collective move. ECO wonders how these countries can table something big at the Climate Summit if they cannot agree to this first step to close the current gigatonne gap and phase out fossil fuel emissions by 2050.
Yours,
A wheezy ECO
Brother, or sister, can you spare a dime?
There is a rumour that developing countries are puzzling over how to build confidence and trust for the Lima and Paris COPs. See below for a few great ideas.
At least $US15 billion, and pledges no later than November: that’s what the Green Climate Fund (GCF) bank account balance should read, and what developing countries need. Parties also made it clear that these pledges should be in addition to overall levels of climate finance and overseas development assistance. ECO does not want to have to write about how developed countries have stolen money from education and health programs or from the Adaptation Fund, just to fill the GCF.
Finance must and will go up, not down: is another key take away from the ADP discussions. ECO is excited that countries do intend to abide by the Warsaw decision (the main reason why we walked back into these negotiations, Volveremos) to scale up public finance levels.
P.S, to the US: ECO sends its warm regards for reassuring parties using ECO language (finance is going up not down, and there is no falling off a finance cliff, etc).
P.P.S. to all developed countries: this reassurance now needs to translate into concrete commitments and provisions in the 2015 agreement.
Financial commitments in the iNDCs: ECO has heard many parties making a strong plea to include provisions on climate finance, types, channels and instruments in developed countries iNDCs. Dear (developed country) Reader, you are not misreading, ECO is using the big words: commitments – finance – iNDCs. We know you’re not a fan but ECO wonders how else – as the Africa Group put it plainly – can we assess whether developed countries are contributing their fair share of the global effort? Did ECO mention that finance IS key factor in that fair share?
A global finance goal: ECO understands if developed countries would prefer to hide behind a collective effort and adopt a joint goal for the mobilisation of finance for post-2020. ECO and many countries support a PUBLIC finance goal to put an end to all the dodgy accounting tricks attempting to shift responsibility to the private sector.
Ex-ante assessment of the financial commitments: Now, that’s a great way of assessing adequacy and consistency with equity. Thumbs up to the Least Developed Countries group for putting it forward today, how else can we ensure funding is aligned with needs?
No backsliding on commitments: These four words clearly spell it out. Developed countries have to commit to this golden rule – hello shameless countries with declining climate finance levels!
The “POTODOSO” theorem: In operationalising the equity reference framework (ERF), ECO is getting serious about all countries contributing their fair share to the global effort. In practice, it means that some developing countries will find their levels of responsibility and capability are comparable to that of some developed countries. After 2020, those “countries in a position to do so” – the POTODOSO (more than acronym, it’s bound to become an equity theorem) – are expected to support their much poorer and much more vulnerable developing country partners in adapting to the worsening impacts of climate change.
Shifting the trillions: ECO was nodding off after hearing too many developed countries making the case – again – for private climate finance when some countries – AILAC for starters – made a refreshing proposal to look at how climate finance could be used to shift the trillions in the global economy away from fossil fuels. ECO believes that most countries could include efforts to this end in their iNDCs.
Alternative sources of finance: the icing on this ADP finance cake, ECO was so pleased to hear countries like Zambia, Norway, Belize, and Bangladesh suggest a renewed focus on alternative sources that would auto-generate climate finance, such as from bunker fuels or the long-standing proposal for passenger levies in international transport – which could be CBDRRC’ed through an incidence mechanism as suggested by South Africa. ECO loves it when parties’ proposals – collectively – make so much sense.
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 05:55:11 +0000 Subject: What national governments can do to accelerate subnational action on climate
What national governments can do to accelerate subnational action on climate
2-page briefing paper synthesis of current research and good practice
Huge opportunities exist to mitigate climate change at the city and subnational level but a range of barriers prevent these opportunities from being fully realised. Rather than simply implementing stand-alone local actions or down-scaling national strategies, a range of effective solutions now exist to accelerate mitigation via integrated national and subnational action. In this short briefing paper prepared for the Subnational Integration Working Group of the LEDS-GP, we highlight some of the key opportunities, barriers and solutions, and encourage national governments to consider how, through implementing more integrated approaches, they could better engage and support their cities and subnational government counterparts to unlock and accelerate action on climate.
