AdaptNet for 2 September 2008

1. Climate Change – A Guide for the Australian Government
2. Climate Change Adaptation and Business
3. New York City Releases Climate Assessment and Action Plan
4. Human Rights – Policy Guidance for Adaptation and Mitigation
5. Opportunities and Risks of Climate Change and Disasters (ORCHID)
6. Policies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings – Workshop

1. Climate Change – A Guide for the Australian Government

The report outlines why Australia should keep climate change below 2°C (compared with pre industrial temperatures), what Australia’s target should be, what its responsibilities as a developed country are in providing funding for adaptation and technology transfer to developing countries, and what assistance Australia should provide to ‘climate change refugees’.    

See the Bigger Picture: Act on Climate Change – Australian Action on Climate Change: A Guide for Garnaut and the Government, Make Poverty History (MPH), Australia, 2008 [4.25 MB, PDF] 

2. Climate Change Adaptation and Business

The paper presents an overview of climate adaptation issues from a business perspective. It examines the potential impacts of climate change on business, risks and opportunities, the business case for adaptation planning. The paper highlights areas in which business could have a role in promoting adaptation, both at community and global levels.       

Adaptation: An Issue Brief for Business, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Geneva, Switzerland, July 2008 [628 KB, PDF] 

3. New York City Releases Climate Assessment and Action Plan 

The report presents the initial steps that the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has taken over the past four years to address climate change. It presents the DEP action plan to address the impacts of climate change on its water supply, drainage, wastewater, and water quality protection operations.    

Assessment and Action Plan: A Report Based on the Ongoing Work of the DEP Climate Change Task Force, Report 1, Climate Change Program, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, May 2008 [7.87 MB, PDF] 

4. Human Rights – Policy Guidance for Adaptation and Mitigation

The report discusses the human rights implications of anthropogenic climate change. It identifies areas where climate change will have direct and indirect human rights impacts, and where human rights principles might sharpen policy-making on climate change, including in the two core policy areas of adaptation and mitigation.     

Climate Change and Human Rights: A Rough Guide, Stephen Humphreys and Robert Archer, International Council on Human Rights Policy, Geneva, Switzerland, 2008 [623 KB, PDF]

5. Opportunities and Risks of Climate Change and Disasters (ORCHID)    

The report details the use of ORCHID (Opportunities and Risks of Climate Change and Disasters) as a climate risk management methodology to portfolio screening, and stressing both risks and opportunities in tackling climate change. It frames adaptation to climate change as an ongoing process of learning rather than a discrete endpoint, emphasizing the importance of the process in raising awareness.     

ORCHID: Climate Risk Screening in DFID India – Synthesis Report, Thomas Tanner et al., Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK, 2007 [669 KB, PDF]

6. Policies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings – Workshop   

The workshop (Policies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings) will be held during the Energy Delta Convention in Groningen, in the Netherlands from 17-19 November 2008 on the issue of policies for energy efficiency in buildings. Abstracts for presentations may be submitted by 10 September 2008.    

Policies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings – Workshop, Energy Delta Convention, Systems, Organisations and Management (SOM), University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, 17-19 November 2008

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Translations

• AdaptNet in English: 2006, 2007, 2008.
• Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia  (AdaptNet in Bahasa Indonesian): 2007, 2008.
• Tiếng Việt (AdaptNet in Vietnamese): 2007, 2008. 
• 气候变迁适应性研究网中国版 (AdaptNet in Mandarin Chinese): 2008.

For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua.