Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Published online before print: May 13, 2013, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1215331110 / by Claudia M. Sticklera, Michael T. Coeb, Marcos H. Costac, Daniel C. Nepstada, David G. McGrathb, Livia C. P. Dias, Hermann O. Rodriguesf, and Britaldo S. Soares-Filhof http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/05/09/1215331110 Tropical rainforest regions have large hydropower generation potential that figures … Continue reading »
Tagged with Development …
Green Economy and Trade: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities
United Nations Environment Programme http://unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/GETReport/pdf/FullReport.pdf [From Press Release] …At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in June 2012, governments agreed to the outcome document The Future We Want, which makes a commitment to help countries implement clear and practical measures for transitioning to green economies. This document affirms international trade as an … Continue reading »
Putting the Pieces Together for Good Governance of REDD+: An Analysis of 32 REDD+ Country Readiness Proposals
World Resources Institute http://www.wri.org/publication/putting-the-pieces-together-for-good-governance-of-redd Developing countries are receiving new financial and technical support to design and implement programs that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degrada¬tion (referred to as REDD+). Reducing emissions from forest cover change requires transparent, accountable, inclusive, and coordinated systems and institutions to govern REDD+ programs. Two multilateral initiatives— the World Bank-administered … Continue reading »
The Role of Forests in a Future Climate Agreement
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ. / by Donna Lee http://hvrd.me/13RNof0 Forests can play a significant role in helping to avoid dangerous climate change, and a global agreement under the UNFCCC would be uniquely placed to support efforts in this regard. The rising global demand for agricultural and other land-based … Continue reading »
At Cross-purposes: Subsidies and Climate Compatible Investment
Overseas Development Institute / by Shelagh Whitley http://bit.ly/10QDRmr [Website] …Though climate finance aims to enable climate compatible development (CCD), this paper points out that, within developing countries, subsidies to fossil fuels (alone) currently dwarf any efforts toward CCD through climate finance. For the 42 developing countries where data are available on either subsidies or climate … Continue reading »
Population, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development in Africa
Population Action International |African Institute for Development Policy http://populationaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/PAI-AFIDEP.pdf Population growth is occurring more rapidly in Africa than in other regions of the world (figure 1), increasing vulnerability to climate change impacts and undermining sustainable development efforts on the continent. Indeed, most sub-Saharan development policies note that the region’s rapid population growth inhibits efforts to … Continue reading »
Globalization, Climate Change, and Human Health
New England Journal of Medicine (April 4, 2013; v368, p1335-1343; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1109341) / by Anthony J. McMichael http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1109341 The global scale, interconnectedness, and economic intensity of contemporary human activity are historically unprecedented, as are many of the consequent environmental and social changes. These global changes fundamentally influence patterns of human health, international health care, and … Continue reading »
A Climate Diplomacy Proposal: Carbon Pricing Consultations
Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard University / by Adele Morris, Warwick McKibbin, Peter Wilcoxen http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/22794/climate_diplomacy_proposal.html The United States has considerable tax administration and cap-and-trade expertise that could highlight potentially successful carbon pricing approaches. Although this experience is not climate-related, the United States deploys an efficient and highly compliant excise tax system, and it could assist … Continue reading »
FCPR–Forest Conservation Performance Rating for the Pan-Tropics
Center for Global Development http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1427012/ Forest Conservation Performance Rating (fCPR) is a system of color-coded ratings for tropical forest conservation performance that can be implemented for local areas, countries, regions, and the entire pan-tropics. The ratings reward tropical forest conservation in three dimensions: (1) progress toward elimination of tropical forest clearing by 2050; (2) progress … Continue reading »
Poor People’s Energy Outlook 2013
Practical Action http://cdn1.practicalaction.org/docs/ppeo-2013-practical-action.pdf [executive summary] [Dot Earth] After reading this Guardian article — “Energy poverty deprives 1 billion of adequate health care, says report” — I dug into the underlying analysis this morning. The report, by the British nonprofit group Practical Action, is a valuable effort to assess the full costs of inadequate energy access through … Continue reading »
