Publications: When disasters and conflicts collide: improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention K. Harris; D. Keen; T. Mitchell (18 Feb 2013)

When disasters and conflicts collide: improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention

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This paper by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) argues for increased focus on the conflict-disaster nexus in fragile and conflict-affected states. It is based on a study assessing the evidence base on the ways in which natural disasters affect conflict, how conflict affects natural disasters and how people are affected by multiple risks. The authors consider what can be learned from current practices to improve conflict prevention, statebuilding and disaster risk management to build resilience. They find that the complex conditions of intersecting vulnerability and risk require grounding an understanding of them in specific contexts. In most cases, natural disasters are found to exacerbate pre-existing conflicts. The paper reveals that conflict and fragility increase natural disasters impacts, particularly by increasing vulnerability to natural hazards. There appears to be a close association between the risk of mortality from drought, state fragility and climate change vulnerability; however, the intersection between mortality risk from other natural hazards (such as cyclones and earthquakes) and state fragility appears to be much less pronounced. 

Recommendations for international policy, programming and finance include the following. 

• Managing risk in fragile and conflict-affected states should be a key feature of the post-2015 disaster risk reduction (DRR) agreement (Hyogo Framework 2).
• The World Bank 2014 World Development Report should set a new agenda for managing risks in fragile and conflict-affected states.
• The Political Champions for Disaster Resilience Group should promote inter-agency coordination to build resilience in fragile and conflict-affected states, developing regional and national approaches to ex-ante risk management in such settings.
• The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) should scale up programming in fragile and conflict-affected states and create closer links with the conflict prevention work of the World Bank.

The paper further recommends that bilateral donors and United Nations agencies create joint risk taskforces in key fragile and conflict-affected states and explore new ways of working and building the evidence base about how to better invest in ex-ante risk management measures. Developing new conceptual frameworks and analytical tools is also advised, as well as modifying existing ones (such as statebuilding, peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity frameworks) to reflect disaster risk and vice versa.

AUTHORS

K. Harris; D. Keen; T. Mitchell

PUBLISHER INFORMATION

• Overseas Development Institute
  www.odi.org.uk/
• Overseas Development Institute, London
  www.odi.org.uk/

For more information: 

http://www.eldis.org/go/display&type=Document&id=63704?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eldis-climate_change+%28Eldis+Climate+Change%29#.USYlbR1BOEU

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Events: “How to Make Asia into Low Carbon Society: the role of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and opportunity for partnership” organized by IGES on 5 Mar 2013

International Symposium
“How to Make Asia into Low Carbon Society: the role of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and opportunity for partnership”

In order to establish low-carbon society in Asia, it is important to design policy and measures to facilitate the introduction of low-carbon technologies and services in a broad segment of society, along with certain greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting methodologies. 

In this context, it is imperative to develop appropriate methodology for MRV (measureable, reportable and verifiable) that could be used to determine both emissions and their reductions achieved by various stakeholders including central and local governments, private companies and NGOs.

In this symposium attended by overseas guest speakers, IGES will share the latest progress and lessons learned from the IGES-wide project for MRV. 

Programme:(154KB)

Date 5 March 2013 (Tue) 13:30-17:00 (13:00 open)
Venue Iino Hall and Conference Center, Room A (Iino Bldg, 2-1-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
Organisers Ministry of Environment, Japan, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Language English and Japanese with simultaneous interpretation
Capacity 110
Fee Free of charge
Registration Public participants are requested to register prior to the event. Please send an E-mail stating your full name, position held, organisation, and contact information (email or telephone) to: 
IGES Market Mechanism Group
Closing date for registration Registration will be closed when full capacity is reached.

Contact
IGES Market Mechanism Group
2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, 240-0115 Japan
Tel:  +81-46-855-3826 / Fax: +81-46-855-3809 / E-mail

For more information: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/cdm/activity_regional130305.html

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South Korean Updates: S. Korea's renewable energy industry expected to shrink in 2013 (20 Feb 2013)

S. Korea's renewable energy industry expected to shrink in 2013

2013-02-20

February 20, 2013

Yonhap News Agency

renewable energy-outlook 
S. Korea's renewable energy industry expected to shrink in 2013
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's renewable energy industry is expected to lag behind global peers in 2013, industry data showed Wednesday, mainly due to the lack of government support.

The combined sales of local renewable energy firms came to 7.4 trillion won (US$6.9 billion) last year, down 7.86 percent from 8.1 trillion won tallied two years earlier, according to the data compiled by the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank).

In contrast, the size of the global renewable energy market jumped 38 percent to reach $260.8 billion over the cited period. The number is anticipated to reach $271.3 billion this year, the data added.

Renewable energy refers to energy that comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat, which can be replenished by natural processes.

Market watchers said performances of local renewable energy firms are expected to remain stagnant down the road, largely due the weak support from the government despite Seoul's emphasis on "low carbon, green growth."
"The Chinese government, for example, provides full support to its renewable energy firms," said Kang Jung-hwa, a researcher at Eximbank. "In contrast, local companies cannot even receive sufficient financial aid."
While 15 major banks in China offered $332 billion in loans to their renewable energy firms, South Korean companies were only able to receive $2.54 billion from local banks.

"The government should also thoroughly enforce the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) system," said Shin Geun-ho, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities Co. "Government support is vital in making infant energy firms stand on their own, just as the semiconductor industry."
The RPS policy, adopted in 2012, requires large-scale electricity providers produce a certain portion of power through renewable energy sources.

Since the first year of the presidency of Lee Myung-bak, South Korea has been pushing for the so-called green growth, which aims to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promoting technologies that increase energy efficiency.

Renewable energy sources accounted for 5.8 percent of the global energy production in 2010, industry data showed. The figure is expected to reach 11.8 percent in 2020 and 17.7 percent in 2030 on the back of rising demand.

colin@yna.co.kr
(END)

Source: 
http://www.keei.re.kr/main.nsf/index_en.html?open&p=%2Fweb_keei%2Fen_news.nsf%2Fxmlmain%2F10BCB3340C01B16E49257B180017A0F0&s=%3FOpenDocument

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Chinese Updates: Emission Limits Enhanced to Cut Pollution (21 Feb 2013)

Emission Limits Enhanced to Cut Pollution
2013-02-21

Six heavy polluting industries in 47 cities will gradually comply with special international emission limits on airborne pollutants, starting on March 1, a recent ministry-level environmental meeting heard. Experts expect the move to have great impact on the affected industries: thermal power, iron and steel, petrochemical, cement, non-ferrous metal and chemical. "The annual amount of smoke and dust from these six industries contributes more than 70 percent of total emissions," Chai Fahe, vice-president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, told China Daily. He said the special emission limits will all reach internationally advanced levels. "Take the dust emitted by coal burning boilers in thermal power plants as an example. The normal standard of dust concentration is 30 milligrams per cubic meter. But the special limit to be applied by the 47 cities is only 20 mg per cu m, which is the strictest in the world." "The new policy will have the biggest influence on thermal power generation companies that have to invest a lot of money in upgrading the current environmental protection equipment and purchasing new ones for production," said Dai Bing, director of the coal industry information department at JYD Online Corp, a bulk commodity consultancy in Beijing. He said costs for those companies will grow, but electricity prices won't increase, which will bring challenges to those companies. In addition, it will be even harder to get approval for new projects within the six industries because of the stricter emission rules, said Zhang Tieshan, an analyst from steel information provider Mysteel.com. The steel industry, which is also required to limit emissions, has been making efforts to reduce pollution for years. "Moreover, since the Chinese steel industry has been suffering severely from rising costs and shrinking demand in recent years, it will have financial difficulties purchasing environmental protection equipment, considering the huge losses last year," he said. In terms of the petrochemical industry, Dai said it has been accused of causing air pollution in cities for a long time. He said they have been well prepared and will continue to increase their efforts in the sector. "It is inevitable the new rule will be carried out because air pollution has become a very important issue in Chinese cities," said an industrial insider who works at one of the top-five power generation groups and declined to be named. "The coal-fired power plants are definitely involved and responsible for the pollution." The 47 cities, covering 19 provinces and municipalities, correspond with the most heavily polluted regions highlighted in the Environmental Protection Ministry's Five-Year Plan (2011-15) for Air Pollution Control released in December. "Those regions are the most densely populated, contributing to more than 70 percent of the total economy. But 82 percent of the cities within the region have air quality below the national standard," said Zhao Hualin, director of the ministry's pollution prevention department. But the impact may not be all negative. The anonymous insider said that although the costs for power companies will rise, it will be beneficial for the whole industry to become more integrated because a number of small-scale power plants that cannot meet the new standards will be eliminated from the industry. "The key is ensuring the implementation of the policy," he said. In the Environmental Protection Ministry's plan, exhaust from new projects in all six industries, and current projects under construction for the thermal power, iron and steel, and the petrochemical industry are required to meet the new limits. According to the ministry's timetable, new projects in these regions' thermal power and iron industries will start to follow the special limit on March 1, current projects in the thermal power industry on July 1, 2014, and current projects in the iron industry on Jan 1, 2015. "There has been no fixed timetable for the other industries, because their limits are still being set," said Chai from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

