AdaptNet for 22 January 2008

Recommended Citation

"AdaptNet for 22 January 2008", ADAPTNet English Edition, January 22, 2008, https://nautilus.org/adaptnet/adaptnet-for-22-january-2008/

AdaptNet for 22 January 2008

  1. IPCC Underestimates the Risks of Greater Warming
  2. The Right to Development in a Climate Constraint World
  3. How Prepared is Pakistan for Natural Disasters?
  4. Welfare-Optimizing Climate-Economy Models: Inconsistencies
  5. GEF: Funding for Adaptation or Adapting to Funds
  6. Adaptation of Forests and Forest Management – Conference

1.    IPCC Underestimates the Risks of Greater Warming

The report (prepared by the CAPSI at the University of Melbourne) provides up to date information on climate change. It suggests that there exists evidence that the IPCC process may have led to an underestimation of the risk of greater warming and that the impacts of climate change are occurring more rapidly than previously projected.

Evidence of Accelerated Climate Change, Dr Graeme Pearman, Climate Adaptation Science and Policy Initiative (CAPSI) at the University of Melbourne, The Climate Institute, Australia, November 2007 [PDF]

2.    The Right to Development in a Climate Constraint World

The report shows indicative calculations that illustrate the implications of the Greenhouse Development Rights (GDRs) framework. It calculates a national Responsibility and Capacity Indicator (RCI) that takes explicit account of the distribution of income and emissions inequality within countries. The paper uses RCI to quantify national mitigation and adaptation obligations corresponding to an emergency program.

The Right to Development in a Climate Constraint World: The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework, Paul Baer, Tom Athanasiou and Sivan Kartha, EcoEquity, Christian Aid and the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, September 2007 [PDF]

3.    How Prepared is Pakistan for Natural Disasters?

The report provides an overview of the current status of disaster preparedness planning in Pakistan. It discusses the documents, plans and legal instruments in place and the institutions governing the implementation of disaster preparedness. Although Pakistan faces a number of natural disasters, the book focuses specifically floods, earthquakes, and landslides.

Disaster Preparedness for Natural Hazards: Current Status in Pakistan, M. Asif Khan, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), Kathmandu, Nepal, 2007

4.    Welfare-Optimizing Climate-Economy Models: Inconsistencies

The paper reviews the handling of time discounting in social welfare functions, the calibration of uncertain climate parameters, the representation of uncertainty about future climate change, and the evolution of carbon abatement costs over time. It finds that each of these aspects has been treated inconsistently in the past, and this can strongly affect the results of several previous studies.

Methodological and Empirical Flaws in the Design and Application of Simple Climate-Economy Models, H.-M. Füssel, Climate Change, Vol. 81, No. 2, 2007 [PDF]

5.    GEF: Funding for Adaptation or Adapting to Funds 

The paper contributes to discussions on the availability of adaptation funding under the GEF Trust Fund and on the role of the funds under a post-2012 international climate policy regime. It concludes that the funds are not technically adequate for responding to developing countries’ needs, owing both to the complex design of the funds and to poor implementation of the guidance.

The Global Environment Facility: Funding for Adaptation or Adapting to Funds, Annett Mohner and Richard J.T. Klein, Climate & Energy Working Paper, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden, June 2007 [PDF]

6.    Adaptation of Forests and Forest Management – Conference 

The conference will focus on the current state of knowledge of ongoing changes in climatic conditions in different regions of the world, and the implications of these changes for forest health, forest management and conservation. Presentations and discussions will emphasize research, policies and practices that are needed to plan for and manage healthy and productive forests. For further information, please go to the website (below).

Adaptation of Forests and Forest Management to Changing Climate with Emphasis on Forest Health: A Review of Science, Policies, and Practices, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in co-operation with IUFRO, FAO, Umeå Convention Bureau, and Umeå Folkets Hus, Sweden, August 25-28, 2008

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