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Global News


18. May

Gender:
Two Southern Voices networks have recently helped put focus on gender and climate change:

FEMNET has launched a new african web page on Women, Gender and Climate Justice. The webpage is dedicated to rural women for their role in farming which leads to food production and food security at household level as well as nationally. You can read a press statement on the launch and find links to the page here

The Ethiopian Civil Society Network on Climate Change (ECSNCC), has commissioned a study 'Engendering Climate Change Policy and Practice in Ethiopia' The purpose of the study is to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the gaps in the gender sensitiveness of climate change related policies and programmes in Ethiopia. And to introduce appropriate tools for mainstreaming gender in such policies and programmes.


16. April

Vietnam:
6th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation
From April 16th to 22nd the CBA6 is taking place in Hanoi, Vietnam. If you are not attending the conference yourself, then here are some options to follow the conference and its proceedings anyway:

The official conference site: Here you can find program, documents and statements from the conference
The Conference site at IIEDs website: Videos, live blogs and regular updates from the conference.
Article in The Daily Star: Saleemul Huq on CBA lessons learned so far


12. April

World Bank:
Treat illegal logging like organised crime

Criminal justice personnel should deploy the same tools they use to fight drug trafficking and money laundering to investigate, prosecute and punish the kingpins behind large-scale illegal logging, according to a new World Bank study. You can find the study here (pdf, 56 p) and an IPS article on the report here


10. April

Report release from IPCC
Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)

This new report from IPCC is the outcome of cross-disciplinary teamwork between scientists studying the physical aspects of climate change, scientists with expertise in impacts, adaptation and vulnerability as well as experts in disaster risk management. “The main message from the report is that we know enough to make good decisions about managing the risks of climate-related disasters. Sometimes we take advantage of this knowledge, but many times we do not,” said Chris Field, Co-Chair of IPCC’s Working Group II, which together with Working Group I produced the report.
The report is available in its full lenght (594 pages, 31 Mb) or as a summary for policymakers (20 pages, 11,8 Mb) here


30. March

JCCI Cambodia
Newsletter #6

The Joint Climate Change Initiative (JCCI) is formed by local Cambodian organisations, including some from Southern Voices supported networks. The above newsletter is the initiatives 6th and includes highlights from national, regional and global climate policies and activities as well as stories from JCCI and partners own work.   


16. February

New AMCEN report 
Adressing Climate Change Challenges in Africa;

A practical guide towards sustainable development.

Recognizing the need to move with urgency in preparing for the impacts of climate change, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment commissioned this Guidebook. The guidebook aims to translate available climate science analysis and current international climate policies into practical implementation in Africa in the context of sustainable development. It includes suggested actions to mitigate and adapt, guidelines to the sources of finance, as well as case studies.


7. February

UNFCCC launches database
Database on private sector adaptation actions

UNFCCC has launched an online database of case studies developed under the 
Private Sector Initiative (PSI) of the Nairobi work programme. The database features good practices and profitable climate change adaptation activities being undertaken by private companies (sometimes in partnership with NGOs or the public sector) from a wide range of regions and sectors.


3. February

New report from UNs global sustainability panel
Resilient People, Resilient Planet

“..Sustainable development is more important than ever given the multiple crises now enveloping the world” says South Africas
President Zuma on the launch of the new report from the UNs high level panel on global sustainability. The report contains 56 recommendations to put sustainable development into practice and to mainstream it into economic policy as quickly as possible.
Read also Connie Hedegaards comments on the  report in The Guardian and the press release from the launch of the report


27. January

Blog in The Guardian
Leaked data: Palm biodiesel as dirty as fuel from tar sands


In his blog in the Guardian, Damian Carrington, discusses leaked data on biofuels, obtained by EurActiv from the European Comission. The EC is considering what level of carbon emissions each type of biofuel causes once burned, after everything - including "indirect land-use change" - is taken into account, and the conclusion is that some biofuels are worse than fossil fuels.


