The current issue of the UGEC Viewpoints was conceptualized at the end of the 7th Open Meeting of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change which was held in Bonn, Germany between April 26-30.
Desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) in addition to the loss of biodiversity in ecosystems, the disappearance of animals and plants from many habitats, the climate change resulting in melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and increase of extreme events have negative impact on the availability, quantity and quality of water resources resulting in changed conditions for humanity
The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has invited comments on a draft Water Policy Advocacy Framework, which seeks to provide a framework for the Secretariat to advocate for the development of water resource management policies at country level.
The UNFCCC Secretariat has released a note (FCCC/WEB/SAI/2009 3) on the synthesis and assessment report on the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories submitted in 2009. The purposes of the synthesis and assessment are to facilitate the consideration of inventory data and other information across parties, and to identify issues for further consideration during the reviews of individual inventories.
This paper will consider the likely economic, social and cultural impacts on coastal communities by displacement due to climate change induced sea level rise. Additionally, it will take into account the secondary risks associated with uprooting
This comprehensive Guidebook on Sustainable Economic Development in Conflict affected Environments synthesises that work and contributes to the current international efforts, in particular of the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED), to improve economic development approaches in these difficult conditions.
Biodiversity measurement is necessary to evaluate conservation alternatives and understand how to maximize biodiversity returns on conservation budgets. In the economics literature, most studies focus on species level diversity. Existing measures based on species' pairwise genetic differences do not perform optimally.
Deforestation, mainly conversion of forests for agriculture activities, has been estimated at an alarming rate of 13 million hectares per year (in the period 1990-2005). Deforestation results in immediate release of the carbon stored in trees as CO2 emissions. It is estimated that deforestation contributed globally to approximately 20 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the 1990s.