Download the briefing paper here: http://www.ecofys.com/en/
Nicholas Harrison MSc. MBPsS
Senior Consultant | International Climate Policies
—-
Ecofys
Am Wassermann 36 | 50829 Cologne | Germany
T: +49 (0)221 27070161 | M: +49 (0)162 214 2390 | SkypeID: nick_harrison
E: n.harrison@ecofys.com | I: www.ecofys.com | LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/in/
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 07:32:02 +0000 Subject: SB40 (Bonn), MCII Side Event: Climate Resilience & Insurance – Tying National and Community Efforts to 2015 Policy Priorities (12 June, 13:15-14:45, Room TRAM)
Dear Climate-L readers,
The Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) cordially invites you to a side event during The UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Bonn:
Climate Resilience & Insurance: Tying National and Community Efforts to 2015 Policy Priorities
Date & Time: Thursday, 12 June 2014
Location: Room TRAM
Panel:
- · Peter Hoeppe (MCII Chairman, Munich Re): Insurance Can Buffer Climate Shocks and Smooth the Transition into Effective Adaptation
- · Sobiah Becker (MCII Project Manager, UNU-EHS): Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean – How Microinsurance Can Offer Livelihood Protection Against Weather Shocks
- · Koko Warner (MCII Executive Director, UNU-EHS): How to Integrate Insurance into Comprehensive Climate Risk Management
Background:
This side event aims to provide constant support to the UNFCCC climate negotiations, with relevance to particular discussions including the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss & Damage, and to outline broader policy recommendations for meeting the challenge of a meaningful climate agreement by 2015.
MCII features an expert panel that will showcase how the application of innovative risk transfer and insurance solutions can unlock benefits for building resilience in the context of comprehensive climate risk management. Presentations will highlight results from MCII’s own projects and explain what role insurance can play in supporting climate resilient development pathways as part of a wider risk management framework.
For more information, visit the MCII website: http://www.climate-insurance.
We look forward to welcoming you at our session!
Best regards,
Michael Zissener
Research Associate
Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII)
Hosted at:
United Nations University Institute for Environment
and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
UN CAMPUS
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1
D-53113 Bonn / Germany
Skype: mz_unuehs
Web: http://www.climate-insurance.
From: ” karin.haara@worldbioenergy.org ” karin.haara@worldbioenergy.org
Subject: Bonn meeting: Side-event Renewables working together, Wednesday 11th of June
Dear All,
It is my great pleasure to invite you to attend a side-event, REN Alliance is hosting at Bonn on Wednesday, 11.06, at 18:30 in room Rail:
Renewables Working together – Sustainable technology integration towards 100% renewable energy – case studies
This event will show case studies on integration of renewable technologies and discuss the road forward.
Agenda:
Side Event Agenda
Sustainable technology integration towards 100% renewable energy – Case studies
18.30 Introduction: The way to a 100% renewable energy future
Moderator: Dave Renné – President of the International Solar Energy Society
18.45 Case studies – Renewable Technologies integrated
Wind energy in combination with Hydro energy
Stefan Gsänger: Secretary General of the World Wind Energy Association
Geothermal energy combined with Hydro and Solar energy
Marietta Sander: Executive Director of the International Geothermal Association
19.10 Renewable Energy Costs – outcome of IRENA’s renewables cost analysis
Michael Taylor: Analyst, Renewable Energy Cost Status and Outlook at IRENA
9.35 Concluding remarks: Renewables working together
Karin Harare of the World Bioenergy Association
19.45 General discussion and questions
20.00 End of the Side Event
We look forward to your active participation!
Link to invitation: https://seors.unfccc.int/
Kind Regards
On behalf of the REN Alliance:http://www.ren-
Karin Haara
Executive Director
World Bioenergy Association
www.worldbioenergy.org
+46705432641
UN Climate Change 2014_Web_Reversed
We must make the historic shift to a carbon-neutral world
“Leaders today need to emulate the conviction and resolve of post-war leaders and articulate a new vision of sustainable development.”
70 years on from D-Day, Mary Robinson challenges today’s leaders to bring about the transformative change needed for a carbon-neutral world.
Subject: Adaptation Knowledge Day V – Presentations Online
ADAPTATION KNOWLEDGE DAY V – PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE ONLINE
Thank you to all of those who attended our side event Adaptation Knowledge Day V on Monday 9 June in Bonn. The event was focused on Adaptation Gaps, with sessions on knowledge gaps, financial gaps and technological gaps. Over 45 people attended the event and there were great discussions amongst the audience and the speakers.
The presentations of the event can now be found online, using the following link:
http://www.ganadapt.org/news-
Kind regards,
Ms. Felice van der Plaat
Associate Programme Officer
Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Email: Felicitas.vanderPlaat@unep.org
P.O.Box 30552, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Tel. +254 20 762 3130 (land line) or +254713601281 (work cell)
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 08:17:16 -0500 Subject: UNDP and partners announce Equator Prize 2014 winners Dear Colleagues,
UNDP and partners are pleased to announce the 35 community winners of the Equator Prize 2014.
The winners represent outstanding local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems.
An extensive technical review process guided by international experts was undertaken over the last several months, culminating in the announcement today. Winners were selected from a record 1,234 nominations from 121 different countries.
A full list of the winners can be found at www.equatorinitiative.org. Official press release attached here.
Winners span fields of work ranging from wildlife management to marine protected areas, smallholder agriculture to forest management, and sustainable energy to food security.
Since 2002, the Equator Prize has been awarded to 187 communities, now representing a global movement of grassroots innovation, leadership and achievement in over 70 countries around the world.
Twenty-five awards will be presented at a high-level ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York on Monday 22 September 2014 as a kick-off to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit.
Grateful for your support getting this announcement out through your networks to ensure these outstanding communities receive the visibility and recognition they deserve.
Very best regards,
Joseph Corcoran Programme Officer Environment and Energy Group United Nations Development Programme 304 East 45th Street Room 633B New York, NY 10017 Tel: +1 646 781-4022 Fax: +1 212 906-6642
From: “Elzen, den Michel” Michel.denElzen@pbl.nl Subject: Climate Pledge-Act-Review tool
Dear climate-l readers,
We just finalized our interactive Climate Pledge-Act-Review tool that shows the impact of the emission reduction proposals (pledges) and policies, per country, on greenhouse gas emission projections for 2020. More specifically, the tool shows the effect of:
- Pledges: national and global greenhouse gas emission projections for 2020, assuming that countries’ pledges will be fully achieved;
- Actions: the impact of the most effective national climate and energy policies, such as carbon taxes, feed-in tariffs, or standards on emission levels of 2020, for 19 major emitting countries and regions.
The projections show total emissions per country, emissions per capita, and emissions per unit of income. The different indicators provide countries with information on how their contribution compares to those of others (Review).
See: http://www.pbl.nl/pledgesact
Best regards
Michel den Elzen
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
http://climate-l.iisd.org/climate-change-job-vacancies-update/2014-06-11/
LEDSGP SNI Paper Bonn 2014
World Mountain Forum (WMF)
23-24 May 2014 | Cusco, Peru
@IISDRS Coverage of the World Mountain Forum #WMF 2014
IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
http://uncsd.iisd.org/sd-update/2014-05-22/
Climate Change Info Mailing List digest
Subject: climate-l digest: May 08, 2014
From: “Climate Change Info Mailing List digest” <climate-l@lists.iisd.ca>
Reply-To: “Climate Change Info Mailing List” <climate-l@lists.iisd.ca>
Date: Fri, 09 May 2014 00:00:03 -0500
CLIMATE-L Digest for Thursday, May 08, 2014.
1. Our Place on Earth – call for partners TRAC2
2. WEBINAR: Citizen Engagement to Support Urban Climate Governance – Wed. May 14 9am
3. The SNV REDD+ Corner Issue #4
4. Atlas of an Eco Island: smaller and larger than climate change? Call for participation
5. Gold Standard Foundation + WWF Switzerland Host Seminar “The Pathway to Paris 2015” – Study Showing the Economic Benefits of Strong Climate Action
6. =?Windows-1252?Q?Invitation_-_
7. Invitation: Sustainable Energy for All Forum (4-6 June 2014)
8. =?utf-8?B?
Climate-l digest: May 08, 2014
Subject: Our Place on Earth – call for partners TRAC2
Dear Climate-L Readers,
We are pleased to announce the launch of Our Place on Earth, which is a collaborative partnership that integrates research and documentary film.
The project is exploring and documenting examples (case studies) that demonstrate how communities around the world are successfully responding to the challenges of climate change. Specifically, these case studies will explore how to integrate community-based and ecosystems-based adaptation through a human rights based approach (HRBA).
The project will also explore climate change through a justice perspective, which provides additional opportunities to understand climate solutions as tangible, human-scale interventions that build, rather than undermine natural capacity (ecosystem-resilience).
Deliverables
1. The research and development of a toolkit (Transformative Resilience in a Changing Climate – TRAC2), for communities and practitioners, to help break down the barriers that often exist between these two groups and to foster knowledge exchange and communication to create adaptive, transformative communities. The toolkit seeks to provide a practical application of how to better integrate community-based and ecosystem-based adaptation through a human rights-based approach.
For background information on the TRAC2 toolkit, please see our background paper and proposal to MIT’s Climate CoLab.
2. A documentary film that 1) highlights community-based responses to climate change 2) gives voice to often marginalized peoples and types of knowledge––like highly localized knowledge and indigenous perspectives, and 3) presents the beauty, vibrancy, and alternative visions of life and living in various locations.
3. Low-cost film trainings to help communities share their successes around the world, and to provide engagement and empowerment tools to reduce the risks of climate change in their own communities.
We are posting a call for suggested case studies, partners, and advisors. If you are interested in being involved, please visit our website (www.ourplaceonearth.org) or contact us at info@prettygoodproductions.net
We are currently organizing 6 site visits in 5 countries through December 2014. However, we are interested in adding additional case studies and engaging with organizations and individuals working in similar areas.
