Reference Guide for Rio Conventions

༄ །

།ར ལ་ཡ

ངས་མཐའ་འཁ ར་གནས་ས ངས་ལ ན་ཚ གས།

N

ational Environment Commissio

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NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COMMISSIONROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN

Reference Guide for Rio Conventions

Reference G

uide for Rio Conventions

National Environment CommissionP.O. Box 466, Thimphu, Bhutan

www.nec.gov.bt

༄ ། །དཔལ་ལ ན་འབ ག་པ་ཕ གས་ལས་ར

མ་ར ལ།།

Royal Government of Bhutan National Environment Commission

Reference Guide for Rio Conventions

RIO Reference Guide – National Capacity Self Assessment Project Copyright © 2011 National Environment Commission Secretariat Royal Government of Bhutan Post Box 466 Thimphu www.nec.gov.bt Printed by: Phama Printers

http://www.nec.gov.bt/�

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The NEC wishes to convey special gratitude to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for providing funding for compilation of the National Capacity Self Assessment and further towards providing the financial support for its implementation. Furthermore the United Nations Development Programme, the Bhutan Country office which provided support throughout the project and assisted in a great manner to making this initiative a success.

The support received from the three thematic working groups and the project board is also appreciated. The committee members worked tirelessly throughout the project to make sure that the product will be usable in furthering environmental management in the country. The Focal Points of the three Rio Conventions (United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) have also been instrumental in producing this document and their contribution is greatly appreciated.

The completion of this assessment would not have been possible without the dedication of the NCSA project management team, and the staff of the NEC, who have worked hard to ensure that the project goals and objectives are met. Support received from the other ministries and agencies is also appreciated. The role played by the local consultants has also been pivotal and the support provided by their experts has also been of great value.

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Table of contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I

ACRONYMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV

SCOPE AND PURPOSE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IX

1. BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND ITS IMPORTANCE ------------------------------------------------ 2

2. THE CHANGING LIFE ON EARTH --------------------------------------------------------------- 3

3. BIODIVERSITY UNDER THREAT ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4

4. THE UN CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY --------------------------------------- 5

THE CONFERENCE OF PARTIES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 SUBSIDIARY INTERGOVERNMENTAL BODIES ------------------------------------------------------------- 8 EXPERT GROUPS AND WORKSHOPS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 THE SECRETARIAT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY ----------------------------------------------------------------- 9 PROGRAMMES OF WORK AND POLICY GUIDANCE DEVELOPED BY THE CONVENTION --------------- 10 PRINCIPLES, GUIDELINES AND TOOLS FOR THE CONVENTION ---------------------------------------- 11 2010 BIODIVERSITY TARGET AND THE STRATEGIC PLAN OF THE CONVENTION --------------------- 12 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION -------------------------------------------------------------- 14

5. NATIONAL ACTIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

SURVEYS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE --------------------------------------------------------------- 16 REPORTING ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16

6. INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------- 16

THEMATIC PROGRAMMES AND "CROSS-CUTTING" ISSUES ------------------------------------------- 17 FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 THE BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 SHARING THE BENEFITS OF GENETIC RESOURCES------------------------------------------------------ 19 TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

7. WAY FORWARD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

PROMOTING FOR THE LONG TERM -------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING ---------------------------------------------------------- 22 WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT BIODIVERSITY? ------------------------------------------------------------ 22

1. INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24

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WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING ----------------------------------------------------------- 25 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 IS CLIMATE CHANGE REALLY HAPPENING? ------------------------------------------------------------- 26 CAUSES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING --------------------------------------------- 27 GREENHOUSE GASES AND THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT ------------------------------------------------- 27 WEATHER VS CLIMATE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE DIFFERENT FROM OZONE ------------------------------------------------- 29

2. THE CLIMATE PHENOMENA ------------------------------------------------------------------ 29

HUMAN ACTIVITIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 RISING LEVELS OF GREENHOUSE GASES ---------------------------------------------------------------- 29 GLOBAL TEMPERATURE RISE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 IMPACT ON THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT -------------------------------------------------------------- 30 RISKS AND PRESSURES ON HUMAN SOCIETY ----------------------------------------------------------- 30 STABILIZATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES --------------------------------------------------------------- 30 THE ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION ------------------------------------------------------- 31 THE KYOTO PROTOCOL --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 LIMITING EMISSIONS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31

3. THE GREENHOUSE GASES --------------------------------------------------------------------- 31

THE MAIN GREENHOUSE GASES ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31 Carbon dioxide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 32 Methane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Nitrous Oxide -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 Fluorocarbons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 37

4. HOW WILL THE CLIMATE CHANGE? -------------------------------------------------------- 39

5. IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE -------------------------------------------------------------- 40

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY ------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS ------------------------------------------------------------- 42 WATER RESOURCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 HUMAN HEALTH ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 46 HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRY ------------------------------------------------------ 47 CLIMATE DISASTERS AND EXTREME EVENTS ----------------------------------------------------------- 49 SEA LEVELS, OCEANS, AND COASTAL AREAS ----------------------------------------------------------- 51

6. ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ---------------------------------------------- 53

7. THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION ------------------------------------------------------ 53

THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE ------------------------- 54

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Annex I, ANNEX II and Non-annex I Countries under the Convention --------------- 56 THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES -------------------------------------------------------------------- 57

COP President and Bureau --------------------------------------------------------------------- 58 Subsidiary Bodies --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 The secretariat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 60

KYOTO PROTOCOL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61 The Kyoto mechanisms ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61 Core elements of the Kyoto Protocol -------------------------------------------------------- 64

COMMITMENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64

8. NATIONAL ACTIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65

REPORTING UNDER THE CONVENTION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 65 Reporting by Annex I Parties ------------------------------------------------------------------ 65 Reporting by Non-annex I Parties ------------------------------------------------------------ 66

REPORTING TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL ---------------------------------------------------------------- 66

9. WAY FORWARD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 67

1. LAND DEGRADATION - INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------- 70

EXTENT AND RATE OF LAND DEGRADATION ----------------------------------------------------------- 71

2. LAND DEGRADATION - CAUSES -------------------------------------------------------------- 73

CLIMATE CHANGE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 73 RAINFALL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 76 FLOODS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 79 DROUGHTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 79 SOLAR RADIATION, TEMPERATURE AND EVAPORATION ---------------------------------------------- 80 WIND ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82 WILDFIRES, LAND DEGRADATION AND ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS ----------------------------------- 83

3. LAND DEGRADATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE ------------------------------------------- 83

4. THE UN CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION -------------------------------- 85

ROLE OF UNCCD --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 85 THE UNCCD SECRETARIAT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 85

5. NATIONAL CONTEXT------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86

KEY LAND DEGRADATION ISSUES AND CONCERNS IN BHUTAN -------------------------------------- 86 Overgrazing---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86 Forest Fire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 87 Excessive Forest Utilization -------------------------------------------------------------------- 87 Infrastructure Development ------------------------------------------------------------------- 88 Land Use Intensification and Competition ------------------------------------------------- 88

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Unsustainable Agricultural Practices -------------------------------------------------------- 88 Pollution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 89 Rapid Urbanization ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 89

NATIONAL INITIATIVES TO COMBAT LAND DEGRADATION -------------------------------------------- 89 The National Land management campaign ----------------------------------------------- 90 The project on sustainable land management -------------------------------------------- 90

1. CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY -------------------------------------------------- 94

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 94 KEY FEATURES OF THE CBD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 94 EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES TO CONSERVE BIODIVERSITY ----------------------------------------------- 95

Direct measures: in situ conservation ------------------------------------------------------- 95 Direct measures: ex-situ conservation ------------------------------------------------------ 95 Capacity development and enabling environment --------------------------------------- 96

2. UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE -------------- 96

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 96 IMPACTS AND REMEDIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 97 KEY FEATURES OF THE UNFCCC AND THE KYOTO PROTOCOL --------------------------------------- 97 EXAMPLE OF MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION --------------------- 98

Collection and exchange of information related to climate change ----------------- 98 Capacity development and enabling environment --------------------------------------- 99 Measures to contain GHG emissions and enhance GHG absorption ---------------- 99

3. UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION --------------------- 99

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 99 KEY FEATURES OF THE UNCCD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 100 EXAMPLES OF MEASURES TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION------------------------------------------- 101

Direct measures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 101 Capacity development and enabling environment ------------------------------------- 101

REFERENCES / BIBLOGRAPHY -------------------------------------------------------------------- 102

List of Tables

TABLE 1. THEMATIC PROGRAMMES OF WORK OF THE CONVENTION ON BIODIVERSITY -------------- 10 TABLE 2. PRINCIPLES, GUIDELINES, AND OTHER TOOLS DEVELOPED UNDER THE CONVENTION ----- 11 TABLE 3. PROVISIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR GOALS AND TARGETS -------------------------------------- 12 TABLE 4. TYPES OF GREENHOUSE GASES & THEIR SOURCES -------------------------------------------- 36

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List of Figures

FIGURE 1. IMPLEMENTATION MODE OF THE CONVENTION ----------------------------------------------- 7 FIGURE 2. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE CBD SECRETARIAT ----------------------------------- 9 FIGURE 3. THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT --------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 FIGURE 4. INCREASE OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE AIR OVER THE PAST FEW CENTURIES --------------- 33 FIGURE 5. GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE (BILLION METRIC TONS CARBON) -------------------------------- 34 FIGURE 6. METHANE IS ON THE RISE SINCE 1750 ------------------------------------------------------- 34 FIGURE 7. NITROUS OXIDE HAS BEEN ON THE RISE SINCE 1750 ---------------------------------------- 35 FIGURE 8. PROCESS OF GLOBAL WARMING AND HOW GREENHOUSE GASES CREATE THE

"GREENHOUSE EFFECT" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 FIGURE 9. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF RAINFALL INDUCED PROCESSES INVOLVED IN LAND

DEGRADATION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 78

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ACRONYMS AAUs Assigned amount units ACC Annual allowable cut AGBM Ad hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate BPSP Biodiversity Planning and Support Programme CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CDM Clean Development Mechanism CEPA Communication Education and Public Awareness CER Certified emission reduction CFCs Chlorofluorocarbons CHM Clearing House Mechanism CO Carbon Monoxide COP Conference of the Parties (to the CBD) CRED Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters DANIDA Danish International Development Agency EIT Economies in Transition ENSO El Nino/South Oscillation ERU Emission reduction unit FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FFI Fauna and Flora International FMU Forest Management Unit FRDD Forest Resources Development Division FYP Five Year Plan GDP Gross Domestic Product GEF Global Environment Facility GEP Global Warming Potentials GHG greenhouse gas GIS Geographic Information System GMO Genetically Modified Organism GNH Gross National Happiness GTI Global Taxonomy Initiative HAPEX Hydrologic Atmospheric Pilot Experiment HFCs Hydrofluorocarbons IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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IUCN World Conservation Union JI Joint Implementation JISC Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee LADP Local Area Development Programmes LDCs Least Developed Countries LMO Living Modified Organism LULUCF Land use, land-use change and forestry MoA Ministry of Agriculture MoWHS Ministry of Works and Human Settlement MT Metric tons NAO North Atlantic Oscillation NBSAP National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan NEC National Environment Commission NECS National Environment Commission Secretariat NGO Non-governmental organization NMVOC Non-methane Volatile Organic Compounds NO Nitric Oxide OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development PFCs Perfluorocarbons RGoB Royal Government of Bhutan RMU Removal unit RUSLE Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation SBI Subsidiary Body for Implementation SBs Subsidiary Bodies SBSTA Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice SBSTTA Subsidiary Body on Scientific Technical and Technological Advice SLM Sustainable land management SOC Soil Organic Carbon SOM Soil Organic Matter SST Sea Surface Temperature TNC The Nature Conservancy UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

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UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNITAR United Nations Institute for Training and Research UNSO Office to Combat Desertification and Drought UNU United Nations University USLE Universal Soil Loss Equation UV Ultraviolet WB World Bank WEF World Economic Forum WEPP Water Erosion Prediction Project WGRI Working Group on Review of Implementation (of the Convention) WMO World Metrological Organization WRI World Resources Institute WWF World Wide Fund for Nature

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SCOPE AND PURPOSE This guideline provides an overview of the RIO Conventions (the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Land Degradation). The main focus of compiling this guideline is to simplify and bring together the components of the three conventions into one concise booklet.

The document is developed as a reference guide bringing together the three RIO Conventions. It details on basic themes on which the three Rio Conventions dwell upon (biodiversity, climate change and land degradation). The guideline touches upon the basic science of the three thematic areas, brief on the Convention histories, its operating procedures and institutions, national obligations under each Conventions, impacts and/or affects of local actions on global environmental management, and ways and approaches in dealing with problems.

This reference guide is grouped into four parts – Part A dealing on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the basics of biological diversity and its importance; Part B on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the basics of climate science, the Convention, potential impacts of climate change and national actions to mitigate climate change; Part C on the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the causes and impacts of land degradation, measures to combat land degradation, the Convention and national actions to minimize land degradation; and Part D provides a concise note on each of the three Rio Conventions and main issues confronted on each of the thematic areas.

However, this reference guide aims to serve as a reference for those interested in and working on the issues around the three thematic areas (biodiversity, climate change and land degradation). It is designed to provide an easy route to understanding the importance of the Rio Conventions and how local actions can contribute towards a sustainable development path.

UN Convention on Biological Diversity

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PART A

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL

DIVERSITY


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1. BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND ITS IMPORTANCE Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the variety of life on earth. It comprises the variability within species, among species, and of ecosystems. It also refers to the complex relationships among living things, and between living things and their environment.

Biodiversity is therefore the sum total of all life on our planet, and includes all the different species of plants, animals and micro-organisms (estimated at more than ten million species), all the genetic variability within these species (estimated at between 10-100,000 genes per species) and all the diversity of the ecosystems formed by the different combinations of species.

Biodiversity is important because it underpins ecosystem functioning and the provision of essential ecosystem services. Human well-being depends on this “web of life”.

The biodiversity we see today is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of humans. It forms the web of life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully depend.

This diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms. So far, about 1.75 million species have been identified, mostly small creatures such as insects. Scientists reckon that there are actually about 13 million species, though estimates range from 3 to 100 million.

Biodiversity also includes genetic differences within each species – for example, between varieties of crops and breeds of livestock. Chromosomes, genes, and DNA – the building blocks of life – determine the uniqueness of each individual and each species.

Yet another aspect of biodiversity is the variety of ecosystems such as those that occur in deserts, forests, wetlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, and agricultural landscapes. In each ecosystem, living creatures, including humans, form a community, interacting with one another and with the air, water, and soil around them.

It is the combination of life forms and their interactions with each other and with the rest of the environment that has made Earth a uniquely habitable place for humans. Biodiversity provides a large number of goods and services that sustain our lives.

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a comprehensive strategy for "sustainable development" - meeting our needs while ensuring that we leave a healthy and viable world for future generations. One of the key agreements adopted at Rio was the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). This pact among the vast majority of the world's governments sets out commitments for maintaining the world's ecological underpinnings as we go about the business of economic development. The Convention establishes three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources.


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2. THE CHANGING LIFE ON EARTH The rich tapestry of life on our planet is the outcome of over 3.5 billion years of evolutionary history. It has been shaped by forces such as changes in the planet’s crust, ice ages, fire, and interaction among species.

Now, it is increasingly being altered by humans. From the dawn of agriculture, some 10,000 years ago, through the Industrial Revolution of the past three centuries, we have reshaped our landscapes on an ever-larger and lasting scale. We have moved from hacking down trees with stone tools to literally moving mountains to mine the Earth’s resources. Old ways of harvesting are being replaced by more intensive technologies, often without controls to prevent overharvesting. For example, fisheries that have fed communities for centuries have been depleted in a few years by huge, sonar-guided ships using nets big enough to swallow a dozen jumbo jets at a time. By consuming ever more of nature’s resources, we have gained more abundant food and better shelter, sanitation, and health care, but these gains are often accompanied by increasing environmental degradation that may be followed by declines in local economies and the societies they supported.

As of 2011, the world’s population hit 6.9 billion. United Nations experts predict the world will have to find resources for a population of 9 billion people in 40 years. Yet our demands on the world’s natural resources are growing even faster than our numbers: since 1950, the population has more than doubled, but the global economy has quintupled. And the benefits are not equally spread: most of the economic growth has occurred in a relatively few industrialized countries.

At the same time, our settlement patterns are changing our relationship with the environment. Nearly half the world’s people live in towns and cities. For many people, nature seems remote from their everyday lives. More and more people associate food with stores, rather than with their natural source.

Protecting biodiversity is in our self-interest. Biological resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations. Nature's products support such diverse industries as agriculture, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, horticulture, construction and waste treatment. The loss of biodiversity threatens our food supplies, opportunities for recreation and tourism, and sources of wood, medicines and energy. It also interferes with essential ecological functions.

Our need for pieces of nature we once ignored is often important and unpredictable. Time after time we have rushed back to nature's cupboard for cures to illnesses or for infusions of tough genes from wild plants to save our crops from pest outbreaks. What's more, the vast array of interactions among the various components of biodiversity makes the planet habitable for all species, including humans. Our personal health, and the health of our economy and human society, depends on the continuous supply of various ecological services that would be extremely costly or impossible to replace. These natural services are so varied as to be almost infinite. For example, it would be impractical to replace, to any


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large extent, services such as pest control performed by various creatures feeding on one another, or pollination performed by insects and birds going about their everyday business.

"Goods and Services" provided by ecosystems include:

i. Provision of food, fuel and fiber; ii. Provision of shelter and building materials;

iii. Purification of air and water; iv. Detoxification and decomposition of wastes; v. Stabilization and moderation of the Earth's climate;

vi. Moderation of floods, droughts, temperature extremes and the forces of wind; vii. Generation and renewal of soil fertility, including nutrient cycling;

viii. Pollination of plants, including many crops; ix. Control of pests and diseases; x. Maintenance of genetic resources as key inputs to crop varieties and livestock

breeds, medicines, and other products; xi. Cultural and aesthetic benefits; and

xii. Ability to adapt to change.

3. BIODIVERSITY UNDER THREAT When most people think of the dangers besetting the natural world, they think of the threat to other creatures. Declines in the numbers of such charismatic animals as pandas, tigers, elephants, whales, and various species of birds, have drawn world attention to the problem of species at risk. Species have been disappearing at 50-100 times the natural rate, and this is predicted to rise dramatically. Based on current trends, an estimated 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species including one in eight of the world's bird species face extinction.

For thousands of years we have been developing a vast array of domesticated plants and animals important for food. But this treasure house is shrinking as modern commercial agriculture focuses on relatively few crop varieties. And, about 30 percent of breeds of the main farm animal species are currently at high risk of extinction. While the loss of individual species catches our attention, it is the fragmentation, degradation, and outright loss of forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and other ecosystems that poses the gravest threat to biological diversity. Forests are home to much of the known terrestrial biodiversity, but about 45 percent of the Earth's original forests are gone, cleared mostly during the past century. Despite some re-growth, the world's total forests are still shrinking rapidly, particularly in the tropics. Up to 10 percent of coral reefs - among the richest ecosystems - have been destroyed, and one third of the remainder face collapse over the next 10 to 20 years. Coastal mangroves, a vital nursery habitat for countless species, are also vulnerable, with half already gone.

Global atmospheric changes, such as ozone depletion and climate change, only add to the stress. A thinner ozone layer lets more ultraviolet-B radiation reach the Earth's surface where it damages living tissue. Global warming is already changing habitats and the distribution of


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species. Scientists warn that even a one-degree increase in the average global temperature, if it comes rapidly, will push many species over the brink. Our food production systems could also be seriously disrupted.

