World News: Climate change to adversely affect people's health (8 April 2014)

Climate change to adversely affect people's health

BANGALORE: There will be a serious risk of severe ill-health in the country soon. The risk of mortality and morbidity is also going to go up during periods of extreme heat, a major consequence of the ongoing climate change. 

"Climate change is certain to impact human health adversely. Many diseases which were only heard of will now start affecting the community at large," said H N Ravindranath, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science. 

Warming, drought, flooding and precipitation are some of the very obvious changes which will be visible in the years to come, said experts gathered at the deliberation session at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISC recently. Experts discussed the findings of the Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II (WG-II) findings released on March 31 this year. 

They said that local changes in temperature and rainfall have caused some change in the distribution of some water-borne illnesses and with reduced overall food production, the Indian population will only be more vulnerable. 

"Climate change will lead to increase in ill-health in many regions, especially in the developing countries with low income," said Aromar Revi, director, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore. And to prepare for such 'risks' countries need to introduce a new set of policies to supplement the existing policies, felt experts. 

"But that calls for a huge funding. The big question is where the money will flow in from considering that developing countries need to build an extra set of policies to mitigate risks," said Purnamita Dasgupta of the Institute for Economic Growth, New Delhi. 

Many terrestrial, freshwater and marine species have shifted their geographic ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, abundance and species interaction in response to the ongoing climate change.

source from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Climate-change-to-adversely-affect-peoples-health/articleshow/33338737.cms

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WOrld News: Carbon cuts possible for manageable warming: Experts (7 April 2014)

Carbon cuts possible for manageable warming: Experts

BERLIN: The world, acting urgently, can curb carbon emissions enough to avert worst-case scenarios for climate change, UN experts said on Monday as envoys met in Berlin to weigh the options for action. 

"The literature here shows that deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to limit warming to 2 C... remain possible," said Ottmar Edenhofer, who helped oversee the latest volume in a report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

But achieving this goal, Edenhofer warned, will require a break from today's relentlessly upward trend in emissions. 

It will entail "challenging technological, economic, institutional and behaviour change," he said. 

Envoys and scientists from the panel's 195 member countries are meeting after the IPCC issued its starkest-ever warning about the perils of a ravaged climate system for future generations. 

The risk of conflict, hunger, floods and mass displacement increase with every upward creep of the mercury, the IPCC said. 

"The impacts of climate change will leave no part of the world untouched and unaffected," IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told Monday's opening session. 

The upcoming volume is the last major piece of the Fifth Assessment Report -- the first overview by the Nobel-winning climate panel since 2007. 

The product of four years' work by over 200 experts, it aims at providing governments with the latest scientific knowledge and informing the struggling effort to forge a worldwide pact on climate change by the end of next year. 

A draft summary of the report, seen by AFP, expresses no preferences for how to tame the problem, nor does it state what a safe level of warming would be. 

But it says there is a 15-year window for affordable action to safely reach the UN's target of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times. 

The goal remains attainable if "all countries" act quickly to ease carbon emissions, it says. "Delaying mitigation through 2030 will increase the challenges." 

In raw terms, global carbon emissions of 49 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2010 will have to be pegged to 30-50 billion tonnes in 2030. 

Most scenarios that meet the 2 C target entail a "tripling to nearly a quadrupling" in the share of energy from renewable and nuclear sources and the capture and storage of emissions from fossil fuel plants, according to the draft. 

Government representatives and scientists will go through the summary line by line over the next few days. 

"In the plenary, all countries can voice their concerns and all of them are heard," said co-chairman Youba Sokona. 

"In the end, it is scientific accuracy that decides." The summary will be publicly released in the German capital on Sunday, and the full 2,000-page report -- authored by scientists and not subject to this week's scrutiny -- will be released shortly afterwards. 

Green group Friends of the Earth International said the science demanded a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, coupled to a massive investment in renewable alternatives. 

"So far, world leaders have sorely lacked the political will to make the shift to low-carbon societies," it said. 

Oxfam, for its part, said climate change would have a severe impact on hunger. 

"It is estimated there could be 25 million more malnourished children under the age of five in 2050 compared to a world without climate change - the number of all under-fives in the US and Canada combined," it said.

source from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Carbon-cuts-possible-for-manageable-warming-Experts/articleshow/33405099.cms

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World News: El Nino looms larger in latest forecasts (10 April 2014)

El Nino looms larger in latest forecasts
NEW DELHI: In what could be bad news for Indian agriculture, conditions in the Pacific Ocean seem to be increasingly favouring the onset of an El Nino this summer. In its latest update on Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said there was now a more than 70% chance that the unusual weather pattern will develop in the next few months. 

The Australian agency has been updating its El Nino forecast every fortnight. Tuesday's update, however, was the most categorical about the onset of an El Nino till date. An El Nino increases the chances of poor monsoon in India although there have been several exceptions in the past. 

El Nino is the name given to unusual warming of waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, which is linked to changes in wind patterns and anomalous weather in many parts of the globe. 

"It is now likely (estimated at a greater than 70% chance) that an El Nino event will develop... Surface and sub-surface ocean temperatures have warmed considerably in recent weeks, consistent with a state of rapid transition," the Australian met bureau said. 

The agency said most international climate models it surveyed predict that sea surface temperatures will reach El Nino thresholds during the coming summer. 

Another update released on Monday by US's meteorological agency, NOAA, maintained a 50% probability of El Nino setting in this summer. These predictions are likely to impact the India Meteorological Department's monsoon forecast, slated to be released next month. 

On the brighter side, it must be pointed out that not all El Nino years coincide with weak monsoons in India. For instance, the strongest El Nino event in recent years occurred in 1997 but it did not depress rains in India.

source from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/El-Nino-looms-larger-in-latest-forecasts/articleshow/33529521.cms

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World News: Climate targets: Australia can't be caught napping while others take action Neither the government nor the ALP want us to discuss what contribution Australia is going to make to the Paris agreement on emission goals in 2015 (13 APril 2014)

Climate targets: Australia can't be caught napping while others take action

Neither the government nor the ALP want us to discuss what contribution Australia is going to make to the Paris agreement on emission goals in 2015

Global warming makes feeding the world harder and more expensive. Photograph: Seth Perlman/AP

On Sunday night Australian time, the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) will release its final working group report on reducing carbon pollution. These “mitigation” reports have been historically the bridesmaids to the earlier reports on climate science which get more of the media attention.

Because the report's conclusions will shape the global discussion about what all major emitters should be doing next on climate change policy, it may be more important for Australian and global climate policy than the other two reports combined.

Based on leaked drafts of the work of the world’s leading climate economists, the IPCC are likely to make three important overall conclusions.

The first is that avoiding dangerous global warming of 2oC is possible, but urgent action is required across all major countries and emitting sectors. Turning our coal, oil and gas based energy system to one based on clean energy sources like wind and solar, improving the energy efficiency of our buildings, industries and transport sector, stopping deforestation and deploying technologies that remove carbon pollution from the air are all essential ingredients to effective action. This is possible with political will and sensible, consistent policy.

Secondly, the IPCC is likely to also illustrate that well executed climate policy decisions can provide broader benefits to communities, such as reductions in air pollution and improvements in energy security. Delaying effective action will also substantially increase the cost of achieving long-term climate goals. Those factors are a key driver behind growing global action on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Thirdly, effective national climate policy should include a suite of policies: carbon pricing, regulations to overcome barriers to action, and long-term investment signals (such as Australia’s renewable energy target scheme) are all essential.

But beyond all this common sense, the real sting in the tail for the government will be what the IPCC says around the scale of emission reductions needed to contribute our fair bit to global action.

In its last report, the IPCC indicated that countries like Australia would need to reduce emissions by 25-40% on 1990 levels by 2020, and 80-95% by 2050, to give a 50/50 chance of avoiding a 2oC increase in global temperature. This target range became a benchmark by which national targets were discussed. Many – including Australia, the USA, the EU, Norway and Japan – indicated their willingness to reduce emissions across this scale in advance of the Copenhagen climate summit.

The new IPCC report will have a similar impact, likely pointing out that countries like Australia need to reduce emissions by 50% on 2010 levels by 2030 to be consistent with the agreed global goal of avoiding 2oC, while major emerging economies like China would need to see emissions peak and begin to fall.

These conclusions are not emerging in a void.

Last December, countries agreed to advance new post 2020 emission targets by April 2015. European Union member countries are likely to be the first to come forward with a 2030 emission target. The US is working with China on sharing information on their targets, and the US government has established an interagency working group to develop their new target by April 2015. These targets will be examined internationally before the new global climate agreement is finalised in Paris in December 2015.

Of course, countries want to see the commitments others are making before they sign on the dotted line in Paris. They want to look under the bonnet at what others are putting forward, so they don’t buy a clunker. A key criterion in this evaluation will be whether each country’s target is consistent with a fair contribution to avoiding warming of 2oC. The IPCC’s conclusions will shape this global conversation.

The government is yet to outline what preparations Australia is making for its post-2020 target, or whether we will join other major emitters in advancing our initial target offer by April 2015 (as we have agreed to do in Warsaw last year).

The ALP has been no less committal, and continues a slip and slide on emission targets that started in 2009. Its policy to reduce emissions through an internationally linked carbon limit and price can achieve emission targets at low cost. However, the ALP keeps deferring a decision on its exact targets, despite initiating a number of independent expert reviews on what they should be. Those experts have recommended at least a 15% reduction in emissions by 2020.

It’s clear that neither the government nor the ALP want us to discuss what contribution Australia is going to make to the Paris agreement and what emission goals we should set post 2020. Other governments are asking politely now, but as the 2015 climate summit gets closer, these questions will get more pointed. This weekend’s report from the IPCC will just be the start.

source from: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/11/climate-targets-australia-cant-be-caught-napping-while-others-take-action

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Book: Living with Environmental Change (3 March 2014)

Living with Environmental Change

Waterworlds

Edited by Kirsten Hastrup, Cecilie Rubow

Routledge – 2014 – 304 pages

Description:

Climate change is a lived experience of changes in the environment, often destroying conventional forms of subsistence and production, creating new patterns of movement and connection, and transforming people’s imagined future.

This book explores how people across the world think about environmental change and how they act upon the perception of past, present and future opportunities. Drawing on the ethnographic fieldwork of expert authors, it sheds new light on the human experience of and social response to climate change by taking us from the Arctic to the Pacific, from the Southeast Indian Coastal zone to the West-African dry-lands and deserts, as well as to Peruvian mountain communities and cities.

Divided into four thematic parts - Water, Landscape, Technology, Time – this book uses rich photographic material to accompany the short texts and reflections in order to bring to life the human ingenuity and social responsibility of people in the face of new uncertainties. In an era of melting glaciers, drying lands, and rising seas, it shows how it is part and parcel of human life to take responsibility for the social community and take creative action on the basis of a localized understanding of the environment.

This highly original contribution to the anthropological study of climate change is a must-read for all those wanting to understand better what climate change means on the ground and interested in a sustainable future for the Earth.

Content:

Introduction Portraits Part 1 Water 1. Introduction Kirsten Hastrup 2. Narwhals and Navigators on the Arctic Sea Kirsten Hastrup 3. Ephemeral Tsunamis, Emotional Waves, and Enduring Islands Maria Louise B. Robertson 4. Sea Water to the Mountain Top: The Hydrological Cycle in Chivay, Peru Astrid B. Stensrud 5. Bursting Bodies of Water Mattias B. Rasmussen 6. When it Rains and the River Grows Astrid O. Andersen 7. The Elusive Pleasure of Rain in the Sahel Jonas Ø. Nielsen 8. Dams: Management versus Luck Mette F. Olwig 9. Water as Power and Destroyer Frank Sejersen 10. New Opportunities turning into Disaster Anette Reenberg 11. Coastal Gardens and their Magic Frida Hastrup 11. The Sprawled Way of Detergents Cecilie Rubow 12. Droughts: Complex Social Phenomena Christian Vium 13. Water Quantity vs. Water Quality Laura V. Rasmussen 14. Fixed and Fluid Waters: Mirroring the Arctic and the Pacific Kirsten Hastrup and Maria Louise B. Robertson Part 2. Technology 15. Introduction Cecilie Rubow 16. Sea Level and Coastal Protection Cecilie Rubow 17. Urbanizing Water in a Context of Scarcity Christian Vium 18. A Job-Machine Powered by Water Frank Sejersen 19. Life in the Shadow of a Water Tower Astrid O. Andersen 20. Waste and Water – Connected and Mixed Maria Louise B. Robertson 21. Inverted Watering Strategies in Senegal Anette Reenberg 22. Cobs as Technological Solutions Mette F. Olwig 23. The Imagined Water Pump Jonas Ø. Nielsen 24. Unpredictable Side Effects of New Technologies Laura V. Rasmussen 25. Scalable and Fluid Sprinklers Astrid B. Stensrud 26. Dry Technologies and Community Bureaucracies Mattias B. Rasmussen 27. A Life Jacket Story Frida Hastrup 28. Unpacking the Dog Sledge Kirsten Hastrup 29. Water Technologies. Mirroring Great Expectations in Greenland and Ghana Mette F. Olwig and Frank Sejersen Part 3. Landscape 30. Introduction Kirsten Hastrup 31. Hualca Hualca: Mountain Lord and Life Source Astrid B. Stensrud 32. Knowing Landscapes of Water in Kiribati Maria Louise B. Robertson 33. Borders at sea Frida Hastrup 34. Making Urban Landscapes – People, Water, Materials Astrid O. Andersen 35. Dreams, Water and the Remodelling of Place Frank Sejersen 36. Strategic Thinking: Changeable Usages of the Nigerien Landscape Anette Reenberg 37. Landscapes of Droughts and Floods on the Desert Margins Laura V. Rasmussen 38. A Landscape of Ice - Kirsten Hastrup 39. Walking Along Water Mattias B. Rasmussen 39. Old Water, Gardens and Prophetic Powers in the Sahel Jonas Ø. Nielsen 40. Can You See Climate Change in a Changing Environment? Cecilie Rubow 41. Mental Topographies Mette F. Olwig 42. Nomadic Landscapes and Ephemeral Resources - Christian Vium 43. Icons of Climate Change. Mirroring the Sahel and the Andes Astrid O. Andersen/Jonas Ø. Nielsen Part 4. Time 44. Introduction Cecilie Rubow 45. Glacial Time Kirsten Hastrup 46. Seasons, Timings, and the Rhythms of Life Mattias B. Rasmussen 47. Flexible Trajectories: Nomadic Pastoral Mobility Patterns Christian Vium 48. Still Life on the Shore Frida Hastrup 49. Appraising Change: A Question of Baseline Anette Reenberg 50. Litres per Second: Measuring the Water Flow Astrid B. Stensrud 51. New Scenarios and Unstable Temporalities Cecilie Rubow 52. Facing Reality - Managing/Imagining the Time Left on an Atoll Maria Louise B. Robertson 53. Anticipating Futures and the Rhythms of Water - Frank Sejersen 54. Slow versus Fast Changes in Sahelian Land Use Systems Laura V. Rasmussen 55. Three Calendars and the Test of Time in Northern Sahel Jonas Ø. Nielsen 56. "Packages" with Disparate Time Horizons Mette F. Olwig 57. Urban Talks of Climate and Weather Astrid O. Andersen 58. Times of Climate Change in Religion and Ethics. Mirroring the Andes and the Pacific Cecilie Rubow and Mattias B. Rasmussen

Reviews:

Is it possible to understand climate change through scientific theories, data and models? Hastrup and Rubow in this important book show why the answer is a decisive ‘no’. Drawing upon a rich and diverse array of sites around the world, Living with Environmental Change: Waterworlds offers dozens of compelling portraits of what climate change means to different people living in different places. This impressive collection of short essays shows why the anthropological study of climate change is at least as important as its scientific study. Rather than something to be feared, climate change is becoming part of the way in which humans and their cultures continually respond to the future and thereby re-shape it.

–Mike Hulme, King’s College London, UK

A unique contribution to the understanding of climate change as it appears to people all over the world. Using the framework of water, landscape, technology and climate it is a bold attempt to summarise a lot of human interest, experience and theory. It should be appreciated by anyone interested in the topic and not just by specialists.

–Jonathan Paul Marshall, University Technology Sydney, Australia

The Waterworlds team has produced a book that ‘shows rather than tells’ how communities experience climate change at a local level. By highlighting narratives from different parts of the world,they illuminate the complex pressures that emerge as shifts in climate initiate changes in social and material environments, as well as the creative adaptations that people are making in confronting these challenges.

–Veronica Strang, Durham University, UK

source from:

1. Climate Change
2. Environmental Anthropology
3. Cultural Geography
4. Environment & Society
5. Regional Anthropology
6. Indigenous Peoples
7. Globalisation
8. Development - Soc Sci
9. Social & Cultural Anthropology
10. Sustainable Development
11. Environmental Studies
12. Conservation - Environment Studies
13. Environmental Policy
14. Environmental Politics
15. Environmental Management
16. Environmental Issues
17. Environment & Gender
18. Biodiversity & Conservation
19. Asia Pacific Studies
20. African Studies
21. Asian Studies
22. Latin American & Hispanic Studies

source from: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415746670/

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Publication: Promoting an Integrated Approach to Climate Adaptation: Lessons from the coffee value chain in Uganda (22 March 2014)

IISD Publications Centre

Promoting an Integrated Approach to Climate Adaptation: Lessons from the coffee value chain in Uganda

