Biblioteca

This analytical report focuses on the nexus water-energy, in particular water for energy, and examines the water requirements of power generation. Section 1 of the document examines the existing models, literature, and management frameworks on the nexus, as it seeks to determine what gaps exist. Section 2 describes the water demands of power generation in order to identify potential areas of future uncertainty and delineate areas where integrated energy-water management may improve the reliability of operating power plants and the viability of proposed schemes. Section 3 describes possible solutions that may alleviate challenges resulting from the link between energy and water by improving energy efficiency and integrating water resources management into energy planning.

This analytical report presents an overview of water use and irrigation across six countries to support agricultural and rural development decisions related to the sustainable use of water and land. The overview covers Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It follows the last publication on Central Asia released over a decade ago, and provides a regional analysis and chronological analysis of change over this time. The survey presents both country and transboundary river basin profiles. It relies on data from global indicators and national monitoring, and describes the legislative and institutional framework for water management. It outlines a series of climate change impacts, and describes the lingering effects of the Aral Sea crisis. The report also includes a comprehensive glossary of terms.

This analytical report provides an overview of how the North African region is coping with climate change. It highlights the vulnerability of the region and the potential impacts on key sectors. Significant efforts made by countries are underlined through analysis of mitigation and adaptation measures implemented. Several suggestions are made to guide government approach to clean development and a green economy.

This technical document explores the possibility of expanding the funding available for adaptation measures by raising a levy on international transport services. It first underlines the link between climate vulnerability and impact in Africa, it then reviews the international negotiations related to climate change. It proceeds to describe the impact of air and marine transport on the climate and argues for an increase in the funding available for adaptation. It finally proposes to raise a levy on international transport to fill the gap.

This technical document lays out the current state of knowledge regarding direct and indirect impacts of environmental factors on health across Africa. While there are many uncertainties in magnitudes of climate change, particularly with timing, the existing literature makes interesting observations about potential health impacts and the populations that could be most at risk. The document presents the potential impacts climate change may have on human health and analyses the various direct and indirect impacts that climate change will have on African populations. Due to the emerging nature of the issue and literature, there are many gaps in knowledge on the impacts climate change will have on human health.

The technical document outlines the major sources of international climate finance. It examines, to the extent that information is available, the level of finance that goes into supporting climate change activities in Africa. The paper provides a general assessment of existing financial mechanisms with a view to drawing lessons. Finally, it discusses questions of needs and vulnerability assessment in relation to climate change and financial support in Africa. It concludes that, while there are governance constraints at the global level, African countries need to work, with the support of developed countries, towards stimulating effective domestic demand for climate adaptation and mitigation funds and improving the absorptive capacity of African countries to effectively deploy climate funds.

This technical document reviews existing reserves and geographical distribution of fossil fuels across the African continent, reviews technical options for decarbonising efforts and provides policy recommendations that would enable the use of resources for the continent’s development efforts while ensuring minimisation of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

This technical document aims to propose different policy options that can help integrating renewable energies and climate change. Recommended policies and strategies include: (1) establishment of clear energy and climate change adaptation/mitigation policies in Africa; (2) implementation of renewable energy development-inducing policies; (3) creating conducive environments for private-public partnerships in clean energy development; (4) enhancement of broader regional and continental collaboration in energy and climate change policies; (5) accessing existing international funding sources for promoting less carbon-intensive energy technologies; and (6) implementation of energy portfolio diversification.

This technical documents stresses that energy is a critical input to advancing social and economic development and focuses on bioenergy. In particular, it outlines some of the technical, institutional and political considerations in the formulation of better and meaningful bioenergy strategies for serving Africa’s social and economic development agenda.

This technical document compiles various processes that can be used to promote proper Agricultural Water Management (AWM) in the context of climate change in Africa. It provides a variety of examples of good practices in AWM and then proposes discussions on the scale of agriculture, water productivity and climate proof crop varieties as well as policies and institutional frameworks for improving adaptation to climate change.

