BLADE

Climate change: what’s all the fuss about?

 

(Photo credit: G.M.B. Akash)

Alex Kirby, of Panos London provides a good introduction to the issue of climate change.  He looks at the causes of climate change, the likely effects, and various mitigation strategies.  

According to Kirby,  "a serious response to the threat of climate change will need policy choices by and between governments, on both mitigation and adaptation. Preventing climate change is impossible, because the amount of long-lasting greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere means it would continue warming for 30 years or more even if emissions stopped overnight."

Click here to read the full article.

Mina Setra, indigenous peoples' representative from Indonesia, concerned about compensation schemes attached to forest initiatives

Amila de Saram Larssen

Mina Setra of the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN)

has concerns about the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) and fears that compensations awarded may not reach the rightful beneficiaries.  She spoke to us at the Rights, Forests and Climate Change conference in Oslo.

The UN-REDD Programme is a collaboration between Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  A multi-donor trust fund was established in July 2008 that allows donors to pool funds for activities under this programme. Norway is financing this initial phase in the amount of $35 million.

Joji Cariño raises indigenous peoples' concerns on climate change

Amila de Saram Larssen

I had the opportunity to talk with Joji Cariño, of the Indigenous Peoples’ International Center for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba Foundation) of the Philippines, at the  Rights, Forests and Climate Change conference in Oslo.  She spoke of the perspectives and initiatives of indigenous and community organizations on the climate issue. 

Cariño believes that more focus should be put on local mitigation and adaptation measures.  During the course of our talk, she shared her thoughts on the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD),the World Bank’s Forest Investment Programme,and the upcoming Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change.

Rights, Forests and Climate Change Agenda

Amila de Saram Larssen

A 3-day conference opened in Oslo today on the topic of Rights, Forests and Climate change.  This is an important event as it provides a opportunity for the rights community to exchange ideas with the climate change community on proposed climate change initiatives.

The conference, jointly organized by The Rights and Resources Initiative and the Rainforest Foundation Norway, provides an opportunity to assess the present status of tenure, civil and political rights of forest communities at the local, national and international levels vis a vis climate change initiatives. 

The goal of the conference is to identify measures governments, donors and technical institutions can take to ensure that forest communities adapt to climate change and are involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of climate change interventions.

For live conference updates, presentations and interviews with participants, check out the conference blog.

Key documents in formulation of Norwegian development policy

Amila de Saram Larssen

In light of Norway just having reached its goal of allocating 1% of GNI to development activities, I thought it an opportune moment to catalog some of the major policy documents pertaining to the realization of this goal.

Norway's development policies are not to be found in any one specific piece of legislation.  Instead, a series of White Papers and presentations to the Parliament have shaped the country's development agenda. 

Solheim promises Forest Money to Papua New Guinea

 

By Amila de Saram Larssen and Jan Speed

Gunnar Zachrisen (pictured above), the editor of Bistandsaktuelt, recently covered the Minister of the Environment and International Development, Erik Solheim's  visit to Papua New Guinea. 

Mr. Solheim met with the Prime Minister, the Hon Sir Michael Somare in Port Moresby for talks on deforestation and forest degradation. He also had meetings with several other Minister, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Abal, the Minister for Environment and Conservation, Benny Allan, and the Minister for Petroleum and Energy, William Duma. He also met with PNG's Special Envoy and Climate Ambassador, Mr. Kevin Conrad.

Click below to hear an excerpt of my interview with Mr. Zachrisen.

Climate change crucial to development challenge

Robert Picciotto

By Amila de Saram Larssen

Listen to an excerpt from an interview with Robert Picciotto, professor at King’s College, London and a veteran in the field of development and evaluation. He speaks of the need to prioritize climate change on the development agenda.

Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) must include Africa

By Amila de Saram Larssen

Increased participation of Africa and other small developing countries is crucial if the CDM is to fulfill its goal of assisting developing countries in achieving sustainable development, while also contributing to stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

At a recent seminar on the CDM organized by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance entitled, “Is the CDM fulfilling its environmental objectives?”, both the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Heidi Sørensen and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Geir Axelsen, underscored the need for increased participation of Africa and smaller developing countries in the CDM. At present 33.02% of all registered projects are hosted in India, 17.59% in China, 12.96% in Brazil and 10.49% in Mexico. As of December 2007, there were 850 CDM  projects in 49 developing countries, but only 23 of those projects were in Africa.