The report looks at current urban organic waste management and policies in Cambodia; reviews urban organic waste utilization technologies currently available; and provides advices on the selection and implementation of appropriate organic waste utilization technologies in Cambodia.

Electronic version available at IGES Environ-Library or APN E-Lib at http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1662

• Final Report
  ARCP2011-22NSG-Liu: Scoping Workshop to Develop Proposal: The Impact of Global Warming Ocean Atmosphere Feedback Strength in the Tropical Indian Ocean
  http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1603
  
• Final Report
  CBA2011-01CMY-Kawai: Capacity Building of Biodiversity Research in the Coastal Zones of the Asia Pacific Region: Phycology Taxonomy Analysis Training Using Genetic Marker
  http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1679
  
• Final Report
  CBA2011-03NSY-WCRP: WCRP Open Science Conference: Climate Research in Service to Society
  http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1681
• Final Report
  CBA2011-04NSY-IHDP: IHDP Training Workshops on Asian Development Pathways in the context of transitions towards a “Green Economy”
  http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1682

Call for papers for a special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production

Deadline for submissions of the first draft: June 20, 2012.

Urbanization, particularly in Asia, is taking place in an unprecedented scale posing tremendous technical and institutional challenges to reduce its impact at the local, regional and global levels. Many cities face the tasks of tackling global environmental problems, such as climate change, besides the traditional local environmental problems, such as air and water pollution, while seeking to fulfil the growing demands for jobs, housing, education, health care and transportation. Despite growing efforts to introduce urban management policies and projects, the environmental quality of cities in many Asian countries remains unsatisfactory and is even worsening, both concerning the local and global environmental impacts. There are a large number of interesting projects, designed to address these types of complex issues, but their individual effects are not enough to change the course of the environmental degradation in those cities. One of the reasons for these under-achievements is that policies have addressed specific environmental problems in isolation. Urban environmental management in specific sectors and projects has not considered the mutual impacts and interactions of policies and practices in different sectors, as well as how to scale up innovative changes on a city-wide or regional basis.

Climate co-benefits is an approach designed to address both global and local environmental problems while contributing to the local development needs. The co-benefits approach is relevant, especially for developing countries, which have to overcome many environment and development challenges with limited capacity and resources within a rapidly growing urbanizing context. Addressing the social and environmental dimensions at both the local and global levels simultaneously makes co-benefits approach very attractive to policy makers, city planners and citizens, generally.

This Special Issue (SI) provides the opportunity for scholars, practitioners and governmental officials to co-work to gain more complete understandings on how cities can generate solutions that have large, short and long-term positive benefits in terms of climate co-benefits. This SI is designed to attract authors to submit papers, which document the processes, results and potential broader applications of co-benefit research in different sectors from different Asian countries. The authors are challenged to determine the factors that need to be analyzed in order to catalyze radical urban changes, particularly concerning climate change mitigation.

For more information please see attached announcement or visit http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652612001965

This event is part of the global conference series organized by the Earth System Governance Project, the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change. The Earth System Governance Tokyo Conference will be jointly hosted by the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), the International Environmental Governance Architecture Research Group and the Tokyo Institute of Technology on behalf of the Earth System Governance Project.

For detailed information, registration and abstract submission, please visit: http://tokyo2013.earthsystemgovernance.org

The Forum will bring together leading international scientists and policy-makers to explore the key role of interdisciplinary science and innovation in the transition to sustainable development, a green economy and poverty eradication. The aim is to help establish the research, technology and policy agendas that will be needed after Rio+20.

Participants will discuss key questions for sustainable development, including:

• How can we balance food, water and energy security for rapidly growing, increasingly urbanised populations, without diminishing the Earth’s resources and exceeding planetary boundaries?
• How can we ensure economic sustainability and human wellbeing in a time of rapid environmental and social change?
• How can science better serve society to provide the knowledge needed to meet sustainable development challenges?

The Forum will also host the launch of the new global 10-year initiative: Future Earth – research for global sustainability: www.icsu.org/future-earth/launch.

The Forum is open and free for all participants throughout the five days. Government representatives, scientists and other Rio+20 stakeholders are welcome to attend.

The Forum is organised by the International Council for Science (ICSU), in partnership with UNESCO, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. It will be held at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Register now! Registration, background, agenda, speakers, side events and practical information are all online at: www.icsu.org/rio20/science-and-technology-forum.