Best Regards,
Nuin-Tara Key
Principal Researcher and Producer, Our Place On Earth
Nuin-Tara.Key@prettygoodproductions.net
503.367.8857
From: smillsknapp@worldbank.org
Date: Wed, 7 May 2014 17:57:22 -0400
Subject: WEBINAR: Citizen Engagement to Support Urban Climate Governance – Wed. May 14 9am
The World Bank Climate Change Group and consulting firm Policy Solutions cordially invite you to a
Live Webinar
Citizen Engagement to Support Urban Climate Governance
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 • 9:00 am – 11:00 am U.S. EST
Check the exact time at your location: http://www.worldtimeserver.com/
Click here to proceed to registration
Or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://worldbankva.adobeconnect.com/e4yozmh01sb/event/event_info.html
Climate change is a fundamental threat to development and the fight against poverty. The World Bank Group (WBG) is concerned that without bold action now, the warming planet threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development. By 2050 70% of the world’s population will live in cities, making them a natural place to focus efforts against climate change and poverty. Cities present a unique opportunity to reach a large percent of the population with climate smart urban solutions.
One aspect of the urban government response to climate change that the WBGCC team is currently exploring, with the support of the consulting firm Policy Solutions, is stakeholder engagement. Our experience and research has shown that local governments cannot implement an adequate response to climate change without effectively engaging economic actors take actions themselves. Additionally, local government is well placed to advocate for the transformational changes needed, but are unable to bring about all on their own. These two forms of stakeholder engagement go beyond traditional concepts of good governance. They can be further supported by new information and communications technology, an understanding of behavioral change and institutional innovation.
Dr. Anne Arquit Niederberger will summarize insights from preliminary World Bank research and report on current approaches being used. City-level practitioners are particularly encouraged to join the webinar and share experiences with innovative engagement and advocacy activities, methods and models. Following the webinar, we will bring the conversation to the Scaling Up Climate Action Collaboration Platform to engage in an e-discussion designed to further elicit feedback.
This webinar is another in the series of knowledge sharing events from our community of practice (CoP) for Scaling up Climate Action in Cities. To join this CoP please visit this link https://collaboration.worldbank.org/groups/scaling-up-climate-change-action-in-cities.We highly value your views, feedback and opinions. Please feel free to share with us any specific questions that you would like answered, expert speakers that you would like featured and reference to expert contributors for e-discussions and provide any other suggestions that you may have to enrich the community and mobilize action on climate change in cities.
Speakers
Dr. Anne Arquit Niederberger, Policy Solutions – Dr. Arquit Niederberger is Principal at the consultancy Policy Solutions. She has been working in the field of climate change and clean energy since 1989, shifting her focus from climate science to government policy and, since 2001, to strategic consulting. At Policy Solutions, Dr. Arquit Niederberger advises enterprises, governments, international organizations, and other clients around the globe on a range of green economy issues.
Introductory remarks by Ms. Monali Ranade, Senior Environmental Specialist, World Bank Institute Climate Change Practice
For additional information, please contact Ms. Sara Mills-Knapp at smillsknapp@worldbank.org
The SNV REDD+ Corner, Issue #4, May 2014
http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=e5895bcd12e23439a6c00ef95&id=6aac7a32ea&e=bf9fbd8f73
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From: Oleg Koefoed <oleg@cultura21.dk>
Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 10:54:31 +0200
Subject: Atlas of an Eco Island: smaller and larger than climate change? Call for participation
Please find attached the CfP to activities in August-November in Copenhagen, related to the Eco Island Amager project.
The activities take the aspects of climate change, urban renewal, citizen engagement, sustainable entrepreneurship and mapping and combine them in a field-based approach, leading to “horizontal innovation” suggestions to overcome the gaps between e.g. climate change strategies from the city and citizen or agent involvement levels.
The island of Amager is particularly interesting both as a site which might be strongly affected by climate change (altitude, humidity, etc), and an island of which about 50% of the 96 km2 are the result of landfill and other human-made constructions in what was water. It epitomizes a crossing point between urban planning, cultural multitude, climate issues, globalization, and post-industrial reinvention of the fringes of a city. The Eco Island Amager projects works on bringing as many of these aspects to the forefront, stimulating a process of horizontal sustainable innovation by the expansion of a common field of visibility.
We invite researchers, artists, engineers, urban planners, and others with an interest in the cross-sections mentioned here and in the call, to bring suggestions and proposals.
The activities are connected to Sharing Copenhagen/European Green Capital 2014, and formed in a collaboration between Cultura21, Copenhagen Municipalities and local councils, and a whole range of innovating actors in the field.
