Sunday, December 2, 2012

Publications: Classification Of MRV Of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions/Reduction: For The Discussions On NAMAs And MRV by Ninomiya, Yasushi Dec, 2012

Classification of MRV of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions/Reduction: For the discussions on NAMAs and MRV
Policy Brief

Classification Of MRV Of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions/Reduction: For The Discussions On NAMAs And MRV


Author: Ninomiya, Yasushi|2012/12|Number 25. p.10.|Publisher: IGES(Hayama, Japan)
Language: English|Publication Type: Policy Brief|Copyright: IGES


This brief aims to classify the MRV (Measuring or Monitoring, Reporting and Verification) system of GHG emissions/reduction according to its object, aim, methodology and implementation body to demonstrate that there are significant differences between each type of MRV system. It also suggests the need to develop of new type of MRV system for quantitative evaluation of NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) which can be substantially different from other MRV types.
Keywords:
Geographic area:
Download:


For more information: 

Publications: IGES research collaboration with the World Resources Institute: New Report Finds Strong, Long-term Policies Needed for Successful Renewable Energy Growth Report compares solar and wind industry trends and policies in U.S., China, Germany, India and Japan


Press Release: IGES research collaboration with the World Resources Institute:
New Report Finds Strong, Long-term Policies Needed for Successful Renewable Energy Growth 
Report compares solar and wind industry trends and policies in U.S., China, Germany, India and Japan
22 November 2012

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) collaborated with the U.S. World Resources Institute (WRI) on its newly released paper, which compares progress and underlying conditions for solar photovoltaic (PV) and on-shore wind development in five countries - the United States, China, Germany, India and Japan. The paper compares the policies and incentives, documents the state of play in each market, and determines what strategies seem to have been most successful to date.

The paper, Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy, finds that installed solar PV capacity in those countries expanded from 3.75 GW to 37.3 GW between in 2005 and 2010. It also finds that on shore wind capacity has increased from 18.4 GW to 157 GW in the same time frame.

“This analysis shows very clearly that comprehensive, predictable and targeted policies have been most successful in the development of domestic renewable energy industries,” said Jennifer Morgan, director of WRI’s Climate and Energy Program. “This report provides policymakers with an in-depth look at the conditions needed to drive growth in renewable energy and expedite the shift to a low-carbon economy.”

Further, while 2011 new renewable energy investments (excluding large hydropower) have risen to a record USD257 billion, which is a six-fold increase from 2004, the paper finds that underlying policy conditions are essential to ensure the future expansion of this emerging industry.

For example, in Japan, a package of renewable energy policies that includes a supporting framework for R&D has helped the domestic industry to maintain high export capacity for solar PV modules, despite cheaper options from other countries. At the same time, Japan has not had stable deployment policies that target system price reduction and has relied heavily on subsidizing average system costs that are deployed domestically.

“The report provides us with valuable suggestions for post-Fukushima Japan not only to realize fast, efficient and effective large-scale deployment of renewable energy, but also to strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese domestic renewable energy industry”, said Professor Jusen Asuka, director of Climate Change Group at IGES.

The paper finds that the level of investment and capacity varies greatly from country to country. The ability to develop competitive and healthy renewable energy industries has varied widely depending on the policies in place.

In particular, the research finds that successful countries:

  • Take a comprehensive approach, with their policies integrated at the national level;
  • Sustain policy in a predictable manner, with policies having an established lifetime of at least 3 to 4 years to enhance industry certainty; and
  • Target their policies to address specific technologies and the needs of the entire value chain.
This analysis was carried out under the Open Climate Network (OCN), led by the World Resources Institute, and in partnership with Renmin University of China (China), Oko Institute (Germany), The Energy and Resources Institute (India) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Japan).