]]> http://www.apn-gcr.org/2012/05/07/forum-on-science-technology-and-innovation-for-sustainable-development/feed/ 0 http://www.apn-gcr.org/2012/05/07/igbp-seeking-nominations-for-sc-members/ http://www.apn-gcr.org/2012/05/07/igbp-seeking-nominations-for-sc-members/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 04:31:20 +0000 natsuki http://www.apn-gcr.org/?p=2978 Two IGBP-Scientific Committee (SC) members will be rotating off at the end　of this year. The IGBP Secretariat is seeking nominations now to fill these　positions for a 3-year term* beginning 1 January 2013.

The IGBP strives to maintain scientific excellence within the SC, as well as　having disciplinary, geographic and gender balance among its members. This　year, IGBP　continues to engage with ICSU and IGBP partners in the　development of an initiative on Earth system research for global　sustainability (“Future Earth” http://www.icsu.org/future-earth/home) and to　prioritize interactions with the social sciences and with the science-policy　and science-business interfaces. The IGBP is particularly interested in　identifying experts with experience in one or more of the following:　natural-social science interface (esp. vulnerability and mitigation　science), regional/global sustainability, and science-policy and　science-business interactions. It especially welcomes nominations in the　above categories of women and individuals from developing countries.

* the term may be shortened somewhat subject to the timing of IGBP joining　Future Earth

All nominations should be accompanied by the following documents:

1) A supporting letter on the candidate being nominated (max.1 page)

2) Nominees CV (max. 2 pages) – to include the following information: title, name, postal address, email address, contact numbers, (professional homepage or website if available), field of expertise, gender, year of birth,　nationality, country of employment and spoken languages.

3) Short list of publications (max. 1 page)

For more information, please go to the following URL:
http://www.igbp.net/4.57b1bf74133dc13fe998000677.html
SC procedural documents can be downloaded at:
http://www.igbp.net/4.2709bddb12c08a79de780003321.html

Nominations should be sent to Charlotte Wilson-Boss at: admin@igbp.kva.se before Thursday 31st May 2012.

All nominees should be contacted in advance to know if they would be interested to have their names put forward for nomination.

• Final Report
  CBA2011-02CMY-Kaihotsu: Drought Monitoring System Development by Integrating In-situ Data, Satellite Data and Numerical Model Output
  Project metadata: http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1680
• Final Report
  CBA2011-05NSY-Schang: National Dialogues on Adapting Biodiversity Management to Climate Change
  Project metadata: http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1683
• Final Report
  ARCP2010-03CMY-Marambe: Vulnerability of Home Garden Systems to Climate Change and its Impacts on Food Security in South Asia
  Project metadata: http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1566

Senior Lecturer in Climate Change and International Development
School of International Development
University of East Anglia, Norwich

Deforestation of tropical, old-growth forests in least developed to rapidly developing countries in the Global South is a topic that is receiving unprecedented attention. The challenge is clear: deforestation is adding significantly to atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (13-17% of global emissions). Deforestation rates are highest in the poorest countries and deforestation is a major path to development for these countries — as it was for developed countries centuries earlier. While developing countries cannot be obligated under existing international law to stop deforesting, they could be compensated for not clearing their forests by developed countries, which have the responsibility and capability to pay. This is the original idea behind what has been termed “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” with compensations also for forest conservation, enhancement of forest carbon stocks and sustainable forest management — REDD+.

Photo: Deborah Strickland

A wide range of actors, interests and ideas have emerged to shape this process across international, national and local institutions and a cacophony of different initiatives, programmes and policy paradigms have ensued, all of which are in some way addressing the problem of deforestation. Much is at stake and many questions remain unanswered. How can such a funding mechanism be implemented effectively given the many governance challenges, including leakage, permanence, additionality, fair benefit sharing, tenure security and stakeholder participation in decision-making processes?In essence, how can justice and equity be ensured for a mechanism that permeates local, national and international levels of governance?

An APN-sponsored conference was held at St. Anne’s College, Oxford, on 23-24 March 2012, to discuss this question. It was co-organised by the University of East Anglia, the University of Oxford and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and brought together some 110 REDD+ experts from around the word to address the pressing concerns of REDD+ and its implications for poor people.

Themes included:

1. National and social science framings of the problem of deforestation, presented by Dan Bebber (Earthwatch)/Yadvinder Malhi (University of Oxford) and Arun Agrawal (University of Michigan);
2. Conceptualizing justice and equity in REDD+, presented by Kate Schreckenberg (University of Southampton) and Thomas Sikor (University of East Anglia); and
3. Novel approaches to REDD+, presented by Rosita Worl (Sealaska) and Suneetha Subramian (UNU-IAS).