25. January

New manual for indigenous community trainers

IWGIA has developed a new manual, which looks at REDD+ on project level. The purpose of the manual is to provide guidance to indigenous trainers to prepare and conduct trainings on Community-based REDD+
The trainers manual is accompanied by a separate manual prepared for participants attending training on Community-based REDD+, and for indigenous communities who want to learn about CB REDD+ on their own.


24 January

New Report from ECSNCC
Summary of Durban outcomes

This brief from Ethiopian Civil Society summarizes the outcomes of the COP 17 in the different areas and topics of the negotiation.


22. January

UN Secretary-General
Launch of international year of sustainable energy for all

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All during his address to the opening ceremony of the fifth World Future Energy Summit (WFES), stressing the need to end energy poverty to ensure equal opportunities.
Related to the year of sustainable energy for all, is Ban Ki Moons intiative on Sustainable Energy that contributes by mobilising action from all key stakeholders. Read more about the initiative here


20. January

Article in HindustanTimes
Unity bid by BASIC ahead of Qatar talks

The BASIC countries - Brazil, South Africa, India and China - has decided to discuss their strategy before individual countries make their submissions for the Durban platform before end of February.


10. January

Article in the Guardian UK
Developed world failing on climate funds pledge, says Bangladeshi minister

In this interview Dipu Moni, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, argues that wealthier nations must begin immediately delivering the billions of pounds' worth of aid they have earmarked to help poorer countries cope with climate change. At the same time, she points out that it has become increasingly clear that the interests of major developing economies have been diverging rapidly from those of the least developed countries and other smaller poor nations. “We and the most vulnerable countries and the least developed countries should be in a different category. India and China have their development challenges, but we are not big emitters so our challenges and demands are different," Moni points out.


6. December

Blogs from COP17
No more vague decisions please....

Follow the bloggers from the Southern Capacity Program of CAN-International - blogposts out of Durban by Southern NGO activists from Ethiopia, Kiribati, Nepal, Guinea-Conacry, China... They monitor the negotiations in the UNFCCC Climate Summit and  lobby the governments for a an outcome to keep global warming below 1.5 C


29. November

New Report
Southern Voices on Climate Policy Choices
- analysis and lessons learned from civil society climate change advocacy

The report is the first joint product from the Southern Voices Programme. More than 20 climate networks and their member organizations have contributed with their experiences of raising awareness on climate change issues and from influencing climate change policies and practices in a wide range of countries


24. November

Southern Voices News no 2  10 pages .pdf 641 Kb
New issue focused on COP17. Read in this issue on Central American Presidents asking for Climate Action; African NGO Advocacy in the US; NGOs in Vietnam and Cambodian advocating for integration of Adaptation and Disaster Management; National Budget analysis through climate lenses in Malawi, Formation of a climate network in Kiribati; Civil Society in Zimbabwe pushing for a national Climate Policy and Southern African NGOs gearing up for COP17.


18. November

New case studies from the Accra Caucus
Is REDD-readiness taking us in the right direction?
In this new report, the Accra Caucus present a new set of case studies showing how the REDD+ process has been experienced on the ground.
The case studies are available in English, French and Spanish


2. November 

Nicaragua
SusWatch Asssessment Report on climate policies and progammes

The Central American network Sustainability Watch has prepared a national assessment of climate change  policies and programs  in Nicaragua, including five case studies. Among the recommendations in the report are that "it is essential for Nicaragua to develop  national adaptation plans addressing the differences between the regions in the country" and that "Central-America as a negotiation group must fight for demanding recognition as highly vulnerable together with the LDCs and the small island states to access additonal financial resources".

The report is available in an short preliminary translation into English (26p .pdf 994kb) and in its full version in Spanish (73p .pdf 1,4Mb) 


26. October

Activities at COP 17
Climate Communications Day at COP 17

IIED and Internews announce the first Climate Communications Day, on December 1st during COP 17 in Durban. Further information  can be found here. Please register here. 

