Showing posts with label report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label report. Show all posts
24 March 2012
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Children sit with water jugs at a refugee camp near Mardan, in northwest Pakistan on May 9, 2009. (UPI Photo/Aajjad Ali Qureshi) 15 March 2012
Dire Poverty Falls Despite Global Slump, Report Finds
A World Bank report shows a broad reduction in extreme poverty — and indicates that the global recession, contrary to economists’ expectations, did not increase poverty in the developing world
By ANNIE LOWREY | The New York Times | March 6, 2012
Read more... Sphere: Related ContentAustralia's climate warming at alarming rate, report warns
Australia's climate is warming at an alarming rate and oceans around the continent have been rising by as much as a centimetre a year, according to a new government report
By Jonathan Pearlman | The Telegraph | 14 Mar 2012
A dust storm hits Bondi Beach back in 2009. According to the report Australia has recorded its 13 hottest years on record since 1997. Photo: EPA
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01 March 2012
Report: China 2030
The report "China 2030" was researched and written jointly by the World Bank, China's Ministry of Finance, and China's Development Research Center of the State Council
Council on Foreign Relations | February 27, 2012
Read more... Sphere: Related Content13 February 2012
Central African rainforests disappearred from climate change
Climate change combined with human activity caused the disappearance of tropical rainforests in central Africa 3,000 years ago, a study has found
The Economic Times | 12 FEB, 2012
11 February 2012
Making the Forest Sector Transparent
Since October 2008, Global Witness has been working on a project called “Making the Forest Sector Transparent“. The project has recently released its 2011 Annual Transparency Report, looking at the transparency record in seven countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, and the Democratic Republic of Congo
By Chris Lang | REDD-Monitor | 10th February 2012
15 January 2012
Power Plants Accounted for 72 Percent Of Greenhouse Gases Reported in 2010
Power plants emitted 2.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) in 2010, 72.3 percent of reported emissions nationwide, according to data released by the Environmental Protection Agency Jan. 11
By Andrew Childers and Avery Fellow | Daily Environment Report™ in Bloomberg News | January 12, 2012
Read more... Sphere: Related Content10 January 2012
The Reality of Extreme Weather, Part 1
Editor’s note: This report is the first in a two-part series chronicling recent findings about climate change. Part 2, to be published in our Jan. 19 issue, examines “What Can Be Done.” Gov. Jerry Brown requested the Scripps Institution of Oceanography meeting as part of a series of events focusing on climate change that the State of California is undertaking over the next several months with the goal of guiding contingency plans for extreme-weather disaster response.
By Lynne Friedmann | Del Mar Times | Jan 10, 2012
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Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, Senior Development Engineer Douglas Alden conducts fieldwork in the southern Sierra Nevada.
02 January 2012
Renewable Energy Recap: Brazil
Renewable energy markets in countries expand and shrink as policies, technologies and financial incentives change. This series of articles examines which technologies are flourishing where
By Luiz Claudio S. Campo and Lucio Teixeira, Ernst and Young | Renewable Energy World.com | January 2, 2012
Read more... Sphere: Related ContentAnalysis of China’s overseas investment policies – Report by Wenbin, H.; Wikes, A
In recent years, in line with China’s Going Out strategy announced in 2000, China’s overseas investment activities have increased greatly and at increasing rates. By the end of 2009, the total value of China’s outward foreign direct investment had reached US$5.6 billion
Center for Internatinal Forestry Research | Published in 2011
Read more... Sphere: Related ContentAnalysis of China’s overseas investment policies
Topic: policy, trade, investment
Geographic: China
Pages: 32p
Publisher: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia
Publication Year: 2011
Language: English
23 December 2011
Alternatives to carbon markets to finance REDD
At the beginning of the UN climate negotiations in Durban (COP17), FERN published a short report looking at carbon markets as a means of financing REDD. The briefing, which was signed on to by 28 organisations explains why carbon markets will not deliver for southern governments, forests and people
By Chris Lang | REDD-Monitor | 23rd December 2011
20 December 2011
Adaptation to Climate Change
OECD documents on Adaptation to Climate Change
OECD | December 19, 2011
Read more... Sphere: Related Content14 December 2011
Biofuel aspirations spur 'land grabs' that hurt the poor, says report
More than 40 million hectares of land has been acquired in developing countries for biofuel production in the past decade, reports a new study published by the International Land Coalition
mongabay.com | December 14, 2011
08 December 2011
What’s wrong with forest carbon finance? The Green Belt Movement lists the problems