» Julie Dekens, F. Bagamba, IISD, 2014.Paper, 12 pages, copyright: CDKNRelatively little has been done to date to support climate adaptation along entire value chains. Yet to secure sustainable investments in value chain development, decision-makers at all levels in the public and private sectors need to ensure that climate risks are managed not just at the production level, but also throughout the entire value chain, from production to marketing. This is particularly relevant for commodity-dependent developing countries, such as Uganda.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development collaborated with the Uganda Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Makerere University and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network during a six-month period in 2013 to provide a platform for dialogue on climate risk management among actors along the coffee value chain. This innovative new pilot initiative demonstrates how to take a more integrated approach to climate adaptation.
The analysis of climate impacts and responses along the value chain was based on a qualitative and participatory approach using Climate Dialogue Theatres—a method that uses drama to elucidate value chain actor perceptions of climate impacts and responses, and to promote adult learning on climate adaptation. The process mobilized a total of 80 participants representing farm input suppliers, coffee farmers, traders, processors, exporters and service providers from Rakai district (southwest) and Kampala.
The initiative shows that climate hazards such as droughts, floods and changing rainfall patterns already negatively affect all actors along the coffee value chain, but in different ways and to different extents. Coffee farmers and processors generally tend to be more vulnerable to climate hazards than traders, middlemen and exporters, due to their limited diversification, weak organizational capacities and the unfavourable policy environment. Most actors are already making some efforts to minimize the negative impacts of climate hazards on their activities, but not all responses are sustainable. The study also provides evidence that a lack of communication and trust between and among actors along the value chain particularly hampers climate adaptation.
The study recommends three win-win solutions along the coffee value chain: to improve networking and partnerships among key actors for climate adaptation by strengthening existing platforms and structures at all levels and exploring the role of incentives (e.g., standards); to develop new, flexible financial products to support climate-resilient and inclusive agro-value chains through capacity building and innovative public-private partnerships; and to increase investments in climate-resilient infrastructures such as roads, irrigation systems, storage facilities and telecommunications.

PDF

• English (PDF - 1.4 MB)

• Hard copy not available.

• If you are having difficulty viewing a PDF or Flash Flip-page, please click here.

source from: http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=2903

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Publication: A Review of The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty and Economics for a Warming World by William Nordhaus (22 March 2014)

IISD Publications Centre

A Review of The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty and Economics for a Warming World by William Nordhaus

» Robert Repetto, IISD, 2014.Commentary, copyright: IISD
In The Climate Casino, William Nordhaus covers the entire range of climate issues: the science, impacts and damages, mitigation possibilities, domestic and international policy options, and politics. The book’s main messages are that humans are almost certainly causing climate changes unprecedented during the emergence of civilization, mainly by burning fossil fuels, and that the resultant warming is a major threat to societies and the natural world. The only genuine solution is to reduce emissions by changing the practices of billions of people, businesses and governments around the world through market mechanisms, specifically by creating an economic penalty or “price” for carbon emissions. Robert Repetto’s review of Nordhaus’s ends with a strong recommendation for the even-handed exploration of the issues surrounding climate change.

PDF

• English (PDF - 397 KB)

• Hard copy not available.

• If you are having difficulty viewing a PDF or Flash Flip-page, please click here

source from: http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=2904

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Event: Live Online Chat - Supporting Women's Contribution to the Fight against Climate Change (26 March 2014)

Live Online Chat - Supporting Women's Contribution to the Fight against Climate Change

08:30-10:00 Manila time/00:30-02:00 GMT : 26 March 2014

Women play a front line role in managing energy, waste, and water resources and are uniquely positioned to contribute in the fight against climate change. Yet new research funded by ADB shows women are rarely considered in the disbursal of multi-million dollar global climate funds.

• In a changing climate finance landscape, how can we help women gain better access to finance and national institutions deliver it in a more effective, efficient and inclusive way?
• How can the Green Climate Fund and other sources of climate financing reach more women and help harness their potential to be agents of change for effective mitigation initiatives?

Join Social Development Specialist Linda Adams and Viet Nam Country Specialist Lauren Sorkin for a discussion on promoting climate finance for mitigation measures that benefit women.
When: 08:30-10:00 Manila time/00:30-02:00 GMT : 26 March 2014
Share your views in advance and send your questions by email or through Facebook or Twitter.
Access the live online chat on 26 March on the Asian Development Blog.

Lauren Sorkin

Lauren Sorkin is an environment, climate change and knowledge management specialist working in ADB's Viet Nam Resident Mission. Prior to joining ADB, she worked for the USAID Eco-Asia Clean Development and Climate Program, the European Commission and the Worldwatch Institute.

Linda Adams

Linda Adams is a Social Development Specialist in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. Prior to joining ADB she worked as social development consultant for various multilateral and bilateral development organizations and NGOs, including the World Bank, United Nations, DFID, USAID, SNV and CARE International.






source from: http://www.adb.org/news/events/live-online-chat-supporting-womens-contribution-fight-against-climate-change

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Book: Factor Five-Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity (13 March 2014)

Factor Five

Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity

By Ernst Ulrich von Weizsacker, Charlie Hargroves, Michael H. Smith, Cheryl Desha, Peter Stasinopoulos

Routledge – 2009 – 448 pages

Description:

When first published in 1997, Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use by renowned economic and engineering experts Ernst von Weizs?cker, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, transformed how economists, policy makers, engineers, entrepreneurs and business leaders thought about innovation and wealth creation. Through examples from a wide range of industrial sectors, the authors demonstrated how technical innovation could cut resource use in half while doubling wealth. Now twelve years on, with climate change at the top of the world agenda and the new economic giants of China and India needing ever more resources, there is a unique historic opportunity to scale up resources productivity and radically transform the global economy. And Factor Five is the book set to change all of this. Picking up where Factor Four left off, this new book examines the past 15 years of innovation in industry, technical innovation and policy. It shows how and where factor four gains have been made and how we can achieve greater factor five or 80%+ improvements in resource and energy productivity and how to roll them out on a global scale to retool our economic system, massively boost wealth for billions of people around the world and help solve the climate change crises. Spanning dozens of countries including China and India and examining innumerable cases of innovation in design, technology and policy, the authors leave no engineering and economic stone unturned in their quest for excellence. The book tackles sustainable development and climate change by providing in depth Factor 5 resource productivity studies of the following sectors: Buildings, Industry, Agriculture, Food and Hospitality, and Transportation. In its systematic approach to demonstrating how Factor 5 can be achieved, the book also provides an overview of energy/water nexus and energy/materials nexus efficiency opportunities across these sectors. Given that these sectors are responsible for virtually all energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions globally, this book is designed to guide everyone from individual households, businesses, industry sector groups to national governments in their efforts to achieve the IPCC recommended target of 80 per cent reductions to greenhouse gas emissions. It also looks at innovation in regulation to increase resource productivity, pricing, carbon trading, eco-taxation and permits and the role of international institutions and trade. The authors also explain exciting new concepts such as bio-mimicry and whole system design, as hallmarks for a new generation of technologies. The last part of the book explores transformative ideas such as a long term trajectory of gently rising energy and resource prices, and new concepts of well-being in a more equitable world. Like its predecessor this book is simply the most important work on the future of innovation, business, economics and policy and is top drawer reading for leaders across all sectors including business and industry, government, engineering and design and teaching. This book is full colour throughout. Published with The Natural Edge Project


