Topic: sustainable development

The Open Climate Network (OCN) is an independent, international partnership that tracks and reports on the progress of key countries on climate change. OCN analysis is prepared by partners around the world covering climate finance, mitigation policy, and clean technology.

This WRI/Sekala Working Paper demonstrates how to implement a quick and cost-effective method for identifying potentially suitable “degraded land” for sustainable palm oil production in Indonesia and presents results from the application of the method in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. The method consists of a desktop analysis as well as field assessments. The desktop portion of the method will be made easily replicable through an interactive Kalimantan-wide “Suitability Mapper” website currently under development, scheduled for release in mid-2012.

In an effort to ensure that the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) generates meaningful outcomes, governments and other stakeholders increasingly support using the Conference to announce specific and time-bound commitments and to use a “Compendium of Commitments” to hold each other accountable for results. This working paper describes WRI’s review of six past and current commitment-based partnerships, some considered more successful than others, and makes recommendations to improve the credibility of the Compendium concept.

This paper examines the role the auto-rickshaw sector can play in promoting sustainable urban transport in India. It develops a policy vision for this sector and presents recommendations on reforms to address sustainability challenges.

Challenging climatic conditions, limited arable land, intense population pressures and a history of political upheaval have undermined Niger’s development prospects – 60% of its people live on less than $1 per day. Over the past twenty years, however, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), in combination with other improved soil and water conservation practices, has helped improve the plight of Nigerien farmers. Local communities are moving from vulnerability towards greater resilience as FMNR brings increased crop production, income and food security to impoverished rural communities.

Climate change vulnerability and food insecurity often have common root causes. Accordingly, measures that address these causes can reduce both problems at once. This is especially important for the many countries in sub-Saharan Africa that face truly daunting agricultural challenge.

The World Resources Institute, with CDKN, has developed a series of policy briefs that highlight how climate compatible development can be achieved in a range of developing countries.

When decision makers in government, business and civil society speak to us about their aims and needs, they often ask about best practice in other countries or, indeed, mistakes to avoid. Key questions usually include:

What are the leading innovations in integrating climate change planning with economic growth strategies and poverty reduction?

What are the biggest challenges faced along the way: institutional, financial, political, technical?

This series of policy briefs aim to answer these questions by exploring the Inside Stories on Climate Compatible Development.

Bangladesh is afflicted by a multitude of natural hazards including tropical cyclones, tornadoes, tsunamis, drought, earthquakes, riverbank erosion, landslides, salinity intrusion and arsenic contamination. In an average year, roughly 10 million Bangladeshi citizens are affected by one or more such hazards, and their frequency and severity is projected to increase as a result of climate change. The impacts of these disasters are exacerbated by the fact that almost one third of the nation’s population lives below the poverty line and has little capacity to adapt.

This report aims to provide adaptation and development practitioners with a practical framework for developing monitoring and evaluation systems that can track the success and failure of adaptation initiatives in the development context.

This paper offers a strategic framework for policymakers seeking to capitalize on the low-carbon transition.