Small Island Developing States: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Leaders of Small Islands Adopt Climate Change Declaration at UNGA

New York—Last night, leaders from the Alliance of Small Island States’ (AOSIS), a group of 43 low-lying and coastal states that are highly vulnerable to climate change, adopted a Declaration on the sidelines of the 67^thUnited Nations General Assembly that calls for urgent action to address the climate change crisis.

“Climate change is progressing so rapidly, and the current and expected impacts are so alarming, it is absolutely critical that all of the world’s leaders immediately engage in the crisis and begin a serious dialogue about how their countries can specifically begin reducing emissions to the levels science shows is required to avoid a catastrophe. We need a global response to the crisis at an unprecedented level and that will demand leadership at the highest level,” said President Sprent Dabwido of Nauru, Chair of AOSIS.

The Declaration refocuses attention on the urgency of climate change at the once-a-year gathering of world leaders at a time when international leadership on climate change is flagging, even as extreme weather events and record-breaking droughts linked to climate change are becoming more severe and costly.

“We, the Member States of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), meeting in New York this 27^th day of September 2012,” the declaration begins, “Recalling the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirming the principle of the sovereign equality of all nations… are gravely concerned that climate change poses the most serious threat to our territorial integrity, viability and survival, and that it undermines our efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and threatens our very existence. We reaffirm the sovereign rights of all SIDS in light of the adverse impacts of climate change…”

The Declaration also outlines concrete steps that must be taken at the 18^th Conference of the Parties in Doha at the end of the year in order to achieve essential short-term emissions reductions.

“Building on the progress achieved thus far we underscore our commitment to work towards a successful outcome at COP18/CMP8 in Doha, including the following elements:

“Adoption and provisional application of the Doha Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol pending their entry into force that:

Ensure the widest participation of Annex I Parties in a second commitment period;

Establish a five-year second commitment period to run from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017;

Establish more ambitious quantified emission limitation or reduction commitments for all Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol; and

Limit the use of surplus carry over units in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to ensure environmental integrity.”

The severity of the climate crisis, and the unique risks faced by small islands, was underscored during a science presentation given by Professor Sir Robert Watson at the summit that summarized some of the latest research on climate impacts. More

Alliance of Small Island States Leaders’ Declaration, 2012 PDF

Small Islands Push for New Energy

ST. JULIAN’S, Malta, Sep 14 2012 (IPS) - Most islands are well endowed with one or more renewable energy source – rivers, waterfalls, wind, sunshine, biomass, wave power, geothermal deposits – yet virtually all remain heavily or entirely reliant on imported fossil fuels to produce electricity and power transport.

With rising oil prices, fuel import bills now represent up to 20 percent of annual imports of 34 of the 38 small island developing states (SIDS), between 5 percent to 20 percent of their Gross Domestic Product – and even up to 15 percent of the total import bills of many of the European Union’s 286 islands.

Action advocated under ‘The Malta Communiqué On Accelerating Renewable Energy Uptake For Islands’ adopted by a 50-nation two-day conference that ended here last week will hopefully slash, in some cases eliminate, reliance on fossils and related pollution, while increasing energy security, employment as well as economic and social wellbeing.

‘The Renewables and Islands Global Summit’ in Malta was co-hosted by the 100-nation International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) based in Abu Dhabi and by the government of Malta – a 316 sq km Mediterranean island republic of 410,000 inhabitants, and EU’s smallest member state.

The meeting represents a key milestone in IRENA’s initiative on renewables and islands launched by its governing council last January, as well as a follow-up to the Rio+20 conference in June and the ‘achieving sustainable energy for all in Small Island Developing States’ ministerial meeting in Barbados in May.

The communiqué invites IRENA to establish a global renewable energy islands network (GREIN) as a platform for sharing knowledge, best practice, challenges and lessons learnt while seeking innovative solutions.

GREIN will also help assess country potential, build capacity, formulate business cases for renewables deployment involving the private sector and civil society while identifying available finance as well as new ideas for innovative financing mechanisms.

In addition, the network will develop methodologies for integrating renewables into sustainable tourism, water management, transport, and other industries and services.