Source:China Daily For more information:  http://english.mep.gov.cn/News_service/media_news/201302/t20130221_248324.htm

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Events: Improving Health and the Environment Through Integrated System Approaches organized by Wilson Center on 6 Mar 2013

Events

Improving Health and the Environment Through Integrated System Approaches

March 06, 2013 // 12:00pm — 2:00pm

Webcast

Coming Soon

There will be a live webcast of this event.

• Event Speakers

Today’s health and environment issues are complex and interconnected. By embracing holistic viewpoints and finding commonalities in problem-solving, organizations like Health in Harmony (HIH) and Pathfinder’s SCIP (Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programming) have successfully and sustainably tackled seemingly un-related health and environment issues in Indonesia and Mozambique. This panel will highlight examples of integrated system approaches in both programs and will share best practices for combining development projects in health and non-health technical areas.

Pathfinder’s SCIP program operates in the Nampula Province of Mozambique and combines solutions that span HIV prevention; reproductive health and family planning; home-based care for the chronically ill; orphans and vulnerable children support; maternal and child health; and conservation farming via youth development. Similarly, HIH makes it possible for families in the Gunung Palung National Park area of Indonesia to access high-quality healthcare through conservation-oriented, non-cash means, including bartering, green credits, and environmental protection incentives. HIH’s recent survey results indicate long-term solutions that maintain healthy families and healthy natural environments.

Location: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW ("Federal Triangle" stop on Blue/Orange Line), 5^th Floor Conference Room. A map to the Center is available at WilsonCenter.org/directions. Note: Photo identification is required. Please allow additional time to pass through security.

Want to attend but can’t? Tune into the live or archived webcast at WilsonCenter.org (not every event is webcast live; archived webcasts go up approximately one week after the meeting date).

You can also join the conversation on Twitter by following @NewSecurityBeat and find related coverage on our blog at NewSecurityBeat.org.

Related Content:

• Health and Harmony: Population, Health and Environment in Indonesia
• What Next? Finding Ways to Integrate Population and Reproductive Health Into Climate Change Adaptation
• New Population, Health, and Environment Program for Lake Victoria

Media guests, including TV crews, are welcome and should RSVP directly tonairika.murphy@wilsoncenter.org. Media bringing heaving electronics MUST indicate this in their response so they may be cleared through our building security and allowed entrance. Please err toward responding if you would like to attend.

LOCATION: 

5th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

DIRECTIONS TO THE WILSON CENTER

Event Speakers List: 

• Michelle Bussard //
  Managing Director, Health in Harmony
• Baltazar Chilundo //
  Monitoring and Evaluation Director, Pathfinder Mozambique

• Luc Vander Veken //
  Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programming Project Director, Pathfinder Mozambique

For more information:
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/improving-health-and-the-environment-through-integrated-system-approaches

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Events: Global Trends 2030: Demographic and Environmental Changes and the Future of International Security organized by Wilson Center and Global Sustainability and Resilience Program on 26 Feb 2013

Events

Global Trends 2030: Demographic and Environmental Changes and the Future of International Security

February 26, 2013 // 10:00am — 12:00pm

EVENT CO-SPONSORS: 

Global Sustainability and Resilience Program

Webcast

Coming Soon

There will be a live webcast of this event.

• Event Speakers

Demographic and environmental trends will help shape global security by 2030, according to the National Intelligence Council’s (NIC) Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds report, the latest in the NIC’s series of quadrennial reports on future security trends. Principal author Mathew Burrows will discuss the report’s findings and the increasingly interconnected nature of the major trends shaping international affairs. Jack Goldstone will offer an in-depth look at demographic stresses in the coming years. Steven Gale will discuss how USAID is tackling some of these emerging development trends and gearing up to make futures analysis more integral to its strategic planning process.