Reviews:
"As economic, environmental, and security imperatives converge, advanced resource productivity is quickly rising to the top of the global agenda. But let's make no little plans: new technologies, artfully combined via integrative design, can now quintuple the work wrung from energy, water, and other resources. Building on our 1997 collaboration in Factor Four, and cross-pollinating with new findings from around the world, this exciting synthesis combines a powerful efficiency toolkit with farsighted policy insights - vital to ensure that efficiency's gains are not offset but reinforced to create a richer, fairer, safer, and cooler world." – Amory B. Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute, USA, Co-Author of 'Factor Four'
"This book shows once again, even to the most conservative critics, that not only are significant improvements possible, they are profitable, and when coupled with the understanding that reducing environmental devastation is critical, provide a vital message of hope for the future." – Hunter Lovins, President, Natural Capitalism Solutions, Co-Author of 'Factor Four'
"The fivefold increase of resource productivity described in this book is impressive, but perfectly feasible, and it would give the world a bit more time to learn how to adapt." – Dennis Meadows, Co-author Limits to Growth and 2009 Japan Prize Laureate
"The exciting thing about Factor Five is the combination of boldness and realism, precisely what is needed to get civilization back onto an economic path that is environmentally sustainable." – Lester R. Brown, President, Earth Policy Institute
"The potential to reduce emissions by 80% on an economically viable basis is good news for world leaders and their negotiators on climate change." – Dr R K Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
"Factor Five is the clearest non-partisan handbook on ecological renaissance available to date and should be read by every policymaker and practitioner." – Professor Calestous Juma, Harvard Kennedy School
"The arrival of Factor Five couldn't be more timely - or more significant." – Jonathon Porritt, Founding Director, Forum for the Future, UK
"The mounting concern about climate change has distracted attention from the fact that CO2 emissions are just part of the existential problem facing humanity. We need urgently to reduce our use of ALL the resources, not just fossil fuels. This new book is the best point of departure I know for doing that. The fivefold increase of resource productivity it describes is impressive, but perfectly feasible, and it would give the world a bit more time to learn how to adapt to ecological collapse. The book has two especially important innovations. The authors deal seriously with the rebound effect, and they base their scenarios on a long term trajectory of rising energy prices." – Dennis Meadows, Co-author Limits to Growth and 2009 Japan Prize Laureate
"Is it possible to imagine a world where we can actually phase out fossil fuels before the climate phases us out? It's now feasible by reading Factor Five." – Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University and author of Resilient Cities
"[There can be] no sustainable development without a sustainable development of companies. Factor Five provides compelling arguments and examples that sustainable business is achievable and profitable on a large scale and that companies play a key role in creating sustainable development. Factor Five confirms the crucial role of increasing eco-efficiency to foster sustainable development." – Stefan Schaltegger, Professor of Sustainability Management, Leuphana University, Germany
"The world needs radical eco-innovation to shape an opportunity out of the current crisis. This book provides excellent key examples in a systems perspective. Written by radical thinkers with a unique experience on how change can be managed, this book is a must-reading for both leaders and academics." – Prof. Dr. Raimund Bleischwitz, Wuppertal Institute, Co-Director 'Material Flows and Resource Management' Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges/Belgium
"Some may have ignored the message of Factor Four 15 years ago. We can no longer afford to ignore it, and should now embrace the strengthened message of Factor Five." –Professor Bedrich Moldan, Senator, Czech Republic, Former Chairman, European Environment Agency, and former Czechoslovak Environment Minister
"We are living in the most exciting era of human history. We are in the process of expanding our perspectives from a focus on short-term economic and materialistic growth to a whole-system approach with true, long-term happiness for all at its core. We are adding the need for 'sufficiency' to 'efficiency' and 'productivity' in our discussions on how to reduce human impacts on the Earth. Economy and ecology are not an 'either-or' trade-off. We now know that both are critical in every aspect of society. We must advance science and technology based on values and vision. The 'leapfrog' effect should be promoted in developing nations-not only in terms of technology but also in terms of lifestyles and societal values. Our urgent imperative is to figure out how to maximize happiness while minimizing environmental impacts. Factor Five provides the West and East alike with a compass to set our visions and to measure our progress." – Junko Edahiro, Environmental Affairs Journalist, co-Chief Executive, Japan for Sustainability
"Factor Five is the clearest non-partisan handbook on ecological renaissance available to date. It should be read by every policymaker and practitioner irrespective of their political position on global change." – Professor Calestous Juma, Harvard Kennedy School
"We all know what will happen if we go on producing and consuming the same way as in the twentieth century. But we don't really know how to produce and consume in the planet-friendly way. This is why we need this book. So urgently." – Brice Lalonde, French Climate Ambassador, former environment minister of France
"Strong economic signals and innovative technologies make a powerful combination, and are the best hope - indeed, the only hope - of the changes needed to protect the environment. Building on the robust foundation of Factor Four, Ernst von Weizsacker and his colleagues write an inspiring manifesto for change to reduce resource use while minimising the impact on living conditions. If their recipe is sometimes over-optimistic, that is a good fault. The environment needs some optimistic friends these days." – Frances Cairncross, Exeter College, Oxford (Author of Costing the Earth)
"Climate change represents the biggest challenge our generation has experienced. Factor Five shows us through sustainable business practices we can achieve positive environmental and economic outcomes. They are not mutually exclusive concepts - sustainability is just good business." – Dan Atkins, Managing Director, Shaper Group
"Even if the climate were not changing, the need for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable, regenerative systems would be just as urgent. This is a recipe book for a far more economically rational world, as well as a more sustainable one." – Professor Janis Birkeland, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and author of Positive Development