The loss of biodiversity often reduces the productivity of ecosystems, thereby shrinking nature's basket of goods and services, from which we constantly draw. It destabilizes ecosystems, and weakens their ability to deal with natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, and with human-caused stresses, such as pollution and climate change. Already, we are spending huge sums in response to flood and storm damage exacerbated by deforestation - such damage is expected to increase due to global warming.

The reduction in biodiversity also hurts us in other ways. Our cultural identity is deeply rooted in our biological environment. Plants and animals are symbols of our world, preserved in flags, sculptures, and other images that define us and our societies. We draw inspiration just from looking at nature's beauty and power. While loss of species has always occurred as a natural phenomenon, the pace of extinction has accelerated dramatically as a result of human activity. Ecosystems are being fragmented or eliminated, and innumerable species are in decline or already extinct. We are creating the greatest extinction crisis since the natural disaster that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. These extinctions are irreversible and, given our dependence on food crops, medicines and other biological resources, pose a threat to our own well-being. It is reckless if not downright dangerous to keep chipping away at our life support system. It is unethical to drive other forms of life to extinction, and thereby deprive present and future generations of options for their survival and development.

Can we save the world's ecosystems, and with them the species we value and the other millions of species, some of which may produce the foods and medicines of tomorrow? The answer will lie in our ability to bring our demands into line with nature's ability to produce what we need and to safely absorb what we throw away.

4. THE UN CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) is a legally binding international treaty to promote the following objectives:

i. the conservation of biological diversity; ii. the sustainable use of its components; and

iii. the equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

It was the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of all components of biodiversity including genetic sources, species and ecosystems.

The UNCBD was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the period 1989-1992 and completed in May 2002. May 22 is celebrated each year as International Biodiversity day. The Treaty was opened for signature


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during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, and came into force on 29 December 1993. The Royal Government of Bhutan ratified the Convention on August 28, 1995 not long after the Convention came into existence.

The Convention is comprehensive in its goals, and deals with an issue so vital to humanity's future, that it stands as a landmark in international law. It recognizes for the first time that the conservation of biological diversity is "a common concern of humankind" and is an integral part of the development process. The agreement covers all ecosystems, species, and genetic resources. It links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biological resources sustainably. It sets principles for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, notably those destined for commercial use. It also covers the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology, addressing technology development and transfer, benefit-sharing and biosafety. Importantly, the Convention is legally binding; countries that join it are obliged to implement its provisions. Thus far, the Government of Bhutan stood by its unraveling commitment towards safeguarding the pristine environment the Bhutanese has enjoyed for centuries.

The Convention reminds decision-makers that natural resources are not infinite and sets out a new philosophy for the 21st century, that of sustainable use. While past conservation efforts were aimed at protecting particular species and habitats, the Convention recognizes that ecosystems, species and genes must be used for the benefit of humans. However, this should be done in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity.

The Convention also offers decision-makers guidance based on the precautionary principle that where there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimize such a threat. The Convention acknowledges that substantial investments are required to conserve biological diversity. It argues, however, that conservation will bring us significant environmental, economic and social benefits in return.

Some of the many issues dealt with under the Convention include:

i. Measures and incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity;

ii. Regulated access to genetic resources; iii. Access to and transfer of technology, including biotechnology; iv. Technical and scientific cooperation; v. Impact assessment;

vi. Education and public awareness; vii. Provision of financial resources; and

viii. National reporting on efforts to implement treaty commitments.


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THE CONFERENCE OF PARTIES The Convention on Biological Diversity provides a global legal framework for action on biodiversity. It brings together the 193 member countries in the Conference of the Parties (COP) which is the Convention’s governing body that meets every two years, or as needed, to review progress in the implementation of the Convention, to adopt programmes of work, to achieve its objectives, and provide policy guidance.

It may also consider amendments and the adoption of Protocols to the Convention: The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was negotiated within the framework of the Convention.

Although the UNCBD is an international treaty, responsibility for its implementation resides primarily with each Party at the national level. Thus the decisions of COP constitute guidance to Parties on how to proceed with their implementation of the Convention. Its decisions during these meetings also serve as mandates for the work of the Secretariat to support implement the Convention. Consensus is required for all decisions on substantive issues (i.e. a decision cannot be adopted if one or more parties formally object).

While decisions in the COP are made by governments, a large number of other bodies can participate in the meetings and contribute information and points of view. These include representatives of indigenous and local communities, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and private sector associations.

Figure 1. Implementation mode of the Convention


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SUBSIDIARY INTERGOVERNMENTAL BODIES The COP is assisted by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), which is made up of government representatives with expertise in relevant fields, as well as observers for non-Party governments, the scientific community, and other relevant organizations. SBSTTA is responsible for providing recommendations to the COP on the technical aspects of the implementation of the Convention.

Other subsidiary bodies have been established by the COP to deal with specific issues as they arise. These are called “ad hoc open-ended Working Groups” because they are established for a limited mandate and period of time, and because they are open to all Parties as well as the participation of observers. Current Working Groups are:

i. the Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing is currently the forum for negotiating an international regime on access and benefit sharing;

ii. the Working Group on Article 8 (j) and Related Provisions addresses issues related to protection of traditional knowledge;

iii. the Working group on Protected Areas is guiding and monitoring implementation of the programme of work on protected areas; and

iv. the Working Group on the Review of Implementation of the Convention examines the implementation of the Convention, including national biodiversity strategies and action plans.

Working Groups make recommendations to the COP, and, as is the case for the Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing, may also provide a forum for negotiations of a particular instrument under the Convention.

EXPERT GROUPS AND WORKSHOPS The COP and SBSTTA may also establish expert groups or call for the organization by the Secretariat of liaison groups, workshops, and other meetings. Participants in these meetings are usually experts nominated by governments, as well as representatives of international organizations, local and indigenous communities and other bodies. Unlike SBSTTA and the open-ended Working Groups these are usually not considered as intergovernmental meetings. The purpose of these meetings vary: Expert groups may provide scientific assessments, for example, while workshops may be used for training or capacity building. Liaison groups advise the secretariat or act as for cooperation with other conventions and organizations.

THE SECRETARIAT The Secretariat of the Convention is the administrative body of the CBD. The principal functions of the Secretariat are to prepare for and service meetings of the COP and other subsidiary bodies of the Convention, and to coordinate with other international bodies. It also


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assists member governments in the implementation of the multi-year programme of work of the COP, collects and disseminates information, and coordinates with other international organizations. The Secretariat is hosted by UNEP and is led by an Executive Secretary (ES). It is provided by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and is located in Montreal, Canada.

The Secretariat organizes the meetings of the COP, SBSTTA, the Working Groups and a large number of expert groups and workshops. For each one of them, the secretariat prepares agenda, background documentation, and prepares reports of the meetings, as well as handling logistics.

The secretariat is organized into a number of divisions.

Figure 2. Organizational Structure of the CBD Secretariat

Each party to the CBD designates a National Focal Point responsible for coordinating CBD related activities at the country level. National Focal Points work closely with the Secretariat, as well as government agencies and relevant organizations in their countries to implement the decisions of the COP. The National Environment Commission has been mandated by the Royal Government of Bhutan as the focal institution for the Convention.

The secretariat also provides the global hub of the Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM), an internet-based network that promotes technical and scientific cooperation and the exchange of information. It relies on CHM Focal Points, which are national and international centres and institutions with relevant expertise, to gather and organize information to be shared. The Secretariat analyses national reports of parties.

To facilitate its work, the Secretariat has developed partnerships with a wide variety of UN agencies, environmental conventions and non-governmental organizations to provide technical input and assistance. The secretariat also works closely with the financial Mechanism of the Convention.

CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY The only existing protocol to the Convention is the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB). It was adopted by the conference of the Parties in 2000 and entered into force in September


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2002. The Protocol seeks to protect biodiversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from biotechnology. A key point here is that the Conference of the Parties to the Convention also serves as the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Protocol, and the Secretariat and the Financial Mechanism set up under the Convention perform the same functions under the Biosafety Protocol. The Protocol is supported by a Biosafety Clearing-House. As well, there are National Biosafety Focal points to assist in implementation at the national level. Therefore, the Biosafety Protocol is administered by a semi-autonomous unit within the Secretariat. The Executive Secretary of the CBD is also the head of the Biosafety unit within the Secretariat.

Bhutan deposited the instrument for accession to the Protocol in August 26, 2002 and entered into force as a member party on September 11, 2003. As of 2011, there are 160 member parties with the recent ratification by the government of Somalia and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau in 2010.

PROGRAMMES OF WORK AND POLICY GUIDANCE DEVELOPED BY THE CONVENTION THE PROGRAMMES OF WORK

Since the Convention entered into force, Parties have developed seven thematic work programmes, each of which establishes a vision for, and basic principles to guide future work, sets out key issues for consideration, identifies potential outputs, and suggests a timetable and means for achieving these outputs. Parties, the Secretariat, and relevant organizations contribute to the implementation of the thematic work programmes, which are periodically reviewed by the COP and SBSTTA.

The COP also initiates work on key cross-cutting issues of relevance to multiple thematic areas. Essentially these correspond to the issues addressed in the Convention's substantive provisions. The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-7), for example, adopted a programme of work on protected areas to support the establishment and maintenance, by 2010 for terrestrial, and by 2012 for marine areas, of comprehensive, effectively managed, and ecologically representative national and regional systems of protected areas that reflect the objectives of the Convention.

Table 1. Thematic Programmes of Work of the Convention on Biodiversity

i. Agricultural biological diversity ii. Inland water biological diversity

iii. Marine and coastal biological diversity iv. Forest biological diversity v. Biological diversity of dry and sub-humid lands

vi. Mountain biological diversity vii. Island biological diversity (under development)


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PRINCIPLES, GUIDELINES AND TOOLS FOR THE CONVENTION The Ecosystem Approach was adopted by the Conference of the Parties as the primary framework for action under the Convention. It is a strategy for integrated natural resource management that takes a holistic approach to managing biodiversity and its components. It involves managing resources at a scale and scope that not only conserve the components of biodiversity, but also protect the essential processes and functions of the ecosystem of which they are part (i.e. nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, supply of freshwater and food).

The Ecosystem Approach recognizes humans, with their cultural diversity, as integral parts of ecosystems. Thus, it involves managing ecosystems and natural resources in a way that reflects their intrinsic value, as well as the benefits they provide to humans, in a fair and equitable way. All implementation of the Convention is carried out and evaluated according to the ecosystem approach.

Table 2. Principles, Guidelines, and other Tools Developed under the Convention

i. Description, Principles, and Operational Guidelines for the Ecosystem Approach (http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/cross-cutting/ecosystem/default.asp)

ii. Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilization (http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socio-eco/benefit/bonn.asp)

iii. Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socio-eco/use/addis-principles.asp)

iv. Guiding Principles on Invasive Alien Species (http://www.biodiv.org/decisions/?dec=VI/23) v. Akwé: Kon Voluntary Guidelines for the Conduct of Cultural, Environmental, and Social

Impact Assessment regarding Developments Proposed to Take Place on, or which are Likely to Impact on, Sacred Sites and on

vi. Lands and Waters Traditionally Occupied or Used by Indigenous and Local Communities (http://www.biodiv.org/doc/ref/tk-akwe-en.pdf)

vii. Guidelines for Incorporating Biodiversity-related Issues into Environmental Impact Assessment Legislation

viii. and/or Processes and in Strategic Environmental Assessment (http://www.biodiv.org/decisions/default.aspx?dec=VI/7)

ix. Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism Development (http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socioeco/ tourism/guidelines.asp)

x. Proposals for the Design and Implementation of Incentive Measures (http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socio-eco/incentives/proposals.asp)

xi. Proposals for the Application of Ways and Means to Remove or Mitigate Perverse Incentives (http://www.biodiv.org/decisions/default.aspx?dec=VII/18)

http://www.biodiv.org/decisions/default.aspx?dec=VI/7�

http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socioeco/�

http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/socio-eco/incentives/proposals.asp�


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2010 BIODIVERSITY TARGET AND THE STRATEGIC PLAN OF THE CONVENTION In 2002, the Conference of the Parties adopted a Strategic Plan, which commits Governments to more effective and coherent implementation of the three objectives of the Convention in order to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth. This target – which has come to be known as the 2010 Biodiversity Target – was subsequently endorsed by Heads of Government at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the United Nations General Assembly. The Summit also highlighted the essential role that biodiversity and the 2010 target play in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Conference of the Parties adopted a framework to evaluate progress towards the 2010 target. This included the identification of a set of goals and sub-targets under seven focal areas for action. Indicators for these sub-targets are currently being developed. The combination of goals, sub-targets, and indicators builds upon the approach taken in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. It provides a flexible, yet meaningful framework within which regional and national targets can be set for further advancement towards the 2010 target.

Table 3. Provisional Framework for Goals and Targets

PROTECT THE COMPONENTS OF BIODIVERSITY

Goal 1. Promote the conservation of the biological diversity of ecosystems, habitats and biomes Target 1.1: At least 10percent of each of the world’s ecological regions effectively conserved. Target 1.2: Areas of particular importance to biodiversity protected. Goal 2. Promote the conservation of species diversity Target 2.1: Restore, maintain, or reduce the decline of populations of species of selected taxonomic groups. Target 2.2: Status of threatened species improved. Goal 3. Promote the conservation of genetic diversity

Target 3.1: Genetic diversity of crops, livestock, and of harvested species of trees, fish and wildlife and other valuable species conserved, and associated indigenous and local knowledge maintained.

PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE USE

Goal 4. Promote sustainable use and consumption. Target 4.1: Biodiversity-based products derived from sources that are sustainably managed, and Production areas managed consistent with the conservation of biodiversity. Target 4.2: Unsustainable consumption, of biological resources, that impacts upon biodiversity, reduced. Target 4.3: No species of wild flora or fauna endangered by international trade.


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ADDRESS THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY

Goal 5. Pressures from habitat loss, land use change and degradation, and unsustainable water use, reduced. Target 5.1: Rate of loss and degradation of natural habitats decreased Goal 6. Control threats from invasive alien species Target 6.1: Pathways for major potential alien invasive species controlled. Target 6.2: Management plans in place for major alien species that threaten ecosystems, habitats or species.

Goal 7. Address challenges to biodiversity from climate change, and pollution Target 7.1: Maintain and enhance resilience of the components of biodiversity to adapt to climate change. Target 7.2: Reduce pollution and its impacts on biodiversity.

MAINTAIN GOODS AND SERVICES FROM BIODIVERSITY TO SUPPORT HUMAN WELL-BEING

Goal 8. Maintain capacity of ecosystems to deliver goods and services and support livelihoods Target 8.1: Capacity of ecosystems to deliver goods and services maintained. Target 8.2: Biological resources that support sustainable livelihoods, local food security and health care, especially of poor people maintained.

PROTECT TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, INNOVATIONS AND PRACTICES

Goal 9 Maintain socio-cultural diversity of indigenous and local communities Target 9.1 Protect traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices. Target 9.2: Protect the rights of indigenous and local communities over their traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, including their rights to benefit-sharing.

ENSURE THE FAIR AND EQUITABLE SHARING OF BENEFITS ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF GENETIC RESOURCES

Goal 10. Ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources Target 10.1: All transfers of genetic resources are in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and other applicable agreements. Target 10.2: Benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources shared with the countries providing such resources.

ENSURE PROVISION OF ADEQUATE RESOURCES

Goal 11. Parties have improved financial, human, scientific, technical and technological capacity to implement the Convention Target 11.1: New and additional financial resources are transferred to developing country Parties, to allow for the effective implementation of their commitments under the Convention, in accordance with Article 20. Target 11.2: Technology is transferred to developing country Parties, to allow for the effective implementation of their commitments under the Convention, in accordance with its Article 20, paragraph 4.


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IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION As noted above responsibility for its implementation resides primarily with each Party at the national level. Decisions of the COP and the programmes of work, principles and other guidance provide a framework for Parties on how to proceed with their implementation of the Convention. Parties have an obligation to develop and implement National Biodiversity Strategies and Actions Plans (NBSAPs) or other similar tasks, and should integrate biodiversity concerns into other national policies strategies and programmes. Parties must report to the Conference of Parties on national implementation of the Convention through National Reports.

The Royal Government of Bhutan revised its NBSAP also called the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) in 2009 (third revision) and submitted its fourth National Report on the Convention in the same year.

The Convention’s financial mechanism provides financial resources to developing countries for the implementation of the CBD. It is supported primarily by funding from member governments and operated by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the guidance of COP. UNDP, UNEP, and the World Bank, as Implementing Agencies of the GEF, including the preparation and cost-effectiveness of GEF projects.

There are a number of international organizations, inter-governmental and non-governmental, that have expertise, mandates or resources that enable them to assist countries with NBSAPs and national reports. Such inter-governmental organizations include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations University (UNU), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and others, including regional organizations. Non-governmental organizations include the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Wide fund for Nature (WWF), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), the World Resources Institute (WRI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and others.

The implementation of the Convention is also supported by workshops, meetings, and activities outside the formal Convention process. These may be held in conjunction with the Secretariat and Parties to the Convention, or outside the auspices of the CBD. Examples include specialized conference, regional and sub-regional preparatory meetings for COP, side events and COP and SBSTTA meetings, and the global taxonomy initiative (GTI).

Through its work programme on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA), the Convention offers an outreach programme targeted at all stakeholder groups. From educational programmes to public awareness campaigns, the CEPA work programme attempts to engage stakeholders at all ages and levels in awareness due to the raising of the issues surrounding biodiversity. An important international activity is the International Day for Biodiversity, celebrated nationally around the world on 22 May each year. In addition, the UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2010 as the International year of Biodiversity.


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5. NATIONAL ACTIONS The Convention on Biological Diversity, as an international treaty, identifies a common problem, sets overall goals and policies and general obligations, and organizes technical and financial cooperation. However, the responsibility for achieving its goals rests largely with the countries themselves. For further knowledge on national actions, reference can be made to the Bhutan Biodiversity Action Plan (2009) and the fourth National Report (2009) – detailing on the implementation status, challenges, issues and constrains in implementing the Convention.

Private companies, landowners, fishermen, and farmers take most of the actions that affect biodiversity. Governments need to provide the critical role of leadership, particularly by setting rules that guide the use of natural resources, and by protecting biodiversity where they have direct control over the land and water. Under the Convention, governments undertake to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity. They are required to develop national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and to integrate these into broader national plans for environment and development. This is particularly important for such sectors as forestry, agriculture, fisheries, energy, transportation and urban planning. Other treaty commitments include:

i. Identifying and monitoring the important components of biological diversity that needs to be conserved and used sustainably;

ii. Establishing protected areas to conserve biological diversity while promoting environmentally sound development around these areas;

iii. Rehabilitating and restoring degraded ecosystems and promoting the recovery of threatened species in collaboration with local residents;

iv. Respecting, preserving and maintaining traditional knowledge of the sustainable use of biological diversity with the involvement of indigenous peoples and local communities;

v. Preventing the introduction of, controlling, and eradicating alien species that could threaten ecosystems, habitats or species;

vi. Controlling the risks posed by organisms modified by biotechnology – with particular reference to LMOs;

vii. Promoting public participation, particularly when it comes to assessing the environmental impacts of development projects that threaten biological diversity;

viii. Educating people and raising awareness about the importance of biological diversity and the need to conserve it; and

ix. Reporting on how each country is meeting its biodiversity goals.

SURVEYS One of the first steps towards a successful national biodiversity strategy is to conduct surveys to find out what biodiversity exists, its value and importance, and what is


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endangered. On the basis of these survey results, governments can set measurable targets for conservation and sustainable use. National strategies and programmes need to be developed or adapted to meet these targets.

CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE The conservation of each country's biological diversity can be achieved in various ways. "In-situ" conservation - the primary means of conservation - focuses on conserving genes, species, and ecosystems in their natural surroundings, for example by establishing protected areas, rehabilitating degraded ecosystems, and adopting legislation to protect threatened species. "Ex-situ" conservation uses zoos, botanical gardens and gene banks to conserve species.

Promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity will be of growing importance for maintaining biodiversity in the years and decades to come. Under the Convention, the "ecosystem approach to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity" is being used as a framework for action, in which all the goods and services provided by the biodiversity in ecosystems are considered. The Convention is promoting activities to ensure that everyone benefits from such goods and services in an equitable way.

REPORTING Each government that joins the Convention is to report on what it has done to implement the accord, and how effective this is in meeting the objectives of the Convention. These reports are submitted to the Conference of the Parties (COP) - the governing body that brings together all countries that have ratified the Convention. The reports can be viewed by the citizens of all nations available online at www.cbd.int.

The Convention secretariat works with national governments to help strengthen reporting and to make the reports of various countries more consistent and comparable, so that the world community can get a clearer picture of the big trends. Part of that work involves developing indicators for measuring trends in biodiversity, particularly the effects of human actions and decisions on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The national reports, particularly when seen together, are one of the key tools for tracking progress in meeting the Convention's objectives. Most of the parties have successfully submitted their national reports prepared as per the formats developed by the Secretariat.

6. INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS The Convention's success depends on the combined efforts of the world's nations. The responsibility to implement the Convention lies with the individual countries and, to a large extent, compliance will depend on informed self-interest and peer pressure from other countries and from public opinion. The Convention has created a global forum-actually a

http://www.cbd.int/�


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series of meetings-where governments, non-governmental organizations, academics, the private sector and other interested groups or individuals share ideas and compare strategies.

The Convention's ultimate authority is the Conference of the Parties (COP), consisting of all governments (and regional economic integration organizations) that have ratified the treaty. This governing body reviews progress under the Convention, identifies new priorities, and sets work plans for members. The COP can also make amendments to the Convention, create expert advisory bodies, review progress reports by member nations, and collaborate with other international organizations and agreements.

The Conference of the Parties can rely on expertise and support from several other bodies that are established by the Convention:

i. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). The SBSTTA is a committee composed of experts from member governments competent in relevant fields. It plays a key role in making recommendations to the COP on scientific and technical issues.

ii. The Clearing House Mechanism. This Internet-based network promotes technical and scientific cooperation and the exchange of information.

iii. The Secretariat. Based in Montreal, it is linked to United Nations Environment Programme. Its main functions are to organize meetings, draft documents, assist member governments in the implementation of the programme of work, coordinate with other international organizations, and collect and disseminate information. In addition, the COP establishes ad hoc committees or mechanisms as it sees fit. For example, it created a Working Group on Biosafety and a Working Group on the knowledge of indigenous and local communities.

THEMATIC PROGRAMMES AND "CROSS-CUTTING" ISSUES The Convention's members regularly share ideas on best practices and policies for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity with an ecosystem approach. They look at how to deal with biodiversity concerns during development planning, how to promote transboundary cooperation, and how to involve indigenous peoples and local communities in ecosystem management. The Conference of the Parties has launched a number of thematic programmes covering the biodiversity of inland waters, forests, marine and coastal areas, dry-lands, and agricultural lands. Cross-cutting issues are also addressed on matters such as the control of alien invasive species, strengthening the capacity of member countries in taxonomy, and the development of indicators of biodiversity loss.

FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT When the Convention was adopted, developing countries emphasized that their ability to take national actions to achieve global biodiversity benefits would depend on financial and technical assistance. Thus, bilateral and multilateral support for capacity building and for


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investing in projects and programmes is essential for enabling developing countries to meet the Convention's objectives.

Convention-related activities by developing countries are eligible for support from the financial mechanism of the Convention: the Global Environment Facility (GEF). GEF projects, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, help forge international cooperation and finance actions to address four critical threats to the global environment: biodiversity loss, climate change, depletion of the ozone layer and degradation of international waters.

THE BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL Since the domestication of the first crops and farm animals, the humans have altered their genetic makeup through selective breeding and cross-fertilization. The results have been greater agricultural productivity and improved human nutrition.

In recent years, advances in biotechnology techniques have enabled us to cross the species barrier by transferring genes from one species to another. We now have transgenic plants, such as tomatoes and strawberries that have been modified using a gene from a cold water fish to protect the plants from frost. Some varieties of potato and corn have received genes from a bacterium that enables them to produce their own insecticide, thus reducing the need to spray chemical insecticides. Other plants have been modified to tolerate herbicides sprayed to kill weeds. Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) - often known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - are becoming part of an increasing number of products, including foods and food additives, beverages, drugs, adhesives, and fuels. Agricultural and pharmaceutical LMOs have rapidly become a multi-billion-dollar global industry.

Biotechnology is being promoted as a better way to grow crops and produce medicines, but it has raised concerns about potential side effects on human health and the environment, including risks to biological diversity. In some countries, genetically altered agricultural products have been sold without much debate, while in others, there have been vocal protests against their use, particularly when they are sold without being identified as genetically modified.

In response to these concerns, governments negotiated a subsidiary agreement to the Convention to address the potential risks posed by cross-border trade and accidental releases of LMOs. Adopted in January 2000, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety allows governments to signal whether or not they are willing to accept imports of agricultural commodities that include LMOs by communicating their decision to the world community via a Biosafety Clearing House, a mechanism set up to facilitate the exchange of information on and experience with LMOs. In addition, commodities that may contain LMOs are to be clearly labeled as such when being exported.


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Stricter Advanced Informed Agreement procedures apply to seeds, live fish, and other LMOs that are to be intentionally introduced into the environment. In these cases, the exporter must provide detailed information to each importing country in advance of the first shipment, and the importer must then authorize the shipment. The aim is to ensure that recipient countries have both the opportunity and the capacity to assess risks involving the products of modern biotechnology. The Protocol entered into force on 11 September 2003, ninety days after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification.

The Royal Government of Bhutan became party to the Protocol since 11 September 2003 after the submission of the instrument for ratification on 26 August 2002. Since becoming party to the Protocol, Bhutan also formulated its regulation on biosafety and established the national biosafety clearing-house as an obligatory party to the Protocol.

SHARING THE BENEFITS OF GENETIC RESOURCES An important part of the biodiversity debate involves access to and sharing of the benefits arising out of the commercial and other utilization of genetic material, such as pharmaceutical products. Most of the world's biodiversity is found in developing countries, which consider it a resource for fueling their economic and social development. Historically, plant genetic resources were collected for commercial use outside their region of origin or as inputs in plant breeding. Foreign bio-prospectors have searched for natural substances to develop new commercial products, such as drugs. Often, the products would be sold and protected by patents or other intellectual property rights, without fair benefits to the source countries.

The treaty recognizes national sovereignty over all genetic resources, and provides that access to valuable biological resources be carried out on "mutually agreed terms" and subject to the "prior informed consent" of the country of origin. When a microorganism, plant, or animal is used for a commercial application, the country from which it came has the right to benefit. Such benefits can include cash, samples of what is collected, the participation or training of national researchers, the transfer of biotechnology equipment and know-how, and shares of any profits from the use of the resources.

Work has begun to translate this concept into reality and there are already examples of benefit-sharing arrangements. At least a dozen countries have established controls over access to their genetic resources, and an equal number of nations are developing such controls. Amongst the examples:

i. In 1995, the Philippines required bio-prospectors to get "prior informed consent" from both the government and local peoples.

ii. Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity (INBIO) signed a historic bio-prospecting agreement with a major drug company to receive funds and share in benefits from biological materials that are commercialized.

iii. Countries of the Andean Pact (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela) have adopted laws and measures to regulate access to their genetic resources. The


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bio-prospector is required to meet certain conditions, such as the submission of duplicate samples of genetic resources collected to a designated institution; including a national institution in the collection of genetic resources; sharing existing information; sharing research results with the competent national authority; assisting in the strengthening of institutional capacities; and sharing specific financial or related benefits.

Through the Convention, countries meet to develop common policies on these matters.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE The Convention also recognizes the close and traditional dependence of indigenous and local communities on biological resources and the need to ensure that these communities share in the benefits arising from the use of their traditional knowledge and practices relating to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Member governments have undertaken "to respect, preserve and maintain" such knowledge and practices, to promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the communities concerned, and to encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from their utilization.

7. WAY FORWARD Economic development is essential to meeting human needs and to eliminating the poverty that affects so many people around the world. The sustainable use of nature is essential for the long-term success of development strategies. A major challenge for the 21st century will be making the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity a compelling basis for development policies, business decisions, and consumer desires.

PROMOTING FOR THE LONG TERM The Convention has already accomplished a great deal on the road to sustainable development by transforming the international community's approach to biodiversity. This progress has been driven by the Convention's inherent strengths of near universal membership, a comprehensive and science-driven mandate, international financial support for national projects, world-class scientific and technological advice, and the political involvement of governments. It has brought together, for the first time, people with very different interests. It offers hope for the future by forging a new deal between governments, economic interests, environmentalists, indigenous peoples and local communities, and the concerned citizen.

However, many challenges still lie ahead. After a surge of interest in the wake of the Rio Summit, many observers are disappointed by the slow progress towards sustainable development during the 1990s. Attention to environmental problems was distracted by a series of economic crises, budget deficits, and local and regional conflicts. Despite the


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promise of Rio, economic growth without adequate environmental safeguards is still the rule rather than the exception.

Some of the major challenges to implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity and promoting sustainable development are:

i. Meeting the increasing demand for biological resources caused by population growth and increased consumption, while considering the long-term consequences of our actions;

ii. Increasing our capacity to document and understand biodiversity, its value, and threats to it;

iii. Building adequate expertise and experience in biodiversity planning; iv. Improving policies, legislation, guidelines, and fiscal measures for regulating the use

of biodiversity; v. Adopting incentives to promote more sustainable forms of biodiversity use;

vi. Promoting trade rules and practices that foster sustainable use of biodiversity; vii. Strengthening coordination within governments, and between governments and

stakeholders; viii. Securing adequate financial resources for conservation and sustainable use, from

both national and international sources; ix. Making better use of technology; x. Building political support for the changes necessary to ensure biodiversity

conservation and sustainable use; and xi. Improving education and public awareness about the value of biodiversity.

The Convention on Biological Diversity and its underlying concepts can be difficult to communicate to politicians and to the general public. Nearly a decade after the Convention first acknowledged the lack of information and knowledge regarding biological diversity, it remains an issue that few people understand. There is little public discussion of how to make sustainable use of biodiversity part of economic development. The greatest crunch in sustainable development decisions is the short- versus the long-term time frame. Sadly, it often still pays to exploit the environment now by harvesting as much as possible as fast as possible because economic rules do little to protect long-term interests.

Truly sustainable development requires countries to redefine their policies on land use, food, water, energy, employment, development, conservation, economics, and trade. Biodiversity protection and sustainable use requires the participation of ministries/agencies responsible for such areas as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, tourism, trade and finance.

The challenge facing governments, businesses, and citizens is to forge transition strategies leading to long-term sustainable development. It means negotiating trade-offs even as people are clamoring for more land and businesses are pressing for concessions to expand their harvests. The longer we wait, the fewer options we will have.


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INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING The transition to sustainable development requires a shift in public attitudes as to what is an acceptable use of nature. This can only happen if people have the right information, skills, and organizations for understanding and dealing with biodiversity issues. Governments and the business community need to invest in staff and training, and they need to support organizations, including scientific bodies, that can deal with and advise on biodiversity issues.

We also need a long-term process of public education to bring about changes in behavior and lifestyles, and to prepare societies for the changes needed for sustainability. Better biodiversity education would meet one of the goals set out in the Convention.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT BIODIVERSITY? While governments should play a leadership role, other sectors of society need to be actively involved. After all, it is the choices and actions of billions of individuals that will determine whether or not biodiversity is conserved and used sustainably.

In an era when economics is a dominant force in world affairs, it is more important than ever to have business willingly involved in environmental protection and the sustainable use of nature. Some companies have revenues far greater than those of entire countries, and their influence is immense. Fortunately, a growing number of companies have decided to apply the principles of sustainable development to their operations. For example, a number of forestry companies-often under intense pressure from environmental boycotts-have moved from clear-cutting to less destructive forms of timber harvesting. More and more companies have also found ways to make a profit while reducing their environmental impacts. They view sustainable development as ensuring long-term profitability and increased goodwill from their business partners, employees, and consumers. Local communities play a key role since they are the true "managers" of the ecosystems in which they live and, thus, have a major impact on them. Many projects have been successfully developed in recent years involving the participation of local communities in the sustainable management of biodiversity, often with the valuable assistance of NGOs and intergovernmental organizations.

Finally, the ultimate decision-maker for biodiversity is the individual citizen. The small choices that individuals make add up to a large impact because it is personal consumption that drives development, which in turn uses and pollutes nature. By carefully choosing the products they buy and the government policies that they support, the general public can begin to steer the world towards sustainable development. Governments, companies, and others have a responsibility to lead and inform the public, but finally it is individual choices, made billions of times a day, that count the most.

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

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PART B

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION

ON CLIMATE CHANGE


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1. INTRODUCTION The world's climate has always varied naturally but compelling evidence from around the world indicates that a new kind of climate change is now under way foreshadowing drastic impacts on people, economies and ecosystems. Levels of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere have risen steeply during the industrial era owing to human activities like fossil fuel use and deforestation, spurred on by economic and population growth. Like a blanket round the planet, greenhouse gases trap heat energy in the Earth's lower atmosphere. If levels rise too high, the resulting overall rise in air temperatures – global warming – is liable to disrupt natural patterns of climate.

In its Fourth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that the evidence that climate change is already occurring is unequivocal and is due in large part to human activity. The IPCC says the world faces an average temperature rise of around 3°C this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current pace and are allowed to double from their pre-industrial level. The impacts of this climate change, particularly temperature increases, are already being witnessed on natural and human systems around the world and are very likely to increase.

People in some areas may benefit from climate change, but many more will struggle to cope. Developing countries will suffer more than others, as their lack of resources makes them especially vulnerable to adversity or emergencies on any major scale. Yet on a per person basis, people in developing countries contribute only a small proportion of greenhouse gas emissions.

The particular needs of developing countries in adapting to climate change are of critical importance. In many key ways, the problem of climate change is interlinked with development: economic growth is essential for developing countries to improve the health, economic livelihood and quality of life of their citizens. Economic growth is also essential to increase the capacity of developing countries to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. But historically, increased economic development and the corresponding increase in energy use have also led to increased emissions of greenhouse gases. The challenge of addressing climate change is to break the link between economic development and greenhouse gas emissions. In this way, climate change is fundamentally a sustainable development issue.

WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE? Climate includes patterns of temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind and seasons. "Climate change" affects more than just a change in the weather - it refers to seasonal


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changes over a long period of time. These climate patterns play a fundamental role in shaping natural ecosystems, and the human economies and cultures that depend on them.

Because so many systems are tied to climate, a change in climate can affect many related aspects of where and how people, plants and animals live, such as food production, availability and use of water, and health risks.

For example, a change in the usual timing of rains or temperatures can affect when plants bloom and set fruit, when insects hatch or when streams are their fullest. This can affect historically synchronized pollination of crops, food for migrating birds, spawning of fish, water supplies for drinking and irrigation, forest health, and more.

Some short-term climate variation is normal, but longer-term trends now indicate a changing climate. A year or two of an extreme change in temperature or other condition doesn’t mean a climate change trend has been "erased.”

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

Climate Change and Global Warming are not exactly, but they’re closely related, and some people use the terms interchangeably. Global warming causes climates to change. "Global warming" refers to rising global temperatures, while “climate change” includes other more specific kinds of changes, too. Warmer global temperatures in the atmosphere and oceans leads to climate changes affecting rainfall patterns, storms and droughts, growing seasons, humidity, and sea level.

Also, while “global warming” is planet-wide, “climate change” can refer to changes at the global, continental, regional and local levels. Even though a warming trend is global, different areas around the world will experience different specific changes in their climates, which will have unique impacts on their local plants, animals and people. A few areas might even get cooler rather than warmer.

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS All across the world, people are taking action because climate change has serious impacts, locally and globally. For example, in 2007, scientists from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that warming oceans and melting glaciers due to global warming and climate change could cause sea levels to rise 7-23 inches by the year 2100. Worldwide, densely populated coastal communities and infrastructure that supports them would be affected (such as city buildings and homes, roads, ports and wastewater treatment plants). Some would be flooded or more vulnerable to storm damage. In flat terrain, the shoreline could move many miles inland.

Other effects are also serious. In some places, floods and/or drought could become more frequent and more severe. Even seemingly less dramatic local changes in temperature,


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precipitation and soil moisture could severely impact many things important to human life and all life around us, including:

i. natural ecosystems; ii. agriculture and food supplies;

iii. human health; iv. forestry; v. water resources and availability;

vi. energy use; and vii. transportation

Many people are concerned that we are losing time to make a difference. Climate change and its effects may be irreversible. Life could become very difficult for some populations - plant, animal and human. Species, cultures, resources and many lives could be lost.

IS CLIMATE CHANGE REALLY HAPPENING?

Yes. In February 2007, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported to the United Nations that the Earth’s climate system is undoubtedly getting warmer.

The graph below shows the global annual temperature change since 1880. Even with variation over the years, the general trend is clearly upward. Some cooler temperatures in recent years have prompted people to ask if there is now a global cooling trend, but as the graph shows, even several years of cooling do not mean a long-term warming trend is over.

The land-ocean temperature index combines data on air temperatures over land with data on sea surface temperatures. (“Mean” is the midpoint between the highest and lowest.) The black line shows the annual changes; the red line tracks 5-year periods.


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Although specific, individual events cannot be directly linked to global warming, the IPCC has noted many indications of climate change around the world:

i. Retreating mountain glaciers on all continents; ii. Thinning ice caps in the Arctic and Antarctic;

iii. Rising sea level – about 6-7 inches in the 20th century; iv. More frequent heavy precipitation events (rainstorms, floods or snowstorms) in

many areas; and v. More intense and longer droughts over wider areas, especially in the tropics and

subtropics

CAUSES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

This question has been debated a lot, because climate change can be “due to natural variability or as a result of human activity” (IPCC 2007) and because the climate system is very complex.

There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is due to human activities. Ice cores taken from deep in ancient ice of Antarctica show that carbon dioxide levels are higher now than at any time in the past 650,000 years. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means warming temperatures. In its 2007 report to the United Nations, the IPCC concluded that it is more than 90 percent likely that the accelerated warming of the past 50-60 years is due to human contributions.

These contributions include increased levels of “heat-trapping” gases (greenhouse gases) such as carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. One of the biggest ways people contribute to greenhouse gases is by burning fossil fuels. We use coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity, heat our homes, power our factories, and run our cars.

Changing land use patterns contribute, too. Trees and other plants use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. When trees are cut down for development, agriculture, and other purposes, they’re no longer available to take carbon dioxide out of the air, and actually release carbon dioxide as they decay or burn.

As the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases increase, more heat is “trapped” and global temperatures rise. This causes significant changes in the timing and length of the seasons as well as the amount and frequency of precipitation.

GREENHOUSE GASES AND THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

The greenhouse effect occurs as a result of greenhouse gases trapping the sun’s heat and keeping it close to the earth. Anyone who has parked a closed car in the sun for a few hours on a summer day has experienced something like the greenhouse effect. The “greenhouse effect” refers to how gases in the earth’s atmosphere naturally keep the earth warm - similar to how a greenhouse keeps plants warm, hence the name. The earth’s natural greenhouse


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effect keeps it about 60 degrees warmer than it would be otherwise. This enables us to live comfortably on earth.

Figure 1. The greenhouse effect

Although many “greenhouse gases” occur naturally, human activities have increased their levels and added new ones. Greenhouse gases of concern include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. Scientists say that increased levels of these gases are contributing to climate change. Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas, but human activity isn’t considered a direct cause of changes in its concentration. However, a warming atmosphere can trigger changes in water vapor levels. Some examples of activities that contribute to greenhouse gas levels:

i. Burning fossil fuels – oil, gasoline, gas and coal; ii. Industrial processes and mining;

iii. Landfills, septic and sewer systems; iv. Agricultural practices, including fertilizer and manure management; and v. Land use practices, including deforestation.