Want to attend but can’t? Tune into the live or archived webcast atWilsonCenter.org (not every event is webcast live; archived webcasts go up approximately one week after the meeting date). You can also join the conversation on Twitter by following @NewSecurityBeat and find related coverage on our blog at NewSecurityBeat.org.

Related Content:

• National Intelligence Council Releases ‘Global Trends 2030’: Prominent Roles Predicted for Demographic and Environmental Trends
• A Roundup of the ‘Global Trends 2030’ Series on Population Aging
• Jack Goldstone on Post-Cold War Trends in Armed Conflict and Challenges for the World’s Youth

To attend, please RSVP with your name and affiliation. Media guests, including TV crews, are welcome and should RSVP directly tokatharine.diamond@wilsoncenter.org. Media bringing heavy electronic equipment – such as video cameras – MUST indicate this in their response, so they may be cleared through our building security and allowed entrance. Failure to indicate your intention to bring video cameras 24 hours before the event may result in being denied access to the Wilson Center building, please err toward responding if you would like to attend.

Location: Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW ("Federal Triangle" stop on Blue/Orange Line), 6^th Floor Flom Auditorium. A map to the Center is available at WilsonCenter.org/directions.Note: Photo identification is required. Please allow additional time to pass through security.

LOCATION: 

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

DIRECTIONS TO THE WILSON CENTER

 

Event Speakers List: 

• Mathew J. Burrows //
  National Intelligence Council (NIC)
• Jack A. Goldstone //
  Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Jr. Professor, George Mason University

• Steven Gale //
  Senior Advisor for Strategic Opportunities, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Richard Cincotta //
  Political Demography Consultant, Environmental Change and Security Program; Demographer-in-Residence, The Stimson Center

For more information: 

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/global-trends-2030-demographic-and-environmental-changes-and-the-future-international-security

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Taiwanese Updates: 環保署預告修正「地下水污染管制標準」(21 Feb 2013)

環保署預告修正「地下水污染管制標準」
提供單位：行政院環境保護署土污基管會
發布日期：2013.02.21

環保署自90年11月發布實施以來，對於地下水污染管制標準之列管項目並未進行實質修正，由於國內產業環境改變所產生之污染物趨於多元，且因應國際趨勢及考量國內產業發展及實務需求，環保署針對現行列管項目予以檢討修正，「地下水污染管制標準」修正草案並於102年2月21日進行預告程序。 

        環保署指出，本次預告修正草案能更加符合法令實務執行與推動，並強化地下水污染預警及管理制度，除可持續建置臺灣地下水背景水質資料，亦可達到保護民眾用水之安全。環保署表示，本次修正重點如下： 

        一、修訂專用名詞定義，原條文第一類為飲用水水源水質保護區內之地下水，附加文字說明其他作為公共飲用水設備水源之地下水，經中央主管機關認定後得適用第一類標準。 

        二、主要修正管制項目如下：（1）新增列管已於國內地下水檢出之可能影響或影響健康物質，包含銦、鉬、1,1,1-三氯乙烷、甲基第三丁基醚等。（2）鑑於原污染管制項目「總酚」無法區分自然物質或危害性人為化學品，故刪除總酚，另增訂五氯酚、2,4,5-三氯酚及2,4,6-三氯酚為地下水污染管制標準列管項目。（3）為加強柴油以外油品污染管制，修訂「柴油總碳氫化合物」管制項目，改以「石油總碳氫化合物」進行總濃度管制。（4）參考國內外地下水及飲用水相關標準，修正「鉛」之管制值。 

        三、考慮地下水砷受區域環境背景因素影響，新增附件「地下水背景砷濃度潛勢範圍及來源判定流程」，作為非因外來污染判定參考依據。 

        環保署進一步表示，本修正草案將於預告日起3日內刊載於該署全球資訊網站（網址：http://ivy5.epa.gov.tw/epalaw/index.aspx）法規命令草案預告區網頁，民眾可逕自上網參閱，對於公告內容有任何意見或修正建議者，歡迎各界於公告刊登公報之次日起14日內提供相關意見或修正建議。

Source: http://ivy5.epa.gov.tw/enews/fact_Newsdetail.asp?InputTime=1020221162455

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