Search Climate Insights Directory

The document analyzes the role of safeguards in REDD+ to prevent negative social and environmental impacts while maximizing 'multiple benefits' such as poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. It evaluates various international standards (e.g., UN-REDD, World Bank SESA, FSC) and argues that no single standard covers all Cancun Agreement criteria. The paper explores the technical and financial challenges of establishing national and international information-sharing systems for safeguards, noting that costs for readiness phase monitoring vary from 35,000 USD in Costa Rica to 600,000 USD in the DRC. It concludes that effective safeguards require broad stakeholder participation, transparency, and a balance between international guidelines and national sovereignty.

The 2011/12 budget for South Africa's Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is 4.719 billion rand, with a primary focus on poverty alleviation and job creation. The department aims to create 130,000 jobs in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries by 2014 and establish 50,000 commercially-oriented smallholder farmers. Key initiatives include the 'Zero Hunger Plan' for smallholder market access and the transformation of 12 agricultural colleges into National Agricultural Training Institutes. The budget allocates specific funds for flood relief (over 200 million rand over three years), forestry sustainability (300 million rand), and the sustainable management of forestry resources (550 million rand). In fisheries, the government has designated 9% of the coastline as prohibited zones and 3% of the offshore zone as no-fishing areas to protect marine ecosystems. The document also highlights South Africa's role as the host for COP 17 and its strategic alignment with BRICS to improve export access.

The report denounces the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) as a mechanism to legitimise 'land grabbing' by corporations and governments. It argues that voluntary guidelines cannot remedy the systemic human rights violations, environmental destruction, and food insecurity caused by large-scale land acquisitions, which it claims are driven by financial speculation rather than food security. The authors call for an immediate ban on large-scale land transactions, the return of misappropriated lands to communities, and a transition toward food sovereignty based on peasant agriculture and agroecology.

Friends of the Earth International and a coalition of social movements denounce the 'Responsible Agricultural Investment' (RAI) principles promoted by the World Bank and other international agencies. The document asserts that these voluntary guidelines serve as a 'moral facade' for financial speculation and corporate land grabbing, which lead to forced evictions, water privatization, and the destruction of small-scale farming. It calls for the immediate suspension of land grabs, the return of stolen lands, and a transition toward food sovereignty based on agroecological methods and genuine land reform.

The 30th IAI Executive Council meeting focused on governance, strategic planning, and member engagement. Key outcomes included the election of a new Board, the establishment of a working group for a new Strategic Plan, and efforts to revitalize relationships with non-participatory member countries. The Council also discussed the synthesis of the CRN Program, balancing the continuity of established research networks with the need to recruit new scientific groups, and coordinated potential activities at the UNFCCC in Cancún.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) and 12 other organisations are urging the South African Minister of Mineral Resources to exercise discretion under section 49 of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) to create 'no-go areas' for mining based on environmental sensitivity. The CER rejects claims by the Chamber of Mines that existing laws—such as the Protected Areas Act, the Biodiversity Act, and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)—provide sufficient protection, noting that rights have been granted illegally in protected areas and that the Biodiversity Act often only triggers an EIA without providing further legal protection. The CER asserts that a section 49 declaration is the only way to prevent wasted costs for the state and industry by refusing applications in sensitive areas from the outset, citing the Minister's intention to declare the Chrissiesmeer Biodiversity Site as a precedent.

This report by Friends of the Earth International documents community struggles and successes in maintaining food sovereignty and biodiversity across diverse geographic contexts. It examines the negative impacts of industrial monocultures, corporate land grabs, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) while promoting agroecology, seed saving, and community-based forest management as sustainable alternatives. The text emphasizes the role of women and indigenous peoples in protecting ecosystems and argues that food sovereignty is unattainable without the preservation of biological diversity.

The report argues that the GM crop industry is built on unsubstantiated claims and that the technology primarily benefits biotech corporations rather than farmers or consumers. It documents rising public and legal opposition in Europe, the US, and Asia, while highlighting the environmental and health risks associated with herbicide-tolerant crops and the emergence of 'superweeds'. The document also examines the push for GM animals and the influence of the US government and the Gates Foundation in promoting GMOs in Africa and Latin America, often at the expense of local food sovereignty.

The report argues that the GM crop industry exaggerates benefits and suppresses evidence of harm. It documents a global trend of public and legal rejection, including the reduction of GM acreage in Europe and court rulings against Monsanto in the US. The text highlights the increased use of agrotóxicos, specifically glyphosate, and the risks of new GM animals like salmon and pigs. It further criticizes the influence of the US government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in promoting GM technologies in Africa and Latin America, which the authors claim threatens traditional agricultural practices and food sovereignty.