WEATHER VS CLIMATE

Weather can change from hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and season-to-season. It may rain for an hour and then become sunny and clear. Weather is what we hear about on the television news every night. It includes wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloudiness, sunshine and precipitation.

Climate is the average weather for a particular region over a long time period. Climate describes the total of all weather occurring over a long period of years in a given place. This includes average weather conditions, regular weather seasons (winter, spring, summer, and fall), and special weather events (like tornadoes and floods). Climate tells us what it's usually like in the place where you live.


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A simple way of remembering the difference is that 'climate' is what you expect (cool, wet winters) and 'weather' is what you get (a foggy morning with afternoon sunshine).

HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE DIFFERENT FROM OZONE

Climate change, caused by global warming, is a different problem than the ozone hole.

The ozone hole is a thinning of the stratosphere's ozone layer, which is roughly 9 to 31 miles above the earth's surface. The depletion of this ozone layer is due to man-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A thinner ozone layer lets more harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation reach the earth's surface. This problem is now slowly improving since countries around the world agreed to stop manufacturing and using CFCs, an international agreement called the Montreal Protocol.

Global warming, on the other hand, is the increase in the earth's average temperature due to the buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activities. Global warming is causing climate change. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol was the initial effort to curb greenhouse gas production.

2. THE CLIMATE PHENOMENA

HUMAN ACTIVITIES Carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels are used to generate energy and when forests are cut down and burned. Methane and nitrous oxide are emitted from agricultural activities, changes in land use, and other sources. Artificial chemicals called halocarbons (CFCs, HFCs, and PFCs) and other long-lived gases such as sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) are released by industrial processes. Ozone in the lower atmosphere is generated indirectly by automobile exhaust fumes and other sources.

RISING LEVELS OF GREENHOUSE GASES By absorbing infrared radiation, these gases control the way natural energy flows through the climate system. In response to humanity’s emissions, the climate has started to adjust to a thicker blanket of greenhouse gases in order to maintain the balance between energy arriving from the sun and energy escaping back into space. Observations show that global temperatures have risen by about 0.6°C over the 20th century. There is new and stronger evidence that most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE RISE This change would be much larger than any climate change experienced over at least the last 10,000 years. The projection is based on a wide range of assumptions about the main forces


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driving future emissions (such as population growth and technological change) but does not reflect any efforts to control emissions due to concerns about climate change. There are many uncertainties about the scale and impacts of climate change, particularly at the regional level. Because of the delaying effect of the oceans, surface temperatures do not respond immediately to greenhouse gas emissions, so climate change will continue for hundreds of years after atmospheric concentrations have stabilized.

IMPACT ON THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

In general, the faster the climate changes, the greater will be the risk of damage. The mean sea level is expected to rise 9 - 88 cm by the year 2100, causing flooding of low-lying areas and other damage. Other effects could include an increase in global precipitation and changes in the severity or frequency of extreme events. Climatic zones could shift pole-ward and vertically, disrupting forests, deserts, rangelands, and other unmanaged ecosystems. As a result, many will decline or fragment, and individual species could become extinct.

RISKS AND PRESSURES ON HUMAN SOCIETY

Food security is unlikely to be threatened at the global level, but some regions are likely to experience food shortages and hunger. Water resources will be affected as precipitation and evaporation patterns change around the world. Physical infrastructure will be damaged, particularly by sea-level rise and by extreme weather events. Economic activities, human settlements, and human health will experience many direct and indirect effects. The poor and disadvantaged are the most vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change.

Past and current emissions have already committed the earth to some degree of climate change in the 21st century. Adapting to these effects will require a good understanding of socio-economic and natural systems, their sensitivity to climate change, and their inherent ability to adapt. Fortunately, many strategies are available for adapting to the expected effects of climate change.

STABILIZATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES

Without emissions-control policies motivated by concerns about climate change, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are expected to rise from today’s 367 parts per million to 490 - 1,260 ppm by the year 2100. This would represent a 75 – 350 percent increase since the year 1750. Stabilizing concentrations at, for example, 450 ppm would require world-wide emissions to fall below 1990 levels within the next few decades. Given an expanding global economy and growing populations, this would require dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and fundamental changes in other economic sectors.


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THE ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION Adopted in 1992 and now boasting over 194 members, the Convention seeks to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at safe levels. It commits all countries to limit their emissions, gather relevant information, develop strategies for adapting to climate change, and cooperate on research and technology. It also requires developed countries to take measures aimed at returning their emissions to 1990 levels.

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL In 1997, the Parties to the Convention agreed by consensus that developed countries should accept a legally binding commitment to reduce their collective emissions of six greenhouse gases by at least 5 percent compared to 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012. The Protocol also establishes an emissions’ trading regime and a clean development mechanism.

LIMITING EMISSIONS Policymakers can encourage energy efficiency and other climate-friendly trends in both the supply and consumption of energy. Key consumers of energy include industries, homes, offices, vehicles, and agriculture. Efficiency can be improved in large part by providing an appropriate economic and regulatory framework for consumers and investors. This framework should promote cost-effective actions, the best current and future technologies, and “no regrets” solutions that make economic and environmental sense irrespective of climate change. Taxes, regulatory standards, tradable emissions permits, information programmes, voluntary programmes, and the phase-out of counterproductive subsidies can all play a role. Changes in practices and lifestyles, from better urban transport planning to personal habits such as turning out the lights, are also important.

In the meantime, it will be necessary to balance concerns about risks and damages with concerns about economic development. The prudent response to climate change, therefore, is to adopt a portfolio of actions aimed at controlling emissions, adapting to impacts, and encouraging scientific, technological, and socio-economic research.

3. THE GREENHOUSE GASES

THE MAIN GREENHOUSE GASES The Convention’s provisions concern all greenhouse gases not covered by the 1987 Montreal Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Protection of the Ozone Layer. The focus of the Kyoto Protocol, however, is on the following six:

i. Carbon dioxide (CO2); ii. Methane (CH4);

iii. Nitrous oxide (N2O);


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iv. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); v. Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and

vi. Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

The first three are estimated to account for 50, 18 and 6 percent, respectively, of the overall global warming effect arising from human activities. Although, these gases are naturally occurring, their emissions have increased dramatically over the past two centuries due to human activities. CO2 is produced in large quantities from the consumption of energy from burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. CH4 and N20 emissions are produced mainly from agricultural activities. The HFCs and PFCs are used as replacements for ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) currently being phased out under the Montreal Protocol. SF6 is used in some industrial processes and in electric equipment.

The relative level and impact of the six greenhouse gases is compared using their respective global warming potentials (GWP). A GWP is a measure, defined by the IPCC, of the relative effect of a substance in warming the atmosphere over a given period (100 years in the case of the Kyoto Protocol) - compared with a value of one for carbon dioxide. The IPCC Fourth Assessment report lists methane’s GWP as 25.

CARBON DIOXIDE

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a colorless, odorless non-flammable gas and is the most prominent Greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere. It is recycled through the atmosphere by the process photosynthesis, which makes human life possible. Photosynthesis is the process of green plants and other organisms transforming light energy into chemical energy. Light Energy is trapped and used to convert carbon dioxide, water, and other minerals into oxygen and energy rich organic compounds. Carbon Dioxide is emitted into the air as humans exhale, burn fossil fuels for energy, and de-forest the planet. Every year humans add over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by these processes, and it is up thirty percent since 1750.

Ice core samples have also shown a dramatic increase in carbon dioxide levels. Drilling deep into glaciers and polar ice caps and taking out samples of ice, then melting the ice and capturing the gas has shown an increase in carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 100 years. Ice core samples are essentially "drilling through time", because the deeper the ice is, the older the ice is.

In 1996, carbon dioxide world emissions increased by 2.8 percent. The U.S. reported a 3.3 percent increase in CO2 concentrations. The U.S. continues to emit more than any other country in the world, accounting for 25 percent of all emissions. The European Union had an


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increase of 2.2 percent, much larger than a small increase of 1.1 percent in 1995. Eastern Europe had a decreasing rate of -2.4 percent. China's increase in 1996 was 4.7 percent.

Fossil Fuels were created chiefly by the decay of plants from millions of years ago. We use coal, oil and natural gas to generate electricity, heat our homes, power our factories and run our cars. These fossil fuels contain carbon, and when they are burned, they combine with oxygen, forming carbon dioxide. The two atoms of oxygen add to the total weight. The World Energy Council reported that global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels rose 12 percent between 1990 and 1995. The increase from developing countries was three times that from developed countries. Middle East carbon dioxide emissions from burning of fossil fuels increased 35 percent, Africa increased 12 percent, and Eastern Europe increased rates by 75 percent from 1990-1995.

Figure 2. Increase of carbon dioxide in the air over the past few centuries

Deforestation is another main producer of carbon dioxide. The causes of deforestation are logging for lumber, pulpwood, and fuel wood. Also contributing to deforestation are clearing new land for farming and pastures used for animals such as cows. Forests and wooded areas are natural carbon sinks. This means that as trees absorb carbon dioxide, and release oxygen, carbon is being put into trees. This process occurs naturally by photosynthesis, which occurs less and less as we cut and burn down trees. As the abundance of trees declines, less carbon dioxide can be recycled. As we burn them down, carbon is released into the air and the carbon bonds with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, adding to the greenhouse effect.


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Figure 3. Global Carbon Cycle (Billion Metric Tons Carbon)

METHANE

Methane is a colorless, odorless, flammable gas. It is formed when plants decay and where there is very little air. It is often called swamp gas because it is abundant around water and swamps. Bacteria that breakdown organic matter in wetlands and bacteria that are found in cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, termites, and camels produce methane naturally. Since 1750, methane has doubled, and could double again by 2050. Each year we add 350-500 million tons of methane to the air by raising livestock, coal mining, drilling for oil and natural gas, rice cultivation, and garbage sitting in landfills. It stays in the atmosphere for only 10 years, but traps 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide.

Figure 4. Methane is on the rise since 1750


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Rice cultivation has developed into a large business; farmland has doubled in the past 45 years. It feeds one-third of the World's population. It grows mostly in flooded fields, where bacteria in water-logged soil release methane.

Livestock such as cows, sheep, goats, camels, buffaloes, and termites release methane as well. Bacteria in the gut of the animal break down food and convert some of it to methane. When these animals belch, methane is released. In one day, a cow can emit ½ pound of methane into the air. Imagine 1.3 billion cattle each burping methane several times per minute!

NITROUS OXIDE

Nitrous oxide is another colorless greenhouse gas, however, it has a sweet odor. It is primarily used as an anesthetic because it deadens pain and for this characteristic is called “laughing gas”. This gas is released naturally from oceans and by bacteria in soils. Levels of nitrous oxide gas have risen by more than 15 percent since 1750. Each year we add 7-13 million tons into the atmosphere by using nitrogen based fertilizers, disposing of human and animal waste in sewage treatment plants, automobile exhaust, and other sources not yet identified. It is important to reduce emissions because the nitrous oxide we release today will still be trapped in the atmosphere 100 years from now.

Figure 5. Nitrous Oxide has been on the rise since 1750

Nitrogen based fertilizer use has doubled in the past 15 years. These fertilizers provide nutrients for crops; however, when they breakdown in the soil, nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere. In automobiles, nitrous oxide is released at a much lower rate than carbon dioxide, because there is more carbon in gasoline than nitrogen


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FLUOROCARBONS

Fluorocarbon is a general term for any group of synthetic organic compounds that contain fluorine and carbon. Many of these compounds, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), can be easily converted from gas to liquid or liquid to gas. Because of these properties, CFCs can be used in aerosol cans, refrigerators, and air conditioners. Studies in the 1970s showed that when CFCs are emitted into the atmosphere, they break down molecules in the Earth's ozone layer. Since then, the use of CFCs has significantly decreased and they are banned from production in the many countries. The substitutes for CFCs are hydrofluorocarbons (HFC's). HFCs do not harm or breakdown the ozone molecule, but they do trap heat in the atmosphere, making it a greenhouse gas, aiding in global warming. HFCs are used in air conditioners and refrigerators.

Table 1. Types of greenhouse gases & their sources

Greenhouse Gas Chemical Symbol Sources

Controlled

Carbon Dioxide CO2 Occurs naturally. Other sources are landfills, coal mines, paddy fields, natural gas systems, and livestock.

Nitrous Oxide N2O Generated by burning fossil fuels, in the manufacture of fertilizer and by cultivation of soils.

Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)

Various compounds Human-made chemicals. A by-product of aluminum smelting. Also used as a replacement for CFCs in manufacturing semiconductors.

HFC’s Various compounds Human-made chemical. Used largely in refrigeration and insulating foam.

Sulphur Hexafluoride

SF6 Used largely in heavy industry to insulate high voltage equipment and to assist in the manufacture of cable cooling systems.

Uncontrolled

Water Vapour H2O (gas) Naturally occurring. Rising global temperatures may act to increase water vapour in the atmosphere.

Ozone O3 Naturally occurring. Also created by reactions involving nitrogen oxide gases resulting from motor vehicles and power plants. Ozone at ground level and in the lower atmosphere is linked with smog and health problems. However, in the upper atmosphere, it helps to protect the earth from ultra-violet radiation and chemicals which tend to destroy ozone in the upper atmosphere are regulated under the Montreal Protocol.


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THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT The earth’s climate is driven by a continuous flow of energy from the sun. This energy arrives mainly in the form of visible light. About 30 percent is immediately scattered back into space, but most of the remaining 70 percent passes down through the atmosphere to warm the earth’s surface.

The earth must send this energy back out into space in the form of infrared radiation. Being much cooler than the sun, the earth does not emit energy as visible light. Instead, it emits infrared, or thermal radiation. This is the heat thrown off by an electric fire or grill before the bars begin to glow red.

Figure 6. Process of global warming and how greenhouse gases create the "greenhouse effect"

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere block infrared radiation from escaping directly from the surface to space. Infrared radiation cannot pass straight through the air like visible light. Instead, most departing energy is carried away from the surface by air currents, eventually escaping to space from altitudes above the thickest layers of the greenhouse gas blanket.

The main greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons and other industrial gases. Apart from the industrial gases, all of these gases occur naturally. Together, they make up to less than 1 percent of the atmosphere. This is enough to produce a “natural greenhouse effect” that keeps the planet some 30oC warmer than it would otherwise be - essential for life as we know it.


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Levels of all key greenhouse gases (with the possible exception of water vapor) are rising as a direct result of human activity. Emissions of carbon dioxide (mainly from burning coal, oil, and natural gas), methane and nitrous oxide (due mainly to agriculture and changes in land use), ozone (generated by automobile exhaust fumes and other sources) and long-lived industrial gases such as CFCs, HFCs, and PFCs are changing how the atmosphere absorbs energy. Water vapor levels may also be rising because of a “positive feedback”. This is all happening at an unprecedented speed. The result is known as the “enhanced greenhouse effect”.

The climate system must adjust to rising greenhouse gas levels to keep the global “energy budget” in balance. In the long term, the earth must get rid of energy at the same rate at which it receives energy from the sun. Since a thicker blanket of greenhouse gases helps to reduce energy loss to space, the climate must change somehow to restore the balance between incoming and outgoing energy.

This adjustment will include a “global warming” of the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere. Warming up is the simplest way for the climate to get rid of the extra energy. But even a small rise in temperature will be accompanied by many other changes: in cloud cover and wind patterns, for example. Some of these changes may act to enhance the warming (positive feedbacks), others to counteract it (negative feedbacks).

Meanwhile, man-made aerosols have an overall cooling effect. Sulphur emissions from coal and oil-fired power stations and the burning of organic material produce microscopic particles that can reflect sunlight back out into space and also affect clouds. The resultant cooling partly counteracts greenhouse warming. These aerosols, however, remain in the atmosphere for a relatively short time compared to the long-lived greenhouse gases, so their cooling effect is localized. They also cause acid rain and poor air quality, problems that need to be addressed. This means we should not rely indefinitely on the cooling effect of aerosols.

Climate models estimate that the global average temperature will rise by about 1.4 - 5.8oC (2.5 - 10.4°F) by the year 2100. This projection uses 1990 as a baseline and assumes that no policies are adopted for minimizing climate change. It also takes into account climate feedbacks and the effects of aerosols as they are presently understood.

Past emissions have already committed us to some climate change. The climate does not respond immediately to emissions. It will therefore continue to change for hundreds of years even if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and atmospheric levels stop rising. Some important impacts of climate change, such as a predicted rise in sea level, will take even longer to be fully realized.

There is new and stronger evidence that climate change has already begun. The climate varies naturally, making it difficult to identify the effects of rising greenhouse gases. However, an increasing body of observation now presents a collective picture of a warming world. For example, the pattern of temperature trends over the past few decades resembles the pattern of greenhouse warming predicted by models; these trends are unlikely to be due


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entirely known sources of natural variability. Many uncertainties remain, however, such as how changes in cloud cover will influence future climate.

4. HOW WILL THE CLIMATE CHANGE? Current climate models predict a global warming of about 1.4 - 5.8°C between 1990 and 2100. These projections are based on a wide range of assumptions about the main forces driving future emissions (such as population growth and technological change) but do not assume any climate change policies for reducing emissions. Even a 1.4 degree centigrade rise would be larger than any century-timescale trend for the past 10,000 years. These projections take into account the effects of aerosols and the delaying effect of the oceans. Oceanic inertia means that the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere would continue to warm for hundreds of years even if greenhouse gas concentrations stopped rising in 2100.

The average sea level is predicted to rise by 9 to 88 cm by 2100. This would be caused mainly by the thermal expansion of the upper layers of the ocean as they warm, with some contribution from melting glaciers. The uncertainty range is large, and changing ocean currents, local land movement and other factors will cause local and regional sea levels to rise much more or much less than the global average. Slightly faster melting of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets is likely to be counteracted by increased snowfall in both regions. As the warming penetrates deeper into the oceans and ice continues to melt, the sea level will continue rising long after surface temperatures have leveled off.

Inland regions are projected to warm faster than oceans and coastal zones. The reason is simply the ocean delay, which prevents the sea surface from warming as fast as the land. The size of this delay depends on how deep any warming penetrates into the oceans. Over most of the oceans, the uppermost few hundred meters do not mix with the water beneath them. These upper layers will warm within just a few years, while the deep ocean stays cold. Water mixes down into the ocean depths in only a few very cold regions, such as the Atlantic south of Greenland and the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. In these regions, warming will be delayed because much more water needs to be warmed up to get the same temperature change at the surface.

Regional and seasonal warming predictions are much more uncertain. Although most areas are expected to warm, some will warm much more than others. The largest warming is predicted for cold northern regions in winter. The reason is that snow and ice reflect sunlight, so less snow means more heat is absorbed from the sun, which enhances any warming: a strong positive feedback effect. By the year 2100, winter temperatures in northern Canada, Greenland and northern Asia are predicted to rise by 40 percent more than the global average.

Global precipitation is predicted to increase, but at the local level trends are much less certain. By the second half of the 21st century, it is likely that wintertime precipitation in the northern mid- to high latitudes and in Antarctica will rise. For the tropics, models suggest


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that some land areas will see more precipitation, and others less. Australia, Central American and southern Africa show consistent decreases in winter rainfall.

More rain and snow will mean wetter soil conditions in high-latitude winters, but higher temperatures may mean drier soils in summer. Local changes in soil moisture are clearly important for agriculture, but models still find it difficult to simulate them. Even the sign of the global change in summertime soil moisture - whether there will be an increase or a decrease - is uncertain.