>> Read a blog about the paper here (WRI website)
>> Find the working paper, along with a new data explorer tool, here (WRI website)


Contact for this release:

Michael Oko
Director, Media and Strategic Communications
World Resources Institute
Tel.  +1 (202) 729-7684moko@wri.org

Emi Doi (Ms.), PR Officer 
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)



For more information: 
http://www.iges.or.jp/en/news/press/12_11_22.html


Events: Innovation in the Water Sector --- Addressing the Challenges by Learning the Lessons

Innovation in the Water Sector

13 Dec 12 - 13 Dec 12



Addressing the Challenges by Learning the Lessons

SOAS, London
A CIWEM - WSKEP event
Sponsored by
Official WSKEP horizontal-logo for ann conf website size 150
Halcrow CH2MHILL logo resized small
mwhlogo_logo small
wrc logo smallMurphy_logo_BLII_RGB (3) 150

Aim
Water is one of the major global resources that is fundamental to life. Water security is seen as key to urban processes, energy, food and ecosystems and we face growing threats from a host of drivers, including climate change and population growth. The aim of this conference is to learn from game-changing innovation examples from the UK Water sector to meet our own needs and those of world markets. How can we learn from the best ideas and practice examples? We want to learn about, the 'what?', the 'how?' and how our institutions can facilitate and accelerate innovation.

Objectives
  • Context: To understand the drivers for innovation both in water security and institutional terms
  • To understand from game changing and successful projects what the ingredients for innovation have been across a very wide range of water sector thinking
  • To understand much more clearly how innovation can be enabled and accelerated by UK institutions
  • To demolish some stereotypes, myths and challenge some assumptions about innovation in the water sector
  • To produce a report on the outcomes of the meeting

Through the WSKEP support there are a limited number of free places for academics and research scientists from higher education and research institutes; if you would like to attend as a part of this funding please email your details to Bob Earll

For more information contact Bob Earll and to book see the CMS website
This conference has received the approval of The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and will contribute to your CPD

Media Partners and Supporting Organisations:
sbwwi_2012_cmyk resized

Event Flyers and Documents



Articles: Transforming governance and institutions by Biermann, Frank., Kenneth Abbott, Steinar Andresen ...


Articles: Transforming governance and institutions


Biermann, Frank., Kenneth Abbott, Steinar Andresen, Karin Bäckstrand, Steven Bernstein, Michele M. Betsill, Harriet Bulkeley, Benjamin Cashore, Jennifer Clapp, Carl Folke, Aarti Gupta, Joyeeta Gupta, Peter M. Haas, Andrew Jordan, Norichika Kanie, Tatiana Kluvánková-Oravská, Louis Lebel, Diana Liverman, James Meadowcroft, Ronald B. Mitchell, Peter Newell, Sebastian Oberthür, Lennart Olsson, Philipp Pattberg, Roberto Sánchez-Rodríguez, Heike Schroeder, Arild Underdal, Susana Camargo Vieira, Coleen Vogel, Oran R. Young, Andrea Brock, and Ruben Zondervan.
Transforming governance and institutions for global sustainability: key insights from the Earth System Governance Project. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 4(1): 51-60. 2012.
Articles

The current institutional framework for sustainable development is by far not strong enough to bring about the swift transformative progress that is needed. This article contends that incrementalism—the main approach since the 1972 Stockholm Conference—will not suffice to bring about societal change at the level and speed needed to mitigate and adapt to earth system transformation. Instead, the article argues that transformative structural change in global governance is needed, and that the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro must turn into a major stepping stone for a much stronger institutional framework for sustainable development. The article details core areas where urgent action is required. The article is based on an extensive social science assessment conducted by 32 members of the lead faculty, scientific steering committee, and other affiliates of the Earth System Governance Project.

Events: Environmental Change and Security Program --- Tapping the Potential of Displaced Youth in Urban Settings






Tapping the Potential of Displaced Youth in Urban Settings

December 13, 2012 // 12:00pm — 2:00pm
EVENT CO-SPONSORS: 
Comparative Urban Studies Project

Young people escaping conflicts and natural disasters often flee to urban settings in search of economic security, food, and shelter. But they often arrive with limited resources and are vulnerable to exploitation and violence. Seen as unfairly taking jobs and resources, employers often turn them away, leaving them to rely on risky survival strategies or low-paying, unstable work in the informal economy and few prospects for an education.
This event will feature new research by the Women’s Refugee Commission on displaced young people in developing country cities. Panelists will highlight a number of successful interventions in India, Panama, Kenya and Egypt and make recommendations for UN agencies, donors, NGOs, and policymakers. 
LOCATION: 
5th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

