ISSUE 01 January 2016 |
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No mountain too high | |
Ecosystem-based adaptation measures could help countries build the resilience of both mountain communities as well as those living downstream, a series of Mountain Climate Change Adaptation Outlook reports has concluded.
The reports, launched at COP21 on 11 December - International Mountain Day – follow a series of regional workshops and cover the Western Balkans, Southern Caucasus, Tropical Andes, Central Asia and East Africa.
Among the key findings are that climate change is already having a significant impact on mountainous regions, with farmers in the Tropical Andes having to move their potatoes 150 metres higher over the past 30 years to escape rising temperatures for example.
Meanwhile, ecosystems in the Tien Shan mountains in Central Asia are key to accumulating water during the vegetation season, but melting glaciers due to climate change are among factors threatening this, the reports find, while also proposing policy solutions.
Ministers and mountain leaders from Austria, Bhutan, Czech Republic, Peru, Switzerland, Uganda and others attended the event. There, they committed to try and ensure mountains and climate change adaptation become a priority issue at inter-regional, regional and national levels.
The leaders also committed to make better use of existing technical assistance mechanisms such as the Climate Technology Centre & Network and financial ones such as the Green Climate Fund and to support greater knowledge-sharing.
The launch took place at a roundtable hosted by the Government of Peru and was co-organised by UNEP, GRID-Arendal and other partners.
To read the outlooks for the five regions click here. For more information please contact matthias.jurek@unvienna.org |
ISSUE 01 January 2016 |
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Launch of TEEBAgFood interim report | |
Interim results from the TEEB for Agriculture and Food study were presented to over 100 participants at the Global Landscape Forum during COP21.
The interim study introduces the key questions, issues and arguments to be addressed by TEEBAgFood. Interim results were presented from five exploratory sector studies on livestock, rice, agroforestry, inland fisheries and palm oil.
A 'valuation framework' meanwhile allows for the impact of different types of farming, its intensity or an individual practice on nature to be measured, as well as the role nature plays in supporting them.
The TEEBAgFood study is led by Alexander Müller, former Assistant Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. The Study Leader was joined by TEEB founder Pavan Sukhdev, Guillermo Castilleja of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Francesco Branca of the World Health Organisation and Gustavo Junqueira of Brazil's Rural Society.
Mr Müller stressed the need to “assess externalities - both positive and negative - to support a more sustainable agriculture”. “Contrary to 'putting a price on nature,' the goal is to examine more closely the implicit values of the services that nature provides at zero or close to zero cost," he added.
UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner meanwhile highlighted the importance of the report in tackling climate and development challenges.
The session was moderated by former US Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan, who now works for the George Washington University Sustainability Institute.
The paper aims to raise awareness on the importance of natural capital for the sector. It examines economic and policy drivers and incentives that influence land-use decisions and management techniques within production systems around the world and lays the grounds for the full report.
Read the Interim Report by clicking here and watch a video of the launch here. For more information please get in touch with david.diazmartin@unep.org |
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