The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are likely to change. With increasing global temperatures the world is likely to experience more hot days and heat waves and fewer frost days and cold spells. Climate models also consistently show extreme precipitation events becoming more frequent over many areas and the risk of drought becoming greater over continental areas in summer. There is also some evidence to show that hurricanes could be more intense (with stronger winds and more rainfall) in some areas. There is little agreement amongst models concerning changes in mid-latitude storms. There are also other phenomena, such as thunderstorms and tornadoes, where knowledge is currently inadequate for making projections.

Rapid and unexpected climate transitions cannot be ruled out. The most dramatic change, the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which would lead to a catastrophic rise in sea level, is now considered unlikely during the 21st century. There is evidence that changes in ocean circulation having a significant impact on regional climate (such as a weakening of the Gulf Stream that warms Europe) can take place in only a few decades, but it is unknown whether or not greenhouse warming could trigger any such change. Climate models that do show a weakening in the Gulf Stream still project warming over Europe.

5. IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY Global agriculture will face many challenges over the coming decades. Degrading soils and water resources will place enormous strains on achieving food security for growing populations. These conditions may be worsened by climate change. While a global warming of less than 2.5°C could have no significant effect on overall food production, a warming of more than 2.5°C could reduce global food supplies and contribute to higher food prices.

Some agricultural regions will be threatened by climate change, while others may benefit. The impact on crop yields and productivity will vary considerably. Added heat stress, shifting monsoons, and drier soils may reduce yields by as much as a third in the tropics and subtropics, where crops are already near their maximum heat tolerance. Mid-continental areas such as the US grain belt, vast sections of mid-latitude Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Australia are all expected to experience drier and hotter conditions. Meanwhile, longer growing seasons and increased rains may boost yields in many temperate regions;


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records show that the season has already lengthened in the UK, Scandinavia, Europe and North America.

Higher temperatures will influence production patterns. Plant growth and health may benefit from fewer freezes and chills, but some crops may be damaged by higher temperatures, particularly if combined with water shortages. Certain weeds may expand their range into higher-latitude habitats. There is also some evidence that the pole-ward expansion of insects and plant diseases will add to the risk of crop losses.

Soil moisture will be affected by changing precipitation patterns. Based on a global warming of 1.4 - 5.8°C over the next 100 years, climate models project that both evaporation and precipitation will increase, as will the frequency of intense rainfalls. While some regions may become wetter, in others the net effect of an intensified hydrological cycle will be a loss of soil moisture and increased erosion. Some regions that are already drought-prone may suffer longer and more severe dry spells. The models also project seasonal shifts in precipitation patterns: soil moisture will decline in some mid-latitude continental regions during the summer, while rain and snow will probably increase at high latitudes during the winter.

More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could boost productivity. In principle, higher levels of CO2 should stimulate photosynthesis in certain plants. This is particularly true for so-called C3 plants because increased carbon dioxide tends to suppress their photo-respiration. C3 plants make up the majority of species globally, especially in cooler and wetter habitats, and include most crop species, such as wheat, rice, barley, cassava and potato. Experiments based on a 50 percent increase of current CO2 concentrations have confirmed that “CO2

fertilization” can increase mean yields of C3 crops by 15 percent under optimal conditions. C4 plants would also use water more efficiently, but the effects on yields would be smaller in the absence of water shortages. C4 plants include such tropical crops as maize, sugarcane, sorghum and millet, which are important for the food security of many developing countries, as well as pasture and forage grasses. These positive effects could be reduced, however, by accompanying changes in temperature, precipitation, pests, and the availability of nutrients.

The productivity of rangelands and pastures would also be affected. For example, livestock would become costlier if agricultural disruption leads to higher grain prices. In general, it seems that intensively managed livestock systems will more easily adapt to climate change than will crop systems. This may not be the case for pastoral systems, however, where communities tend to adopt new methods and technologies more slowly and where livestock depend more fully on the productivity and quality of the rangelands, which may become degraded.

The global yield from marine fisheries should remain unchanged by global warming. The principal effects will be felt at the national and local levels as the mix of species changes and people respond by relocating fisheries. These possible local effects could threaten the food security of countries that are highly dependent on fish. In general, some of the positive effects of climate change could include longer growing seasons, lower natural winter


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mortality, and faster growth rates at higher latitudes. The negative ones could include upsets in established reproductive patterns, migration routes, and ecosystem relationships.

Food security risks are primarily local and national. Studies suggest that global agricultural production could be maintained relative to the expected baseline levels over the next 100 years with moderate climate change (below a 2°C warming). However, regional effects would vary widely, and some countries may experience reduced output even if they take measures to adapt. This conclusion takes into account the beneficial effects of CO2

fertilization but not other possible effects of climate change, including changes in agricultural pests and soils.

The most vulnerable people are the landless, poor, and isolated. Poor terms of trade, weak infrastructure, lack of access to technology and information, and armed conflict will make it more difficult for these people to cope with the agricultural consequences of climate change. Many of the world’s poorest areas, dependent on isolated agricultural systems in semi-arid and arid regions, face the greatest risk. Many of these at-risk populations live in sub-Saharan Africa, South, East and Southeast Asia, tropical areas of Latin America, and some Pacific island nations.

Effective policies can help to improve food security. The negative effects of climate change can be limited by changes in crops and crop varieties, improved water-management and irrigation systems, adapted planting schedules and tillage practices, and better watershed management and land-use planning. In addition to addressing the physiological response of plants and animals, policies can seek to improve how production and distribution systems cope with fluctuations in yields.

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS Biological diversity - the source of enormous environmental, economic, and cultural value will be threatened by rapid climate change. The composition and geographic distribution of ecosystems will change as individual species respond to new conditions created by climate change. At the same time, habitats may degrade and fragment in response to other human pressures. Species that cannot adapt quickly enough may become extinct - an irreversible loss.

Species and ecosystems have already started responding to global warming. Scientists have observed climate-induced changes in at least 420 physical processes and biological species or communities. Changes include migratory birds arriving earlier in the spring and leaving later in the autumn, earlier springtime reproduction for many birds and amphibians, and the northward movement of cold-sensitive butterflies, beetles, and dragonflies.

Forests adapt slowly to changing conditions. Observations, experiments, and models demonstrate that a sustained increase of just 1°C in the global average temperature would affect the functioning and composition of forests. The composition of species in existing forests will change, while new combinations of species, and hence new ecosystems, may be


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established. Other stresses caused by warming will include more pests, pathogens, and fires. Because higher latitudes are expected to warm more than equatorial ones, boreal forests will be more affected than temperate and tropical forests.

Forests play an important role in the climate system. They are a major reservoir of carbon, containing some 80 percent of all the carbon stored in land vegetation, and about 40 percent of the carbon residing in soils. Large quantities of carbon may be emitted into the atmosphere during transitions from one forest type to another if mortality releases carbon faster than regeneration and growth absorbs it. Forests also directly affect climate on the local, regional, and continental scales by influencing ground temperature, evapo-transpiration, surface roughness, albedo (or reflectivity), cloud formation, and precipitation.

Deserts and arid and semi-arid ecosystems may become more extreme. With few exceptions, deserts are projected to become hotter but not significantly wetter. Higher temperatures could threaten organisms that now exist near their heat-tolerance limits.

Rangelands may experience altered growing seasons. Grasslands support approximately 50 percent of the world’s livestock and are also grazed by wildlife. Shifts in temperatures and precipitation may reshape the boundaries between grasslands, shrub lands, forests, and other ecosystems. In tropical regions such changes in the evapo-transpiration cycle could strongly affect productivity and the mix of species.

Mountain regions are already under considerable stress from human activities. The projected declines in mountain glaciers, permafrost, and snow cover will further affect soil stability and hydrological systems (most major river systems start in the mountains). As species and ecosystems are forced to migrate uphill, those limited to mountain tops may have nowhere to go and become extinct; observations show that some plant species are moving up in the European Alps by one to four meters per decade and that some mountaintop species have already disappeared. Agriculture, tourism, hydropower, logging, and other economic activities will also be affected. The food and fuel resources of indigenous populations in many developing countries may be disrupted.

The cryosphere will continue to shrink. Representing nearly 80 percent of all freshwater, the cryosphere encompasses all of the earth’s snow, ice, and permafrost. Permafrost is thawing worldwide - even around Siberia’s Lake Baikal, the coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere - destabilizing infrastructure and releasing additional carbon and methane into the atmosphere. Mountains glaciers are declining: almost two thirds of Himalayan glaciers have retreated in the past decade, and Andean glaciers have retreated dramatically or disappeared. This will affect nearby ecosystems and communities as well as seasonal river flows and water supplies, which in turn has implications for hydropower and agriculture. The landscapes of many high mountain ranges and Polar Regions will change dramatically. Reduced sea-ice could lengthen the navigation season for certain rivers and coastal areas. Arctic sea ice has thinned by 40 percent in the past three decades, and its extent has shrunk by about 10-15 percent. Despite these many striking effects, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are not expected to change much over the next 50-100 years.


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Non-tidal wetlands will also be reduced. Open-water and waterlogged areas provide refuge and breeding grounds for many species. They also help to improve water quality and control floods and droughts. Studies from several countries suggest that a warmer climate will contribute to the decline of wetlands through higher evaporation. By altering their hydrological regimes, climate change will influence the biological, biogeochemical, and hydrological functions of these ecosystems, as well as their geographical distribution.

Human actions can help natural ecosystems adapt to climate change. Creating natural migration corridors and assisting particular species to migrate could benefit forest ecosystems. Reforestation and the “integrated management” of fires, pests, and diseases can also contribute. Rangelands could be supported through the active selection of plant species, controls on animal stocking, and new grazing strategies. Wetlands can be restored and even created. Desertified lands may adapt better if drought-tolerant species and better soil conservation practices are encouraged.

WATER RESOURCES Changing precipitation patterns are already affecting water supplies. Increasingly heavy rain and snow are falling on the mid- and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, while rains have decreased in the tropics and subtropics in both hemispheres. In large parts of Eastern Europe, western Russia, central Canada and California, peak stream flows have shifted from spring to winter as more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, therefore reaching the rivers more rapidly. Meanwhile, in Africa’s large basins of the Niger, Lake Chad and Senegal, total available water has decreased by 40 – 60 percent.

Climate change will lead to more precipitation - but also to more evaporation. In general, this acceleration of the hydrological cycle will result in a wetter world. The question is, how much of this wetness will end up where it is needed?

Precipitation will probably increase in some areas and decline in others. Making regional predictions is complicated by the extreme complexity of the hydrological cycle: a change in precipitation may affect surface wetness, reflectivity, and vegetation, which then affect evapo-transpiration and cloud formation, which in turn affect precipitation. In addition, the hydrological system is responding not only to changes in climate and precipitation but also to human activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and the over-use of water supplies.

Changing precipitation patterns will affect how much water can be captured. Many climate models suggest that downpours will in general become more intense. This would increase runoff and floods while reducing the ability of water to infiltrate the soil. Changes in seasonal patterns may affect the regional distribution of both ground and surface water supplies. At the local level, the vegetation and physical properties of the catchment area will further influence how much water is retained.

The drier the climate, the more sensitive is the local hydrology. In dry climates, relatively small changes in temperature and precipitation could cause relatively large changes in


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runoff. Arid and semi-arid regions will therefore be particularly sensitive to reduced rainfall and to increased evaporation and plant transpiration. Many climate models project declining mean precipitation in the already-dry regions of central Asia, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and Australia.

High-latitude regions may see more runoff due to greater precipitation. Runoff would also be affected by a reduction in snowfall, deep snow, and glacier ice, particularly in the spring and summertime when it is traditionally used for hydroelectricity and agriculture. All climate change models show increased wintertime soil moisture in the high northern latitudes. Most models produce less soil moisture in summer in northern mid latitudes, including some important grain producing areas.

The effects on the tropics are harder to predict. Different climate models produce different results for the future intensity and distribution of tropical rainfall. South Asia, however, is expected to see increased precipitation from June through August whereas Central America is expected to see less rain during these months.

New patterns of runoff and evaporation will affect natural ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems will respond to altered flood regimes and water levels. Changes in water temperatures and in the thermal structure of fresh waters could affect the survival and growth of certain organisms, and the diversity and productivity of ecosystems. Changes in runoff, groundwater flows, and precipitation directly over lakes and streams would affect nutrients and dissolved oxygen, and therefore the quality and clarity of the water.

Reservoirs and wells would be also affected. Surface water storage could decline as extreme rainfalls and landslides encourage siltation and thus reduced reservoir capacity. An increase in extreme rainfalls and flooding could also lead to more water being lost as run-off. In the longer term this could also affect aquifers. Water quality may also respond to changes in the amount and timing of precipitation.

Rising seas could invade coastal freshwater supplies. Coastal freshwater aquifers may be polluted by saline intrusion as salty groundwater rises. The movement of the saltwater-front up estuaries would affect upriver freshwater-pumping plants, brackish-water fisheries, and agriculture.

Reduced water supplies would place additional stress on people, agriculture, and the environment. Already, some 1.7 billion people - a third of the world population - live in water-stressed countries, a figure expected to rise to 5 billion by 2025. Climate change will exacerbate the stresses caused by pollution and by growing populations and economies. The most vulnerable regions are arid and semi-arid areas, some low-lying coasts, deltas, and small islands.

Tensions could rise due to the additional pressures. The links among climate change, water availability, food production, population growth, and economic growth are many and complex. But climate change is likely to add to economic and political tensions, particularly in regions that already have scarce water resources. A number of important water systems


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are shared by two or more nations, and in several cases there have already been international conflicts.

Improved water resource management can help to reduce vulnerabilities. New supplies must be developed and existing supplies used more efficiently. Long-term strategies for supply and demand management could include: regulations and technologies for directly controlling land and water use, incentives and taxes for indirectly affecting behavior, the construction of new reservoirs and pipelines to boost supplies, improvements in water-management operations and institutions, and the encouragement of local or traditional solutions. Other adaptation measures can include protecting waterside vegetation, restoring river channels to their natural form, and reducing water pollution.

HUMAN HEALTH Climate change is expected to have wide-ranging consequences for human health. Public health depends on sufficient food, safe drinking water, secure shelter, good social conditions, and a suitable environmental and social setting for controlling infectious diseases. All of these factors can be affected by climate.

Heat waves are linked to cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases. Illness and deaths from these causes could be expected to increase, especially for the elderly and the urban poor. While the biggest rise in heat stress is expected in mid- and high latitude cities, milder winters in temperate climates would probably reduce cold-related deaths in some countries. A greater frequency of warm or hot weather, thermal inversions (a meteorological phenomenon that can delay the dispersal of pollutants), and wildfires may also worsen air quality in many cities.

By reducing fresh water supplies, climate change may affect water resources and sanitation. This in turn could reduce the water available for drinking and washing. It could also lower the efficiency of local sewer systems, leading to higher concentrations of bacteria and other micro-organisms in raw water supplies. Water scarcity may force people to use poorer quality sources of fresh water, such as rivers, which are often contaminated. All of these factors could result in an increased incidence of diseases related to diarrhea.

Any increase in the frequency or intensity of extreme weather events would pose a threat. Heat waves, flooding, storms, and drought can cause deaths and injuries, famine, the displacement of populations, disease outbreaks, and psychological disorders. While scientists are uncertain just how climate change will affect storm frequency, they do project that certain regions will experience increased flooding or drought. In addition, coastal flooding is expected to worsen due to sea-level rise unless sea defenses are upgraded.

Food security may be undermined in vulnerable regions. Local declines in food production would lead to more malnutrition and hunger, with long-term health consequences, particularly for children.


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Higher temperatures may alter the geographical distribution of species that transmit disease. In a warmer world, mosquitoes, ticks, and rodents could expand their range to higher latitudes and higher altitudes. Climate change impacts models suggest that the largest changes in the potential for malaria transmission will occur at the fringes - in terms of both latitude and altitude - of the current malaria risk areas; generally, people in these border areas will not have developed immunity to the disease. The seasonal transmission and distribution of many other diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes (dengue, yellow fever) and by ticks (Lyme disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, tick-borne encephalitis) may also be affected by climate change. In addition, climate-induced changes in the formation and persistence of pollens, spores, and certain pollutants could promote more asthma, allergic disorders, and cardio-respiratory diseases.

Warmer seas could also influence the spread of disease. Studies using remote sensing have shown a correlation between cholera cases and sea surface temperature in the Bay of Bengal. There is also evidence of an association between El Niño (which warms the waters of the south-western Pacific) and epidemics of malaria and dengue. Enhanced production of aquatic pathogens and bio-toxins may jeopardize the safety of seafood. Warmer waters would also increase the occurrence of toxic algal blooms.

People will have to adapt or intervene to minimize these enhanced health risks. Many effective measures are available. The most important, urgent, and cost-effective is to rebuild the public health infrastructure in countries where it has deteriorated in recent years. Many diseases and public health problems that may be exacerbated by climate change can be effectively prevented with adequate financial and human resources. Adaptation strategies can include infectious disease surveillance, sanitation programmes, disaster preparedness, improved water and pollution control, public education directed at personal behavior, training of researchers and health professionals, and the introduction of protective technologies such as housing improvements, air conditioning, water purification, and vaccination.

Assessing the potential health effects of climate change involves many uncertainties. Researchers must consider not only future scenarios of climate change but many non-climate factors as well. For example, trends in socio-economic conditions can have a major affect on a population’s vulnerability. Clearly, poorer communities will be more vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change than rich ones.

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRY Climate change will affect human settlements. Settlements that depend heavily on commercial fishing, subsistence agriculture and other natural resources are particularly vulnerable. Also at risk are low-lying areas and deltas, large coastal cities, squatter camps located in flood plains and on steep hillsides, settlements in forested areas where seasonal wildfires may increase, and settlements stressed by population growth, poverty and environmental degradation. In all cases, the poorest people will be the most affected. Though climate change will often have less impact on this sector than will economic development,


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technological change, and other social and environmental forces, it is likely to exacerbate the total stress on settlements.

Infrastructure will become more vulnerable to flooding and landslides. More intense and frequent precipitation events are expected to intensify urban flooding. The flood risks may also increase for settlements along rivers and within flood plains. The risk of more landslides is greatest for hillside areas.

Tropical cyclones are expected to become more destructive in some areas. Also known as hurricanes and typhoons, these massive storm systems combine the effects of heavy rainfall, high winds, and storm surge and sea-level rise. The risk is that warmer oceans will increase the frequency and intensity of such storms.

Warming, dryness and flooding could undermine water supplies. Settlements in regions that are already water-deficient - including much of North Africa, the Middle East, Southwest Asia, portions of western North America and some Pacific islands - can be expected to face still-higher demands for water as the climate warms. There are no obvious low-cost ways in which to obtain increased freshwater supplies in many of these regions. In some regions, repeated flooding could create problems with water quality.

The danger of fire could increase. However, there are many uncertainties about how hotter and drier weather will combine with other factors to affect the risk of fire.

Agriculture and fisheries are sensitive to climate change. In some cases agricultural yields may be reduced by up to several tens of percent as a result of hotter weather, greater evaporation, and lower precipitation, particularly in mid-continental growing regions. However, other regions may benefit and could experience higher yields. Fisheries will be affected because changes in ocean conditions caused by warming can substantially impact the locations and types of target species.

Heat waves would become a greater threat to human health and productivity. Heat waves have their most severe effects on the old, the chronically ill and the very young. The likely effects on the overall death rate are less clear. Stronger urban heat-island effects would further exacerbate the oppressive effects of heat waves by increasing the temperatures experienced in the summer by up to several degrees Centigrade. Meanwhile, as the weather becomes very warm, the economic productivity of unprotected and outdoor populations declines.

Sea-level rise will affect coastal infrastructure and resource-based industries. Many coastlines are highly developed and contain human settlements, industry, ports, and other infrastructure. Many of the most vulnerable regions include some small island nations, low-lying deltas, developing countries and densely populated coasts that currently lack extensive sea and coastal defense systems. Several industries such as tourism and recreation - the principle earners for many island economies - are particularly dependent on coastal resources.


