Climate Focus: Publications

Peatlands - guidance for climate change mitigation by conservation, rehabilitation and sustainable use

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:05:07 -0400

Peatlands provide many important ecosystem services, including water regulation, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration and storage. Because of the enormous size of the peat carbon pool, its high sensitivity for disturbance, the large emissions from a small land area (which continue long after conversion), and the virtual irreversibility of peat carbon losses, any further degradation of the peatland resource should be prevented. Peatland conservation, restoration and water management are low-hanging fruits for climate finance mitigation and climate-smart agriculture (CSA).

The publication informs on management and finance options to achieve emission reductions and enhance other vital ecosystem services from peatlands. A decision support tree guides through opportunities for both cultivated and uncultivated peatlands. Methodologies and data available for quantifying GHG emissions from peatlands and organic soils are summarized and practical solutions are given concerning, measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) and accounting. Country-specific case studies illustrate the problems, solutions, and opportunities for peatland management.

10 elements for strategic action are identified and the report provides guidance for these actions.

The main strategies are:

Secure undrained peatlands to prevent emissions.
Rewet drained peatlands to reduce emissions.
Adapt management of peatlands that cannot be reweted.

Robert O'Sullivan contributed to this publication which is a useful handbook for policy makers, technical audiences and others interested in peatland.

Struggling With Expectations and Changing Realities: International Climate Negotiations

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:36:41 -0400

Although the UNFCCC sets a direction and defines a number of tools and mechanisms, it does not provide any clear strategy on how to solve the climate crisis. International climate negotiations do nor formulate policies. Instead, they leave the international process up to national governments to decide on how to reduce emissions. International goals and pledges may provide policy makers with a direction, but they do not formulate recipes on how to generate energy and feed an increasing world population while protecting the global climate. The challenge is formidable, and time is running out. By the same token, climate finance and the institutional arrangements underpinning it are likely to remain decentralized and diverse. Although fragmenatation poses the risk of inefficiencies and duplication of efforts, recent developments under the UNFCCC carry the promise that climate negotiations are able to adapt to changing realities and may provide a framework for country-driven and multistakeholder-driven climate policies.

Options for financing REDD+ in the context of EU climate policy

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:16:51 -0500

Climate Focus, with the support of The Nature Conservancy, has evaluated options on how to mobilize funding to support REDD+ in the context of EU climate policy. The analysis focuses on mobilizing sustained support for emission reductions and removals from REDD+ that would complement the funding of readiness activities, forest governance programs and other direct policy support.

Towards Policies for Climate Change Mitigation: Incentives and Benefits for Smallholder Farmers

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:44:34 -0500

The potential to sequester carbon in soils, enhance aboveground biomass and reduce non-carbon dioxide emissions creates an opportunity for the agricultural sector to benefit from mitigation finance. Smallholders can tap into this opportunity provided that adoption barriers can be successfully addressed.

The most prohibitive barriers that prevent smallholders from accessing new technologies and practices often occur at the adoption stage: poorly functioning input and output markets; weak local institutions and infrastructure; inadequate extension systems; and a lack of credit and insurance markets. The first condition for the adoption of new agricultural practices is the prospect of a net benefit for the farmer. The second condition is that the farmer can overcome potential financial, capacity and knowledge constraints to access such opportunities. The eventual benefits related to the adoption of new practices have to outweigh the costs associated with the removal of associated barriers, both for the farmers and for the policy makers in charge.

This report is structured as follows. Section 1 provides an overview of the main international climate finance mechanisms and sources. Section 2 describes some of the main barriers to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by smallholders. Section 3 describes what policies and instruments can be used to increase smallholder access to finance and investment. Section 4 investigates how climate finance can support the policies identified in the previous section to foster the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices by smallholders who could potentially benefit from climate finance. The conclusion of this report is that climate finance can be used as an instrument to overcome barriers to smallholders' adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by accessing new funds, designing new disbursement mechanisms, and forging new partnerships.

Click here to download the publication.

Voorjaarsschoonmaak in het natuurbeschermingsrecht: minder geld, minder regels, minder bescherming

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:45:13 -0500

Ernestine Meijer of Climate Focus, together with Wienke Zwier of the Dutch law firm AKD, published the article "Voorjaarsschoonmaak in het natuurbeschermingsrecht: minder geld, minder regels, minder bescherming" (translation: Spring cleaning in nature conservation legislation: less money, less rules, less protection) in the March issue of the Dutch Law Journal “Tijdschrift voor Milieu en Recht”.

The article reviews the recent proposal for a new Dutch nature conservation law, paying special attention to the compatibility of this law with the European Habitats and Birds Directives as well as the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats.

For subscribers of the Journal, the article can be accessed online at http://shop.kluwer.nl/online/tijdschrift-milieu-recht/prodM8233.html