IRENA’s Kenyan director-general Adnan Amin told the 120 delegates that “we have confirmed the enormous potential for renewables in small island developing states as well as for developed island countries, not to mention coastal countries with remote, energy-deprived islands of their own. Ambitious policy targets appear increasingly attainable because of great strides forward in technology and cost-effectiveness.

“We are laying the groundwork for a business council to bring investors – from major energy companies to innovative SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and also financial institutions – into the discussion,” Amin added. “Academics and NGOs can also contribute to the search for practical solutions. Developed island states can do much by sharing their experience with small-island developing states that face broadly similar challenges.”

Representatives (including 15 ministers) from 26 developing Pacific, Caribbean and African developing island nations and from coastal developing states with islands reported a wide range of renewables deployment, from detailed long-term plans and ongoing activities to reach up to 100 percent renewables, to admissions of very low deployment and no firm goals or plans yet. More

Malta Comminique Download

Friday, September 28, 2012

At UN General Debate, small island states seek aid for growth, climate change mitigation

28 September 2012 – Small island states took to the podium of the United Nations General Assembly today to call on the international community to support their development in the face of the global economic crisis and not dismiss their needs by categorizing them as medium income, while also highlighting the threats they face from climate change and rising sea levels.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves

“The international community cannot ignore our plight based on a distorted calculus of middle-class status and relative prosperity, or on simplistic, even offensive, stereotypes of Caribbean paradises,” Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines told the 67th Assembly on the fourth day of its annual General Debate, at UN Headquarters in New York.

“Small, highly-indebted middle-income developing countries, like those in the Caribbean, which are very vulnerable to natural disasters and international economic convulsions; have especial concerns which the international community is obliged to address properly in partnership with the people of our region,” he said.

“This war is not a future event, it is a preset-day and ongoing battle,” Prime Minister Gonsalves said.

In the Caribbean region, the global economic and financial meltdown continues to be felt most acutely by the poor, the youth, the elderly and the vulnerable, who bear no responsibility for the rampant financial speculation, he noted, warning that the externally-imposed meltdown has produced negative or marginal growth across the Caribbean, which now faces the implications of a potential “lost decade” of development.

Small, highly-indebted middle-income developing countries, like those in the Caribbean – which are very vulnerable to natural disasters and international economic convulsions – have especial concerns which the international community is obliged to address properly in partnership with the people of our region, he said.

“We must resist the temptation to bury our heads in the shifting sands of meaningless resolutions while we studiously disregard our imperative quest for a unifying principle and purpose,” Prime Minister Gonsalves stated, warning that avoidance of fundamental questions “threatens to set our Assembly adrift and rudderless, shirking responsibility and afraid of action.”

Within the UN system, the current budget for peacekeeping dwarfs the resources allocated for development “even as we recognise that most conflict is rooted in underdevelopment,” he stressed, noting that age-old pledges of aid have been skirted and their fulfilment delayed by States citing their own struggles with the global economic fallout.

Prime Minister Gonsalves’ concerns were echoed by his Caribbean neighbour, Prime Minister Kenny Anthony of Saint Lucia, who warned that small states are forced to become even more indebted as they have to borrow to replace infrastructure such as roads and bridges, without which their economies would face further contraction.

“The Caribbean Community has continuously made the point that many small states are deceptively classed as ‘middle income’ on the mere basis of per capita,” he said. “A country the size of Saint Lucia, with the vulnerabilities that we face, should not be subjected to such a measuring tool for determining whether a state can stand on its own.”

Small states require some fairness and balance in the world economic space, he noted, adding: “We look to the future of a United Nations and other global institutions moving towards becoming more targeted and differentiated in their interventions and policies.”

In his remarks, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas, also underscored the “mammoth challenges and difficulties” confronting small island state and the need for greater consideration.

“In no way of our making, the global economic crisis has severely complicated the task of governance in highly indebted middle income nations like mine,” he said. “We continue to face significant challenges especially in relation to the attainment of economic growth in the context of a very sluggish and uncertain global economy.”