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Energy demand is sensitive to climate change. Heating requirements at mid- and high latitudes and altitudes would decline but cooling requirements would increase. The net overall impact of these changes on energy use would depend on local circumstances. For example, if temperature increases take place primarily at night and during the winter months, the demand for heating would be less, as would the demand for cooling and for irrigation. Meanwhile, energy supply systems will be vulnerable to changes resulting from global warming. For example, increased water deficits, less winter snowfall to fill summer streams, and more demand for freshwater supplies would affect hydropower production.

Infrastructure in permafrost regions is vulnerable to warming. Permafrost melting is a threat to infrastructure in these regions because it would increase landslides and reduce the stability of foundations for structures. Other impacts would include greater damage from freeze-thaw cycles. In addition, melting permafrost is thought to be a source of methane and carbon dioxide emissions.

Local capacity is critical to successful adaptation. The capacity of local communities to adapt tends to be strongly correlated with wealth, human capital and institutional strength. The most effective sustainable solutions are those that are strongly supported - and often developed - locally. The role of higher-level bodies is then to provide technical assistance and institutional support. A clear message for policy-makers is to always anticipate the likely future impacts of climate change when they take decisions regarding human settlements and make investments in infrastructure.

CLIMATE DISASTERS AND EXTREME EVENTS The climate varies naturally on all time-scales. Variations can be caused by external forces such as volcanic eruptions or changes in the sun’s energy output. They can also result from the internal interactions of the climate system’s various components - the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, ice cover, and land surface. These internal interactions can cause fairly regular fluctuations, such as the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, or apparently random changes in climate.

Natural variability often leads to climate extremes. On time-scales of days, months, and years, weather and climate variability can produce heat waves, frosts, floods, droughts, avalanches, and severe storms. Such extremes represent a significant departure from the average state of the climate system, irrespective of their actual impact on life or the earth’s ecology. Record-breaking extremes occur from time to time in every region of the world.

Growing human vulnerability is transforming more and more extreme events into climatic disasters. A climate extreme is called a climatic disaster when it has a major adverse impact on human welfare. In some parts of the world, climatic disasters occur so frequently that they may be considered part of the norm. Vulnerability to disasters is increasing as growing numbers of people are forced to live in exposed and marginal areas. Elsewhere, greater vulnerability is being caused by the development of more high-value property in high-risk zones.


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Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of heat waves. More hot weather will cause more deaths and illnesses among the elderly and urban poor. Together with increased summer drying, it will lead to greater heat stress for livestock and wildlife, more damage to crops, more forest fires, and more pressure on water supplies. Other likely impacts are a shift in tourist destinations and a boost in demand for energy. Meanwhile, fewer cold snaps should reduce cold-related risks to humans and agriculture and reduce the energy demand for heating while extending the range and activity of some pests and diseases.

More intense rainfall events may lead to greater flooding in some regions. Global warming is expected to accelerate the hydrological cycle and thus raise the percentage of precipitation that falls in violent bursts. In addition to floods, this could contribute to more landslides, avalanches, and soil erosion. Greater flood runoff could decrease the amount of surface water captured for irrigation and other purposes, although it could help to recharge some floodplain aquifers.

The intensity of tropical cyclones is likely to worsen over some areas. The risks include direct threats to human life, epidemics and other health risks, damage to infrastructure and buildings, coastal erosion, and destruction of ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves.

Major climate patterns could shift. Although centered in the Southern Pacific, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon affects the weather and climate in much of the tropics. Climate change could intensify the droughts and floods that are associated with El Niño events in these regions. Similarly, new patterns could emerge for the Asian summer monsoon, which affects large areas of temperate and tropical Asia. Likely impacts would include a greater annual variability in the monsoon’s precipitation levels, leading to more intense floods and droughts.

It is difficult to predict local and regional trends for extreme events. For example, a warming of the tropical oceans would by itself be expected to increase the frequency, and perhaps the severity, of tropical cyclones. But other factors, such as changing winds or storm tracks, might offset this effect at the local level. Another example: because climate models are poor at representing small-scale events, they tend to disagree on whether or not the intensity of mid-latitude storms will change.

While extreme events are inherently abrupt and random, the risks they pose can be reduced. Improved preparedness planning is urgently needed in many parts of the world, with or without climate change. Better information, stronger institutions, and new technologies can minimize human and material losses. For example, new buildings can be designed and located in ways that minimize damage from floods and tropical cyclones, while sophisticated irrigation techniques can protect farmers and their crops from droughts.

Climate change also has the potential to cause large-scale singular events. Unlike most extreme events, singular events would have broad regional or global implications and be essentially irreversible. Examples of such calamities would include a significant slowing of


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the ocean’s transport of warm water to the North Atlantic (which is responsible for Europe’s relatively benign climate), a major shrinking of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets (which would raise sea levels by three meters each over the next 1,000 years), and an accelerated warming due to carbon cycle feedbacks in the terrestrial biosphere, the release of carbon from melting permafrost, or the emission of methane from coastal sediments. Such risks have not yet been reliably quantified, but fortunately they are expected to be quite low.

SEA LEVELS, OCEANS, AND COASTAL AREAS The global average sea level has risen by 10 to 20 cm over the past 100 years. The rate of increase has been 1 - 2 mm per year - some 10 times faster than the rate observed for the previous 3,000 years. It is likely that much of this rise is related to an increase of 0.6 ± 0.2°C in the lower atmosphere’s global average temperature since 1860. Related effects now being detected include warming sea-surface temperatures, melting sea ice, greater evaporation, and changes in the marine food web.

Models project that sea levels will rise another 9 to 88 cm by the year 2100. This will occur due to the thermal expansion of warming ocean water and an influx of freshwater from melting glaciers and ice. The rate, magnitude, and direction of sea-level change will vary locally and regionally in response to coastline features, changes in ocean currents, differences in tidal patterns and sea-water density, and vertical movements of the land itself. Sea levels are expected to continue rising for hundreds of years after atmospheric temperatures stabilize.

Coastal zones and small islands are extremely vulnerable. Coasts have been modified and intensively developed in recent decades and thus made even more vulnerable to higher sea levels. Developing countries with their weaker economies and institutions face the gravest risks, but the low-lying coastal zones of developed countries could also be seriously affected. Already over the past 100 years, 70 percent of sandy shorelines have been retreating.

Flooding and coastal erosion would worsen. Salt-water intrusion will reduce the quality and quantity of freshwater supplies. Higher sea levels could also cause extreme events such as high tides, storm surges, and seismic sea waves (tsunami) to reap more destruction. Rising sea levels are already contaminating underground fresh water supplies in Israel and Thailand, in small atolls scattered across the Pacific and Indian oceans and the Caribbean Sea, and in some of the world’s most productive deltas such as China’s Yangtze Delta and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

Sea-level rise could damage key economic sectors. A great deal of food is produced in coastal areas, making fisheries, aquaculture, and agriculture particularly vulnerable. Other sectors most at risk are tourism, human settlements, and insurance (which has already suffered record losses recently due to extreme climate events). The expected sea-level rise would inundate much of the world’s lowlands, damaging coastal cropland and displacing millions of people from coastal and small-island communities.


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The displacement of flooded communities, particularly those with limited resources, would increase the risk of various infectious, psychological, and other illnesses. Insects and other transmitters of disease could spread to new areas. The disruption of systems for sanitation, storm-water drainage, and sewage disposal would also have health implications.

Valuable coastal ecosystems will be at serious risk. Coastal areas contain some of the world’s most diverse and productive ecosystems, including mangrove forests, coral reefs, and sea grasses. Low-lying deltas and coral atolls and reefs are particularly sensitive to changes in the frequency and intensity of rainfall and storms. Coral will generally grow fast enough to keep pace with sea-level rise but may be damaged by warmer sea temperatures.

Ocean ecosystems may also be affected. In addition to higher sea levels, climate change will reduce sea-ice cover; decreases of up to 14 percent have been measured in the Arctic during the past two decades, and a decline of 25 percent has been recorded in the Antarctic from the mid-1950s to early 1970s. Climate change will also alter ocean circulation patterns, the vertical mixing of waters, and wave patterns. These changes can be expected to affect biological productivity, the availability of nutrients, and the ecological structure and functions of marine ecosystems. Changing temperatures could also cause geographical shifts in biodiversity, particularly in high-latitude regions, where the growing period should increase (assuming light and nutrients remain constant). Any changes in plankton activity could affect the oceans’ ability to absorb and store carbon. This could “feedback” into the climate system and either moderate or boost climate change.

Various natural forces will influence the impact that higher sea levels will have. Coastal areas are dynamic systems. Sedimentation, physical or biotic defenses (such as coral reefs), and other local conditions will interact with rising sea-water. For example, freshwater supplies in coastal zones will be more or less vulnerable depending on changes in freshwater inflows and the size of the freshwater body. The survival of salt marshes and mangrove forests will depend in part on whether the rate of sedimentation is greater than or less than the rate of local sea-level rise. Sedimentation is more likely to exceed sea-level rise in sediment-rich regions such as Australia, where strong tidal currents redistribute sediments, than in sediment-starved environments such as the Caribbean.

Human activities will also play a role. Roads, buildings, and other infrastructure could limit or affect the natural response of coastal ecosystems to sea-level rise. In addition, pollution, sediment deposits, and land development will influence how coastal waters respond to, and compensate for, climate change impacts.

Many policy options are available for adapting to sea-level rise. Sensitive environmental, economic, social, and cultural values are at stake, and trade-offs may be unavoidable. Possible response strategies include protection (dikes, dune restoration, wetland creation), accommodation (new building codes, protection of threatened ecosystems), and planned retreat (regulations against new coastal development). Some countries, including Australia, China, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US, have already designated withdrawal corridors where buildings will be removed to allow precious wetlands to move inland. Other


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specific responses are dredging ports, strengthening fisheries management, and improving design standards for offshore structures.

6. ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS Even an immediate and dramatic cut in global greenhouse gas emissions would not fully prevent climate change impacts. The climate system responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels with a time lag, in part because of the oceans’ thermal inertia. Past and present emissions have already committed the earth to at least some climate change in the 21st century. Natural ecosystems and human societies will be sensitive to both the magnitude and the rate of this change. Therefore, while controlling emissions is vital, it must be combined with efforts to minimize damage through adaptation.

The most vulnerable ecological and socio-economic systems are those with the greatest sensitivity to climate change and the least ability to adapt. Sensitivity is the degree to which a system will respond to a given change in climate; it measures, for example, how much the composition, structure, and functioning of an ecosystem will respond to a given temperature rise. Adaptability is the degree to which systems can adjust in response to, or in anticipation of, changed conditions. Vulnerability defines the extent to which climate change may damage or harm a system; this depends not only on the system’s sensitivity, but on its ability to adapt.

Social and economic systems tend to be more vulnerable in developing countries with weaker economies and institutions. In addition, people who live in arid or semi-arid lands, low-lying coastal areas, flood-prone areas, or on small islands are at particular risk. Greater population densities in many parts of the world have made some sensitive areas more vulnerable to hazards such as storms, floods, and droughts.

Ecosystems that are already under stress are particularly vulnerable. Many ecosystems are sensitive to humanity’s management practices and increasing demands for resources. For example, human activities may limit the potential of forest ecosystems for adapting naturally to climate change. Fragmentation of ecosystems will also complicate human efforts to assist adaptation, for example by creating migration corridors.

Six general strategies are available for adapting to climate change. Measures can be taken in advance to prevent losses, for example by building barriers against sea-level rise or reforesting degraded hillsides. It may be possible to reduce losses to a tolerable level, including by redesigning crop mixes to ensure a guaranteed minimum yield under even the worst conditions. The burden on those directly affected by climate change can be eased by spreading or sharing losses, perhaps through government disaster relief. Communities can also change a use or activity that is no longer viable, or change the location of an activity, for example by re-siting a hydroelectric power utility in a place where there is more water or relocating agricultural activities from steep hill slopes. Sometimes it may be best to restore a site, such as an historical monument newly vulnerable to flood damage.


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Adapting to climate change can be a spontaneous or planned act. Individuals, businesses, governments, and nature itself will often adapt to climate change impacts without any external help. In many cases, however, people will need to plan how to minimize the costs of negative impacts and maximize the benefits from positive impacts. Planned adaptation can be launched prior to, during, or after the onset of the actual consequences.

Successful strategies will draw on ideas and advances in law, finance, economics, technology, public education, and training and research. Technological advances often create new options for managed systems such as agriculture and water supply. However, many regions of the world currently have limited access to new technologies and to information. Technology transfer is essential, as is the availability of financial resources. Cultural, educational, managerial, institutional, legal, and regulatory practices are also important to effective adaptation, at both the national and international levels. For example, the ability to incorporate climate change concerns into development plans can help ensure that new investments in infrastructure reflect likely future conditions.

Many adaptation policies would make good sense even without climate change. Present-day climatic variability, including extreme climatic events such as droughts and floods, already causes a great deal of destruction. Greater efforts to adapt to these events could help to reduce damage in the short term, regardless of any longer-term changes in climate. More generally, many policies that promote adaptation, for example by improving natural resource management or bettering social conditions, are also vital for promoting sustainable development. Despite such synergies, however, it is clear that adaptation will also involve real costs and will not prevent all of the expected damage.

Crafting adaptation strategies is complicated by uncertainty. It is still not possible to quantify with any precision the likely future impacts on any particular system at any particular location. This is because climate change projections at the regional level are uncertain, current understanding of natural and socio-economic processes is often limited, and most systems are subject to many different interacting stresses. Knowledge has increased dramatically in recent years, but research and monitoring will remain essential for gaining a better understanding of potential impacts and the adaptation strategies to deal with them.

7. THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION

THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the foundation of global efforts to combat global warming. Opened for signature in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, its ultimate objective is the “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to


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ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner”.

The Convention sets out some guiding principles. The precautionary principle says that the lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as an excuse to postpone action when there is a threat of serious or irreversible damage. The principle of the “common but differentiated responsibilities” of states assigns the lead in combating climate change to developed countries. Other principles deal with the special needs of developing countries and the importance of promoting sustainable development.

Both developed and developing countries accept a number of general commitments. All Parties will develop and submit “national communications” containing inventories of greenhouse gas emissions by “source” and greenhouse gas removals by “sinks”. They will adopt national programmes for mitigating climate change and develop strategies for adapting to its impacts. They will also promote technology transfer and the sustainable management, conservation, and enhancement of greenhouse gas sinks and “reservoirs” (such as forests and oceans). In addition, the Parties will take climate change into account in their relevant social, economic, and environmental policies; cooperate in scientific, technical, and educational matters; and promote education, public awareness, and the exchange of information related to climate change.

Industrialized countries undertake several specific commitments. Most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) plus the states of Central and Eastern Europe “known collectively as Annex I countries” committed themselves to adopting policies and measures aimed at returning their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 (emissions targets for the post-2000 period are addressed by the Kyoto Protocol). They must also submit national communications on a regular basis detailing their climate change strategies. Several states may together adopt a joint emissions target. The countries in transition to a market economy are granted a certain degree of flexibility in implementing their commitments.

The richest countries shall provide “new and additional financial resources” and facilitate technology transfer. These so-called Annex II countries (essentially the OECD) will fund the “agreed full cost” incurred by developing countries for submitting their national communications. These funds must be “new and additional” rather than redirected from existing development aid funds. Annex II Parties will also help finance certain other Convention-related projects, and they will promote and finance the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies, particularly for developing country Parties. The Convention recognizes that the extent to which developing country Parties implement their commitments will depend on financial and technical assistance from the developed countries.

The supreme body of the Convention is the Conference of the Parties (COP). The COP comprises all the states that have ratified or acceded to the Convention. Currently (as of December 2010), there are 194 Parties (193 States and 1 regional economic integration


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organization. It held its first meeting (COP-1) in Berlin in 1995 and will continue to meet on a yearly basis unless the Parties decide otherwise. The COP’s role is to promote and review the implementation of the Convention. It will periodically review existing commitments in light of the Convention’s objective, new scientific findings, and the effectiveness of national climate change programmes. The COP can adopt new commitments through amendments and protocols to the Convention; in December 1997 it adopted the Kyoto Protocol containing binding emissions targets for developed countries.

The Convention also establishes two subsidiary bodies. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) provides the COP with timely information and advice on scientific and technological matters relating to the Convention. The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) helps with the assessment and review of the Convention’s implementation. Two additional bodies were established by COP-1: the Ad hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate (AGBM), which concluded its work in Kyoto in December 1997, and the Ad hoc Group on Article 13 (AG13), which concluded its work in June 1998.

A financial mechanism provides funds on a grant or concessional basis. The Convention states that this mechanism shall be guided by, and be accountable to, the Conference of the Parties, which shall decide on its policies, programme priorities, and eligibility criteria. There should be an equitable and balanced representation of all Parties within a transparent system of governance. The operation of the financial mechanism may be entrusted to one or more international entities. The Convention assigns this role to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on an interim basis; in 1999 the COP decided to entrust the GEF with this responsibility on an on-going basis and to review the financial mechanism every four years. In 2001 the COP agreed on the need to establish two new funds under the Convention “a Special Climate Change Fund and a fund for least developed countries” to help developing countries adapt to climate change impacts, obtain clean technologies, and limit the growth in their emissions. These funds are to be managed within the GEF framework. (The COP also agreed to establish an Adaptation Fund under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.)

The COP and its subsidiary bodies are serviced by a secretariat. The interim secretariat that functioned during the negotiation of the Convention became the permanent secretariat in January 1996. The secretariat arranges for sessions of the COP and its subsidiary bodies, drafts official documents, services meetings, compiles and transmits reports submitted to it, facilitates assistance to Parties for the compilation and communication of information, coordinates with secretariats of other relevant international bodies, and reports on its activities to the COP. It is based in Bonn, Germany (see www.unfccc.int).

ANNEX I, ANNEX II AND NON-ANNEX I COUNTRIES UNDER THE CONVENTION

The Convention divides countries into three main groups with differing commitments:

ANNEX I Parties include the industrialized countries that were members of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1992, plus countries with economies in transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, the Baltic States,

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and several Central and Eastern European States. A requirement that affects only Annex I Parties is that they must adopt climate change policies and measures with the aim of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. This provision obliges them to set an example of firm resolve to deal with climate change. The Convention grants EIT Parties “flexibility” in implementing commitments, on account of recent economic and political upheavals in those countries. Several EIT Parties have exercised this flexibility to select a base year other than 1990 against which to measure their emission limitation efforts, to take account of intervening economic changes that led to big cuts in emissions.

ANNEX II Parties consist of the OECD members of Annex I, but not the EIT Parties. They are required to provide financial resources to enable developing countries to undertake emissions reduction activities under the Convention and to help them adapt to adverse effects of climate change. In addition, they have to “take all practicable steps” to promote the development and transfer of environmentally friendly technologies to EIT Parties and developing countries. Funding provided by Annex II Parties is channeled mostly through the Convention’s financial mechanism.

NON-ANNEX I Parties – as they are termed for ease of reference – are mostly developing countries. Certain groups of developing countries are recognized by the Convention as being specially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, including countries with low-lying coastal areas and those prone to desertification and drought. Others (such as countries that rely heavily on income from fossil fuel production and commerce) feel more vulnerable to the potential economic impacts of climate change response measures. The Convention emphasizes activities that promise to answer the special needs and concerns of these vulnerable countries, such as investment, insurance and technology transfer. The 48 Parties classified as least developed countries (LDCs) by the United Nations are given special consideration under the Convention on account of their limited capacity to respond to climate change and adapt to its adverse effects. Parties are urged to take full account of the special situation of LDCs when considering funding and technology transfer activities.

THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the “supreme body” of the Climate Change Convention. The vast majority of the world’s states are members. 194 as of November 2010 (193 States and 1 regional economic integration organization). The Convention enters into force for a state 90 days after that state ratifies it. The COP held its first session in 1995 and will continue to meet annually unless decided otherwise. (The various subsidiary bodies that advise and support the COP meet more frequently).

The Conference of Parties is responsible for reviewing the implementation of the Convention and any related legal instruments, and has to make the decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention. In particular, its role is to:


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i. examine the Parties’ commitments in light of the Convention’s objective, new scientific findings and experience gained in implementing climate change policies;

i. promote and facilitate the exchange of information on measures adopted by Parties to address climate change and its effects;

ii. facilitate the coordination of measures adopted by Parties to address climate change and its effects, if requested to do so by two or more Parties;

iii. promote and guide the development and refinement of comparable methodologies for activities related to implementing the Convention, such as preparing inventories of GHG emissions and removals and evaluating the effectiveness of measures to limit emissions and enhance removals;

iv. assess the implementation of the Convention by Parties, the effects of the measures taken by them and the progress made towards achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention;

v. consider and adopt reports on the implementation of the Convention, and ensure their publication;

vi. make recommendations on any matters necessary for the implementation of the Convention;

vii. seek to mobilize financial resources; viii. review reports submitted by its SBs and provide guidance to them; and

ix. exercise such other functions as are required to achieve the objective of the Convention as well as all other functions assigned to the COP under the Convention.

COP PRESIDENT AND BUREAU

PRESIDENT

The office of the COP President normally rotates among the five United Nations regional groups. The President is usually the environment minister of his or her home country. S/he is elected by acclamation immediately after the opening of a COP session.

Their role is to facilitate the work of the COP and promote agreements among Parties. Accordingly, the rules of procedure stipulate that the President remains under the authority of the COP and that he or she must remain impartial and not exercise the rights of the representative of a Party.

BUREAU

The work of the COP and each subsidiary body is guided by an elected Bureau. To ensure continuity, it serves not only during sessions, but between sessions as well.

The COP Bureau consists of 11 officers: the COP President, seven Vice-Presidents, the Chairs of the two subsidiary bodies and a Rapporteur. The Vice-Presidents routinely preside during the high-level segment while the President is engaged in negotiations with Parties on controversial issues, frequently at ministerial level. The Rapporteur is responsible for preparing the report of the session.


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The five United Nations regional groups each nominate two members, and one place is reserved for a representative of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Bureau is elected by the COP from among Parties’ representatives for one year. Its members may be re-elected for a second one-year term, and exceptions have been agreed in the past to allow Bureau members to serve for three years. If an officer resigns or is otherwise unable to perform the assigned task, the Party or region concerned may name a representative as a replacement.

Neither the Convention nor the draft rules of procedure define the functions of the Bureau. Instead, practice has shaped its role and operational procedures. It deals mainly with procedural and organizational issues arising from the COP, and advises the President. In addition, the Bureau has other technical functions, such as examining the credentials of Party representatives and reviewing – in cooperation with the secretariat – requests for accreditation by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs).

SUBSIDIARY BODIES

The Convention establishes two permanent subsidiary bodies (SBs), namely the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), by Article 9, and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), by Article 10. These bodies advise the COP. In accordance with Articles 9.1 and 10.1, they are both multidisciplinary bodies open to participation by any Party, and governments send representatives with relevant expertise.

The SBSTA and the SBI, whose respective fields of work are discussed in the following sub-sections, are the main working bodies of the Convention. They meet twice a year for one to two weeks; the first time normally in mid-year and the second in conjunction with the COP. Given the more technical nature of their work, they tend to involve technical specialists rather than high-level political negotiators, and to attract somewhat fewer participants (around 1,500) than the COP. The ways of organizing the work of the SBs are similar to those described above for the COP.

The sessions of the SBs are important events in the climate change process but only the COP makes decisions. The main products of the SBSTA and SBI are therefore recommendations for draft decisions, which are then forwarded to the COP for consideration and adoption. In addition, the SBs can adopt conclusions, which are included in their meeting reports.

Like the COP, the SBSTA and SBI each have a Bureau. They consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a Rapporteur, who all perform similar functions to their counterparts on the COP Bureau and usually serve for two years. The Chair, the Vice-Chair and the Rapporteur are elected according to the principle of equitable geographic representation.

The Convention lays down the general distribution of tasks to the SBs and the COP has further defined their areas and division of work, notably in decisions. The division of labour has also further evolved during the Convention process.


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In general terms, the SBSTA functions as the “link between the scientific, technical and technological assessments of information provided by competent international bodies, and the policy-oriented needs” of the COP, while the SBI develops recommendations to assist the COP “in its review and assessment of the implementation of the Convention and in the preparation and implementation of its decisions”.

While there are some areas of work which clearly lie within the responsibility of one SB (such as “methodological issues” for the SBSTA, or “administrative and financial matters” for the SBI), the SBSTA and SBI cooperate on a number of cross-cutting issues that touch on both their areas of expertise. In the interests of efficiency, it is generally preferable for only one to take the overall responsibility for a given issue. Where no overall responsibility for an issue is assigned to either, agendas are organized to avoid having both SBs dealing with the same issue in parallel sessions.

THE SECRETARIAT

The secretariat, also known as the Climate Change Secretariat, services the COP, the SBs, the Bureau and other bodies established by the COP. Its mandate is laid down in Article 8 of the Convention:

i. to make practical arrangements for sessions of the Convention bodies, namely the COP and its SBs;

ii. to assist Parties, in particular developing countries, in implementing their commitments;

iii. to provide support to negotiations; and iv. to coordinate with the secretariats of other relevant international bodies, notably the

Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its implementing agencies (United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank), the IPCC and other relevant conventions.

Specific tasks of the secretariat include preparing official documents for the COP and the SBs, coordinating in-depth reviews of Annex I Party national communications and compiling GHG inventory data. It also carries out tasks that are specified in the programme of work that is adopted by the COP and other tasks decided by the COP.

The secretariat also services the bodies established by the Kyoto Protocol. The growth in technical work since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol (e.g. on reporting guidelines and the LULUCF sector) has led to increasing the technical expertise within the secretariat.

The secretariat is institutionally linked to the United Nations and administered under United Nations rules and regulations. Its head, the Executive Secretary, is appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in consultation with the COP through its Bureau, and currently holds the rank of Assistant-Secretary-General. The Executive Secretary reports to the Secretary-General through the Under-Secretary-General heading the Department of Management on administrative and financial matters, and through the Under-Secretary-


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General heading the Department for Economic and Social Affairs on other matters. The secretariat is accountable, through the Executive Secretary, to the COP.

KYOTO PROTOCOL The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These amount to an average of five percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.

The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so.

Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.”

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the “Marrakesh Accords.”

THE KYOTO MECHANISMS

Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms as follows:

i. Emission trading, ii. Clean development mechanism, and

iii. Joint implementation.

EMISSION TRADING

Parties with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Parties) have accepted targets for limiting or reducing emissions. These targets are expressed as levels of allowed emissions, or “assigned amounts,” over the 2008-2012 commitment period. The allowed emissions are divided into “assigned amount units” (AAUs).

Emissions trading, as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows countries that have emission units to spare - emissions permitted them but not "used" - to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets.


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Thus, a new commodity was created in the form of emission reductions or removals. Since carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, people speak simply of trading in carbon. Carbon is now tracked and traded like any other commodity. This is known as the "carbon market."

More than actual emissions units can be traded and sold under the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions trading scheme. The other units which may be transferred under the scheme, each equal to one tonne of CO2, may be in the form of:

i. A removal unit (RMU) on the basis of land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities such as reforestation

ii. An emission reduction unit (ERU) generated by a joint implementation project iii. A certified emission reduction (CER) generated from a clean development

mechanism project activity

Transfers and acquisitions of these units are tracked and recorded through the registry systems under the Kyoto Protocol. An international transaction log ensures secure transfer of emission reduction units between countries.

In order to address the concern that Parties could "oversell" units, and subsequently be unable to meet their own emissions targets, each Party is required to maintain a reserve of ERUs, CERs, AAUs and/or RMUs in its national registry. This reserve, known as the "commitment period reserve", should not drop below 90 percent of the Party's assigned amount or 100 percent of five times its most recently reviewed inventory, whichever is lowest.

Emissions trading schemes may be established as climate policy instruments at the national level and the regional level. Under such schemes, governments set emissions obligations to be reached by the participating entities. The European Union emissions trading scheme is the largest in operation.

CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

The mechanism is seen by many as a trailblazer. It is the first global, environmental investment and credit scheme of its kind, providing a standardized emission offset instrument, CERs. A CDM project activity might involve, for example, a rural electrification project using solar panels or the installation of more energy-efficient boilers. The mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction or limitation targets.

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A CDM project must provide emission reductions that are additional to what would otherwise have occurred. The projects must qualify through a rigorous and public registration and issuance process. Approval is given by the Designated National Authorities. Public funding for CDM project activities must not result in the diversion of official development assistance. The mechanism is overseen by the CDM Executive Board, answerable ultimately to the countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Operational since the beginning of 2006, the mechanism has already registered more than 1,650 projects and is anticipated to produce CERs amounting to more than 2.9 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, 2008–2012.

JOINT IMPLEMENTATION

The mechanism known as “joint implementation,” defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows a country with an emission reduction or limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to earn emission reduction units (ERUs) from an emission-reduction or emission removal project in another Annex B Party, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting its Kyoto target.

Joint implementation offers Parties a flexible and cost-efficient means of fulfilling a part of their Kyoto commitments, while the host Party benefits from foreign investment and technology transfer. A JI project must provide a reduction in emissions by sources, or an enhancement of removals by sinks, that is additional to what would otherwise have occurred. Projects must have approval of the host Party and participants have to be authorized to participate by a Party involved in the project.

Projects starting as from the year 2000 may be eligible as JI projects if they meet the relevant requirements, but ERUs may only be issued for a crediting period starting after the beginning of 2008. If a host Party meets all of the eligibility requirements to transfer and/or acquire ERUs, it may verify emission reductions or enhancements of removals from a JI project as being additional to any that would otherwise occur. Upon such verification, the host Party may issue the appropriate quantity of ERUs. This procedure is commonly referred to as the “Track 1” procedure.”

If a host Party does not meet all, but only a limited set of eligibility requirements, verification of emission reductions or enhancements of removals as being additional has to be done through the verification procedure under the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC). Under this so-called “Track 2” procedure, an independent entity accredited by the JISC has to determine whether the relevant requirements have been met before the host Party can issue and transfer ERUs. A host Party which meets all the eligibility requirements may at any time choose to use the verification procedure under the JISC (Track 2 procedure).

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CORE ELEMENTS OF THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

Annex I Parties that are also Parties to the Protocol agreed to be legally bound by specific commitments on GHG limitation or reduction. The reduction, or limitation, objectives of all of these Parties are listed in Annex B of the Protocol. The reductions envisaged are calculated to add up to a total of at least 5 percent below baseline levels for the group as a whole, the normal base year being 1990 (with provisions for flexibility for EITs and certain types of gases). The limitation and reduction objectives are not targeted at a single year, but are calculated as the mean of reductions logged over a five-year commitment period from 2008 to 2012. The maximum amount of carbon dioxide emissions units (or the equivalent of such units in the case of other GHGs) that a Party may emit during the commitment period, if it is to fully comply with its emissions target, is referred to as its assigned amount.

The Protocol provides for a comprehensive inclusion of GHGs and sources. For GHGs, rather than providing values for individual gases, reduction/limitation objectives refer to a basket of four gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride) and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons), listed in Annex A of the Protocol. Annex A also contains a list of sectors and source categories. Removals of GHGs by sinks can be counted towards a country’s commitments, subject to certain conditions.

Although each Party listed in Annex B has its individual reduction or limitation commitment, the Protocol contains a range of provisions for flexibility. Parties may form a group whose emissions are counted together rather than individually for each Party, an approach chosen by the European Union. Furthermore, the Protocol introduces three flexibility mechanisms allowing countries to achieve a proportion of their commitments by earning credits for GHG emissions avoided or GHG removals achieved in other countries. The Protocol also requires the COP/MOP to approve procedures and mechanisms relating to compliance at its first session.

The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005. It includes provisions for reviewing commitments so that they can be strengthened over time. It states that negotiations on targets for the second commitment period are to start in 2005, by which time Annex I Parties which are Parties to the Protocol should have made demonstrable progress in meeting their commitments. Accordingly, COP/MOP 1 decided to initiate a process to consider further commitments by Annex I Parties for the period beyond 2012. An ad hoc working group of Parties to the Protocol was established to conduct the work and report at each session of the COP/MOP (decision1/CMP.1). The group was requested to complete its task so as to avoid any gap between the first and second commitment period.

COMMITMENTS All Parties to the Convention – those countries that have ratified, accepted, approved, or acceded to it – are subject to general commitments to respond to climate change. They agree to compile an inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions, and submit reports – known as


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national communications – on actions they are taking to implement the Convention. To focus such actions, they must prepare national programmes containing:

i. Climate change mitigation measures, i.e. measures to control GHG emissions ii. Provisions for developing and transferring environmentally friendly technologies

iii. Provisions for sustainably managing carbon ‘sinks’ (a term applied to forests and other ecosystems that can remove more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than they emit)

iv. Preparations to adapt to climate change v. Plans for climate research, observation of the global climate system and data

exchange vi. Plans to promote education, training and public awareness relating to climate

change.

8. NATIONAL ACTIONS

REPORTING UNDER THE CONVENTION Central to the intergovernmental process of the COP is an imperative to share, communicate and respond to information by way of national communications. These reports provide the means by which the COP monitors progress made by Parties in meeting their commitments and in achieving the Convention’s ultimate objectives.

For the purposes of transparency and comparability in reporting, the COP provides guidelines for Parties to use when reporting information in their national communications. The COP uses this information to assess and review the implementation of the Convention and assess the overall aggregated effect of steps taken by Parties. Since 1995, the guidelines have been successively revised and improved in the light of Parties’ experience of putting them to use. For Annex I Parties, guidelines for preparing national communications were last revised in 1999, those for emissions inventories in 2005. Guidelines for non-Annex I Parties were changed in 2002.

Annex I Parties must report more often and in more detail. Non-Annex I Parties normally depend on receiving funding from the GEF to cover reporting costs. Non-Annex I Parties are differentiated into two groups; the LDCs and other developing country Parties to the Convention. Initial national communications of non-Annex I Parties are required to be presented within three years of the entry into force of the Convention for that Party, or of the date when financial resources become available. LDCs, however, can do so "at their discretion". The deadlines for submission of subsequent national communications by all Parties are decided by the COP.

REPORTING BY ANNEX I PARTIES

A first national communication was due from each Annex I Party within six months of the entry into force of the Convention for that Party. The second national communication fell on


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15 April 1997 (or 15 April 1998 for those EIT Parties, for which the date of entry into force fell a year later) and the third on 30 November 2001. The deadline for the fourth submission was 1 January 2006. Annex I Parties must also submit to the secretariat an annual inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions and removals by 15 April each year, including data on emissions for 1990 (or another applicable base year for EIT Parties), and for the years between this base year and the last-but-one year prior to the year of the submission. Inventories due in April 2006, for instance, had to show emissions data for the year 2004.

REPORTING BY NON-ANNEX I PARTIES

Non-Annex I Parties are not required to submit a separate annual greenhouse gas inventory, and their national communications are not subject to in-depth reviews. As of January 2007, 132 Parties have submitted their initial national communication. Three Parties have submitted a second national communication and one Party has already submitted a third. Most of these communications cover most gases by sectors, making it possible to build up a much more complete picture of emissions across the world. Many contained estimates of both emissions and removals. The latest UNFCCC guidelines only require non-Annex I Parties to estimate GHG inventories for the year 1994 for the initial national communication, or alternatively 1990, and for the second national communication for the year 2000. However, by 2005, 36 countries had presented data for two or more years. Despite these encouraging trends, many developing countries still face reporting challenges, notably the LDCs, which in view of their lack of resources are not required to submit initial communications within a specified period. Even so, 44 of the 48 LDCs that are Parties to the Convention had submitted their national communications by January 2007.

REPORTING TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL Like the Convention, the Protocol imposes two regular, ongoing reporting requirements for Annex I Parties – an annual report and a periodic national communication. For each report, Parties are required to submit the information elements required by the Convention, and to include additional information related to implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. Submission of the annual report and the national communication under the Kyoto Protocol also fulfils the Party’s reporting obligation under the Convention. For the annual report, each Annex I Party must submit the following information on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol with its annual greenhouse gas inventories it prepares under the Convention:

i. Emissions and removals from LULUCF activities ii. Any changes to national systems or national registries

iii. Holding and transactions of Kyoto Protocol units iv. Actions to minimize adverse impacts on developing countries.

Each Annex I Party must incorporate information on its implementation of the Protocol in the national communications that it prepares under the Convention, including:

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ii. How the Party’s use of the mechanisms is supplemental to domestic action iii. Details of policies and measures implemented by the Party to meet emissions targets iv. For Annex II Parties, information on new and additional financial resources

provided to non-Annex I Parties to help them meet their commitments under the Protocol.

In addition to the annual report and national communication, the Kyoto Protocol establishes two special reports to facilitate the accounting of emissions and assigned amount: the initial report and the true-up period report. The initial report is required to facilitate the calculation of an Annex I Party’s assigned amount and to demonstrate its capacity to account for its emissions and assigned amount. Initial reports were to be submitted by Annex I Parties by 31 December 2006 or one year after the entry into force of the Protocol for the Party. The true-up period report, due at the end of the commitment period, is intended to enable the determination of the Party’s compliance with its emission target.

9. WAY FORWARD Political and business leaders have affirmed that an efficient and effective carbon market will be a critical element of the global climate regime. In the Gleneagles Plan of Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development, G8 leaders supported a market-based approach to finance the transition to cleaner energy. The policy approach for reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions specifically flagged for further attention was “tradable certificates and trading of credits.” Also given special mention were “project-based and voluntary offset mechanisms”.

In a statement just prior to the Gleneagles summit, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) G8 Climate Change Roundtable argued that “policy frameworks that use market-based mechanisms to set clear, transparent and consistent price signals over the long term offer the best hope for unleashing needed innovation and competition”. The WEF Roundtable urged G8 governments to “establish a long-term, market-based policy framework extending out to 2030....” and “define greenhouse gas emissions rights through a cap-and-trade system or other market-based mechanisms....”

Why have market-based mechanisms, and emissions trading in particular, been singled out? Market-based approaches can enable governments to put in place systems to encourage innovation in industry while at the same time providing environmental certainty, credibility and cost-efficiency in meeting reduction targets. Under a global climate regime, market-based approaches have the potential to significantly reduce the costs and increase the feasibility of achieving the deep, long-term reductions required to address the risks of climate change. These approaches can also provide incentives for the development and deployment of low-carbon energy technologies and promote technology transfer to less-developed countries.

While an efficient market offers a number of potential benefits, realizing these benefits will require countries to consider some key questions:


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i. How can a long-term price signal be provided? Clear policy signals on the future of the climate regime are critical to maintaining a value for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and providing incentives to industry to invest in technologies and other reduction measures. The carbon market will significantly impact investment decisions only when a clear incentive for long-term action is established.

ii. How can broader coverage and participation in the carbon market be achieved? How can the private sector be more fully engaged? The more sources included in the carbon market, the more efficient and effective it will be in minimizing costs and mobilizing investment.

iii. How can monitoring, reporting and review systems be enhanced, especially in developing countries and economies in transition? Transparent, credible and efficiently-administered systems are essential for determining eligibility and compliance.

The measure of success for a global climate regime is not the existence of a carbon market, per se. The carbon market is a means rather than an end, and its success will be measured by how it assists countries in meeting their climate change and sustainable development commitments and priorities. For some, efficiency and cost minimization will be critical. For others, it will be equally important how the international carbon market helps to mobilize financing for clean technologies worldwide. This is especially important in major infrastructure investments that have long-lived emissions consequences.

