Harvested News

Greenhouse gas emissions from peat fires in Borneo and Sumatra are currently exceeding emissions from the entire U.S. economy, putting Indonesia on track to be one of the world’s largest carbon polluters this year, according to data published a researcher at the University of Amsterdam. By Guido van der Werf’s calculations — posted on the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED) website — carbon emissions…

"In economic terms, we are very challenged when it comes to alternative forms of energy - hydro-electric - it's not really feasible for us," Mr. Shanmugam said, speaking at a Nee Soon GRC grassroots event on Sunday (Oct 18). "So we are really dependent on carbon. But we have to make sure we use it efficiently, and we have to try and make sure…

Happening just weeks before a major global climate conference, the fires underscore Indonesia's immense challenge in curbing emissions from agriculture and put into question its ability to meet its climate targets. Indonesia has just released a detailed climate action plan for the United Nations conference in Paris from Nov 30 to Dec 11. The UN hopes nations will agree on a global deal to…

Assistant Secretary Joyceline Goco, deputy executive director of the Climate Change Commission, said initial estimates showed that the country needs around $12 billion to $15 billion in support to achieve its intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) to address climate change. In a recent roundtable discussion with The STAR, Goco said the ambitious contribution of the Philippines is anchored on a condition that the country…

By the end of 2015, three global policy processes will have set the stage for how the world responds to major challenges facing humanity in the years to come. A voluntary agreement to tackle disasters was reached in Sendai, Japan, in March; the voluntary Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were finalised in New York, United States, in September; and now, the world is moving towards…

But how do we best support and empower small scale farmers to adapt to climate change and build resilience? Today, in honor of World Food Day, Peter Gubbels, Groundswell International’s Director of Action Learning and Advocacy for West Africa, shares a few key principles from his field experience and reading of the literature that should guide advisory services to small scale farmers in developing countries…

Source: Asian Development Bank…

“This will require a combination of conserving and managing existing resources more effectively, tapping science to grow food from less land, and drawing in investment to meet growing food demand,” said Mahfuz Ahmed, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Technical Adviser for Rural Development and Food Security. Climate change is a major food security challenge in Asia with more than 60% of the population, or 2.2…

In earlier times, a natural disaster or sustained inclement weather would be followed by a tedious and lengthy insurance process with an expert being sent out to a farm to inspect the damage: too costly in poor or emerging countries where small holdings are often located in the back of beyond. But all that is in the past. Now climate-linked insurance schemes are increasingly…

In a press briefing for the 12th APEC Energy Ministers’ Meeting (EMM) here, Department of Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson said that aside from power demand, there is now a strong need to invest in resilient energy infrastructure as the region is faced with the challenges of climate change. “As we have emphasized before, APEC economies should learn from past experiences and shift to sustainable…

“But unfortunately, on climate finance, today in the world…” “In the absence of an effective global response, annual economic losses due to climate change are projected to exceed $400 billion by 2030 for the V20, with impacts far surpassing our local or regional capabilities”, said Philippines Finance Minister Cesar Purisima. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has lauded Bangladesh’s role in empowering women and…

The climate meeting is expected to be the biggest diplomatic gathering in history, with over 50,000 participants, including around 25,000 delegates from 195 parties, UN officials, the government, private sector, climate experts and leaders of civil-society organizations taking part in the historic event. From November 30 to December 11, the meeting will tackle climate change with the end-goal of reaching a legally binding agreement…

Dubbed as “COP21: The Road to Paris Starts in Manila,” French Embassy deputy Head of Mission Laurent Le Godec said integrating the arts and cultural activities into the discussion of climate change expands the awareness and brings the technicalities of the issue closer to the people. “It is artists who can make new ideas come out and can express people’s sensibilities. We are talking…

The city is drawing up a Climate Change Action Plan for 2016-2020. Assisting in the task is a computer simulation model developed by the Japan National Institute for Environment Research, Kyoto University and other Asia-Pacific institutes. The goal of the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM) is to design and evaluate global climate stability policy in general and in the Asia-Pacific in particular. AIM has helped…

The conference was organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines. Anna Abad, who leads the climate justice campaign of the Greenpeace Southeast Asia, quoted the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index 2015 which stated that the Philippines is the most affected country in 2013, followed by Cambodia and India. The Philippines’ ranking had risen from No. 2 in 2012 to No. 1 in…

The event is part of activities to complete the readiness package (R-package) report, which enables Vietnam to join the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), before it is submitted to the FCPF in January 2016. The FCPF is funding REDD+ readiness preparation support in Vietnam with 3.8 million USD from 2013-2015. Participants at the conference agreed that thanks to the early formation of the National…

It pointedly held its inaugural meeting just ahead of a gathering of G-20 finance ministers in the Peruvian capital of Lima, where economic policymakers from around the world are gathered this week for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. "We are low- and middle-income, least developed, arid, isthmus, landlocked, mountainous and small-island developing countries," the group said in…

Community-led initiatives that combat desertification, flooding and drought are widespread across Africa but need to be significantly scaled up and backed with research to avert the spiralling threat of food insecurity, according to the Montpellier Panel's assessment, published today (25 September). "Change will come from the bottom up as local people take action for themselves," says Ramadjita Tabo, one of the study's authors…

The tough issues were discussed yesterday at the 4th National Environmental Conference's plenary session held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment every five years to evaluate environmental progress and map out new goals. Head of the Viet Nam Environment Administration Nguyen Van Tai said that challenges were made more complicated by the developing impact of climate change. He also spoke of the…

The main agenda of the meeting is to formally adopt the V20 Action Plan outlining a concerted response to strengthening resilience and mitigating the debilitating impacts of climate change. Member-countries will also prepare for the V20 concerted contribution for the COP21 Meeting in Paris this December. Industrialized countries, besides development institutions, are the targeted sources of financial and technical support because they account for…