Toby Gardner (University of Cambridge), Tim Forsyth (LSE) and Bhaskar Vira (University of Cambridge) provided reports during the final plenary on these themes to draw out findings to conclude the conference. In addition to these plenary talks, some 40 paper presentations brought together a wealth of conceptual thinking and application through case studies from around the world.

What has emerged from discussions is that to get REDD+ right is to effectively coordinate and implement it across levels of governance — from international REDD+ rule making through national law making to local practice building. Challenges include:

1. Communicating across knowledge traditions of natural versus social sciences and Western versus indigenous approaches;
2. A clash of framings of deforestation and underlying agendas from carbon sequestration and commodification of carbon at the international level through economic development at the national level to forest conservation and traditional forest stewardship at the local level; and
3. Transforming disjointed attempts at developing ‘safeguards’ and ‘co-benefits’ internationally into integrated and livelihood-enhancing objectives on the ground.

Conference outputs will include a special issue in a reputable academic journal and a multi-authored policy-relevant journal article. Video/audio recordings of all sessions, power point slides of most presentations and some papers are available on the conference website at http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/redd/index.php.

Please look at the first_announcement of the conference and our website (www.apcc21.org) for further information.

The conference will attract up to 60 international participants from both developing and developed countries.

Date and Venue
The three-day conference will take place at APEC Climate Center, Busan, Republic of Korea, from September 11 to 13, 2012
APEC Climate Center
1463 U-dong
Haeundae-gu, Busan, 612-020
Republic of Korea
Website: http://www.apcc21.org/

Call for Abstract

The conference will include keynote speeches, oral presentations and poster displays. We

welcome abstracts on the following topics for these sessions.

• Why do water resource managers not use climate forecasts?
• Application of seasonal climate forecasting to hydrologic forecasting and water resource management
• Assessment of the accuracy and reliability of climate and seasonal streamflow forecasts at hydrologic scales
• Long term climate variability and change and water resource management
• Developing effective communication channels and toolkits among climate scientist, water resource managers and policy makers
• International cooperation and policy

All abstracts must be submitted via email. Please submit abstracts to swchung@apcc21.net and copy climatewater2012@gmail.com to ensure that all abstracts are received. The deadline for abstract submission is 30 June 2012.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate successful proponents and thank all proponents for their continued interest in, and support of, the APN and its activities.

ARCP proposals approved at 17th IGM

1. ARCP2011-01FP-DeCosta: A Study on Loss of Land Surface and Changes to Water Resources Resulting from Sea Level Rise and Climate Change
2. ARCP2011-02FP-Sase: Dynamics of Sulphur Derived from Atmospheric Deposition and its Possible Impacts on East Asian Forests
3. ARCP2011-03FP-Burnett: Assessing the Impact of Climate Change and Development Pressures on Nutrient Inputs into the Mekong River and Tonle Sap
4. ARCP2011-06FP-Carter:   Coral Reef and Water Quality Status and Community Understanding of Threats in the Eastern Gulf of Thailand
5. ARCP2011-08FP-Li: Development of an Integrated Climate Change Impact Assessment Tool for Urban Policy-Makers (UrbanCLIM)
6. ARCP2011-15FP-Meinke: Improving the Robustness, Sustainability, Productivity and Eco-efficiencies of Rice Systems throughout Asia
7. ARCP2011-16FP-Kamal: Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Salt Marsh and Sea grass Ecosystems in the South and South East Asian Coasts
8. ARCP2011-18FP-Siswanto: Climate Change and Human Impacts on Marine Biological Production in the Asia-Pacific Marginal Seas
9. ARCP2011-20FP-Yoo: Toward a Fire and Haze Early Warning System for Southeast Asia
10. APCP2011-22FP-Quynh: Carbon Fluxes and Emission from the Red River (Viet Nam and China): Human Activities and Climate Change
11. ARCP2011-23FP-Roy: Coastal Ecosystem and Changing Economic Activities: Challenges for Sustainability Transition
12. ARCP2011-24FP-Ochiai: GEOSS/Asian Water Cycle Initiative/Water Cycle Integrator GEOSS/AWCI/WCI）
13. ARCP2011-29FP-Musafer: Sustainable Biochar Systems in Developing Countries
14. ARCP2011-21FP-Prayitno: Impact of Climate Change on Mangrove Biodiversity in Southeast Asia (AWARDED A SEED GRANT)
15. ARCP2011-31FP-Crawford: Human Responses to Catastrophic Monsoon Events in South Asia: Spatially Explicit Modelling in Low-Lying Coastal Bangladesh and India. (AWARDED A SEED GRANT)