Last week, at a side event in Durban, the Green Belt Movement presented what they have learned so far about forest carbon finance. A paperreleased at the side event explains the problems with relying on carbon trading to finance forest projects, with important lessons for REDD
By Chris Lang | REDD-Monitor | 7th December 2011
Read more... Sphere: Related Content30 October 2011
The Forest Investment Program and REDD: update from the Bretton Woods Project
A new report from the Bretton Woods Project monitors the latest news about the Climate Investment Funds. The report notes several on-going concerns with the Forest Investment Program: about a proposed independent review of investment plans and the investment plans produced for Burkino Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo (both of which have been approved)
By Chris Lang | REDD-Monitor | 28th October 2011
Read more... Sphere: Related Content24 October 2011
Independent climate study comes to same conclusion as world's climatologists
An 'independent' climate study known as the Berkeley Earth Project has re-confirmed decades of research on climate change. Undertaken largely by physicists, the study, which approached temperature data in a new way, confirms the long-standing science behind a warming world, while negating a number of criticisms put forward by climate skeptics
Jeremy Hance | mongabay.com | October 23, 2011
Read more... Sphere: Related Content30 March 2010
Mapping the landscape of NGOs working to protect forests
A new report published by the UK Environmental Funders Network maps out the civil society organizations working to address deforestation
mongabay.com | March 29, 2010
The report, 'Saving the Rainforests: Civil Society Mapping', profiles 65 environmental and social justice organizations, enabling readers to identify gaps and overlaps in the landscape of groups working to reduce global forest loss. The report specifically aims to inform grantmakers providing funds to civil society organizations.
“The mapping was inspired by the observation that good philanthropy is similar to acupuncture – philanthropic grants may be small in size compared to the body politic, but when inserted in the right place they can have enormous impact," said Harriet Williams, lead author of the report. "The methodology that we’re developing is applicable to any complex environmental issue."
The report — together with a map, published separately — classifies NGOs into nine "storylines" to categorize organizational culture: "Knowledge Builders", "Peoples Heroes", "Institution Watchers", "Finance Pioneers", "Standard Setters", "Parks Rangers", "Brand Attackers", "Critical Friends", and "Consumer Guides". For example, the report distinguishes between groups that often work with business ("Critical Friends") to those who expose environmental transgressors amoung corporations ("Brand Attackers"). The map evaluates the stance of various organizations on issues including carbon offsets, REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), and certification schemes for forest products.
“Although there is broad consensus on the urgency of protecting tropical forests, and the critical role of NGOs in the collective effort, we actually know very little about the non-profit landscape: what are the specializations, and who is doing what?" Bernard Mercer of the Forests Philanthropy Action Network said in a statement. "This mapping project is a terrific contribution for funders who want to support work in this area but are perplexed on where the challenges and opportunities lie."
"With so many different approaches and roles among forest focused NGOs, it is wonderful to have a useful map of some of the players and approaches," added David Rothschild, Senior Programme Officer at the Skoll Foundation, in the statement. "The presentation encourages strategic thinking about many of the inputs needed for increased impact, and how we are going to get there."
Harriet Williams and Jon Cracknell. Saving the Rainforests: Civil Society Mapping. UK Environmental Funders Network. MARCH 2010
Copyright mongabay 2010
Read more... Sphere: Related Content25 March 2010
Global deforestation slowed over last decade: U.N.
Deforestation slowed in the last decade, in the first sign that global conservation efforts are bearing fruit, but an area the size of Costa Rica is still being destroyed each year, the United Nations said on Thursday
Daniel Flynn | Reuters | Mar 24, 2010
A report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that about 13 million hectares of forest a year were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes in 2000- 2010, down from 16 million a year in the previous decade.
The net loss of forest area slowed to 5.2 million a year between 2000 and 2010. That was still an area the size of Costa Rica, but down from 8.3 million a year in the 1990s thanks largely to ambitious tree planting programs in Asia.
Efforts by major offenders such as Indonesia and Brazil to reduce deforestation also helped reverse the trend.
"For the first time, we are able to show that the rate of deforestation has decreased globally as a result of concerted efforts taken both at local and international level," said Eduardo Rojas, assistant director of FAO's Forestry Department.
The FAO said tougher legislation had helped curb destruction of woodland. Seventy-six countries have issued or updated forest policies since 2000, many of them allocating woodland to local communities for sustainable development.
The proportion of forests contained in national parks and other legally-protected areas has climbed to 13 percent, having risen by 94 million hectares since 1990.
Forests cover just over 4 billion hectares or 31 percent of the world's total land area. They store some 289 gigatons of carbon -- more than all the carbon in the atmosphere -- but this decreased by 0.5 gigatons a year during 2000-2010.
"A lower deforestation rate and the establishment of new forests have helped bring down the high level of carbon emissions from forests caused by deforestation," said Mette Loyche Wilkie, coordinator of FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010.
BEYOND 2020?
However, Wilkie warned tree planting programs in China, India and Vietnam, accounting for most of the recent gains in forest area, would end by 2020. She urged governments to quickly put in place measures to slow deforestation.
"Without such interventions, we risk a sudden return to high rates of net forest loss and of carbon emissions from forests, which we had in the 1990s," Wilkie said.
Indonesia sharply reduced the speed of its deforestation to 0.5 million hectares a year between 2000 and 2010, versus 1.9 million a year during the previous decade. Brazil lowered its own figure to 2.6 million from 2.9 million hectares.
South America, nonetheless, had the highest regional level of net deforestation at 4 million hectares a year, followed by Africa with 3.4 million hectares.
Asia, by contrast, expanded its forest area by a total of close to 2.2 million hectares a year, thanks to the reforestation in China, India and Vietnam which added 4 million hectares a year of fresh woodland.
In North and Central America, the forest area remained fairly stable, while in Europe it continued to expand, although at a slower rate than previously.
(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
© Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Read more... Sphere: Related Content14 March 2010
UN climate change claims on rainforests were wrong, study suggests
The United Nations' climate change panel is facing fresh criticism after new research contradicted the organisation's claims about the devastating effect climate change could have on the Amazon rainforest
By Richard Gray | Telegraph.co.uk | 13 Mar 2010
A new study, funded by Nasa, has found that the most serious drought in the Amazon for more than a century had little impact on the rainforest's vegetation Photo: REX
A new study, funded by Nasa, has found that the most serious drought in the Amazon for more than a century had little impact on the rainforest's vegetation.
The findings appear to disprove claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that up to 40% of the Amazon rainforest could react drastically to even a small reduction in rainfall and could see the trees replaced by tropical grassland.
The IPCC has already faced intense criticism for using a report by environmental lobby group WWF as the basis for its claim, which in turn had failed to cite the original source of the research.
Scientists have now spoken out against the 40% figure contained in the IPCC report and say that recent research is suggesting that the rainforest may be more resilient to climate change than had been previously thought.
It comes just days after the UN announced an independent review into the panel's procedures following a series of scandals over its most recent report which was found to contain factual errors and claims which were not based on rigorous scientific research.
The InterAcademy Council, which is the umbrella organisation for the national academies of science around the world, will examine how the IPCC's reports are compiled and communicated.
Dr Jose Marengo, a climate scientist with the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research and a member of the IPCC, said the latest study on the Amazon's response to drought highlighted the errors in the previous claims.
He said: "The way the WWF report calculated this 40% was totally wrong, while (the new) calculations are by far more reliable and correct."
The new study, conducted by researchers at Boston University and published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, used satellite data of the Amazon rainforest to study the effects of a major drought in 2005 when rainfall fell to the lowest level in living memory.
The drought saw rivers and lakes dry up, causing towns and cities that rely upon water flowing out of the rainforest to suffer severe water shortages.
But the researchers found no major changes in the levels of vegetation and greenery in the forests despite the drought.
They claim this contradicts the statements made in the IPCC's 2007 assessment report on climate change.
It said: "Up to 40 % of the Amazonian forests could react drastically to even a slight reduction in precipitation; this means that the tropical vegetation, hydrology and climate system in South America could change very rapidly to another steady state.
"It is more probably that forests will be replaced by ecosystems that have more resistance to multiple stresses caused by temperature increase, droughts and fires, such as tropical savannahs."
Professor Ranga Myneni, from the climate and vegitation research group at Boston University who was the senior researcher in the study, said criticised the IPCC’s claim that a “even a slight reduction in precipitation” would cause drastic changes in the rainforest.
