This set of factsheets presents key data on the impact of low carbon development on several areas linked to sustainable growth including poverty reduction; natural resource scarcity; 'green' jobs; transport; and fossil fuel subsidies.

Each factsheet synthesises the latest evidence from research conducted by institutions, consultancies and leading thinkers. The work aims to understand how investment in clean energy in developing countries can lead to economic growth. The first factsheet, for example, discusses how investment in small-scale, off-grid renewable energy can create jobs.

To illustrate the issues discussed, the factsheets use case studies from specific countries and projects. They use the phrase 'triple win' to indicate where low carbon development brings benefits in mitigation, adaptation and poverty reduction, and 'double win' where benefits are seen in two of these areas.

This background document presents scientific information on the effects of climate change on food production, and the implications for adaptation and mitigation efforts. It discusses how countries can manage the predicted average temperature rise of two degrees Celsius by 2100, which is enough to undermine farming systems. This will have major impacts on food security and rural poverty.

The report highlights two ways that countries can work towards adaptation. One is to better manage the agricultural risks of climate variability, for example using improved information services. The other is to speed up adaptation, with technological and policy tools for farmers.

It says that investing in technological innovation is needed to take full advantage of the agriculture sector's capacity to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This could include building monitoring systems for small-scale farmers.

Decision-makers and researchers working on climate, agriculture and food security should interact more to link knowledge with action, the report says.

This feature article, published in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, uses the Cordillera Azul national park in Peru as an example to introduce mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) that are under global discussion. 

The author discusses both the potential importance of and challenges associated with REDD projects. For example, although Cordillera Azul has been established as a national park by the Peruvian Government, funds for conserving it are still needed.

The article outlines some important milestones in progressing to an international framework for REDD, but notes that important details are yet to be resolved, such as how to ensure that beneficiaries of REDD funds deploy them effectively to protect forests.

The article suggests that active forest management is important and concludes with a brief introduction to the principle of proactive investment in natural capital (PINC) — the idea, promoted by the Global Canopy Programme, that forests should be regarded not only as a source of emissions, but rather as a public utility providing global ecosystem services that should be paid for.

This book, written by researchers at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), poses several critical questions that must be addressed in designing a global framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) to be implemented after 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol runs out.

The authors frame their discussion within the 3E criteria, first proposed in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, of carbon effectiveness, cost efficiency and equity/co-benefits. Questions posed include how to set scales and baselines, deal with leakage, ensure permanence, and achieve co-benefits.

They examine various technical solutions for monitoring, reporting and verifying REDD projects, including remote sensing techniques and forest inventories. The political implications of implementing different technical options to distribute REDD income across different countries are also addressed.

The book highlights the need for flexibility in REDD strategies due to differences between countries and the need to allow for room to adapt to changes to the mechanisms as lessons are learned from initial implementation.

This guide to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), published by the Global Canopy Programme, reviews many of the REDD proposals under discussion in global climate change negotiations.

The authors highlight why strategies for REDD are needed, then outline and compare the 32 government and nongovernmental proposals being considered by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They frame their analysis by examining the proposals in terms of scope, reference level, distribution mechanisms and financing options.

Visual comparisons are included to show where proposals agree and differ, and highlight areas with emerging consensus. For example, the proposals generally agree that reference levels should be set at a national level, and that a phased approach using a combination of different financing approaches could be most appropriate. Some challenges for reaching agreement on REDD measures and areas of current research are also highlighted.

The book includes a chapter summarising key research on REDD, including the Meridian Institute's Options Assessment Report, written for the Norwegian government, and several papers published by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

This paper, prepared for the Global Urban Summit, proposes a framework for building climate change adaptation and mitigation measures into India's urban renewal programmes. This involves multiple government stakeholders at national, state and city levels.

The author begins with a description of the urbanisation trends in India and outlines the climate risks facing the subcontinent, including changing rainfall patterns and the potential for more drought, flooding and extreme weather events like cyclones.

The author outlines the vulnerability of urban populations and suggests that reducing it requires a public policy shift towards mainstreaming climate change risk assessment, adaptation and mitigation measures into ongoing national hazard mitigation programmes, and linking them to urban renewal in the largest cities.

Specific measures highlighted by the author include making building data public, building flood defences, strengthening existing infrastructure to withstand disasters and relocating highly vulnerable populations.

The role of developing countries in climate change mitigation has been and continues to be a contentious issue. Developing countries' emissions are predicted to surpass those of industrialised countries within the first half of this century, but no formal commitments to reduce emissions have been made.

This report, prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, examines six countries — Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey — in the context of climate change mitigation. Ongoing efforts in these countries have helped reduce emissions, though not necessarily in the name of mitigating climate change.

The authors find that overall, over the past three decades, these countries have reduced the growth rate of their emissions by 300 million tonnes. The motivations for such efforts include poverty alleviation, economic development, energy security and local environmental protection. This demonstrates that climate change mitigation can and does occur in the context of development that aims to be sustainable.

This report is comprehensive for the countries studied. It is very accessible and likely to be of interest to anyone engaged in the debate about mitigation in the South.