Continuing multi-year ARCP projects approved for a further year at 17^th IGM

1. ARCP2011-11NMY-Patra/Canadell: Greenhouse Gas Budgets of South and Southeast Asia
2. ARCP2011-12NMY-Fortes: Sea grass-Mangrove Ecosystems: Bioshields Against Biodiversity Loss and Impacts of Local and Global Change Along Indo-Pacific Coasts” (The Sea grass-Mangrove Bioshield Project, SMBP)
3. ARCP2010-13NMY-Herath: Developing Ecosystem based Adaptation Strategies for Enhancing Resilience of Rice Terrace Farming Systems against Climate Change
4. ARCP2011-14NMY-Salik: Impact of Climate Change on Mangroves Ecosystem in South Asia
5. ARCP2011-15NMY-Zhen: Holistic Assessment of Land-use Change and Impacts on Ecosystem Services of Wetlands
6. ARCP2011-16NMY-IGBP: An International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Synthesis  Theme on: Global Environment Change and Sustainable Development: Needs of Least Developed Countries
7. ARCP2011-17NMY-Mathukumalli: Tracing Nitrogen and Carbon Biogeochemical Processes in the Inter-tidal Mangrove Ecosystem (Sundarban) of India and Bangladesh: Implications of Global Environmental Change
8. ARCP2011-18NMY-Jung: Impacts of Global Warming on Coastal and Marine Ecosystems in the Northwest Pacific

CAPaBLE proposals approved at 17^th IGM

1. CBA2011-02FP-Gordov: Capacity Building to Study and Address Climate Change-Induced Extremes in Northern Asia.
2. CBA2011-03FP-Kanie: Exploring Effective Architecture for Emerging Agencies in International Environmental Governance.
3. CBA2011-05FP-Shang: International workshop on Marine Invasive Species (MIS) Problems in Northwest Pacific Region.
4. CBA2011-06FP-Hashim: Global Environmental Change and Human Health:  Extreme Events and Urbanization in the APN Region.
5. CBA2011-07FP-Cruz: Enhancing the LGU Capacity for Implementing Conservational Farming Village and a Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and Upland Environment.
6. CBA2011-10FP-Hiwasaki: Capacity Building to Strengthen Resilience of Coastal and Small Island Communities against Impacts of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards and Climate Change.
7. CBA2011-11FP-Salinger: Rise Up – Pacific Futures.
8. CBA2011-13FP-Zhang: International workshop: Needs Assessment for Capacity Development for Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research in the Asia-Pacific region.
9. CBA2011-14FP-Rasul: Impact of Climate Change on Glacier Melting and Water Cycle Variability in Asian River Basins.
10. CBA2011-16FP-Fuentes: ASEAN Training Workshop on Building Capacity on ABS.
11. CBA2011-17FP-Pradhananga: Preparation of Next Generation Leadership in Sustainability: An Approach in the Asia Pacific Region.
12. CBA2011-18FP-Zondervan: Governing Critical Uncertainties: Climate Change and Decision-Making in Transboundary River Basins.
13. CBA2011-20FP-Sangmanee: Capacity Building Using Simulated Climate Scenario and Climate Change Impact Assessment on Hydrological Regime in Se Done Basin, Lao PDR.
14. CBA2011-08FP-Bora: Institutionalizing Agroforestry as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy through   Local Capacity and   Policy Development in Southeast Asia. (AWARDED SEED GRANT)
15. CBA2011-SP46-Adiningsih: Capacity Building of Climate Change Adaptation on Urban Planning in the Southeast Asia (AWARDED SEED GRANT)

Continuing multi-year CAPaBLE projects approved for a further year at 17^th IGM

1. CBA2011-07NMY-Abawi: Building Scientific Capacity in Seasonal Climate Forecasting (SCF) for Improved Risk Management Decisions in a Changing Climate.
2. CBA2011-12NMY-Hasson: Capacity Building in Advanced Remote Sensing (RS) & Geographic Information System (GIS) Techniques for Studying Snow & Ice Dynamics in Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) Region.