Climate Change Media Partnership’s online roster of experts
If you are going to COP17, please consider joining the COP17 group at the Climate Change Media Partnership’s online roster of excperts where you can connect with journalists and publish information using the blog function


20. July

New report from Malawi
2011/2012 National Budget Analysis with Focus on Climate Change

This report presents an analysis of the 2011/2012 draft budget with a focus on resources earmarked for implementation of activities and programs that relate to climate change, environment and natural resources management. June 2011


30. June

New NGO Report:
Climate Change and Disaster Management Policy in Vietnam (70p .pdf 1,5 Mb)
The report provides an overview of the most prominent climate change and disaster management policies and strategies enacted or under development in Vietnam. It is published by the Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) together with the Disaster Management Working Group to inform a joint advocacy strategy.

Among the general findings are "lack of emphasis on vulnerable people: There is a number of barriers to engaging vulnerable people such as remoteness, language, gender roles.... These barriers are insufficiently addressed". Findings for each policy is presented; for instance on the National Strategy for Natural Disaster Prevention: Insufficient integration of disaster management into Social Economic Development Plans or climate change programs"; and on the National REDD+ programme: "Land use rights for ethnic minorities are lacking. These groups don't have a certificate of ownership. This could hinder the implementation of REDD+" 


30. May

First issue of Southern Voices News now out
SVNews is published by the Southern Voices Capacity Building Programme which supports 20 civil society climate networks in the South. In this issue you can read interviews and contributions form climate networks in Tanzania, Mali, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nicaragua and South Asia.


19. May

New from IPCC Working Group III:
Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation
The summary for policy-makers released on May 9th stresses "the incredible environmental and social advantages of a future powered by renewable energy over the next decades." The report documents that developing countries are hosting over 50% of global capacity, and that clean renewable energies have the technical potential to provide at least more than 20 times the energy we use today. A digest of comments from international NGOs such as Greenpeace and WWF is available at www.dailykos.com.


25. April

New Website on  REDD+ Social and Environmental Standards
This initiative aims to define and build support for a higher level of social and environmental performance from REDD+ programs. The standards development process is being facilitated by CARE and the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA). Countries participating include Tanzania, Nepal, Equador, and specific provinces in Indonesia and Brazil.


31. March

New Report: World Bank fails to protect forests and sidlines rights of indigenous peoples

FERN and Forest Peoples Programme has recently launched the report "Smoke and Mirrors - a critical assessment of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)". The Facility is set up to fund developing country schemes on REDD. "In none of the REDD development plans developed in the eight countries analysed, are land rights adequately addressed or existing land conflicts acknowledged" according to Kate Dooley, policy advisor at FERN.

Download here thePress Release from FERN and Forest Peoples Progamme, or thefull report: Smoke and Mirrors 45 pages, 1MB


25. March

5th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation
Dhaka  24 - 31st March

If you are not among the 200 people attending the CBA5 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, you can follow the conference proceedings in various ways here: 

The Conference site at IIEDs website: Daily video blog with Saleemul Huq
One World Website: Live webcast
Due South blogs -  by IIED staff and others
IISD reporting services - daily from Monday 28th march

You can also to download
the full conference programme in pdf  or the publication from CBA4 in 2010 pdf 112 p 3,7 MB


15. February 2011

Sunita Narain: Davos Assessment on Climate Change Is Right and Wrong
The report "Global Risks 2011" presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos finds that climate change ranks as the highest risk when impact and likelohood is combined. Then why do rich men still have their head (and heart) buried in the sand as far as solutions to climate change are concerned?  - asks Indian researcher and activist Sunita Narain. And why is there no progress to reduce emissions?

Read the article in the Huffington Post here and  access the Report "Global Risks 2011". Find the "global risk landscape at page 92 in the report.