The report is available in pdf format only. An executive summary is availably online here.

This article analyses Indian initiatives to mitigate climate change associated with a predicted rise in greenhouse gas emissions. It describes four scenarios for emissions, as modelled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and discusses India's vulnerability to the associated impacts of climate change. The article then goes on to describe ongoing national mitigation strategies — highlighting improvements made in petrol and diesel quality, forest conservation policies, the growing use of renewable energy sources and the research initiatives put in place by India's National Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to study greenhouse emissions.

This collection of nine research articles, published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, presents the latest findings of a network of studies conducted by leading scientific institutes and researchers in India. They examine the likely national impact of climate change on issues such as water availability, tropical cyclone frequency, changes in forest type and malaria transmission rates. The collection also includes an analysis of current and predicted trends for greenhouse gas emissions from India, as well as commentary on mitigation strategies for ensuring sustainable development.

The role of developing countries in climate change mitigation has been and continues to be a contentious issue. Developing countries' emissions are predicted to surpass those of industrialised countries within the first half of this century, but no formal commitments to reduce emissions have been made.

This report, prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, examines six countries — Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey — in the context of climate change mitigation. Ongoing efforts in these countries have helped reduce emissions, though not necessarily in the name of mitigating climate change.

The authors find that overall, over the past three decades, these countries have reduced the growth rate of their emissions by 300 million tonnes. The motivations for such efforts include poverty alleviation, economic development, energy security and local environmental protection. This demonstrates that climate change mitigation can and does occur in the context of development that aims to be sustainable.

This report is comprehensive for the countries studied. It is very accessible and likely to be of interest to anyone engaged in the debate about mitigation in the South.

The report is available in pdf format only. An executive summary is availably online here.

This examination of the Kyoto provisions relevant to carbon sinks, provides a thorough and critical assessment of the accord. It outlines the policy basics and offers recommendations on the interpretation and application of the provisions.

It also provides a comprehensive look at the source and sink potential of terrestrial ecosystems, and outlines the unresolved issues. The paper suggests that the present accounting approach may provide incentives that bear a negative impact on climate protection measures, biodiversity conservation and soil protection. In addition, it argues that many uncertainties are attached to the reduction in net emissions achievable by means of terrestrial sinks. In the long term, it states, fossil fuel emissions cannot be compensated for by the terrestrial biosphere.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol aims to provide carbon mitigation benefits as well as sustainable development to local communities. This paper investigates the potential implications of carbon sink projects under the CDM for developing countries and examines what capacity is necessary to administer such forestry projects, particularly community-based ones.

The paper provides an assessment of the benefits and risks to local livelihoods from CDM projects, and concludes with conditions that enable benefits based on existing projects. Of particular interest are the sections assessing large-scale industrial pulp and timber plantations, agroforestry and community forestry plantations, secondary forest and fallows, forest rehabilitation and regeneration, strictly protected areas, and multiple use forestry.

The authors say that forest carbon projects can enhance livelihoods, provided that carbon prices are high enough and that project design is attentive to local social realities. This paper is accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of carbon sinks and the international climate change negotiations.

Changes to agricultural and soil management strategies could change the rate at which carbon is sequestered and released from the soil. This report outlines the scientific underpinnings of carbon sequestration, then focuses on current understanding of - and uncertainties relating to - greenhouse gas reduction from carbon sinks, and concludes with some policy recommendations.

The report estimates the up to 25 per cent of carbon reductions required to slow increases in global temperatures could come from changes to land management practices that positively affect carbon soil and vegetation sinks. However, significant uncertainty still remains as to the permanence of such reduction measures. Additionally, the report emphasises the importance of ensuring that other goals, such as local social objectives and sustainability, are met when changing land management practices.

As a comprehensive guide to the role of land management in carbon sequestration, this report outlines the scope for enhancing sinks and methods of assessing sinks. While the section on the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol is somewhat out of date, overall the report is a thorough primer to the issue.

The Kyoto Protocol sets out binding targets for emissions of greenhouse gases from developed countries. It recognises that such targets can in part be achieved by reducing emissions released into - and removing greenhouse gases from (sequestration) - the atmosphere. This report outlines policy and potential practice of carbon sequestration and land management activities, known as Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) activities.

The authors, Bernhard Schlamadinger and Gregg Marland, explore whether LULUCF activities provide the same long-term benefit for the climate system as does reducing emissions from fossil fuel combustion, and sketch out the development of international negotiations on LULUCF issues. They outline the consensus negotiated so far, and examine the ambiguities of the Kyoto Protocol, issues yet to be resolved, and decisions yet to be made. They conclude that while the potential for increasing carbon stocks in the terrestrial biosphere might be limited compared to total greenhouse gas emissions, their impact could be considerable in relation to the reductions necessary for compliance in the first commitment period (2008-2012).

The report provides a thorough introduction to carbon sequestration, afforestation and reforestation issues under the Kyoto Protocol. It would be of interest to anyone looking for a primer in LULUCF and sinks issues in the context of global climate change.