Oleg Koefoed
Ph.D, Action-Philosopher
– engaged in urban-poïetic-sustainable transformations
Cultura21 Nordic & Cultura21 International
Mob: +45 53 53 95 72
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From: Sarah Leugers <sarah.leugers@goldstandard.org>
ToDate: Thu, 8 May 2014 15:14:15 +0200
Subject: Gold Standard Foundation + WWF Switzerland Host Seminar “The Pathway to Paris 2015” – Study Showing the Economic Benefits of Strong Climate Action
Seminar: The Pathway to Paris 2015 – Landmark Study Shows the Economic Benefits of Strong Climate Action
The Gold Standard Foundation and WWF Switzerland will present a new report and field case studies showing how climate finance can deliver not just greenhouse gas mitigation, but billions of Euros in additional outcomes that contribute to climate adaptation and broader global priorities in sustainable development.
The release of this study comes just weeks after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report found that the impact of mitigation policies will be negligible on global growth at around just 0.06 of a percentage point annually throughout the rest of the century. What the IPCC did not include in this economic assessment, however, was a valuation of the multiple positive outcomes beyond carbon that can be delivered by reducing energy consumption, switching to clean energy systems and saving forests.
As a leading global player in the delivery of finance to greenhouse gas mitigation projects, The Gold Standard Foundation commissioned economists to undertake the first ever valuation of the outcomes in addition to carbon mitigation in its projects. These include improved human health, the ‘services’ of natural ecosystems, like water purification, improvements to livelihoods and the food and economic security of communities, regions or countries. This was done by measuring, and assigning a monetary value where possible, to these outcomes.
The implications of the study demonstrate that it is no longer necessary to choose between climate and other environment and development outcomes. Strong climate action is not only affordable but, designed correctly, represents an impact investment far greater than previously understood.
When: 17:00 CET, Thursday 15th May. Drinks and snacks will be served after the presentations and discussion.
NOTE: There will also be a press conference announcing the report at 12:00 CET. You can watch the live stream of the event at http://2013.pressclub.ch/fr/Live
Where: Geneva Press Club/Club Suisse de la Presse, Route de Ferney 106, La Pastorale, Geneva.
Language: The language of the meeting will be English.
Contact: Please register by sending an email to Tanya Petersen, The Gold Standard Director of Communications: tanya.petersen@goldstandard.org
The full report and associated case studies will be posted on Thursday 15th May at www.goldstandard.org.
Sarah Leugers
Marketing and Communications Manager
The Gold Standard Foundation
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel +41 22 788 70 80
Mob +41 79 896 96 52
sarah.leugers@goldstandard.org
www.goldstandard.org
Follow us on Twitter @cdmgoldstandard
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheGoldStandardFoundation
From: “Compton, Erin Kathleen” <erinc@IADB.ORG>
Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 14:16:10 +0000
Subject: Invitation – Green Financing & Innovation: Can LAC benef
A parallel session of the IDB International Conference : ‘The Korean experience : lessons for LAC development’
The session will aim at providing an overview of discussions related to international climate and green finance, including an update about opportunities arising from the International Green Climate Fund, located in Songdo, Korea. Initial presentations regarding opportunities and challenges of transition to a green economy and international climate finance will be followed by presentations on specific examples of how financial institutions have been developing green financing and a reflection on opportunities and challenges in channelling climate / green finance.
Discussion Panel:
- · Mr. Suh-yong Chung, Professor, Division of International Studies, Korea University. “Opportunities and challenges to promote economies transition to low carbon / green economies”
- · Mr. Enrique Nieto, NAFIN. “The Experience of a NDB in designing and implementing green financing lines”
- · Ms. Maria Netto, Financial Markets Lead Specialist, Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division, IDB. “The role of National Development Banks scaling up private finance”
Moderator: Juan Antonio Ketterer, Division Chief, Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division, IADB
Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Time: 5.40 PM
Location: IDB Headquarters – 1300 New York Avenue NW – Washington D.C
For RSVP please email erinc@iadb.org
Erin Compton | Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division | Institutions for Development (IFD/CMF) | Inter-American Development Bank | erinc@iadb.org | +1 202 623 2440 | www.iadb.org
From: SE4ALL Forum <forum@se4all.org>
Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 18:12:17 +0200
Subject: Invitation: Sustainable Energy for All Forum (4-6 June 2014)
SE4ALL Forum <forum@se4all.org>
Subject: Invitation: Sustainable Energy for All Forum (4-6 June 2014)
Please direct all inquiries to: forum@se4all.org
From: “Prof. Walter Leal” <lealfilho@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 12:41:45 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: International Journal of Climate Change Stra
In International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management: special issue on “Climate justice – a new narrative informing development and climate policy”
The International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, a fully indexed journal and a leading periodical focusing on aspects of climate change management
invites contributions to a special issue on “Climate justice – a new narrative informing development and climate policy” .