The executive summary outlines the role of tropical forests in global warming, contributing approximately 15 percent of annual emissions. It advocates for the REDD+ framework to incentivize the conservation and restoration of forests in developing nations. The text highlights specific strategies for carbon sequestration, such as simulating natural regeneration in secondary forests, reduced-impact logging, and community forestry. It recommends national-level accounting baselines and international financial incentives to ensure that emissions reductions are additional and that local communities and biodiversity are protected.

Australia possesses approximately 42,000 sq km of coral reefs, the largest amount of any single nation. While these reefs are the least threatened by local human pressures globally, they face severe risks from thermal stress, warming, and acidification, with projections suggesting over 95 percent of Australian reefs will be threatened by 2050.

The policy brief examines conflicts in the classification of ecosystem services (ES) for economic valuation, specifically critiquing the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework. By analyzing 25 valuation studies of water services in Central American tropical forests published between 1985 and 2009, the authors demonstrate that the MA framework can lead to double counting and the underestimation of service values. They propose that valuation should focus on the final outcomes (outputs) that impact human welfare rather than ecological processes. This distinction is presented as critical for accurate natural capital measurement in national accounting systems like the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA).

The report documents various environmental and social justice campaigns led by Friends of the Earth (FoE) member groups across the globe. Key achievements include the 2008 UK Climate Change Act, a ban on open-pit metal mining in Costa Rica (2010), and the cessation of commercial whaling in Spain (1985). The document also details ongoing resistance against coal-fired power plants in Germany and Scotland, gas flaring in Nigeria, and the impact of large-scale dams in Mozambique, South Korea, and the Philippines. It emphasizes a strategy of combining grassroots mobilization, legal challenges, and international solidarity to combat corporate globalization and protect indigenous and community rights.

The document reports that only 40% of the original tropical dry forests in the Americas remain, with only 4.5% (23,417 km2) under protection. Satellite data from 1982 to 2006 shows divergent productivity trends: increases in the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia, northern Mexico, and the Chaqueña region of Argentina and Bolivia, but decreases in other parts of Mexico and the Brazilian Caatinga. These shifts are linked to global warming's impact on precipitation and humidity. The text warns that declining productivity reduces carbon storage and water retention, while increased productivity may inadvertently encourage further deforestation and agricultural intensification. It advocates for expanded protection, sustainable land management, and economic incentives like payments for environmental services and REDD+ to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The report evaluates Integrated Place-based Management (IPM) as a holistic approach to managing human-natural system trade-offs. It identifies a gap in long-term impact reporting, noting that most IPM studies focus on short-term results. The authors argue for a dual monitoring approach that combines process-based indicators (governance, participation) with outcome-oriented indicators (environmental status). Case studies in the Lake Champlain Basin, Rhine River Basin, and South Tobacco Creek demonstrate that collaborative governance and strategic planning can lead to documented improvements in water quality, such as reduced phosphorous and coliform contamination, though attributing these changes solely to IPM remains challenging due to time lags and multi-scale interactions.

The research establishes a baseline for sustainable development (SD) among 1,551 tenth grade students in Manitoba using three composite indexes. Findings indicate that while students possess relatively high knowledge (mean 2.12) and favourable attitudes (mean 2.14) toward SD, their actual supportive behaviours are less pronounced (mean 2.83). Regression analysis reveals that knowledge and attitudes only explain 21% of the variation in sustainable behaviours, with attitudes being a more influential predictor than knowledge. The study highlights a particular strength in students' support for gender equality and environmental protection, but notes confusion regarding the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Tallinn's fauna from 1980 to 2010, covering beetles, dragonflies, bees, butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. It highlights the city's high biodiversity—hosting over 60% of Estonia's total species for the studied groups—and identifies key biodiversity hotspots such as the Paljassaare reserve. The document emphasizes the need for coordinated, long-term monitoring using national methodologies to track the impact of urbanization and climate change on urban wildlife.

The report examines the tension between Sweden's goals for renewable energy expansion (RES) and the restoration of aquatic ecosystems (WFD). It finds that the current judicial concession system, characterized by a lack of trust between operators and authorities, hinders both the efficiency gains from hydropower refurbishments and the timely implementation of environmental improvements. The author suggests that a general environmental compensation scheme could resolve these conflicts by removing the financial disincentives for operators to undergo concession reviews.

The study evaluates the representation of ecosystem services across different conservation strategies in England, finding that tiered strategies consistently align with high stored carbon but not with high recreational value. It notes that tiering is prevalent in England and skewed toward upland areas, suggesting that future effectiveness evaluations must account for the overlap between different conservation strategies.

The report challenges the 'miracle crop' narrative of jatropha, presenting ten reasons why industrial-scale plantations fail. It argues that jatropha requires fertile land, significant water, and chemical inputs to be productive, contradicting claims that it thrives on marginal land. This leads to competition with food production, displacement of local communities, and biodiversity loss. Economically, the report highlights a pattern of failed investment projects and unrealistic yield promises. Environmentally, it asserts that land-use change for jatropha can increase carbon emissions, undermining its purpose as a climate solution.