"Every lawyer and lobbyist who is asked to defend 'Business As Usual' should read Factor Five. This manual for re-engineering the future holds out both hope and profit in equal parts - if only we can get the political framework right, and align the lobbies with the interests of humanity." – Tom Spencer, Former Member of the European Parliament, Founder and Executive Director of the European Centre for Public Affairs, and Vice Chairman, Institute for Environmental Security
"Today, the world is faced by many challenges which all derive from the unsustainable practices with which we use our resources. Despite the most severe global economic crisis, resource prices have not returned to the low price levels of the 1990's, demonstrating that we have to reduce our 'resource obesity' as an economy and come to sustainable levels of resource consumption. A factor five improvement in resource efficiency is not only necessary, it is imperative for economies and companies to survive in a new resource and atmosphere-constrained world. This book not only clearly makes this point, but also shows that it is possible with what we know today. This key message makes this book essential reading." – Professor Ernst Worrell, Utrecht University, Lead Author, IPCC Working Group III, Fourth Assessment Report (2004 - 2007)
"Factor Five is about how to achieve the resource productivity gains that are necessary for the world to avoid a future with declining human wellbeing. It provides a clear way forward. In the past, the pursuit of efficiency gains has sometimes led to loss of resilience, resulting in unexpected and unwanted outcomes (like salinized irrigation systems). I applaud the Factor Five initiative, and urge it to embrace the equally important goal of maintaining resilience in the face of the looming global shocks confronting the world." – Dr Brian Walker, CSIRO Research Fellow, Resilience Alliance Program Director and Chair of Board
"Surely the ingenuity and creativity of human civilisation can rise above economic activity saddled with collateral damage? The opportunity to build new markets, new industries and new jobs while rebuilding ecosystem resilience is an exciting challenge. Are we up to the task of our future? Well, only if we act speedily. Read Factor Five and rejoice that there are still options. Then ask what role you can play to make sure the global effort arrives in time and at sufficient scale." – Fiona Wain, Chief Executive Officer, Environment Business Australia
"Factor Five links together the two pillars of future planetary sustainability: (1) implementation of 'five-times' as productive technologies and systems across resource intensive industries and (2) adoption of new political frameworks and understandings for promoting rapid, ethical and just transition away from a prosperity that creates unacceptable environmental damage. We now have the tools! Do we have the courage?" – Professor Mary E. Clark, Author of Contemporary Biology, Ariadne's Thread, and In Search of Human Nature
"Factor Five is an essential reference which shows companies who were inspired to action by An Inconvenient Truth how to radically reduce CO2 emissions AND reduce costs. It is one of the first books to feature the world's best practice sectoral case studies and then explain how they have achieved such large CO2 reductions cost effectively. It will help all CEOs identify significant cost saving opportunities and strategies to reduce risks in a carbon constrained future. We must all be committed to achieving significant greenhouse gas reductions - and Factor Five shows us how!" – Molly Harriss Olson, Founder National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development and Phillip Toyne, Director EcoFutures
"There is a paucity of publications which holistically address the needs seen in pursuing the goal of sustainable development in a realistic way. Factor Five is thus a welcome addition to the body of knowledge and literature available today, since it shows to both policy makers and society as a whole the various solutions and policy options which are available. All we need to do now is to implement them." – Professor Walter Leal Filho, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg)
"Factor Five is an important contribution to a growing corpus of work regarding energy and resource efficiency, work that is critical if the world is to meet the looming challenges of greenhouse gas emissions, sensible resource use, marketplace success, and global equity. Factor Five is especially appealing because it asks the right questions about what we do, why we do it, and, most importantly, how we do it. The authors have not only delved into the major resource-consuming systems we humans create, but also rigorously explore how they can be improved - by at least five times or more." – Cameron M. Burns, Senior Editor and Journalist, Rocky Mountain Institute
"Every day and all around us, you can see the earth's resources being wasted by us and our style of consumption, as if there is no tomorrow. Doing more with less has been around in many cultures for thousands of years, but not ours today, as you and me mostly don't do it at all. We all need to practice in our everyday work, business and home choices the immediate consideration and behaviours of using less in ways which allow both more and retention of a quality of life. If this new book, Factor Five, can provide us with inspiration from practical and meaningful examples then we better get on with it now, and start acting on its tips. Bring Factor Five into your consumption choices at home and at work, with your colleagues and friends and stop wasting our planet by 80% as if life on earth didn't count. Make Factor Five your first choice, not your last." – Greg Bruce, Executive Manager - Integrated Sustainability, City of Townsville
"The Climate Exchange concept has proved that once GHG reductions programs build momentum there is no limit to the innovation and creativity that can be harnessed within companies. And of course innovation will be a critical part of the solution. Factor Five shows the potential for major resource intensive sectors to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective manner. Whether through emissions trading or other market-based mechanisms, our experience at the Chicago Climate Exchange and the European Climate Exchange has made clear that companies that lead to confront the challenge will be leaders in their sectors." – Richard L. Sandor, Executive Chairman of Climate Exchange plc. (CLE.L), an AIM-listed company which owns the Chicago Climate Exchange, Chicago Climate Futures Exchange and the European Climate Exchange
"In an ever more crowded and production-oriented world, the need to reduce the global ecological footprint, and hence provide the 'space' for ecosystem services to support a healthy biosphere, is paramount. Factor Five, through its exploration of the interwoven roles of technology, regulatory and economic tools and socio-political frameworks in achieving greater resource use efficiency, provides the basis for transition to a lower footprint future. This is an important book not least because it provides clear directions for achieving a more secure and sustainable planetary future." Dr Ronnie Harding, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of New South Wales, Australia


