Science and Development Network
News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world
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Definitions
Below is a directory of terms used in the debate about reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). Most of the terms have been reproduced from the UN University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and the Meridian Institute.
Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the world today. Long-term development planning must now include measures to deal with it.
I
Indigenous peoples
The (original) inhabitants of a particular geographical location, who have a specific and distinctive culture and belief system of their own.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The IPCC was established jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization in 1988. Its purpose is to assess information in the scientific and technical literature related to all significant components of the issue of climate change. The IPCC draws upon hundreds of expert scientists as authors and thousands as expert reviewers. Leading experts on climate change and environmental, social, and economic sciences from some 60 nations have helped the IPCC to prepare periodic assessments of the scientific underpinnings for understanding global climate change and its consequences. With its capacity for reporting on climate change, its consequences, and the viability of adaptation and mitigation measures, the IPCC is also looked to as the official advisory body to the world's governments on the state of the science of the climate change issue. [Source: IPCC]
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