New Books: Water Governance for Sustainable Development Approaches and Lessons from Developing and Transitional Countries By Stefano Farolfi (1 Jun 2013)

Water Governance for Sustainable Development

Approaches and Lessons from Developing and Transitional Countries

By Stefano Farolfi

Edited by Sylvain Perret, Rashid Hassan

Published 1st June 2013 by Routledge – 320 pages

Descriptions:

Good management of water resources - universally identified as a key aspect of poverty reduction, agriculture and food security - has proven, in practice, as difficult to achieve as it is eagerly sought. This book, edited and authored by leading authorities on water resource management, examines the recent changes in governance, institutions, economics and policies of water, covering developing, transitional and developed countries, with special emphasis on southern African case studies. The book examines how water policies, institutions and governance have shifted in recent years from supply-driven, quantitative, centrally controlled management to more demand-sensitive, decentralized, participatory approaches. Such a move often also implies cost recovery principles, resource allocation among competing sectors, and privatization. The case studies demonstrate that the new policies and legal frameworks have been difficult to implement and often fall short of initial expectations. Using an accessible multidisciplinary approach that integrates economics, sociology, geography and policy analysis, the book untangles the issues and presents best practices for policy- and decision-makers, governments and regulators, NGOs and user groups, service providers, and researchers. The overall aim is to show how good water governance structures can be developed and implemented for the benefit of all.

Contents:

Introduction 

* Part I
* Understanding Water Institutions: Structure, Environment and Change Process
* Public�Private Partnership in Irrigation and Drainage: The Need for a Professional Third Party Between Farmers and Government 

* Part II
* The Possibility of Trade in Water Use Entitlements in South Africa under the National Water Act of 1998
* Redressing Inequities through Domestic Water Supply: A 'Poor' Example from Sekhukhune, South Africa
* Local Governance Issues after Irrigation Management Transfer: A Case Study from Limpopo Province, South Africa
* Water Management on a Smallholder Canal Irrigation Scheme in South Africa
* Emerging Rules after Irrigation Management Transfer to Farmers
* Crafting Water Institutions for People and Their Businesses: Exploring the Possibilities in Limpopo 

* Part III
* Conflict Analysis and Value-focused Thinking to Aid Resolution of Water Conflicts in the Mkoji Sub-catchment, Tanzania
* Determinants of Quality and Quantity Values of Water for Domestic Uses in the Steelpoort Sub-basin: A Contingent Valuation Approach
* Water Resources and Food Security: Simulations for Policy Dialogue in Tanzania
* How More Regulated Dam Release Can Improve the Supply from Groundwater and Surface Water in the Tadla Irrigation Scheme in Morocco
* Impact of Institutional Changes within Small-scale Groundwater Irrigated Systems: A Case Study in Mexico
* Local Empowerment in Smallholder Irrigation Schemes: A Methodology for Participatory Diagnosis and Prospective Analysis
* Role-playing Game Development in Irrigation Management: A Social Learning Approach
* Support to Stakeholder Involvement in Water Management Circumventing Some Participation Pitfalls

For more information: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415852029/

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World Bank: World's poorest will feel brunt of climate change (19 Jun 2013)

World's poorest will feel brunt of climate change, warns World Bank

Droughts, floods, sea-level rises and fiercer storms likely to undermine progress in developing world and hit food supply
Wednesday 19 June 2013 08.23 BSTguardian.co.uk,

Pakistan says the 2010 floods has affected about 20 million people, many of whom lost homes or livelihoods. Photograph: Warrick Page/Getty Images for UN

Millions of people around the world are likely to be pushed back into poverty because climate change is undermining economic development in poor countries, the World Bank has warned.

Droughts, floods, heatwaves, sea-level rises and fiercer storms are likely to accompany increasing global warming and will cause severe hardship in areas that are already poor or were emerging from poverty, the bank said in a report.

Food shortages will be among the first consequences within just two decades, along with damage to cities from fiercer storms and migration as people try to escape the effects.

In sub-Saharan Africa, increasing droughts and excessive heat are likely to mean that within about 20 years the staple crop maize will no longer thrive in about 40% of current farmland. In other parts of the region rising temperatures will kill or degrade swaths of the savanna used to graze livestock, according to the report, Turn down the heat: climate extremes, regional impacts and the case for resilience.

In south-east Asia, events such as the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010, which affected 20 million people, could become commonplace, while changes to the monsoon could bring severe hardship to Indian farmers.