Our changing climatic circumstances pose a huge challenge to achieving sustainable and equitable development especially for the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of society and especially women. Climate change is undermining development gains and is projected to have a significant impact on the lives, livelihoods and rights of people and societies around the world. These impacts will be greatest where people are poor and vulnerable and will manifest themselves as human experiences, often accentuating poor health and well-being, migration, energy poverty, gender inequality, and food and nutrition insecurity. There is now a pressing and overwhelming need to identify and develop the right policies, strategies and mechanisms to minimise and manage these impacts. A climate justice approach to tackling these challenges could inform global thinking on effective responses to climate change, by engaging with issues of equity, justice and human rights as principles that encourage cooperative action and unlock ambition. Likewise a climate justice approach can play a role in shaping the post 2015 development agenda and a transition to climate compatible development. This special edition would help to make this case.
The aim of this special issue will be to provide a holistic understanding of climate justice as a new way of thinking about how to deal with the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. It will provide focussed discussion, debate and critical thinking on the key elements that underpin a climate justice approach and how this can inform development and climate policy. Climate justice incorporates many disciplines, thereby enabling a multi-disciplinary approach to issues of development and action on climate change
Contributing authors will examine the role of a climate justice narrative in shaping emerging development and climate policy, and creating a set of arguments supporting a climate justice approach to policy development. The work is timely and well placed to inform international negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and work towards a new climate change agreement in 2015. Authors will focus on specific aspects of climate and development policy including adaptation and resilience, low carbon development, access to sustainable energy, food and nutrition security, gender and social equality, human rights, governance and legal frameworks, and ethics and equity.
Collectively the papers will provide a unique learning resource on and point of reference in this field. This edition will also be used to better inform policy discussions by institutions, organisations and the international community to tackle the climate change and development challenges from rights based and people-centred perspective.
We welcome all contributions that touch upon the issues discussed above. The papers can be empirically based or could be conceptual and deal with issues such as; ethics and equity, human rights, adaptation and resilience, low carbon development, access to sustainable energy, food and nutrition security, gender and equity, governance and legal frameworks. This list is not an exhaustive list, as there may be other interesting perspectives on this matter. Contributions should be based on current theoretical insights and the state-of-play in climate justice research and development and should provide elaborate methodology and/or analysis sections.
Submission Guidelines: We invite practitioners and academics to submit, in the first instance, an abstract (maximum 200 words) (in English) that you intend to write for this special issue by 30th June 2014. Submit your abstract to: T.Jafry@gcu.ac.uk
Call for Participation – Atlas of an Eco Island – Cultura21.pdf
Call for Participation – Atlas of an Eco Island – Cultura21
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Global Oceans Action Summit for Food Security and Blue Growth
http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/goas2014/
http://www.iisd.ca/enbvol/enb-funding.htm
http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/goas2014/html/crsvol186num3e.html
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UN Secretary-General, Global Leaders Urge Action on Education
10 April 2014: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other global leaders launched the Emergency Coalition for Global Education Access, which aims to get 57 million children in school, and calls for “four zeros”: zero exclusion from education; zero discrimination against girls; zero child labor; and zero child marriage. The Coalition was established in response to reports that the world is off track in achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of getting all children into education by 2015.read more: http://uncsd.iisd.org/
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HLPF Bulletin – Vol. 221 No. 2 – Second Workshop on ‘Making the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Work: How to Build an Effective “Review Mechanism”’ – Briefing Note
Having trouble viewing this email? Please try our Browser Version.
HLPF Bulletin
http://www.iisd.ca/hlpf/hlpfsdw2/html/crsvol221num2e.html
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CLIMATE-L Digest for Friday, May 09, 2014.
1. Article on Copenhagen: from a Cloudburst Management Plan to green climate adaptation
2. Invitation: Lecture Prof Martin Weitzman at MCC Berlin on May 28
3. Climate Change Daily Feed – 9 May 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice
4. 2014 Adaptation Academy
5. April 2014 edition of Climate Change Newsletter – ThinktoSustain.com
6. WORLD OCEAN RADIO: Our Climate Moment
Subject: Article on Copenhagen: from a Cloudburst Management Plan to green climate adaptation
Article on Copenhagen: from a Cloudburst Management Plan to green climate adaptation
Dear colleagues,
We would like to raise your attention to an interesting article on green climate adaptation work in Copenhagen:
Copenhagen: from a Cloudburst Management Plan to green climate adaptation
Written by Lykke Leonardsen, Head of Climate Section, City of Copenhagen, Denmark and Herbert Dreiseitl, Director, Ramboll Liveable Cities Lab, Überlingen, Germany
Please find the article on the Resilient Cities blog: http://resilientcitiesblog.iclei.org/?p=182
Updates from the Cloudburst management plan in Copenhagen and examples including Bishan-Ang-Mo Kio Park in Singapore will be presented and discussed in a session during the Resilient Cities 2014 congress in Bonn, taking place on 29-31 May 2014. A special highlight of the session will be the Green Climate Adaptation Plan, which is soon to be launched.
