Areas of land and sea are increasingly being marked out for protection in response to various demands: to tackle biodiversity loss, to prevent deforestation as a climate change mitigation strategy, and to restore declining fisheries.
This paper explores the pros and cons of biomass and the logistics of switching to other fuels in developing countries. Calculations
reveal that there is more than sufficient biomass, not only to maintain present consumption,
but also to expand its use considerably. A principal cause of global warming is the increased
use of fossil fuels.
One of the promises emerging from the confusion of the Copenhagen climate talks focused on climate finance. Ramping up to US$100 billion a year starting in 2020, the promised finance would support developing countries in adapting to climate impacts and adopting low-carbon pathways.
This paper explores the broad contours of climate resilient industrial development paths. It defines development as an increase in local capacities for production and innovation and argues that the overarching goal of development is the generation of sustainable livelihoods.
This report explores the evidence of whether payments for watersheds can be good for ecosystems and for reducing poverty too. It describes what the protagonists in a range of watershed sites around the world have learned in their efforts to set up such payment schemes.
The focus of this special issue is communitybased adaptation to climate change. Its publication is timed to coincide with the forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) to be held in December, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and events surrounding it.
This report outlines lessons learnt regarding the principal effects of climate change on 15 cities in low-income countries, and what makes them vulnerable to these effects. It includes 12 cities from Africa and three from south Asia.
This paper describes how achieving food sovereignty will entail a fundamental shift away from the industrial and neo-liberal paradigm for food and agriculture towards: More direct democracy and greater citizen participation in framing policies for food