This technical document reviews the current status of agricultural production in Africa, the role of agriculture in the economies of African countries and in poverty reduction initiatives, the production trends and the public investments in the sector in recent years. It also assesses the vulnerability of the sector to the short term climate variability and long term effects of climate change. The nexus between agricultural policy and research and development in climate variability and climate change is also explored to identify existing knowledge gaps that prevent agricultural policy development from integrating climate variability and climate change information. The study concludes by making some recommendations vis-à-vis the role of African agriculture in international climate change negotiations.

This technical document provides an overview of the regional hydrogeological framework of Africa, the current state of knowledge of aquifer systems, their development potential and climate change impacts on groundwater, research gaps, and policy implications for meeting the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) of accessing clean water and livelihood goals in Africa.

This technical document presents the nexus of water resources and climate change in Africa. It uses the existing knowledge from relevant literature as well as the authors’ extensive work on water management in Africa. The document looks at major global drivers of change and focuses on water as a decisive natural capital that if managed and used effectively can contribute to economic growth, sustainable development and increased food and energy production in Africa.

This technical document focuses on the link between water and climate change in Africa, underlying the gaps and needs for the continent related to this issue. It first reviews the issue of climate change itself and its expected outcome for the continent, focusing on the expected impact on its water resources. It then provides an analysis of the knowledge gaps and needs of the continent for various themes, including policy, communication, technology and climate change modelling.

This technical document  focused on Africa looks at the coverage and distribution of climate data networks, mechanisms of rescuing the existing data and sharing/access, and look at innovative ways of enhancing the climate change understanding such as technologies, infrastructure and capacity building aspects.

This analytical report seeks to draw attention to the gender dimension of climate change and the need to integrate gender issues in climate change responses, with particular emphasis on women’s concerns. The report is divided into four sections. The first highlights the inevitability of climate change, its impact on the poor and vulnerable, its implications for sustainable development and the need for effective adaptation and mitigation measures. It also underscores how climate change would disproportionately affect women and what needs to be done to ensure that women’s concerns are adequately addressed. The second looks at how climate change would impact key climate sensitive sectors, the gender dimension of the impacts, and proffers recommendations on what should be done to reduce the vulnerability of women to these impacts, and enhance their adaptive capacities. The third provides an overview of financing and capacity building initiatives that could be accessed to fund adaptation and mitigation programmes and projects. The final section makes concluding remarks on the basis of the findings of the preceding sections.

This analytical report on international migration and development in Africa focuses on the migration and climate nexus as an important theme for development policy in Africa. It represents the United Nation’s Economic Commision for Africa’s (ECA) contribution to the policy dialogue on development in Africa. It aims to alert policy makers, planners, and researchers in Africa to this relatively neglected topic and to its importance for protecting both human welfare and the environment.

This activity report on the Water Partnership Programme (WPP) presents the results per region of the programme, namely: Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe and Central Asia; Latin America and Caribbean; Middle East and North Africa and South Asia. Among key contributions of the WPP in Africa, it cites improvements of data and analysis needed to promote the use of multi-purpose infrastructure to control floods, and provide food and energy to more people. In East Asia and the Pacific, countries were assisted in the integration of adaptation into projects to mitigate disaster risks from floods and droughts. In Europe and Central Asia, the WPP helped with the definition of sub-regional strategies for irrigation investments improving the region’s capacity to become a key global supplier of grain, fiber, vegetables and fruits.

This technical document aims to assess potential opportunities and options to promote a green economy, with a focus on key economic sectors set out by South Africa’s National Development Plan – Vision 2030. It presents a modelling exercise that compares a scenario of investments directed to “business-as-usual” (BAU) with scenarios of investments allocated to four critical sectors for a transition to a green economy in South Africa, namely: natural resource management, agriculture, transport and energy. The findings from this assessment using the parameters of economic growth, poverty, employment, resource efficiency and climate change, show that the strengthening of natural resource management and environmental protection is fundamental for sustained economic growth and well-being.

The purpose of this module is to provide in-depth information on how Climate Change and Environmental Education (CCEE) can be integrated into the design, implementation and practice of child-friendly schools. Many schools are incorporating CCEE in their curricula. While it is impossible to present a complete account of these efforts, this module includes the most relevant examples and illustrates the diversity of approaches.