The Caribbean leaders called for an end to the United State embargo on Cuba. Prime Minister Gonsalves said Cuba could in no way be labelled as state sponsor of terrorism since it neither supports nor harbours terrorists of any type, while Prime Minister Anthony attributed the embargo to political retribution. Prime Minister Douglas said the embargo's continued denial of certain medical treatments to the Cuban people is simply “unconscionable.”

They also underscored the need for urgent action in the war against climate change and rising seas.

“This war is not a future event, it is a preset-day and ongoing battle,” Prime Minister Gonsalves said. “As all of you in this Assembly are aware, it is a war that we are currently losing. The survival of our islands is at stake, and the responsibility for immediate change lies undisputedly with those whose reckless pollution over generations has led us to the brink of catastrophe.”

Prime Minister Douglas referred to the “radical” climate shifts the Caribbean region had undergone in recent decades. “It is troubling that the largest contributors of greenhouse gases are still not taking responsibility for the increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, coastal degradation, coral reef bleaching and decimation, infrastructural damage, and loss of lives that their actions have wrought,” he said.

“The physical, mental and financial burden that other countries' energy usage has inflicted on countries like mine has been enormous - plunging us deeper into debt, and severely frustrating our efforts to meet our Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added, referring to the UN targets of slashing extreme hunger and poverty, maternal and infant mortality, diseases and lack of access to education and medical services, all by 2015.

Their concerns were echoed by fellow small island states located on the other side of the world, in the South Pacific.

“Our challenge to the international community, in particular developed countries, is to take the bold measures necessary to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases to levels that ensure a viable and meaningful future for SIDS (Small Island Developing States),” Lord Tu’ivakano, the Prime Minister of Tonga, told the Assembly.

“To safeguard the survival of the smallest and most vulnerable States amongst us is to safeguard a viable future for all States. A rising tide may lift all boats but it will drown us all,” he added, stressing the need for sustainable development, and strict stewardship of the world’s ocean resources.

“As custodians of the ocean and its living and non-living resources, we have long appreciated that the health of the oceans is critical to maintaining a staple source of sustenance and livelihood for island communities,” he said.

In his address to the General Debate, a fellow Pacific island leader, Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuila’epa Fatialofa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, called climate change “the world's most urgent problem requiring a decisive global response.”

“It is a challenge that should unite us, not divide us,” he said. “Entrenched positions devoid of today's realties and in pursuit of unrelated: agendas do not have a role in our collective effort. All countries are impacted by climate change in varying degrees. No one should stay detached and unconcerned to our common plight.” More

Climate Change and the Use of Renewable Energy in Small Island States

On 5 November,Ilan Kelman and Many Strong Voices http://www.manystrongvoices.org/ colleagues will be part of an 'expert chat' on 'Climate Change and the Use of Renewable Energy in Small Island States' http://dl.klima2012.de/chat/chat01.pdf at the e-conference Climate 2012 http://www.climate2012.de/en/start on "Climate Change, Island States and Sustainable Technologies" 5-9 November 2012.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

At UN debate, Kiribati’s President urges increased efforts to mitigate impact of rising seas

26 September 2012 – The President of Kiribati, a mainly low-lying Pacific archipelago that is one of the states most threatened by rising seas, today appealed to the United Nations to step up efforts to curb global greenhouse emissions and help in mitigation measures, including possible migration.

President Anote Tong

“We are grateful that the General Assembly agrees that climate change is a matter warranting the attention of the Security Council,” Kiribati’s President Anote Tong told the UN General Assembly on the second day of its annual General Debate, at UN Headquarters in New York.

“I applaud the commitment of our Secretary-General to this particular security threat, but he needs the support of all nations to take the necessary action to address it. We must step up our collective efforts to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

The Kiribati leader called on development partners to provide resources and technology to enable his country to deal with the current impacts of climate change and prepare for an uncertain future.

“While we are taking adaptation measures to ensure that Kiribati remains habitable for as long as possible, we are also preparing for a future where our islands may no longer be able top sustain our population,” President Tong stated in his speech.

“We are looking to improve the skills of our people to a level where they are able to compete for jobs in the international labour market. We want our people to have the option to migrate with dignity should the time come that migration is unavoidable. And all the science is telling us that it is just a matter of time,” he said.