Content:
Introduction by Ernst von Weizsacker - Factor 5: A Global Imperative Part I: A Whole System Approach to Factor 5, by The Natural Edge Project Preface to the Sector Studies 1. A Framework for Factor 5 2. The Buildings Sector 3. The Heavy Industry Sector 4. The Agricultural Sector 5. The Transport Sector Part II: Making it Happen, by Ernst von Weizs�cker 6. Regulation: The Visible Hand 7. Economic Instruments for the Environment, for Efficiency and for Renewable Energies 8. Addressing the Rebound Dilemma 9. A Long-Term Ecological Tax Reform 10. Balancing Public with Private Goods 11. Sufficiency in a Civilised World


Author Bio:
Professor Ernst von Weizsacker is Co-Chair, International Panel on Sustainable Resource Management. He is also the lead author of Factor Four (Earthscan 1998). Karlson Charlie Hargroves, Michael H. Smith, Peter Stasinopoulos and Cheryl Desha are members of The Natural Edge Project, a Sustainability Think-Tank hosted by Griffith University and the Australian National University.


Sujects:

1. Climate Change
2. Environmental Economics
3. Economics
4. Business, Management and Accounting
5. Environmental Management
6. Environment & Economics
7. Cities & Infrastructure (Urban Studies)
8. Energy

source from: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415848602/

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Book: Climate Change and Tourism in the Asia Pacific (14 March 2014)

Climate Change and Tourism in the Asia Pacific

Edited by Bruce Prideaux, Bob McKercher, Karen McNamara

Routledge – 2014 – 190 pages

Description:

Climate change will exert an enormous impact on all societies in the medium to long term. Tourism, as both a commercial activity and social phenomenon is not immune. To date, industry has been slow to recognise the scale of the threat posed by a changing climate on its operations and consumers have been extremely reluctant to modify their travel behaviours. The Asia Pacific region is well on the way to being the 21^st Century powerhouse of tourism, however the manner in which it develops will, in part, be determined by how the global community responds to climate change. This book examines climate change issues related to tourism in the Asia Pacific region. Chapters discuss demand and supply side issues, explore government policy responses and introduce several new adaptation models. The book also calls for a more effective linking of social science research with the scientific discourse to create long term resolution of and adaptation to this issue.

This book was published as a special issue of Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research.

Content:

1. Introduction 2. Climate Change and Tourism: An Overview 3. The Critical Relationship between Climate Change Awareness and Action: An Origin-Based Perspective 4. Responding to Climate Change: Australian Tourism Industry Perspectives on Current Challenges and Future Directions 5. Policy Environment for the Tourism Sector’s Adaptation to Climate Change in the South Pacific – The Case of Samoa 6. Operators’ Perceptions of Energy Use and Actual Saving Opportunities for Tourism Accommodation 7. Hospitality Industry Responses to Climate Change: A Benchmark Study of Taiwanese Tourist Hotels 8. Attitudes of Tourism Students to the Environment and Climate Change 9. Using a Regional Tourism Adaptation Framework to Determine Climate Change Adaptation Options for Victoria’s Surf Coast 10. Modelling a Tourism Response to Climate Change Using a Four Stage Problem Definition and Response Framework

Author Bio:

Bruce Prideaux is Professor of Marketing and Tourism Management at the Cairns campus of James Cook University. His interests include climate change issues, tourism transport issues, crisis management, marine tourism and rainforest tourism.
Bob McKercher is a professor of tourism in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has broad ranging research interests including sustainability in its broader sense, tourism development, spatial analysis of tourism and special interest tourism.
Karen McNamara is a Lecturer in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management at the University of the Queensland. Karen has largely worked in the Asia-Pacific region on areas including community-based climate change adaptation, human mobility, sustainable livelihoods and resilience.

Subjects:

1. Tourism and the Environment
2. Asia Pacific Studies
3. Environment & Society
4. The Tourism Industry
5. The Hospitality Industry
6. Environmental Studies
7. Tourism Behaviour

source from: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415740500/

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Event: Managing Our Planet: The State and Fate of the Arctic (19 March 2014)

Managing Our Planet: The State and Fate of the Arctic

March 19, 2014 // 3:00pm — 5:00pm

Event Co-sponsors: 

Environmental Change and Security Program

Canada Institute

Event Speakers

The Arctic is a sentinel of global warming where scientists predict and have observed the largest warming, melting and change, yet a region with planetary impact.   Join us for a discussion of the Arctic's many changes and their implications: Environmental changes in the form of melting sea ice, greening of the Arctic tundra, migrations of species; Challenges facing indigenous people and how they are responding and coping with this changing world; and how feedbacks in the climate system may mean that the Arctic becomes more than an indicator of climate change and perhaps a source of even more greenhouse gasses.  Our panel will help sort out the science from the speculation, and guide effective decisions for the future.
The “Managing Our Planet” seminar series is developed jointly by George Mason University, the Brazil Institute and the Environmental Change and Security Program. It is based on the premise that the impacts of humanity on the environment (including natural resources) are at a planetary scale, requiring planetary-scale solutions.
Photo courtesy of Flicrk user NASA Goddard.

Location: 

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

Directions to the Wilson Center

Event Speakers List: 

• David W. Titley //
  Professor of Practice, Department of Meteorology Director, Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk
• Igor Krupnik //
  Curator, Arctic and the North, National Museum of Natural History

• Miriam C. Jones //
  Research Geologist, Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center U.S. Geological Survey
• Paul Schopf //
  Professor of Oceanography, Associate Dean for Research and Computing, George Mason University

more information: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/managing-our-planet-the-state-and-fate-the-arctic

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India News: Get ready for more freaky weather (12 March 2014)

Get ready for more freaky weather

HYDERABAD: India will see more intense freak weather in the coming days, warned climate change scientists, days after hailstorms killed at least 10 people and wounded scores in Andhra Pradesh and similar storms destroyed crops across Karnataka and Maharashtra.

"The keyword is that these extreme events will increase under climate change and we need to gear up quickly to counter it before it's too late through drastic cuts on fossil fuel emissions and micro-level climate vulnerability assessment at local levels," says G Bala, a top climate change expert at the Indian Institute of Science's Divecha Centre for Climate Change in Bangalore.

In absence of micro-level assessment, officials are struggling to answer why places like Hyderabad got heavy rainfall in early March and sudden hailstorms destroyed crops over lakhs of acres in Warangal, Bidar in Karnataka or Nashik and Aurangabad in Maharashtra this week.

Scientists predict that the frequency of extreme weather is likely to increase with fewer rainy days, but more quantum of rainfall, because of greater intensity and severe drought hitting other places.

They say states should immediately carry out a micro-level study to assess the unpredictable weather as the country's fossil fuel emission is reaching alarming levels with no effort being made by governments to address climate change at local levels.

"Knowledge is very important and information about climate change must be provided to politicians and policymakers. But there is simply no information. Climate action plans prepared by some states lack quality that is based on science," says Bala.

