The purpose of this study was to determine the financial cost of irrigation water in the Jordan Valley and the corresponding impact of higher water prices on farming. The analysis shows that JVA needs significant tariff increases to be able to attain a more financially sustainable footing. In case JVA wants to at least cover its operating and maintenance costs in 2013, it will require JD 0.108 per m3 - assuming that the current cross-subsidies and current inefficiency levels remain unchanged.

This document details Vietnam’s progress in relation to Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Readiness; it was submitted to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), a World Bank programme that aims to assist developing countries with REDD+, during March 2012. It sets out a timeline of Vietnamese REDD+ Readiness; national REDD+ readiness management arrangements; stakeholder consultations and communication; REDD+ strategy preparation; the development of a reference scenario and monitoring, reporting and verification.

Global reviews of the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture systems carried out in 2009 revealed a paucity and patchiness of information concerning climate impacts on the sector. Six follow-up regional case studies were then launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in an attempt to start filling the gaps and to provide direction and initial steps in adaptation planning. Fisheries and aquaculture systems were selected across the globe to allow for diversity.

Payments  for  ecosystem  services (PES)  provide a market based instrument to motivate changes in land use that degrade ecosystem services. This investigation sought  to better understand how effective PES schemes are in meeting the goals of safeguarding ecosystem services,  while  also  benefitting  local  livelihoods and ensuring pro-poor outcomes.Based on an internet survey of 36 PES projects, including water-bio-diversity and carbon- leading  attributes, and analysis of a sub-set of nine case studies, we explore a range of insights and commonalities between projects.

The Forests and Climate Change Programme (FORCLIME) is a collaborative initiative implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector and improve the livelihoods of Indonesia’s poor rural communities. This report outlines the results of a gender analysis of Indonesia’s forestry sector undertaken to inform the design of a gender strategy for FORCLIME.

This policy brief outlines participatory carbon monitoring (PCM) pilots in Viet Nam. Developing countries undertaking REDD+ activities will need to provide evidence of “results-based action” in order to receive payments for the reduction of carbon emissions or the enhancement of terrestrial carbon stocks. The brief begins by outlining the context of PCM activities in Viet Nam and then goes onto describe the objectives of PCM. Testaments from PCM participants are provided and key steps of PCM are discussed.

This paper presents an overview of pastoral systems and addresses rights issues around access and control of resources in the context of climate change.

Ecosystems are a form of natural capital. Invasions by introduced alien plant species alter ecosystems, often reducing supplies of valuable ecosystem goods and services and imposing substantial costs on South Africa’s economy. Reversing these losses by removing alien plants imposes further costs because clearing and control operations are expensive. However, the high costs can be offset by the benefits of creating employment opportunities through such operations and the livelihood benefits that can be derived from the cleared land.

This paper explores the opportunities for mitigating atmospheric carbon emissions and generating development income in developing countries through a combination of sustainable agricultural practices on existing lands, slowing tropical deforestation, and reforesting degraded lands.The analysis shows that over the next ten years, forty-eight major tropical and subtropical developing countries have the potential to reduce the atmospheric carbon burden by about 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon.

Prepared by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, this in-depth report seeks to shed light on the climate mitigation potential of agriculture. It argues that with an increasing demand for food, global agriculture will soon become the dominant area of greenhouse emissions, with the two main sources being nitrous oxide from the soil and methane from animal farming (of particular concern as developing countries convert increasingly to a high-protein, 'western', diet). The scientific case for the significance of agricultural emissions is presented in parts one to six of the report.

This study sought to determine a 22-year past and future land use and land cover trend and its implication on green spaces in an eThekwini Municipal Area’s peripheral settlement. Results show a consistent pattern of decline in land use and land cover types associated with green spaces and an increase in impervious surfaces. The study is taken to confirm recent urban bio-physical transformation and anticipated increased pressure on peripheral urban green spaces in eThekwini Municipality.

Conducted by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation of the Government of Nepal, this study focus on identifying how forest ecosystems support enhancement of adaptive capacity of local communities. It analyzes win-win roles of forests for climate change mitigation and adaptation (using multi-criteria analysis) and the policy gaps in Nepal to bring forests in the forefront of climate change adaptation while enhancing mitigation performance. It also recommends a policy framework to integrate adaptation roles of forest to mitigation function (how REDD+ and NAPA go together).