The “World Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation” will focus on “innovative approaches to implement climate change adaptation”, and will contribute to the further development of this fast-growing field.
The Latin America and Caribbean region is particularly vulnerable to some of the most challenging aspects of climate change – sea-level rise affecting coastal cities, changes in precipitation impacting agriculture, glacial melting threatening water reserves. Population trends – like migration and urbanization – can exacerbate these challenges or, in some cases, serve as methods of adaptation.
Conflicts are an integral component of social processes. When dealt with peacefully, they can promote positive change. However, if they develop violently, they threaten the security and welfare of people. An outbreak of violent conflict prevents development and poverty reduction.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) published today a series of interactive maps, illustrating various climate threats European cities face as well as cities’ capacity to respond to these threats.
The G7 Foreign Ministers can take a leading role in avoiding the increased weakening and even total collapse of states and societies threatened by fragility challenges. Resilience - understood as the existential ability of a nation or society to cope with major crises - has to become the compass for foreign policy.
This is one of the key recommendations of the recent report commissioned by interested G7 Foreign Ministries and authored by an international research consortium from Germany, France, Great Britain and the USA, led by think tank adelphi. These recommendations also fed into the final communiqué of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Lübeck on 14-15 April 2015.
The indigenous peoples’ right to prior consultation is being discussed in Latin America. There has been progress with norms and regulations in some countries, while others have regulation initiatives in different phases of approval.
Natural resources rarely feature during peacebuilding efforts, but there is growing evidence that this is a mistake. The UN Environment Program and Department of Political Affairs recently created a Guide to natural resources for conflict mediators. Michael Brown is one of the authors of the Guide and senior mediation expert in natural resources and land conflicts for the UN.
The 6th Annual Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation, organised by the ICLEI Secretariat, will include topics like integrated adaptation planning, applying information and communication technologies, eco-system based adaptation and resilient public health systems, among many others. The first draft programme is available online.
This E3G study draws attention to the fact that cities are ill-prepared to face possible climate change impacts. Little knowledge of local impacts exists, very few cities have an adequate adaptation strategy and most of them also lack resources to improve resilience. The authors call for more support and better risk governance with clear responsibilities in order to respond to these challenges.
For many years, the EU pursued the strategy of 'leading by example’ in international climate negotiations.
In July 1995, Chicago experienced the deadliest weather event in the city’s history: a sustained heat wave that included a heat index—a measure of the heat experienced by a typical individual—of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.