Event Speakers List: 
  • Senior Program Officer, Economic Strengthening and Child Protection, Women’s Refugee Commission
  • Project Manager, Don Bosco India
  • Senior Program Officer for UNHCR and Gender, Children, and Youth Issues, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State






New books: The Global Farms Race -- Land Grabs, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food Security in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Former Soviet Union by Wilson Center






Book Launch: The Global Farms Race -- Land Grabs, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food Security in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Former Soviet Union

December 04, 2012 // 3:30pm — 5:30pm
EVENT CO-SPONSORS: 
Environmental Change and Security Program
Africa Program
Latin American Program
Kennan Institute
Program on America and the Global Economy
China Environment Forum

Designated by the Christian Science Monitor as one of 23 new foreign policy books that should have been read by the 2012 U.S. presidential candidates.
 
Read more advance praise and additional information about The Global Farms Race
 
Read Island Press's press release for The Global Farms Race
 
 
From the book publisher: As we struggle to feed a global population speeding toward 9 billion, we have entered a new phase of the food crisis. Wealthy countries that import much of their food, along with private investors, are racing to buy or lease huge swaths of farmland abroad. The Global Farms Race is the first book to examine this burgeoning trend in all its complexity, considering the implications for investors, host countries, and the world as a whole.
 
The debate over large-scale land acquisition is typically polarized, with critics lambasting it as a form of “neocolonialism,” and proponents lauding it as an elixir for the poor yields, inefficient technology, and unemployment plaguing global agriculture. The Global Farms Race instead offers diverse perspectives, featuring contributions from agricultural investment consultants, farmers’ organizations, international NGOs, and academics. The book addresses historical context, environmental impacts, and social effects, and covers all the major geographic areas of investment.
 
Nearly 230 million hectares of farmland—an area equivalent to the size of Western Europe—have been sold or leased since 2001, with most of these transactions occurring since 2008. As the deals continue to increase, it is imperative to understand them and their consequences. The Global Farms Race is a critical resource to develop that understanding.

This event will feature presentations from contributors to the book and from other experts.
LOCATION: 
6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
 
Event Speakers List: 
  • Michael Kugelman // Senior Program Associate for South and Southeast Asia, Asia Program
  • Independent scholar and adviser, and co-author of World Bank publication, Rising Global Interest in Farmland





Events: Brazil institute --- The World at 7 Billion: Building a Sustainable Future


The World at 7 Billion: Building a Sustainable Future

December 05, 2012 // 3:00pm — 5:00pm
EVENT CO-SPONSORS: 
Environmental Change and Security Program
Global Sustainability and Resilience Program



As the world population surpasses seven billion people, governments and societies must help a growing population cope with limited natural resources and a rapidly changing global climate. What are the implications for both overcoming poverty and retaining biodiversity in the context of climate change-driven scarcity? What are the roles of diverse sectors in negotiating trade-offs to ensure equitable and sustainable outcomes? Can we help societies progressing through the demographic transition, with an eye towards how population factors affect states’ stability, their output, and our shared global future?
On December 5, the final 2012 installment of the Managing Our Planet series will convene a panel to discuss planetary demographic trends and their implications for ecological management at international and global scales. 
The “Managing Our Planet” seminar series is developed jointly by George Mason University, the Environmental Change and Security Program and the Brazil Institute. It is based on the premise that the impacts of humanity on the environment (including natural resources) are at a planetary scale. The seminar addresses planetary scale problems and solutions.

Please RSVP (acceptances only) with name and affiliation to brazil@wilsoncenter.org

 
Photo Courtesy of "there and back again..."
LOCATION: 
5th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
 
Event Speakers List: 
  • President and CEO, Population Action International
  • Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Jr. Professor, George Mason University
  • Population-Health-Environment Technical Advisor, USAID

  • Biodiversity Chair, H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
  • Sandeep Bathala // Senior Program Associate, Environmental Change and Security Program, Global Health Initiative
BACK TO TOP