Warming of at least 2C (36F) – regarded by scientists as the limit of safety beyond which changes to the climate are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible – is all but inevitable on current levels, and the efforts of governments are limited to trying to prevent temperature rises passing over this threshold. But many parts of the world are already experiencing severe challenges as a result of climate change, according to the World Bank, and this will intensify as temperatures rise.

Jim Yong Kim, the bank's president, warned that climate change should not be seen as a future problem that could be put off: "The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heatwaves, and more intense cyclones.

"In the near-term, climate change – which is already unfolding – could batter the slums even more and greatly harm the lives and hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the Earth's temperature."

The development bank is stepping up its funding for countries to adapt to the effects of climate change, and is calling for rich countries to make greater efforts at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Rachel Kyte, vice president of the World Bank, said it had doubled its aid for adaptation from $2.3bn (£1.47bn) in 2011 to $4.6bn last year, and called for a further doubling. She said the bank was working to tie its disaster aid and climate change adaptation funding closer together.

Aid from the bank to help poor countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and pursue environmentally sustainable economic development stands at about $7bn a year, and is backed by about $20bn from regional development banks and other partners.

The report's authors used the latest climate science to examine the likely effects of global warming of 2C to 4C on agriculture, water resources, coastal ecosystems and fisheries, and cities, across sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-east Asia.

Kyte said the effects would be to magnify the problems that developing regions experience. More people would be pushed into slums, with an increased risk of disease. "We are looking at major new initiatives [in] cities; cities need billions of investment in infrastructure, but many developing cities are not really creditworthy," she said.

She pointed to Jakarta, where rising sea levels and decades of pumping freshwater from underground sources beneath and around the city were increasing its vulnerability to flooding. Choices would need to be made soon in many cities on how to stem the likely effects, but Kyte warned that the plans must be future-proof, citing Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, which has been forced to rethink its flood preparations despite spending $2bn on them.

Green campaigners emphasised the need to try to avoid 2C of warming, which scientists stay is possible if countries bolster their ambitions to cut greenhouse gas ambitions in the near future.

Stephanie Tunmore, climate campaigner at Greenpeace International, said: "Fossil fuels are being extracted in burned in the name of development and prosperity, but what they are delivering is the opposite.

"Some major impacts from climate change are already unavoidable and rich countries must urgently support the poor and vulnerable to adapt. But massive increases in the future costs of adaptation and damage can only be avoided by investing in a clean energy future now."

The World Bank has come under fire in the past for funding coal-fired power plants in some developing countries. However, it said the move was the result of old policies and was being phased out.

Source:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/19/climate-change-developing-countries-world-bank

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New Books: International Support for Domestic Climate Policies in Developing Countries Edited by Karstan Neuhoff (1 Jun 2013)

International Support for Domestic Climate Policies in Developing Countries

Edited by Karstan Neuhoff

Published 1st June 2013 by Routledge – 128 pages

Descriptions:

This volume examines how international cooperation can support implementation of domestic climate policies in developing countries. Six case studies explore the domestic drivers and barriers for policies with climate (co-)benefits in developing countries and show that international support can help to overcome these constraints by providing additional resources for incremental policy costs, technical assistance, and technology cooperation to build local capacity. Cooperation can also contribute to robust institutional frameworks and government policies that facilitate increased private sector investment, which supports low-carbon production and consumption. Any such cooperation has to be anchored in domestic initiatives - building on stakeholder support for policies with climate co-benefits. The studies also examines the important role played by policy indicators in successful policy implementation and how they can be linked to international incentive schemes. The contributions in this volume examine cases from institutional and national perspectives from across the globe and find that, with common but differentiated responsibility for climate policy, developed countries have to contribute more towards technological and financial support in developing countries.

Contents:

Editorial: Karsten Neuhoff International Support for Domestic Climate Policies Using Intermediate Indicators: Lessons for Climate Policy Policy targets: Lessons for Effective Implementation of Climate Actions A History of Conditionality: Lessons for International Cooperation on Climate Policy Brazilian Low-carbon Transportation Policies: Opportunities for International Support Policy and Regulatory Framework for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Development in Ghana Domestic Climate Policy for the Indian Steel Sector Climate Co-benefit Policies for the Indian Energy Sector: Domestic Drivers and North-South Cooperation Concentrated Solar Power in South Africa China's Wind Industry: Policy Lessons for Domestic Government Interventions and International Support Twinning: Lessons for a South-North Climate Policy Context

For more information: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415845151/

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