Maldives hosted a high-level climate change summit focusing on

Human-induced climate change, in conjunction with environmental degradation, will have unavoidable effects on cities. UN-Habitat estimates that 70% of the world

This note reports on examples of recent experience in eight countries where national and local governments and civil society participants have worked to strengthen their disaster risk reduction and adaptation actions.

In responding to climate change, the specific nature of coastal areas calls for special approaches. On the one hand, these areas are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts; on the other, healthy coastal wetland ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, can reduce that vulnerability as they pro-vide protection from climate impacts like storms or sea level rise.

Forests are power bases, but often for the wrong people. As attention turns from making an international deal on REDD to making it work on the ground, the hunt will be on for practical ways of shifting power over forests towards those who enable and pursue sustainable forest-linked livelihoods.

This report calls for Asia's first regional climate change adaptation agreement in the Greater Mekong region, which, as one of the regions with richest biological diversity on the earth, is already strongly affected by climate change. It urges politicians to strike an ambitious and fair agreement on a climate treaty at upcoming talks in Copenhagen.