Welcome to SEARCA Knowledge Center on Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management in Southeast Asia (KC3)

Global

Published on 20 December 2016
Although Brazil, the world's biggest coffee producer and exporter, is expecting a record harvest this year, its coffee crop - like that of 70 other producer countries - is now being threatened by climate change. A report by the independent Climate Institute concludes that, by 2050, the world's present growing area will have been halved by global warming. It warns: "Climate change is already putting…
Published on 13 December 2016
At the end of the 19th Century, people were concerned about a very different environmental issue than today – horse manure. There were projections about New York and London being buried in six feet of horse manure and conferences on “adaptation and mitigation” were a common occurrence. Yet, within a decade, the problem was solved when the automobile puttered its way onto the scene and…
Published on 13 December 2016
Speaking at the inaugural Asian Environmental Journalists Forum, organized by non-profit Singapore Environment Council and media organization Eco-Business, panelists said that shrinking budgets, a lack of public interest and the ever increasing complexity and geographical scope of climate issues are just some of the challenges that journalists face when trying to report on environmental issues today. As Adam Hunt, media and communications director at…
Published on 15 November 2016
"We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year. Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016," declared Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which released its five-year study of the global climate to attendees of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)…
Published on 15 November 2016
It coincides with the global television premiere at 6 pm (GMT+7) on National Geographic Channels in 171 countries and 45 languages. The documentary will air on Natgeo.com, VOD, Nat Geo TV apps (iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, Roku, Android, Xbox One and 360, Samsung Connected TVs), iTunes, Vidio.com, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Sony Playstation, GooglePlay and many more. The film…
Published on 19 October 2016
Climate change is “a major and growing threat to global food security”, said the report, warning that it could increase the global population living in extreme poverty by between 35 and 122 million by 2030, with farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa among the hardest hit. The 2016 State of Food and Agriculture report, published by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), calls for “deep…
Published on 19 October 2016
In a message released this week for the occasion and addressed to the Director General of FAO, Pope Francis said everyone has a responsibility to protect the planet for future generations. Alexandre Maybech, Principal Advisor for Agriculture, Environment, and Climate Change in the office of the Assistant Director General on Culture and Protection of Consumers in FAO, spoke with Vatican Radio’s Hayley Susino about…
Published on 11 October 2016
Here are some highlights: 1. Paris Agreement: One threshold crossed, one to go On Wednesday, 31 countries formally joined the Paris Agreement on climate change, bringing the total number that have joined to 61, representing nearly 48 percent of emissions. Their joining during the UN General Assembly speaks volumes about the spirit of cooperation that has brought the Agreement so far so fast. We’ve now…
Published on 11 October 2016
A new paper submitted by James Hansen, a former senior Nasa climate scientist, and 11 other experts states that the 2016 temperature is likely to be 1.25C above pre-industrial times, following a warming trend where the world has heated up at a rate of 0.18C per decade over the past 45 years. This rate of warming is bringing Earth in line with temperatures last seen…
Published on 3 October 2016
“This is a substantial sum but the economic returns from adopting low-carbon policies needed to mitigate the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change far outweigh the costs,” said Juzhong Zhuang, Deputy Chief Economist. “ADB estimates that the region can generate more than $2 in gains for each $1 of cost it bears to reach the Paris goal—if the right steps are taken.” Developing Asia has…
Published on 20 September 2016
It was also thought that July would likely be the last record hot month of the year, given the dissipation of El Niño. In NASA's dataset, August marks the 11th record-setting month in a row. That streak goes back 15 months through July in data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Each agency handles the global temperature data slightly differently and uses a different…
Published on 14 September 2016
Very few governments have rushed to get domestic policies in place after Paris [the 2015 climate treaty], she noted, adding that it is a big agenda, and poorer countries may have a competitive edge. Gallagher acted as an adviser to Obama on the US-China deal that was widely seen as a tipping point for climate policy success during COP21 in Paris. Discussions on innovation generally…
Published on 13 September 2016
Significant progress has been made in recent years on three of the four pillars of REDD+ architecture under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). An increasing number of countries now have near-final national REDD+ strategies drafted; reference levels submitted to the UNFCCC; and national forest monitoring systems ready to track greenhouse gas emissions reductions from forestry and other land-uses…
Published on 5 September 2016
Much of what is known about Earth’s climate history is based on instruments that have monitored temperatures from the 1880s onwards. But while these capture the changing conditions seen in the 20th century, they miss the start of the warming trend. “A lot is known about the climate record for the time when we have instrumental records,” said Nerilie Abram, a climate scientist…
Published on 5 September 2016
“Our study using climate change projection shows that there will be very few cities at the end of the century that will be able to hold the summer Olympics as we know them today,” said John Balmes, a professor of public safety at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-authored the paper. The findings, which originally appeared in the The Lancet, indicate that by 2085…
Published on 5 September 2016
"The impacts of climate change rightfully concern policy makers and stakeholders who need to make decisions about how to cope with a changing climate," said Fuqing Zhang, professor of meteorology and director, Center for Advanced Data Assimilation and Predictability Techniques, Penn State. "They often rely upon climate model projections at regional and local scales in their decision making." Zhang and Michael Mann, Distinguished professor…
Published on 23 August 2016
This was one of the points put forward by Dr Peter Holmgren, Director General for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) while delivering a keynote address at the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit 2016, which was recently held in Brunei Darussalam. “We are at a critical turning when political commitments on sustainable development and climate change need to be transformed into real-world actions,” he said. He…
Published on 22 August 2016
According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), agriculture and land-use change account for about 24% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change will also have strong impacts on food security in the long-term. Therefore agriculture needs to reduce its climate footprint. But a recent study has shown that the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from crop and livestock production is limited…
Published on 16 August 2016
The latest MDB climate finance figures are detailed in the 2015 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance, prepared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) together with MDB partners: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDBG), and the World Bank Group (WBG). This important contribution to…
Published on 16 August 2016
This year’s Day is about turning the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into reality. The Day will focus on the leading role young people play in eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production. The UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has a strong focus on sustainability which is also promoted through its Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) programme. For example, earlier…
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