26. January 2011

New report: REDD Ignores the Primary Causes for Destruction of Forests
A new assessment report "Meeting the Challenges of International Forest Governance" suggests that global efforts have too often ignored local needs, while failing to address the most fundamental challenge to global forest management—that deforestation usually is caused by economic pressures imposed from outside the forests.

Unless all sectors work together to address the impact of global consumption, including growing demand for food and biofuels, and problems of land scarcity, REDD will fail to arrest environmental degradation and will heighten poverty. REDD's overriding focus on protecting and pricing the carbon stored in forests will lead to the further exclusion of indigenous peoples from their forests and the criminalization of their traditional livelihoods - says the press release from on the report by the IUFRO - International Union of Forest Research Organisations. 

Here you can read the press release and download the full report and policy briefs in English, Spanish and French.


14. December 2010

Southern Voices Start-Up Meeting at COP16 in Cancun

A start-up meeting for the new Southern Voices Capacity Building Programme arranged in the context of the COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, had a great turn-out: 24 representatives of Southern climate policy networks to be supported from the programme attended the meeting, as well as 6 representatives from the Consortium behind the programme.

Read more and find the minutes and the presentation here


15. September 2010

New 'Southern Voices Programme' will strengthen climate policy networks
The Climate Capacity Consortium with Care Danmark as the lead organization are launching the “Southern Voices Capacity Building Programme” in order to strengthen climate policy networks in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific. The programme has received a grant of 8 mio Danish Kr. as part of the Denmarks Fast Start Climate Finance.

Read more on this page under programmes here
Download the two - page introduction here.


7. October 2010

Biodiversity and NAPAs: Adaptation policy shift could help poor people

Pakistan, like many other developing countries, has lacked the resources and policy direction to invest in "biodiverse" initiatives such as mangroves. However, the UN’s push for the inclusion of national biodiversity strategies in countries' plans to cope with climate change - their National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) -could change that.

Read the full story at IRIN here


28. September 2010

New Report:
Green Energy - the road to a Danish energy system without fossil fuels

The Commission on Climage Change Policy was established by the Danish Government in 2008. Now it has released the its report with proposals for policy measures on how the make Denmark fossil - free in 2050 by domestic efforts.

Find the report and presentation here


24. September 2010

UN Adaptation Fund now operational: Projects in Senegal and Honduras approved

The two projects worth a total of about US$14 million are not only the first to be approved by the board but also the first to get money directly from the Fund. Developing countries had been lobbying for direct access, and have now been granted control over how to spend the funds.

Read the full story at IRIN here


9. September

Pre-COP16 Workshop for Civil Society Organisations in Mexico

More than 40 civil society organisations from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific meets in Mexico City for a Pre-COP 16 Civil Society workshop, organised by CAN-International, in partnership with WWF, Greenpeace and Presencia Ciudadana.

See the record at the CAN-I website here


7 July 2010

New Documentary: The Climate Game and the World's Poor People

IIED releases a film from within the COP15 climate-summit. It shows - from a developing country perspective - what happened when 193 governments tried - and failed - to agree a global deal to tackle climate change.

See the film at iied.org


3 June 2010

Coalition warns: Rights of 300 million forest-dependent peoples at risk

A broad coalition of civil society organizations warns that the provisions for protecting forests concentrate too much on carbon and not enough on the rights of the more than 300 million poor people who depend on the forests for their livelihoods.

Read the full story at care-international.org


3 June 2010

Rich nations' pledges mean nothing without baselines, say academics

Academics warn that the industrialised world's promise of billions of "new and additional" dollars to help developing nations tackle climate change is meaningless without a baseline from which to count new funds.

The academics call for a UN-based system to define baselines and monitor pledges and payments - a prerequisite for developed nations hoping to regain the trust of developing nations in the drive towards a global climate deal.

Read the full story at www.iied.org

- analysis and lessons learned from civil society advocacy on climate changeNew Report:
 
climatecapacity.org