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This technical document provides an assessment of  capacity building needs in 33 developing countries, based on a survey of views and perceptions of local stakeholders. Reviews of the questionnaires and the interviews are summarized in the four regional chapters (Africa, Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Middle East). A fifth chapter provides a detailed summary of the 33 national reports. Finally the concluding chapter offers thoughts on the way forward regarding capacity-building issues in developing countries. The most important conclusion of this assessment is that increased emphasis on capacity-building activities is a key component to a successful implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in developing countries.

This technical document presents the results of an independent evaluation of the role and contribution of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in environment and energy conducted by the UNDP Evaluation Office. The main purpose of this evaluation is to assess UNDP’s positioning and contributions to managing environment and energy for sustainable development. The first part of the document describes how UNDP sets goals and objectives and how performance is reported on. The second part contains the evaluative evidence and findings related to activities and programmes at the country, headquarters and regional levels. The evaluation concludes with a number of recommendations.

This analytical report discusses key aspects of climate change adaptation and provides policymakers with a starting point, including background information and questions for further reflection. In particular, the paper focuses on: 1) the contours of the adaptation issue, as well as its relationship to other important issues; 2) the consideration of adaptation within the current international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including the issues relating to adaptation finance; 3) the challenge of approaching adaptation at every level in a country: community, local, regional, sectoral and national.

This manual aims to assist energy law draftsmen in drafting legislative provisions for promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy, particularly their environmental dimensions. It describes the main environmental and implementation issues associated with efficiency and renewable energy resources and presents legislative options from both developed and developing countries for dealing with them, including sample excerpts from legislation.The focus is on national legislation, but encompasses national constitutional provisions, regulations and state and local laws where they are the key determinants of the promotion of efficiency and renewable resources. The handbook is designed to be a user-friendly guide rather than a technical compendium.

This technical document aims to harmonize the methodology for calculating all direct and indirect  greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from postal activities. The Standard is intended to be a tool for postal operators, organizations and associations worldwide to design and implement their own specific guidance, keeping this document as a support in order to set up a GHG calculation methodology. The document features: the main principles for quantitative reporting, the explanation of the indicators’ calculation and the references needed to calculate CO2 emissions.

This manual is an explanatory guide to the method used by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) to identify all possible sources of emissions resulting from postal activities. It describes the procedures to be followed in order to participate in and contribute to the UPU inventory. It  also enables the harmonization of the data received, the calculations made and, consequently, the results obtained. The manual aims to assist UPU members in the first phase of the sector-wide survey of greenhouse gas emissions. The guide can also be used by all operators wishing to draw up an inventory and then reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

This analytical report aims to set out some of the best practices followed by postal operators in the area of sustainable development. It clearly points out what measures are being taken by the postal operators around the world in the various processes of their activities and the effects generated. By disseminating these success stories, the publication serves as a reference for postal operators when they implement environmental activities.

This activity report presents the issues addressed during the NAPA Technical Workshop for Asia LDCs held on 31 October-2 November 2007 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A first section of the report features the proceedings, including workshop structure, logistics, agenda and participants. The second one offers a narrative of the activities and a series of recommended action items and ongoing work that resulted from the workshop.  The Annex includes the workshop exercises, a narrative version of the background documentation and presentations that were used over the course of the workshop.

This analytical report is dedicated to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). It presents a framework for understanding the linkages between REDD and poverty, and conducts an initial analysis of the poverty implications of REDD. It highlights that the potential contribution to rural poverty reduction could be immense, but REDD mechanisms may also entail new risks.

This technical document brings together key reports from the investment world that demonstrate best practice on climate change, identifying the risks and opportunities, assessing how companies are dealing with them, and translating their performance and intentions into future financial returns. The emphasis is on corporate sector assets, but real estate is clearly an asset class sensitive to climate change and leading investors are active on this front as well. 

This analytical report serves as a sequel to the Freshfields Report. This first report concluded that integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into an investment analysis is clearly permissible and is arguably required in all jurisdictions examined. Accordingly, this second publication provides a legal roadmap for fiduciaries looking for concrete steps to operationalise their commitment to responsible investment.

This analytical report describes the Marrakech Process. This is a dynamic multi-stakeholder platform that supports the implementation of projects and programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) at the regional and national levels and the elaboration of a Global Framework for Action on SCP. The publication defines the concept of SCP, provides brief answers and overviews of each of the activities of the Marrakech Process (international and regional meetings, task forces, forums with business and civil society, etc) and highlights the outcomes and progress achieved. It also explains SCP contributions to poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation.

This analytical report is a youth summary of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR) on Climate Change 2007/2008 “Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World”. The document discusses climate change and its impact on the environment and human development and call young people to take action against climate change.

This video features a presentation by Dr. Tim Kelly, Head of the Standardization Policy Division, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), titled “Climate change: ICTs to the rescue?”, presented during the first session of the United Nations Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ITU)/Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan (MIC) Symposium on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Climate Change held on 15-16 April 2008 in Kyoto, Japan.

This video features an interview with Malcom Johnson, Director of the Standardization Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) talking about the increasing emphasis on green Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and ICT standards for climate change.

This video features a side-event on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Climate Change organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in partnership with the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) during the UNFCCC climate change talks in Barcelona, Spain, in 2009.  During the event, top decision-makers from governments, international organisations and industry shared their views and solutions on how ICTs can help address climate change.

This video features a summary of climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark during COP15 with a special focus on international and communications technologies (ICTs). These can be part of  the solution to combat climate change as they are particularly useful for monitoring and mitigation activities. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness on the ICTs sector and its potential among the delegates and include it in the final text of the negotiations.

This video includes an interview with Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) discussing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Climate Change during COP 15. He highlights that technology can provide powerful tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that it is essential to support effective and innovative climate change solutions.

This analytical report looks at the potential role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) play at different stages of the process of climate change, from contributing to global warming, to monitoring it, to mitigating its impact on the most vulnerable parts of the globe, to developing long-term solutions, both directly in the ICT sector and in other sectors like energy, transport, buildings etc. The final sections examine what the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is already doing in this field and describe strategic options for the future.

This analytical report highlights that Next-Generation Networks (NGNs) could bring about a substantial reduction in power consumption and thereby reduce the telecommunication sector’s contribution to global warming. It presents an overview of the main characteristics of NGNs and looks at how they can minimize power consumption of network, transmission and end-user equipment, as well as in data centres. It also examines the energy savings that can be indirectly obtained from greater NGN usage, such as remote collaboration, and highlights the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standardization work in the field of NGNs and climate change.