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This analytical report looks at potential financing opportunities and costs of mitigation and adaptation in the urban context. Cities and the people who live in them account for more than 80 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, more than 80 percent of the overall annual global costs of adaptation to climate change are estimated to be borne by urban areas. In this document wide-ranging potential sources for finance for climate action are described, and suggestions are made for more-effective responses to climate investment challenges in cities.

This activity report introduces the Carbon Finance Assist Program and describes its 2009 goals and activities. Key lessons include the development of awareness and infrastructure in terms of carbon finance and of indicators to better reflect the performance parameters and establish better correlation between outputs and outcomes. In addition, it is important to build capacity and move implementation from a retail face-to-face approach to a more wholesaling approach where programs can be delivered through means such as virtual platforms and regional organizations.

This analytical report presents 11 lessons from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s experience in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Overall lessons stress the importance of financial incentives and governance to address this challenge. Other crucial elements include poverty reduction, national accountability and local implementation, and timing and sequencing to piloting REDD+. This note is offered in order to help facilitate communication among FCPF participants and observers, to create a better understanding of how much progress has been made to date, and to share ideas on how to address the challenges ahead.

This manual is a step-by-step guide on how to develop adaptation initiatives in developing countries. The guide helps to understand how to differentiate between a climate change adaptation and a traditional development initiative, and what key elements must be considered when developing and designing an adaptation initiative. It sets out the fundamental components of the design process, the approach to building stakeholder consensus, and key tools and methodologies. Throughout the text, features (such as useful tips, case studies and explanatory diagrams) aim to further facilitate practical implementation of the guidance.

This analytical report highlights that little progress has been made so far in reversing deforestation trends in most tropical and subtropical countries. The document introduces the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s activities in this regard. This partnership is designed to set the stage for a large-scale system of incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, providing a source of financing for the sustainable use of forest resources and biodiversity conservation, and for the more than 1.2 billion people who depend to varying degrees on forests for their livelihoods.

This technical document presents an assessment of the Carbon Market in 2008. The report emphasizes that the carbon market was one of the most visible result of early regulatory efforts to mitigate climate change. Its biggest success in 2008 was to send market signals for the price of mitigating carbon emissions. This, in turn, stimulated innovation and carbon abatement worldwide, as motivated individuals, communities, companies and governments cooperated to reduce emissions.

This technical document presents an assessment of the Carbon Market in 2009. The authors emphasize that this was a year of significant global changes that particularly affected the Carbon Market. This continued to grow in 2008, reaching a total value transacted of about US$126 billion (€86 billion) at the end of the year, double its 2007 value. However, it started to decline during the summer of 2009 because of lower oil and energy prices and a deteriorating economic outlook.

This technical report presents an assessment of the state of the Carbon Market in 2010. It unerlines that the carbon market endured its most challenging year to date in 2009 because of the global economic crisis that negatively impacted both the demand and supply sides of the market. As industrial output plummeted, the demand for carbon assets fell. On the supply side the financial crisis spurred financial institutions and private investors to deleverage and redirect their positions away from risky investments. As a result, many project developers found it impossible to lock in finance and project origination effectively ground to a halt.

This activity report presents the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s main activities and achievements in fiscal year 2010. The FCPF has served as a platform bringing together 50 countries and a broad representation of stakeholders, and for engaging these parties in the REDD+ agenda. This partnership has not only allowed participants to discuss opportunities and challenges to implementing REDD+ in their respective countries, but has also given them a space to put forward different solutions with the rich input of colleagues and forestry experts outside of the climate negotiations.

Using the CDM lens, this analytical report explores the potential for low-carbon energy projects for development in Sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, the study team identified technologies that could use the available approved CDM methodologies—many of which have already been applied successfully to projects in other developing regions—to both reduce GHG emissions and support energy development in the region via additional energy supply or more cost-effective use. This study reveals a large, diversified range of CDM opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa’s energy sector.

This analytical report identifies the barriers that project managers encountered in the implementation of projects to cut down cement industry greenhouse gas emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). The document develops recommendations to address these obstacles based on lessons learnt from the Indian cement sector. The study also looks at all existing project proposals and identifies new opportunities in four main areas for CO2 emissions reduction: energy efficiency, waste heat recovery, fuel switch with biomass, and clinker substitution with alternative raw materials.

This activity report introduces the Carbon Finance Assist Program and presents its 2010 goals and activities. The document describes the Program’s operational approach and capacity building component. In addition, it presents the Carbon Finance Assist 2010 project portfolio and its main achievements and lesson learned. 

This activity report introduces the Carbon Finance Assist Program and describes its 2008 goals and activities. The Program’s basic objective is to ensure that developing countries and the economies in transition are able to fully participate in the flexible mechanisms defined under the Kyoto Protocol. Several projects were implemented in 50 countries to support low carbon economic growth, including the promotion of innovative market instruments and the organization of regional carbon forums.

This analytical report provides an analysis of how Mexico could significantly reduce its GHG emissions without hindering economic growth. Beyond Mexico, the report provides useful lessons on low-cost interventions commonly employed in a variety of developing and industrial countries. With climate change at the forefront of global policy, low-carbon development is no longer an option for developing countries and middle-income nations like Mexico.

This analytical report presents the findings and the lessons learned from a case study on low carbon development in Brazil. It identifies opportunities to reduce GHG emissions while fostering economic development. Additionally, it provides technical inputs on ways to assess mitigation potential and conditions for low carbon development in key GHG emitting sectors of the economy. Also available in Portuguese.

This technical document identifies opportunities and related financial, technical, and policy requirements to move towards a low carbon growth path in six emerging economies. The experiences from these developing countries demonstrate the benefit of a structured engagement across a country’s economy on growth and GHG mitigation. The result is a framework for policy, planning, and decision making for GHG reduction investments and the promotion of a low-carbon economic system.

This analytical report presents the lessons generated from the analysis of development priorities and GHG mitigation opportunities in six emerging countries. The document stresses that there are multiple opportunities for developing countries to grow in a sustainable manner. The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) is assembling findings from these six country studies to develop knowledge products (e.g. modeling toolkits, best practices and interactive training countries) to support their exploration of low carbon growth opportunities.

This webpage features carbon maps showing how carbon stocks in Asia, Africa and Latin America overlap with biodiversity hot spots. The maps were produced with the aim of assisting governments in setting priorities for carbon investments. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched carbon mapping publications for Cambodia, Ecuador, Argentina, Nigeria and China on carbon, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

This policy document synthesizes the proposals made by Parties and observer organizations on ways to enhance the engagement of observer organizations. These include a range of proposals in relation to substantive inputs, admissions and access, registration and organizational issues, the role of constituencies, guidelines for participation, and practices taken from other processes. The report also reviews the background of observer engagement in the UNFCCC process, as well as previous consideration by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation of ways to enhance the effectiveness of this engagement.

This analytical report on the Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has been released by the UN Secretary-General on the occasion of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). This document considers trends in disasters and disaster risks, and coordination and guidance through the UNISDR.