He added, “I frequently find myself watching my grandchildren and wondering what sort of a future we are leaving them.”

President Tong is one of scores of world leaders and other high-level officials presenting their views and comments on issues of individual national and international relevance at the Assembly’s General Debate, which ends on 1 October. More

Full text of President Anote Tong's UN address Click Here PDF

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Small islands push for new energy

Most islands are well endowed with one or more renewable energy source — rivers, waterfalls, wind, sunshine, biomass, wave power, geothermal deposits — yet virtually all remain heavily or entirely reliant on imported fossil fuels to produce electricity and power transport.

The Malta Communiqué On Accelerating Renewable Energy Uptake For Islands will hopefully help slash or eliminate reliance on fossil fuels, while increasing energy security, employment as well as economic and social wellbeing.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) GLISPA

Caribbean Challenge Initiative so far involves eight island nations — The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda as well as Saint Kitts and Nevis. Five countries have made formal commitments to protect at least 20% of the near-shore marine and coastal habitats by 2020. All eight countries are participating in the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund that will provide sustainable financing for their national protected areas. More

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Apply for a 2013 Ashden Award

Are you breaking new ground in increasing access to sustainable energy, saving energy or generating renewable forms of energy supply? Are you encouraging low-carbon living or more sustainable travel? If so, we want to hear from you!

A significant prize - and much more

Next June, up to 13 winners will be presented with a cash prize of £5,000 to £40,000 at a prestigious ceremony in London. But winning an Ashden Award is about more than the prize money. If you are successful we’ll also support you to develop your work further, help you build your profile and gain access to new networks.

What are we looking for?

For our UK and International Awards we are looking for sustainable energy pioneers that are making progress in transforming people's lives through sustainable energy, saving energy, generating renewable energy or promoting behaviour change.

Applications for our School Awards must be able to demonstrate success in making their buildings and grounds more sustainable as well as integrating sustainability into their culture and curriculum.

For our Eurostar Ashden Awards for Sustainable Travel we are looking for schemes that are encouraging more sustainable forms of travel in Belgium, France or the UK.

Follow one of the links below to find out more about the eligibility criteria for each award and how to apply.

> UK Ashden Awards

> International Ashden Awards

> Eurostar Ashden Awards for Sustainable Travel

> Ashden School Awards

> Small Island Developing States Awards

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Very Real Threat of Sea-level Rise to the United States

Until the very end of the Republican Convention in Tampa, the issue of climate change was a no-show. Even the Democrats have not made as much of this issue as many in the scientific community would like.

But the issue did come up when Governor Romney gave his nomination acceptance speech. He could have made neutral comments about climate change or the environment. He could have ignored the issue completely as the Republican platform does. But in fact, Romney mocked the issue, mocked the threat to the United States and the planet, and mocked efforts to protect the environment, using the issue of sea-level rise as a laugh and applause line.

Climate change is no laughing matter. Uncontrolled, human-caused climate change is a real threat to the United States economy, hundreds of millions of Americans, and their local communities. The increasingly extreme weather of the past few years is a sign of things to come: rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, increasing storm and drought frequency and intensity, changing vegetation, and rapidly disappearing Arctic ice. There are plenty of remaining uncertainties -- such as the speed of the changes, their extent and severity, the costs of suffering impacts versus the costs of adapting to or preventing them -- and the scientific community continues to work hard to understand and reduce these uncertainties. But one of the most certain and devastating consequences for the United States is going to be the very climate impact that Romney chose to mock: rising seas.

Sea levels are rising for two reasons: thermal expansion and an increase in the volume of the ocean. As the planet warms, so do the oceans, and warmer water takes up more space than colder water. As ice in glaciers and the ice caps on Antarctica and Greenland melt, the volume of the oceans grows. And we already see rising sea levels. Between 1993 and the present, sea levels have been increasing an average of over 3 mm per year -- more than 50 percent faster than over the past century. Indeed, sea levels are actually rising at the upper range of model projections, and there is growing concern that scientists have conservatively underestimated the speed at which some of the massive ice volumes in Greenland may deteriorate and melt. There is so much ice on Greenland alone, that were it to melt into the oceans, sea levels would rise nearly 24 feet.

