Category: Climate Change

By Ana Maria Currea* | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint

NEW YORK (IDN | UNDP) – It is well established that the poor are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and that women, who account for the majority of the world’s poor, are disproportionately impacted.

Why is this fact so important? And what are we doing to address it?

Women farmers account for 45 to 80 percent of all food production in developing countries. This means that any changes in climate – such as droughts and floods –affect their livelihoods, incomes and food security more than they do men.

By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – Ahead of a landmark United Nations climate conference beginning on November 30 in Paris, two international organizations are warning that unless appropriate steps are taken, the planet would become “more dangerous and inhospitable for future generations” and poverty stretch its wings further by 2030.

By Rodrigo Pérez | IDN-InDepthNews Report

QUITO (IDN) – A group of major international organisations has issued a call for strong and coordinated communications initiatives to support action on climate change.

The UN-backed Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme (REEEP) and Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) together with the Overseas Development Institute, Climate and Development Knowledge Network and dozens more are backing the launch of the ‘Climate Knowledge Brokers’ Manifesto’, which lists the key principles for communicating climate change effectively and so precipitating a step change in society’s response to the climate crisis.

By e360 digest | Interview with IPCC Chairman

NEW HAVEN (IDN) – This month, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report on steps the world can take to avoid the worst impacts of future climate change. The report by the panel’s Working Group III was the final interim report before the IPCC’s major Fifth Assessment Report due to be released in October. Yale Environment 360 asked Rajendra K. Pachauri, who has served as IPCC chairman since 2002, five questions about the latest report and about the prospects that the international community will finally take decisive action to address climate change.

1. The most recent IPCC report suggests that the political will to tackle the climate issue seems to be growing around the world. Can you give some specific examples of that?

There is nothing that I am aware of in the Working Group III report that speaks to the political will to tackle climate change. But I can say that in my personal view I have been encouraged by a growing level of awareness and concern about climate change among senior government officials, including presidents and cabinet ministers, across the globe.

By Martin Khor* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

GENEVA (IDN | South Centre) – The UN Climate Conference held in Warsaw has set up a new international mechanism to help developing countries affected by loss and damage from climate change, such as the Philippines typhoon.

The setting up of a loss and damage international mechanism was the major achievement of the 19th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP19) that ended on November 23, a full day after its scheduled conclusion.

By Jaya Ramachandran & Anna Rutkowski
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN | WARSAW (IDN) – Coal currently provides 40 percent of the world’s electricity and has been the fastest-growing global energy source since the year 2000, reports the International Energy Agency (IEA). Its most recent World Energy Outlook finds that while renewables and natural gas generation will grow rapidly, coal is still projected to be the dominant source of electricity through 2035.

As the UN climate change conference COP 19 entered second week on November 18, Greenpeace unfurled a banner on the front of Poland’s Ministry of Economy, protesting against the World Coal Association’s International Coal and Climate Summit taking place inside. The banner read: “Who Rules Poland? Coal Industry or the People?”

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WARSAW (IDN) – They are not in the limelight. But experts are drawing attention to the human health dimension of climate change at the global climate change talks in Poland’s capital Warsaw scheduled to conclude on November 22.

Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum of the World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered “five health messages” for COP 19, the 19th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A scientist and team leader in WHO’s Climate Change and Health Unit, Dr Campbell-Lendrum says:

By Jutta Wolf | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – Dangers are lurking all around but appropriate action can help avoid perilous levels of climate change. Much hope is therefore pinned on the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from November 11 to 22 in Warsaw.

By Anna Rutkowski | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WARSAW (IDN) – “We need to be prepared for nine billion people on this planet, as we all deserve a decent and secure life. By being creative, the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while creating jobs, promoting economic growth and ensuring better living standards. Where there is a will, there is a way!” says Marcin Korolec, the Polish Minister of the Environment, who will chair a landmark UN climate change conference from November 11 to 22, 2013 in Warsaw.

A lawyer, career civil servant and negotiator, Korolec wants the global conference to agree on a balance between the needs of the environment and the economy, “in order to seamlessly unite environmental protection and economic growth”. Environmental protection, he says, is an interdisciplinary field that directly influences many other policy areas and is strongly influenced by international arrangements and standards.