Bibliothèque

This policy document introduces the UNESCO Climate Change Initiative. This was launched by Director-General Irina Bokova in Copenhagen during the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and seeks to reinforce the scientific, mitigation and adaptation capacities of countries and communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The Initiative is based on four thematic areas: scientific, educational, environmental and ethical.

This policy document presents IFAD’s approach to address climate change and promote rural development in the context of increasing environmental threats. The goal of this strategy is to maximize IFAD’s impact on rural poverty in a changing climate. This is articulated in three statements of purpose: to support innovative approaches to helping smallholder producers – both women and men – build their resilience to climate change; to help smallholder farmers take advantage of available mitigation incentives and funding; and to inform a more coherent dialogue on climate change, rural development, agriculture and food security.

This analytical report explores potential synergies between food security, adaptation and climate change mitigation from land-based agricultural practices in developing countries, which could help to generate the multiple benefits needed to address the multiple demands placed on agriculture. It indicates promising mitigation options with synergies, options that involve trade-offs, possible options for required financing, and possible elements in designing country implementation processes.

This analytical report aims to show that climate change adaptation relies on the reduction and management of climate-related disaster risks and why both need to become central to development planning and investment. It builds on empirical evidence that illustrates how climate risks are constructed and which risks can be reduced cost-effectively.

This analytical report explains how the Adaptation Fund relates to poor women’s and men’s livelihoods, presents the status to date of gender and the Fund and recommends actions for the Adaptation Fund Executive Board, national and multilateral implementing agencies and civil society organizations to ensure that the Adaptation Fund responds to the needs of poor women and men equitably.

This analytical report explains how the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) relates to poor women’s and men’s livelihoods, presents the status to date of gender and the CIF, and recommends actions for the CIF Trust Fund Committees and Subcommittees, multilateral development banks and civil society organizations to ensuring that the CIF responds to the needs of poor women and men equitably.

This analytical report explains how the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) relates to poor women’s and men’s livelihoods, presents the status to date of gender and the CDM and suggests actions for the CDM Executive Board, parties to the Kyoto Protocol, designated national authorities, civil society representatives and project developers to make the CDM more gender-responsive in the future. The brief also spotlights CDM governance, a gender-aware CDM project in India and recommendations for ensuring women’s involvement in project planning.

This policy document outlines FAO’s priorities for its current and future work on climate change. FAO’s work focuses on adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sectors and advocates for better management of synergies and trade-offs among both. It also points to the areas where adaptation and mitigation activities merge with ongoing development efforts to improve sustainable use of natural resources for increased production, income, food security and rural development.

This activity report consists of a fact sheet presenting UN system’s concerted activities to support Governments and partners to develop a comprehensive and inclusive conceptual framework on the social dimensions of climate change, drawing on the expertise of the UN system in related fields. It also presents action to advocate a multidimensional approach to climate change policies to take into account the potential social co-benefits of effectively addressing climate change as well as opportunities to focus on the most vulnerable and to develop climate-related policies and measures to provide better living conditions in their societies as a whole.

This activity report consists of a fact sheet presenting UN system’s concerted activities to promote the transition to a green economy. Developing a green economy requires Governments to refocus their policies, investments and spending in high-impact sectors, such as energy, buildings, manufacturing, transportation, water services and waste management, while ensuring such others as agriculture, fisheries and forests are more sustainable.

This activity report consists of a fact sheet presenting UN system’s concerted activities to help people and communities in countries, especially those particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, to manage climate-related risks in their efforts to achieve sustainable socio-economic development.

This analytical report presents the concerted action taken by the UN system to assist people and communities in developing countries to adapt to climate change through: (i) risks, impacts and vulnerability assessment; (ii) adaptation planning, including creating an enabling environment; (iii) the implementation of adaptation measures, which includes UNISDR’s work on climate change related disaster risk reduction and risk sharing; (iv) awareness raising; and (v) knowledge sharing and facilitate learning. 

This activity report provides a synthesis of 37 actions in the areas of education, training and awareness-raising undertaken by Nairobi work programme partner organizations, and highlights the results obtained and lessons learned. It also intends to inform Parties of the knowledge and resources being provided by Nairobi work programme partners through the wide variety of adaptation actions in these areas.

This analytical report explores several questions concerning the complexity of designing and implementing REDD+ in three articles that look at the challenges around the application of free, prior and informed consent in stakeholder engagement for REDD+, the multiple ecosystem-based benefits of REDD+ beyond carbon, and measuring, reporting, verification and monitoring for REDD+.

This analytical report is the first biennial global assessment of disaster risk reduction prepared in context of the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). It provides a comprehensive review and analysis of the natural hazards menacing humanity and new and arresting evidence on how, where and why disaster risk is increasing globally. Drawing on detailed studies, the report urges a radical shift in development practices, and a major new emphasis on resilience and disaster planning.

Outreach is a multi-stakeholder magazine which is published daily at COP16.The purpose is to provide a platform for presenting the opinions of various stakeholders on different issues related to climate change.

This analytical report synthesizes the information provided by Parties and relevant organizations on the preparation and implementation of national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs), including on accessing funds from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). It provides a review of the status of implementation of the least developed countries work programme, NAPAs and the operation of the LDCF. It includes experiences gained and lessons learned in the preparation and implementation of NAPAs and on accessing funds from the LDCF, as well as challenges, barriers and possible areas for improvement.

This activity report provides a summary of the five regional training workshops on the implementation of national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs) conducted by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its agencies in the period 2009–2010. The five workshops focused on providing participants with hands-on training in the design and preparation of proposals for the implementation of adaptation projects identified in NAPAs, and in the subsequent submission of these proposals to the GEF to receive support under the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). In addition, the workshops addressed barriers and challenges faced by least developed country Parties in accessing funding under the LDCF.

This technical report spotlights the size of « emissions gap » between where countries might be in 2020 versus where the science indicates they need to be. According to the report, countries have the chance to reduce emissions to 49 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2020, 60% of the reductions needed to keep global temperatures under a 2ºC rise, if Copenhagen Accord pledges are fully met. This would leave a gap of around 5 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent to be bridged over the next decade. Reflecting on the results of the report, recommendations are provided.

The aim of the tool is to fill a knowledge gap within the CDM and provide CDM stakeholders with an overview of technologies, the applicable methodologies and a general perspective, through concentrated statistics of all CDM project types in any given sector. The tool aims to provide: easy access to a complete overview of all methodology options based on the specific project characteristics; easy access to general economic sector overviews, the relevant technologies applied in a given sector for emission reductions and statistics on CDM projects in the sector; and a discussion forum that provides a platform for practitioners to exchange experience on the practical application of methodologies for specific technologies.