A global increase in sea level of a meter (more than three feet) by the year 2100 is now "widely accepted as a serious possibility" and even the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends planning for as much as 1.5 meters (nearly five feet).

What is even clearer are the risks to our populations and economies posed by this threat. The United States has a vast and vulnerable coastline. More than half the nation's population lives in coastal counties. Nearly four million people already live within three feet of today's high-tide level, with hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure at risk. Residential structures in today's 100‐year floodplain of just New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties already have a total estimated value of over $125 billion. New York's Sea Level Rise Task Force identified a wide range of growing threats associated with sea-level rise, including storm surges, inundation and flooding, rising water tables, salt water intrusion to groundwater, and coastal erosion. More

An Inside Look at the First Village Forced to Relocate Due to Climate Change

For the most part, many people still experience climate change on an academic rather than a personal level. But for the villagers of Vunidogoloa on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second largest island, climate change has become a daily intrusion on every day life.

Photo: Brook Meakins

The villagers of Vunidogoloa are currently relocating to drier and higher land because of sea level rise, erosion, and intensifying floods. I had the opportunity to visit the village midway through this process – one of the very first village relocation projects in the world – and spoke with people young and old about their upcoming move.

Throughout 2012, these Fijian villagers have been in the process of moving from their current home village – a tract of land overlooking Natawa Bay, the largest bay in the South Pacific, to their new home which they named Kenani, Fijian for Canaan, the biblical “promised land.” Last month, I visited both sites - the seaside village that is now uninhabitable and the mountaintop site of their intended new home. I talked with the villagers about their feelings, hopes, and fears, as they become one of the very first villages in the world to be wholly relocated as a result of the effects of climate change.

An increasing number of coastal communities around the world are faced with the issue of relocation because of sea level rise, among other environmental and climate change related issues. In most cases, these individuals and their communities contribute very little to anthropogenic climate change, yet they are feeling the proverbial heat in a much more profound and potentially devastating way. Some villagers, like those in Vunidogoloa and their promised land, eagerly and proactively participate in the process of relocation. But for others, everything that comes along with relocation, including property rights issues, a lack of finances, the inevitable culture loss, and a host of other complex problems, is a much more traumatic topic. Scientists and academics predict that this phenomenon will worsen as global emissions rise and polar ice continues to melt. There is no time like the present to learn from those villages around the globe that are testing the waters of relocation. More

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Small Islands Push for New Energy

With rising oil prices, fuel import bills now represent up to 20 percent of annual imports of 34 of the 38 small island developing states (SIDS),

The meeting represents a key milestone in IRENA’s initiative on renewables and islands launched by its governing council last January, as well as a follow-up to the Rio+20 conference in June and the ‘achieving sustainable energy for all in Small Island Developing States’ ministerial meeting in Barbados in May.

The communiqué invites IRENA to establish a global renewable energy islands network (GREIN) as a platform for sharing knowledge, best practice, challenges and lessons learnt while seeking innovative solutions.

GREIN will also help assess country potential, build capacity, formulate business cases for renewables deployment involving the private sector and civil society while identifying available finance as well as new ideas for innovative financing mechanisms.

In addition, the network will develop methodologies for integrating renewables into sustainable tourism, water management, transport, and other industries and services.

IRENA’s Kenyan director-general Adnan Amin told the 120 delegates that “we have confirmed the enormous potential for renewables in small island developing states as well as for developed island countries, not to mention coastal countries with remote, energy-deprived islands of their own. Ambitious policy targets appear increasingly attainable because of great strides forward in technology and cost-effectiveness.

“We are laying the groundwork for a business council to bring investors – from major energy companies to innovative SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and also financial institutions – into the discussion,” Amin added. “Academics and NGOs can also contribute to the search for practical solutions. Developed island states can do much by sharing their experience with small-island developing states that face broadly similar challenges.”

Representatives (including 15 ministers) from 26 developing Pacific, Caribbean and African developing island nations and from coastal developing states with islands reported a wide range of renewables deployment, from detailed long-term plans and ongoing activities to reach up to 100 percent renewables, to admissions of very low deployment and no firm goals or plans yet.