India in 2009 said it will reduce its emissions intensity by 25% and agreed with other developed countries to keep global warming at a check and keep rate of growth in global temperature under 2 degrees in this century.

However, an international study led by Britain's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research released in November last year revealed India was among the biggest contributors to fossil fuel emissions in 2012 with carbon dioxide emissions rising by a whopping 7.7%, mostly from burning coal.

Scientists said last June's cloudburst in Uttarakhand, a severe cold wave in north India this year, heavy snowfall in Chevella last January, and Bangalore city recording 32 degree Celsius in January this year, are all extreme local weather phenomenon, which needs to be studied and analyzed properly.

"What needs to happen is a clear micro-level vulnerability assessment that can help us understand and prepare for these unusual weather," says Siddharth Pathak, an International policy coordinator at the Climate Action Network International.

Local scientists now calculate India's fossil fuel emission at 60% more than what it was 20 years ago, with the country all set to breach the 2 degree temperature rise mark in future.

"Temperatures are going to rise with higher intensity across the country unless steps are taken to reduce emissions drastically," says Raman Sukumar, an ecological scientist at Indian Institute of Science.

Back in Hyderabad, RV Subba Rao, a retired meteorologist, who is busy studying the weather charts, says the wind pattern has been different this March and thinks the state could have early monsoon.

"Climate change is occurring due to development of El Nino in the Pacific Ocean and the freaky weather condition as a result could continue till May this year," he says.

"More research on climate vulnerability would only help as this early March weather has been something that I have not seen here before," he says.


source from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Get-ready-for-more-freaky-weather/articleshow/31864510.cms

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UNEP News: Climate and Clean Air Coalition Marks Two Years of Rapid Growth in Action on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (18 Feb 2014)

Climate and Clean Air Coalition Marks Two Years of Rapid Growth in Action on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Tue, Feb 18, 2014

The Coalition works on a triple-benefit agenda: better health, increased crop yields and food security, and near-term climate protection.

Paris, 18 February 2014 - The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) this week celebrated two years of rapid growth, during which dozens of governments and organizations have worked together to target swift reductions in atmospheric pollutants that threaten human health and the environment. 

The CCAC was originally launched as a partnership between six countries and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), who all recognized that fast action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants-particularly methane and black carbon (soot)-has the potential to slow down the global warming expected by 2050 by as much as 0.5°C.

"The Coalition works on a triple-benefit agenda: better health, increased crop yields and food security, and near-term climate protection," said Helena Molin Valdes, Head of the CCAC Secretariat. "Black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are having an impact in all these fields, and we can have quick gains if we act now. And the solutions are all available-this is what the partners in the Coalition are focusing on."

"This year we will focus to a great degree on the health aspects of air quality and short-lived climate pollutants, together with our partner the World Health Organization, and, increasingly, with the agriculture sector," she added. "We have some very able partners to count on. As one of our founding ministers put it, 'We are a Coalition of the Working.' Anyone who is willing to act in that spirit is welcome to join us."

The coalition has gained momentum swiftly: 36 countries and 44 institutions and organizations are now lending their weight to tackling the issue, and a $50 million Trust Fund has been created to support and conduct emissions reduction work.

Concrete actions range from working with more than 30 cities to assess the growing problem of methane and black carbon emissions from municipal landfills to promoting more stringent vehicle emissions standards, with initial successes in Asia and Latin America.

"The Climate and Clean Air Coalition is a remarkable process of bringing science to policy, focusing on the multiple benefits of action, and creating initiatives that invite voluntary partnerships," said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. "I hope that as policymakers and actors across the world look at the success story of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, they will find the courage and optimism that we are indeed able to take science, turn it into policy recommendations, and form coalitions that are willing and able to act."

Other accomplishments of the CCAC over the last two years include:

• Ten transformative initiatives, including work to reduce short-lived climate pollutants in municipal solid waste, oil and gas, diesel engines, brick production, HFCs, cookstoves and agriculture, with additional progress in finance, regional SLCP assessments and national planning;
  
• Giving grants to entrepreneurs to develop cleaner cook stoves, for which capital investments are lower than for other black carbon-reduction measures;
  
• Showcasing alternative technologies to replace high-global-warming-potential HFCs;
  
• Gathering oil and gas companies under the umbrella of the CCAC Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, to be launched officially in 2014;
  
• Making tools available to national governments to assess the benefits of emission reductions and national planning;
  
• Conducting the first region-wide review of short-lived climate pollutants in Latin America;
  
• Beginning a public health campaign with the World Health Organization to make clear the connection between pollution and health. More than six million people die each year from indoor and outdoor air pollution, and many more are affected by non-communicable diseases from pollution;
  
• Helping to shape the policies and investment portfolios of the World Bank and other development banks.
  

CCAC partners welcomed the work of the coalition, and called on others to join and increase the momentum of a movement that offers much promise in protecting human health and mitigating climate change.

"In the past two years the CCAC has grown into an action-oriented coalition, and I am pleased that so many countries and organizations have joined efforts with the coalition", said Wilma Mansveld, Minister of Infrastructure and Environment for the Netherlands, one of CCAC's partner countries.

"In addressing short-lived climate pollutants, the CCAC has a lot to offer to the climate, health and food productivity," she added. "In our view, governments, industry, NGOs and citizens must all be part of the solution. I am enthusiastic about the cooperation of countries and institutions in concrete initiatives, complementary to our efforts under the climate regime. I look forward to continue to work with partners in progressively scaling up our activities."

About the CCAC

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants is a partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, the environmental community, and other members of civil society. The Coalition is government-led but is highly cooperative and voluntary. Short-lived climate pollutants are agents that have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere-a few days to a few decades-but also a warming influence on climate as well as, in many cases, detrimental impacts on human health, agriculture and ecosystems.

The newest partners to the Coalition include Morocco and the Russian Federation as state partners, and the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (Colombia), the GLOBE Foundation (Canada) and TERRE: Technology, Education, Research and Rehabilitation for the Environment (India) as non-state partners.

- See more at: http://www.unep.org/NewsCentre/default.aspx?DocumentID=2762&ArticleID=10712#sthash.8KV9ontZ.dpuf

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