May 17, 2012
- FAO and partners have launched the "Organic Soils and Peatlands Climate Change Mitigation Initiative" at the UNFCCC Climate Talks in Bonn, Germany. At the launch event, FAO released the initiative's first publication on guidance for mitigation from peatlands, which includes summaries of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions quantification methodologies.
- The FAO soil survey project for Tanzania was presented at the UNFCCC Climate Talks in Bonn, Germany. FAO noted that while soil carbon models are available for Europe, the US, Canada and Japan, the assessment will allow the testing and calibration of soil carbon models for applicability in East Africa.
- In the report, the Expert Review Team (ERT) that conducted the centralized review concludes that Monaco’s inventory submission is complete and was prepared and reported in accordance with the UNFCCC reporting guidelines. It also concluded that the GHG inventory is generally in line with the various guidelines by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), with the exception of certain areas.
- The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the submissions from Australia, Gambia on behalf of the least developed countries (LDCs), Nauru on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), New Zealand, Norway and a joint submission from Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Peru, containing their views on a workplan for the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.
- The registry is meant to record both NAMAs seeking international support and NAMAs seeking recognition. It aims to facilitate matching of finance, technology and capacity-building support with these actions. On the basis of comments received from governments on how to improve the design of the prototype, the UNFCCC Secretariat will deploy a first version of the prototype registry by mid-July.
- A new World Bank report on Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils presents a review of knowledge and methodologies to assess the impact of different land management practices on soil carbon sequestration rates across the world.
- The Government of Peru has formally requested the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to take on the role of coordinator of all projects and initiatives involved with the forestry sector in that country. Since 2011, FAO has worked closely with Peru's Environment and Agriculture Ministries, on a project called "National Inventory of Forests and Sustainable Forest Management of Peru in the Face of Climate Change."
- The workshop was the fifth in a series of workshops aimed at building local government capacities on green growth and low-carbon cities in the Asia-Pacific Region. Participants had the opportunity to learn about the “green growth” concept, as well as about the Republic of Korea’s green growth policies and the Eco-Towns Model of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
- The Food and Agriculture Organization's 31st Regional Conference for the Near East is focusing on food waste, climate change impacts and the creation of a regional trust fund for agricultural development. Climate change discussions are expected to focus on freshwater, fisheries, and forestry and land use management.
May 16, 2012
- The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the submissions from Australia and Lebanon containing their views on options and ways for further increasing the level of ambition, which will be reviewed by the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) at its first session.