West African Cape Verde, a 10-island 4,033 sq km archipelago with 491,000 inhabitants, has started working towards 100 percent, then possibly 300 percent renewables, according to José Brito, senior adviser to Cape Verde’s Prime Minister, José Maria Neves. Surplus energy remaining from meeting domestic needs (including seawater desalination) could either be stored or exported, Brito said. Cape Verde aims to become a renewables training hub for Africa.

Dominica in the East Caribbean (71,000 inhabitants, 754 sq km) could also become a net energy exporter, Crispin Grégoire, its former ambassador to the UN and now a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) official in charge of Caribbean issues told IPS.

“With 325 rivers and mountainous terrain, we have huge hydroelectric potential. Moreover, Iceland and the EU are helping assess our extensive geothermal resources. We could export surplus electricity by interconnector seabed cable to Guadelupe and Martinique, each just 60 km away. We could also attract high-tech industries to use our surplus power.” More

The royal visit to Tuvalu focuses on climate change

The Diamond Jubilee Royal Tour of the Pacific moves to Tuvalu tomorrow when Prince William and his wife Kate will be carried from their aircraft on multi-coloured throne chairs.

The visit will focus world attention on climate change as Tuvalu is at the forefront of small island nations already feeling the effects of rising sea levels.

But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will not have a chance to talk to Non-government organisations in Tuvalu working on keeping back the sea. More

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For those who are not familiar with the plight of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) here is Ian Fry, the Tuvalu delegate to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, making an impassioned plea for legally binding agreements to be made by world leaders to save his nation and other low-lying island states. He notes that is is "an irony of the modern world that the fate of the world is being determined by some senators in the US Congress," and suggests that for President Obama to earn his Nobel Peace Prize by addressing the greatest threat to humanity and to security: climate change. Tearfully, he concludes: "The fate of my country rests in your hands."

Friday, September 14, 2012

Balancing Finance and Technology Key to Climate-Resilient Future

Bangkok, 13 September 2012 - Experts from 36 countries called on the international community to build the fundamental infrastructure that will help developing countries move to a low-carbon future at the end of a workshop run under the Technology Need Assessment Project (TNA).

"People in developing countries must be able to plan their low-carbon and more climate-resilient futures, and to be able to assess precisely which activities need to be supported with finance and technology by developed countries," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"This workshop has gone a long way to determine precisely what is required," she added. "Governments now need to urgently press ahead with implementing what they decided in Durban last year and in Cancun in 2010, and to put the finishing touches to the new Technology Mechanism in Doha at the end of the year.

The three-day global experience-sharing workshop in Bangkok was run under the auspices of the TNA, which is implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Participating countries acknowledged the significance of the TNA project in engaging more stakeholders in the global response to combat climate change and take concrete actions. However, funding of proposed actions remains a major concern.

"The workshop has raised a number of important points which needs to be addressed in the way forward," said Mark Radka, Head of Energy Branch, UNEP. "The request for capacity building and access to finance being two important points, UNEP's support does not stop with the TNA process. If called upon, we will work with governments and other relevant partners to support national processes to spearhead the transition to a green economy."

Participating countries also called on the Technical Executive Committee to work with them to create synergies between international mitigation and adaptation policy actions such as Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) and nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) to prevent future TNAs ending up as stand-alone initiatives. More

Monday, September 10, 2012

Scientists Seek Strategy to Convey Seriousness of Sea-Level Rise

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Sea-level rise threatens cities around the world, and academic leaders must talk about it differently to help people grasp the potential dangers and costs, climate experts said last week.

Researchers must detail effects at the local and regional levels, members of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Sustainability and Climate Change Program said as they met at the University of California, San Diego. They need to talk shorter time windows, mentioning impacts in 2050 as well as in 2100. And they should drive home to people that actions to limit climate change can help protect their children and grandchildren from huge economic and social impacts.

“Sea-level rise is not a problem that’s going away,” said Dan Cayan, a climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. “In some sense, this is an important investment. This is a multigenerational issue.”

Climate researchers from around the world gathered for three days at UC San Diego to share information and formulate strategies. They discussed the importance of talking about sea-level rise and climate change as they brainstormed what advice they should give to university presidents. During that session, some of the APRU members urged more of an activist role, saying too much time already has been lost.