All the best,
The Resilient Cities 2014 Team
Resilient Cities Congress Secretariat
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
World Secretariat
Kaiser-Friedrich-Str. 7
D-53113 Bonn
Germany
Phone: +49-228 / 976299-28
Fax: +49-228 / 976299-01
Email: resilient.cities@iclei.org
Website: www.iclei.org/resilient-cities
Twitter: @ICLEI_ResCities, #ResilientCities–
Resilient Cities 2014 – 5th Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation
29–31 May in Bonn, Germany
To pre-register, please go to: http://resilient-cities.iclei.org/bonn2014/registration/
ICLEI is the world’s leading network of 12 mega-cities, 100 super-cities and urban regions, 450 large cities, and 450 small and medium-sized cities and towns in 84 countries.
Subject: Invitation: Lecture Prof Martin Weitzman at MCC Berlin on May 28
Invitation to the Lecture of PROF MARTIN WEITZMAN on May 28, 2014 at MCC:
WHY IS THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE SO DIFFICULT AND CONTROVERSIAL?
Dear Sir or Madam,
We would like to cordially invite you to a lecture on Why is the Economics of Climate Change so Difficult and Controversial? by Prof Martin Weitzman at MCC on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 from 12.00pm to 13.30pm. Following the lecture there will be a small reception at MCC.
Martin L. Weitzman is Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Previously he was a faculty member at MIT and Yale. He has been elected as a fellow of the Econometric Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published widely in many leading economic journals and written two books. Weitzman’s interests in economics are broad and he has served as consultant for several well-known organizations. His current research is focused on environmental economics, including climate change, the economics of catastrophes, cost-benefit analysis, long-run discounting, green accounting, and comparison of alternative instruments for controlling pollution.
Please sign up with Susann Reinsch (events@mcc-berlin.net) until 15 May 2014 if you wish to participate. The lecture will take place at the Elinor Ostrom Hall on the EUREF Campus, Torgauer Strasse 12-15 in Berlin Schöneberg.
If you are unable to attend but nevertheless interested in the lecture, it will be made available as a video stream on the MCC website shortly after the event: http://www.mcc-berlin.net/en.html#.U2s7QFcoNek
Please note that photographs and film footage may be taken during the event. By participating in this event you consent to being photographed or filmed (non-/recognizable) and authorize the MCC to use the footage in print, digital, video or web-based format for its promotional and archival purposes.
We would very much appreciate to welcome you at the MCC.
Best regards
Susann Reinsch
On behalf of Ottmar Edenhofer and Marek Wallenfels
Subject: Climate Change Daily Feed – 9 May 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice
A daily compilation of items recently posted to the Climate Change Policy & Practice knowledgebase of international activities on climate change
http://climate-l.iisd.org/daily-feed/2014-05-09/
Climate Change Policy & Practice is a knowledge management project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change. It was launched in 2008 and is managed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services, which is fully responsible for the content posted on Climate Change Policy & Practice . Information on United Nations activities is provided in cooperation with the UN system agencies, funds and programmes through the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (UN CEB) Secretariat and the UN Communications Group (UNCG) Task Force on Climate Change. Click here for further information on Climate Change Policy & Practice
Subject: 2014 Adaptation Academy
Dear Colleagues
The Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP) is hosting its annual Oxford Adaptation Academy (in the UK) this August. The Academy is run jointly between GCAP and the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE).
Using our unique professional development model, the Academy enables participants to develop technical and leadership skills through the use of their own workplace-related projects and practical case studies.
We would like to extend an invitation to you and/or any of your colleagues to apply for the course. Please visit the course website for more information or contact Lesley Downing at ldowning@climateadaptation.cc.
Please also forward this message to anyone you think might be suitable and interested in attending. We encourage applicants to apply before 15 June.
Best regards.
Mica Longanecker
Global Climate Adaptation Partnership
MLonganecker@ClimateAdaptation.cc
Subject: April 2014 edition of Climate Change Newsletter – ThinktoSustain.com
Dear Climate-L members,
We are pleased to share with you our April edition of Climate Change Newsletter.
New report, titled “Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, from Working Group II of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), details the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from changing climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Despite Reduction Efforts
According to Working Group III contribution to IPCC’s Report, titled “Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change”, global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change.
Long-Term Warming Likely to Be Significant Despite Recent Slowdown
A new NASA study shows Earth’s climate likely will continue to warm during this century on track with previous estimates, despite the recent slowdown in the rate of global warming.
Scientists Kick Off Initiative to Recognize Climate Change Risks
American Association for the Advancement of Scientists (AAAS) is announcing the launch of a new initiative to expand the dialogue on the risks of climate change.
7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution
In new estimates, World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died – one in eight of total global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure.
Climate Change Causes High, But Predictable, Extinction Risks
Palau’s Coral Reefs Surprisingly Resistant to Ocean Acidification
Ancient Forests Stabilised Earth’s CO2 and Climate
North and Tropical Atlantic Warming Affects Antarctic Climate
Trees Grow Faster and Store More Carbon as they Age
Ancient Forests Stabilised Earth’s CO2 and Climate
Warmer Temperatures Push Malaria to Higher Elevations
You can read all these posts and more in our April edition of climate change newsletter.
If you have any suggestions or would like to share your viewpoint/research etc on climate change/sustainable development issues, please feel free to contact us at editor@thinktosustain.com.
Best Regards,
Saptarishi S.
Head (Policy & Research)
ThinktoSustain.com – A Sustainability News & Analysis Portal
www.thinktosustain.com
New Delhi | India
d: +91-120-4248122
e: saptarishi@thinktosustain.com
Subject: WORLD OCEAN RADIO: Our Climate Moment
The latest episode of World Ocean Radio entitled “Our Climate Moment” is now available online at http://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/radio-item/our-climate-moment.
About this episode: We may be at the edge of our climate moment. Public opinion appears to be turning toward a fuller understanding of the impacts of climate change and the implications for our future. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill will suggest a way to form a viral revolution, concentrating our voices in one place–the office of the President of the United States–to demand a response to our expectations for action and change.
You may also subscribe to World Ocean Radio’s RSS feed, the weekly podcast on ITunes or find us on PRX.org, Audioport.org and at Stitcher.com.
About World Ocean Radio: Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Contact us for more information or to become a broadcast affiliate.
Trisha Badger | Web, Research and Production Manager | World Ocean Observatory | www.WorldOceanObservatory.org |
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IISD: Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda – Policy & Practice — “Call for Proposals” – 2nd Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development Practice
http://post2015.iisd.org/post2015-update/2014-05-13/
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IISD: @IISDRS Summary and Analysis of #OWG11 Now Available
Eleventh session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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http://post2015.iisd.org/post2015-update/2014-05-21/
http://post2015.iisd.org/post2015-update/2014-05-19/
http://www.iisd.ca/linkages-update/223/
IISD: Sustainable Development Update Policy & Practice
http://uncsd.iisd.org/sd-update/2014-05-20/
IISD: Post 2015
- Dr Álvaro Sobrinho, PEI Chairman and leading African businessman
- Rt Hon Lord Boateng, PEI Trustee and former UK Ambassador to South Africa
- Sir Christopher Edwards, PEI Trustee and prominent academic
- Prof Phillip Griffiths, Chair of the Science Initiative Group
- Amina J Mohammed, Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, United Nations Secretary-General
- Ambassador Antonio Tete, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations
Post-2015 Policy & Practice is a knowledge management project for international activities related to the post-2015 development agenda. We began our work on the post-2015 development agenda in 2012. This knowledgebase is managed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services, which is fully responsible for the content posted on Post-2015 Policy & Practice . Information on United Nations activities is provided in cooperation with the UN system agencies, funds and programmes through the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (UN CEB) Secretariat. Click here for further information on Post-2015 Policy & Practice
From: s.bauer@pr-audit.com
Dear colleagues, on 20 May, after two days of discussions in several plenary and a large number of parallel sessions, the International Conference on Sustainability in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus issued a Call to Action for policy makers, practitioners and researchers around the world to start developing and implementing strategies that jointly address water, energy, and food in a comprehensive nexus approach. The key messages of the Call to Action are: 1. Responsible governance of natural resources is the necessary first step for action on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus 2. The nexus is calling for a broad involvement of stakeholders to collaboratively work toward sustainable development 3. It is essential to greatly expand financial, institutional, technical and intellectual resources for nexus research and applications The Call to Action includes a set of guidelines which aim to support policy makers, practitioners and researchers as they consider a Nexus approach which focuses on increasing resource use efficiencies, which in turn reduce environmental pressures and maximize the benefits from scarce resources. The guidelines address the ongoing development and formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which “should consider and recognize the importance of a nexus approach to water, energy and food. Doing so will help promote consistency and complementarity among the SDGs. The goals should reflect nexus interactions that can be monitored at different scales to increase the benefits for both humans and nature.” Taken collectively, the guidelines of the “Call to Action” can constitute the centerpiece for Sustainability in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. Read more on http://wef-conference.gwsp.
From: Langston James Goree VI <kimo@iisd.org>
Fifth Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (AfRP14) and 3rd Ministerial Meeting for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
*Worldview Mission is Standing Up ,* Taking Action* , **Making Noise for the United Nations MDGL’s !!!**