He said: “There was more than a slight reduction in precipitation during the drought of 2005. It is that particular claim of the IPCC that our analysis rejects.”
Sangram Ganguly, a scientist from the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in California and one of the researchers who conducted the new study, said: "Our results certainly do not indicate such extreme sensitivity to reductions in rainfall."
Dr Arindam Samanta, the lead author of the study, said: "We found no big differences in the greenness levels of these forests between drought and non-drought years, which suggests that these forests may be more tolerant of droughts than we previously thought."
The IPCC has been left embarrassed after it emerged the panel had quoted unsubstantiated and erroneous claims about the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and had also used information from student dissertations and magazine articles to compile its report.
The chair of the panel, Rajendra Pachauri has come under mounting pressure to resign following the scandal and questions over his ability to lead the organisation.
Dr Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF UK, said: "The WWF report from 2000 on the threat of wildfires in Amazon was based on respected sources and peer-reviewed literature available at the time.
"Subsequent peer-reviewed literature has confirmed that the Amazon faces serious risks from climate change. This new study is a welcome addition to the growing body of evidence."
Dr Simon Lewis, an expert on forest die back at Leeds University and a research fellow at the Royal Society, said the Boston University study had helped to clear up debate about how the rainforest responded to short-term drought.
But he added that long-term reductions in rainfall might have a very different impact.
No one was available to respond at the IPCC yesterday.
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2010
Read more... Sphere: Related Content06 March 2010
Humans must be to blame for climate change, say scientists
No possible natural phenomenon could have caused the huge rise in temperatures experienced in last half-century
By Steve Connor, Science Editor | The Independent | 5 March 2010
Increased warming has recently been documented in Antarctica. BARCROFT MEDIA
Climate scientists have delivered a powerful riposte to their sceptical critics with a study that strengthens the case for saying global warming is largely the result of man-made emissions of greenhouse gases.
The researchers found that no other possible natural phenomenon, such as volcanic eruptions or variations in the activity of the Sun, could explain the significant warming of the planet over the past half century as recorded on every continent including Antarctica.
It is only when the warming effect of emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from human activity is considered that it is possible to explain why global average temperatures have risen so significantly since the middle of the 20th century.
The study updates a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has discovered several new elements of the global climate which have been influenced by humans, such as an increasing amount of water vapour evaporating from the warmer oceans into the atmosphere and a corresponding increase in the saltiness of the sea.
"There is an increasingly remote possibility that climate change is dominated by natural rather than anthropogenic [man-made] factors," the scientists concluded in their study, published in the journal Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews of Climate Change.
Scientific observations based on temperature recordings on every continent, as well as thermometer readings on, in and above the oceans, leave "little room for doubt" that the earth is warming, but trying to attribute a cause for this global warming is not possible unless man-made activity in the form of carbon dioxide emissions is taken into account, the scientists said.
The review, led by Peter Stott of the Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter, found the "fingerprints" of human activity on many different aspects of climate change, including the overall warming of the Antarctic recently documented for the first time by other researchers.
"The observations cannot be explained by natural factors," Dr Stott said. Since 1980, the Earth has warmed by about 0.5C and is now warming at a rate of about 0.16C per decade, with even higher rates at higher latitudes such as in the Arctic.
"The fingerprint of human influence has been detected in many different aspects of observed climate change. We've seen it in temperature, and increases in atmospheric humidity, we've seen it in salinity changes. We've seen it in reductions in Arctic sea ice and changing rainfall patterns," Dr Stott said. "What we see here are observations consistent with a warming world. This wealth of evidence we have now shows there is an increasingly remote possibility of climate change being dominated by natural factors rather than human factors."
He dismissed suggestions that variations in solar activity – the intensity of the Sun – could explain warming patterns over the past few decades. If the Sun was responsible then both the upper and lower atmosphere would be getting warmer, instead of just the lower atmosphere as predicted by computer models of greenhouse gas warming.
He also said that more water vapour is evaporating into the atmosphere as a result of warmer oceans and this is driving the water cycle harder, causing wetter areas in northern latitudes such as Britain to get wetter and drier areas in tropical regions such as East Africa to get drier.
Asked whether climate sceptics would agree with the findings, Dr Stott said: "I just hope people look at the evidence of how the climate is changing in such a systematic way. I hope they make up their minds on the scientific evidence."
©independent.co.uk
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