“People who don’t believe climate change is real, and sea-level rise is real, are really few and far between,” said Bernard Minster, a UC San Diego professor and Scripps researcher.

The conference took place just after sea-level rise and climate change happened to surface on the national stage. At the Republican National Convention, presidential nominee Mitt Romney in his acceptance speech derided President Obama’s position on the issues.

“President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans,” Romney said as some in the audience snickered, “and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.”

Obama in his speech at the Democratic National Convention said that “climate change is not a hoax.”

“More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They are a threat to our children’s future. And in this election, you can do something about it.” More

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribbean Small Island Developing States

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: Integrating Local and External Knowledge

Abstract: Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to climate change impacts including sea level rise, invasive species, ocean acidification, changes in rainfall patterns, increased temperatures, and changing hazard regimes including hurricanes, floods and drought. Given high dependencies in Caribbean SIDS on natural resources for livelihoods, a focus on ecosystems and their interaction with people is essential for climate change adaptation. Increasingly, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches are being highlighted as an approach to address climate change impacts. Specifically, EbA encourages the use of local and external knowledge about ecosystems to identify climate change adaptation approaches. This paper critically reviews EbA in Caribbean SIDS, focusing on the need to integrate local and external knowledge. An analysis of current EbA in the Caribbean is undertaken alongside a review of methodologies used to integrate local and external expertise for EbA. Finally key gaps, lessons learnt and suggested ways forward for EbA in Caribbean SIDS and potentially further afield are identified. Download

Many Strong Voices Releases Paper on Ecosystem-based Climate Change Adaptation in Caribbean SIDS

August 2012: Many Strong Voices (MSV), a collaboration between coastal communities in the Arctic and small island developing States (SIDS) that seeks to promote action on climate change, has released a paper titled “Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: Integrating Local and External Knowledge.”

The paper underscores that Caribbean SIDS are vulnerable to climate change impacts, such as: sea level rise; invasive species; ocean acidification; changes in rainfall patterns; increased temperatures; and changing hazard regimes including hurricanes, floods and drought. Noting the high dependency in Caribbean SIDS on natural resources for livelihoods, it calls for a focus on ecosystems and their interaction with people in order to adapt to climate change.

The paper reviews ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change in Caribbean SIDS, focusing on the integration of local and external knowledge. It highlights key gaps, lessons learned and suggests ways forward for ecosystem-based adaptation in Caribbean SIDS, and potentially further afield.

Partners of MSV include: the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC); the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP); the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)/GRID-Arendal; the Organization of American States, Department of Sustainable Development (OAS DSD); UNEP Regional Office for North America (RONA); the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC); as well as NGOs and indigenous peoples organizations. [Publication: Ecosystem-based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribean SIDS. More

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

C'wealth conference on small states in London

London: The Commonwealth Secretariat has convened a global conference here to discuss the unique development challenges of small states in the group and explore policy options to address them.

Thirty-two of the Commonwealth's 54 member countries are small states, with populations of less than 1.5 million.

They share similar challenges such as remoteness, susceptibility to exogenous shocks and high debt burdens, a press release from the Secretariat said.

The Second Global Biennial Conference on Small States will take place on September 17-18 at the headquarters of the Commonwealth in London.

The meeting is a follow-up to the inaugural 2010 conference, whose outcomes Commonwealth Heads of Government endorsed in Perth, Australia, in October 2011.

Besides ministers and officials from small states, the conference will also be attended by representatives from G20 countries, and international organisations like the World Bank and La Francophonie.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said:"The Commonwealth has always exercised a special responsibility to protect and promote the interests of small states in the pursuit of their social, environmental and economic development goals. We are convening this global conference in that spirit."

The key themes for discussion during the conference include: green growth in small states; tourism development and local economy linkages; migration and development; building resilience to external shocks; and enhancing growth through regional integration, the release added.

Conference outcomes are expected to feed into major international meetings, including the Small States Forum that will take place in the wings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in October 2012.

They will likely also impact on preparations for the UN 2014 Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the release said. More