UN Convention to Combat Desertification

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PART C

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT

DESERTIFICATION


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1. LAND DEGRADATION - INTRODUCTION Land degradation is the decline in land quality or reduction in its actual or potential productivity of land. According to United Nation Conventions to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), desertification/land degradation is the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity of the terrestrial bio-productive system that comprises soil, vegetation, or other biota and the ecological and hydrological processes that operate within the system. In other words, it is the loss or reduction of biological or economic productivity of rain- fed cropland, irrigated cropland, range or pastureland, forest and woodlands. Land degradation may occur through different physical, chemical and biological processes which are directly or indirectly induced by human activities.

These include soil erosion, compaction, acidification, leaching, salinization, decrease in cation retention capacity, depletion of nutrient, reduction in total biomass carbon and decline in land biodiversity. Soil structure is the important property that affects all forms of degradative processes. Land degradation is caused by complex interactions among physical, biological, political, social, cultural and economic factors. It affects the provision of ecosystem services and hence human well beings creating many social problems such as poverty, poor health and nutrition and demographic dynamics. Human activities are responsible not only for the degradation of land but also important for improvement of land through prevention, rehabilitation and reclamation.

Land degradation is wide spread affecting the agronomic productivity and the environment. Though the exact magnitude and pace of land degradation at global scale is still to be determined, one study shows that land degradation has affected some 1900 million ha of land worldwide and the rate at which arable land is being lost is increasing and is currently 30-35 times higher than the historical rate. Similarly, the loss of potential productivity due to erosion worldwide is estimated to be equivalent to some 20 million tons of grain per year (UNEP, 1999). Land degradation affects two thirds of the world’s agricultural land and livelihoods of over 1.2 billion people are threatened by desertification/land degradation (UNDP/GEF, 2002). Another study shows that about 33 percent of the global land surface is subject to desertification/land degradation and the productivity of some lands has declined by 50percent due to soil erosion and desertification (Eswaran et al., 2001). On a global scale, the annual loss of 75 billion tons of soil costs approximately US$ 70 per person per year (Lal, 1998 cited in Eswaran et al. 2001).

Land degradation is highly linked with food security and environmental balance. The food security and quality of environment and hence human well beings are threatened by the increasing rate of land degradation. It has become a great concern and challenge for sustainable development. Realizing the urgent need to deal with the problem of land degradation and desertification at global scale, an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa was constituted by UN in 1993.


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EXTENT AND RATE OF LAND DEGRADATION Global assessment of land degradation is not an easy task, and a wide range of methods are used, including expert judgment, remote sensing and modeling. Because of different definitions and terminology, there also exists a large variation in the available statistics on the extent and rate of land degradation. Further, most statistics refer to the risks of degradation or desertification (based on climatic factors and land use) rather than to the current state of the land.

Different processes of land degradation also confound the available statistics on soil and/or land degradation. Principal processes of land degradation include erosion by water and wind, chemical degradation (comprising acidification, salinization, fertility depletion, and decrease in cation retention capacity), physical degradation (comprising crusting, compaction, hard-setting, etc.) and biological degradation (reduction in total and biomass carbon, and decline in land biodiversity).

The latter comprises important concerns related to eutrophication of surface water, contamination of ground water, and emissions of trace gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, NOx) from terrestrial/aquatic ecosystems to the atmosphere. Soil structure is the important property that affects all degradative processes. Factors that determine the kind of degradative processes include land quality as affected by the intrinsic properties of climate, terrain and landscape position, climax vegetation and biodiversity, especially soil biodiversity.

In an assessment of population levels in the world's dry-lands, the Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) showed that globally 54 million km2 or 40 percent of the land area is occupied by dry-lands. About 29.7 percent of this area falls in the arid region, 44.3 percent in the semi-arid region and 26 percent in the dry sub-humid region. A large majority of the dry-lands are in Asia (34.4 percent) and Africa (24.1 percent), followed by the Americas (24 percent), Australia (15 percent) and Europe (2.5 percent).

Figure below indicates that the areas of the world vulnerable to land degradation cover about 33 percent of the global land surface. At the global level, it is estimated that the annual income foregone in the areas immediately affected by desertification amounts to approximately US$ 42 billion each year.

The semi-arid to weakly aridic areas of Africa are particularly vulnerable, as they have fragile soils, localized high population densities, and generally a low-input form of agriculture. About 25 percent of land in Asian countries is vulnerable.


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Long-term food productivity is threatened by soil degradation, which is now severe enough to reduce yields on approximately 16 percent of the agricultural land, especially cropland in Africa, Central America and pastures in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of land degradation. It is estimated that losses in productivity of cropping land in sub-Saharan Africa are in the order of 0.5-1 percent annually, suggesting productivity loss of at least 20 percent over the last 40 years.

Africa is particularly threatened because the land degradation processes affect about 46 percent of the continent. The significance of this large area becomes evident when one considers that about 43 percent of Africa is characterized as extreme desert (the desert margins represent the areas with very high vulnerability). There is only about 11 percent of the land mass which is humid and which by definition is excluded from desertification processes. There is about 2.5 million km2 of land under low risk, 3.6 million km2 under moderate risk, 4.6 million km2 under high risk, and 2.9 million km2 under very high risk. The region with the highest propensity is located along the desert margins and occupies about 5 percent of the landmass. It is estimated that about 22 million people (2.9 percent of the total population) live in this area. The low, moderate and high vulnerability classes occupy 14, 16, and 11 percent respectively and together impact about 485 million people.


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According to UNCCD, the consequences of land degradation include undermining of food production, famine, increased social costs, decline in the quantity and quality of fresh water supplies, increased poverty and political instability, reduction in the land's resilience to natural climate variability and decreased soil productivity.

2. LAND DEGRADATION - CAUSES Land degradation involves two interlocking, complex systems: the natural ecosystem and the human social system. Natural forces, through periodic stresses of extreme and persistent climatic events, and human use and abuse of sensitive and vulnerable dry land ecosystems, often act in unison, creating feedback processes, which are not fully understood. Interactions between the two systems determine the success or failure of resource management programmes. Causes of land degradation are not only biophysical, but also socioeconomic (e.g. land tenure, marketing, institutional support, income and human health) and political (e.g. incentives, political stability).

High population density is not necessarily related to land degradation. Rather, it is what a population does to the land that determines the extent of degradation. People can be a major asset in reversing a trend towards degradation. Indeed, mitigation of land degradation can only succeed if land users have control and commitment to maintain the quality of the resources. However, they need to be healthy and politically and economically motivated to care for the land, as subsistence agriculture, poverty and illiteracy can be important causes of land and environmental degradation.

There are many, usually confounding, reasons why land users permit their land to degrade. Many of these reasons are related to societal perceptions of land and the values placed on it. The absence of land tenure and the resulting lack of stewardship is a major constraint to adequate care for the land in some countries. Degradation is also a slow, imperceptible process, meaning that many people are not aware that their land is degrading.

Loss of vegetation can propagate further land degradation via land surface-atmosphere feedback. This occurs when a decrease in vegetation reduces evaporation and increases the radiation reflected back to the atmosphere (albedo), consequently reducing cloud formation. Large-scale experiments in which numerical models of the general circulation have been run with artificially high albedo over dry-lands, have suggested that large increases in the albedo of subtropical areas could reduce rainfall.

CLIMATE CHANGE Land surface is an important part of the climate system. The interaction between land surface and the atmosphere involves multiple processes and feedbacks, all of which may vary simultaneously. It is frequently stressed that the changes of vegetation type can modify the characteristics of the regional atmospheric circulation and the large-scale external moisture


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fluxes. Changes in surface energy budgets resulting from land surface change can have a profound influence on the Earth's climate.

Following deforestation, surface evapo-transpiration and sensible heat flux are related to the dynamic structure of the low-level atmosphere. These changes in fluxes within the atmospheric column could influence the regional, and potentially, global-scale atmospheric circulation. For example, changes in forest cover in the Amazon basin affect the flux of moisture to the atmosphere, regional convection, and hence regional rainfall. More recent work shows that these changes in forest cover have consequences far beyond the Amazon basin.

Fragmentation of landscape can affect convective flow regimes and rainfall patterns locally and globally. El Niño events and land surface change simulations with climate models suggest that in equatorial regions where towering thunderstorms are frequent, disturbing areas hundreds of kilometers wide may yield global impacts.

Use of a numerical simulation model to study the interactions between convective clouds, the convective boundary layer and a forested surface showed that surface parameters such as soil moisture, forest coverage, and transpiration and surface roughness may affect the formation of convective clouds and rainfall through their effect on boundary-layer growth.

An atmospheric general circulation model with realistic land-surface properties was employed to investigate the climatic effect of doubling the extent of the Earth's desert-sand. It showed a notable correlation between decreases in evapo-transpiration and resulting precipitation. It was shown that Northern Africa suffers a strong year-round drought while Southern Africa has a somewhat weaker year-round drought. Some regions, particularly the Sahel, showed an increase in surface temperature caused by decreased soil moisture and latent-heat flux.

Land use and land cover changes influence carbon fluxes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which directly alter atmospheric composition and radiative forcing properties. They also change land-surface characteristics and, indirectly, climatic processes. Observations during the HAPEX Sahel project suggested that a large-scale transformation of fallow savannah into arable crops like millet, may lead to a decrease in evaporation. Land use and land cover change is an important factor in determining the vulnerability of ecosystems and landscapes to environmental change.

Since the industrial revolution, global emissions of carbon (C) are estimated at 270±30 gigatons (Gt) due to fossil fuel combustion and 136±5 Gt due to land use change and soil cultivation. Emissions due to land use change include those by deforestation, biomass burning, conversion of natural to agricultural ecosystems, drainage of wetlands and soil cultivation. Depletion of the soil organic C (SOC) pool has contributed 78±12 Gt of C to the atmosphere, of which about one-third is attributed to soil degradation and accelerated erosion and two-thirds to mineralization.


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Land degradation aggravates CO2-induced climate change through the release of CO2 from cleared and dead vegetation and through the reduction of the carbon sequestration potential of degraded land.

Climate exerts a strong influence over dry-land vegetation type, biomass and diversity. Precipitation and temperature determine the potential distribution of terrestrial vegetation and constitute the principal factors in the genesis and evolution of soil. Precipitation also influences vegetation production, which in turn controls the spatial and temporal occurrence of grazing and favors nomadic lifestyle. Vegetation cover becomes progressively thinner and less continuous with decreasing annual rainfall. Dry-land plants and animals display a variety of physiological, anatomical and behavioral adaptations to moisture and temperature stresses brought about by large diurnal and seasonal variations in temperature, rainfall and soil moisture.

The generally high temperatures and low precipitation lead to poor organic matter production and rapid oxidation. Low organic matter leads to poor aggregation and low aggregate stability leading to a high potential for wind and water erosion. For example, wind and water erosion is extensive in many parts of Africa. Excluding the current deserts, which occupy about 46 percent of the landmass, about 25 percent of the land is prone to water erosion and about 22 percent, to wind erosion.

Structural crusts/seals are formed by raindrop impact which could decrease infiltration, increase runoff and generate overland flow and erosion. The severity, frequency, and extent of erosion are likely to be altered by changes in rainfall amount and intensity and changes in wind.

Land management will continue to be the principal determinant of the soil organic matter (SOM) content and susceptibility to erosion during the next few decades, but changes in vegetation cover resulting from short-term changes in weather and near term changes in climate are likely to affect SOM dynamics and erosion, especially in semi-arid regions.

From the assessment of the land resource stresses and desertification in Africa, which was carried out by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, utilizing information from the soil and climate resources of Africa, it can be concluded that climatic stresses account for 62.5 percent of all the stresses on land degradation in Africa. These climatic stresses include high soil temperature, seasonal excess water, short duration low temperatures, seasonal moisture stress and extended moisture-stress, and affect 18.5 million km2 of the land in Africa. This study clearly exemplifies the importance of the need to give more careful consideration to climatic factors in land degradation.

According to the database of the Belgian Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), weather, climate and water-related hazards that occurred between 1993 and 2002 were responsible for 63 pe cent of the US$ 654 billion damage caused by all


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natural disasters. These natural hazards are therefore the most frequent and extensively observed ones and they all have a major impact on land degradation.

RAINFALL Rainfall is the most important climatic factor in determining areas at risk of land degradation and potential desertification. Rainfall plays a vital role in the development and distribution of plant life, but the variability and extremes of rainfall can lead to soil erosion and land degradation. If unchecked for a period of time, this land degradation can lead to desertification. The interaction of human activity on the distribution of vegetation through land management practices and seemingly benign rainfall events can make land more vulnerable to degradation. These vulnerabilities become more acute when the prospect of climate change is introduced.

Rainfall and temperature are the prime factors in determining the world's climate and therefore the distribution of vegetation types. There is a strong correlation between rainfall and biomass since water is one of primary inputs to photosynthesis. Climatologists use an “aridity index” (the ratio of annual precipitation to potential evaporation) to help classify desert (arid) or semi-arid areas. Dry-lands exist because the annual water loss (evaporation) exceeds the annual rainfall; therefore these regions have a continual water deficit. Deserts are the ultimate example of a climate where annual evaporation far exceeds the annual rainfall. In cases where the annual water deficits are not so large, some plant life can take hold usually in the form of grasslands or steppes. However, it is these dry-lands on the margins of the world's deserts that are most susceptible to desertification, and the most extreme example of land degradation. Examples of these regions include the Pampas of South America, the Great Russian Steppes, the Great Plains of North America, and the Savannas of Southern Africa and Sahel region of West Africa. With normal climatic variability, in some years the water deficits can be greater than others but sometimes there can be a several consecutive years of water deficit or long-term drought. During this period, one can see examples of land degradation as in the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s in the Great Plains or the nearly two-decade long drought in the Sahel in the 1970s and 1980s. It was this period of drought in the Sahel that created the current concern about desertification.

For over a century, soil erosion data have been collected and analyzed from soil scientists, agronomists, geologists, hydrologists, and engineers. From these investigations, scientists have developed a simple soil erosion relationship that incorporates the major soil erosion factors. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was developed in the mid-1960s for understanding soil erosion for agricultural applications. In 1985, it was updated and renamed the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to incorporate the large amount of information that had accumulated since the original equation was developed and to address land use applications besides agriculture, such as soil loss from mined lands, construction sites, and reclaimed lands. The RUSLE is derived from the theory of soil erosion and from more than 10,000 plot-years of data from natural rainfall plots and numerous rainfall simulations.


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The Rusle is defined as:

A = R K L S C P

Where: A is the soil loss per year (t/ha/year); R represents the rainfall-runoff erosivity factor; K is the soil erodibilty factor; L represents the slope length; S is the slope steepness; C represents the cover management, and P denotes the supporting practices factor. These factors illustrate the interaction of various climatic, geological, and human factors, and that smart land management practices can minimize soil erosion and even land degradation.

The extremes of either too much or too little rainfall can produce soil erosion that can lead to land degradation. However, soil scientists consider rainfall the most important erosion factor among the many factors that cause soil erosion. Rainfall can erode soil by the force of raindrops, surface and subsurface runoff, and river flooding. The velocity of rain hitting the soil surface produces a large amount of kinetic energy, which can dislodge soil particles. Erosion at this micro-scale can also be caused by easily dissoluble soil material made water soluble by weak acids in the rainwater. The breaking apart and splashing of soil particles due to raindrops is only the first stage of the process, being followed by the washing away of soil particles and further erosion caused by flowing water. However, without surface runoff, the amount of soil erosion caused by rainfall is relatively small.

Once the soil particles have been dislodged they become susceptible to runoff. In general, the higher the intensity of the rainfall, the greater the quantity of soil available in runoff water. In the case of light rain for a long duration, most of the soil dislodgement takes place in the underwater environment and the soil particles are mostly fine. The greater the intensity of rainfall and subsequent surface runoff, the larger the soil particles that are carried away. A critical factor that determines soil erosion by rainfall is the permeability of the soil, which indirectly influences the total amount of soil loss and the pattern of erosion on slopes. One unfortunate byproduct of runoff is the corresponding transport of agricultural chemicals and the leaching of these chemicals into the groundwater.


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Figure 1. Schematic diagram of rainfall induced processes involved in land degradation

Rainfall intensity is the most important factor governing soil erosion caused by rain. Dryland precipitation is inherently variable in amounts and intensities and so is the subsequent runoff. Surface runoff is often higher in dry-lands than in more humid regions due to the tendency of dry land soils to form impermeable crusts under the impact of intense thunderstorms and in the absence of significant plant cover or litter. In these cases, soil transport may be an order of magnitude greater per unit momentum of falling raindrops than when the soil surface is well vegetated. The sparser the plant-cover, the more vulnerable the topsoil is to dislodgement and removal by raindrop impact and surface runoff. Also, the timing of the rainfall can play a crucial role in soil erosion leading to land degradation. An erratic start to the rainy season along with heavy rain will have a greater impact since the seasonal vegetation will not be available to intercept the rainfall or stabilize the soil with its root structure.

An ongoing effort of scientists is to try to integrate all these factors into models that can be used to predict soil erosion. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model is a process-based, distributed parameter, continuous simulation, erosion prediction model for use on personal computers and can be applied at the field scale to simulate hill slope erosion or more complex watershed scale erosion. It mimics the natural processes that are important in soil erosion. It updates the everyday soil and crop conditions that affect soil erosion. When rainfall occurs, the plant and soil characteristics are used to determine if surface runoff will occur. The WEPP model includes a number of conceptual components that include: climate and weather (rainfall, temperature, solar radiation, wind, freeze - thaw, snow accumulation and melting), irrigation (stationary sprinkler, furrow), hydrology - (infiltration, depressional storage, runoff), water balance (evapo-transpiration, percolation, drainage), soils (types and properties), crop growth - (cropland, rangeland, forestland), residue management and decomposition, tillage impacts on infiltration and erodibility, erosion - (interrill, rill,


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channel), deposition (rills, channels, and impoundments), sediment delivery, particle sorting and enrichment.

Of special note is the impact of other forms of precipitation on soil erosion. Hail has a severe effect on the soil surface because its kinetic energy is several times that of rain, resulting in much more soil surface being destroyed and a greater amount of material being washed away. And if hailstorms are accompanied by heavy rain, as is the case with some thunderstorms, large amounts of soil can be eroded, especially on agricultural land before the crops can stabilize the soil surface. Snow-thaw erosion occurs when the soil freezes during the cold period and the freezing process dislodges the soil, so that when the spring thaw occurs, fine soil particles are released in the runoff. This kind of erosion can often produce greater erosion losses than rain. Also, when the soil freezes, the infiltration rate is greatly reduced so that when the thaw arrives, relatively intense soil erosion can take place even though the amount of snow-thaw is small. In this situation, the erosive processes can be multiplied by a combination of a heavy rain event and sudden influx of warm air. Leeward portions of mountainous areas are susceptible to this since they are typically drier and have less vegetation and are prone to katabatic winds (rapidly descending air from a mountain range warms very quickly).

FLOODS Dry-land rivers have extremely variable flows and river discharge, and the amount of suspended sediments are highly sensitive to fluctuations in rainfall as well as any changes in the vegetation cover in the basins. The loss of vegetation in the headwaters of dryland rivers can increase sediment load and can lead to dramatic change in the character of the river to a less stable, more seasonal river characterized by a rapidly shifting series of channels. However, rainfall can lead to land degradation in other climates, including sub-humid ones. Excessive rainfall events either produced by thunderstorms, hurricanes and typhoons, or mid-latitude low-pressure systems, can produce a large amount of water in a short period of time across local areas. This excess of water overwhelms the local watershed and produces river flooding. Of course, this is a natural phenomenon that has occurred for millions of years and continuously shapes the Earth. River flooding occurs in all climates, but it is in dryland areas where the problem is most acute.

DROUGHTS Drought is a natural hazard originating from a deficiency of precipitation that results in a water shortage for some activities or groups. It is the consequence of a reduction in the amount of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more in length, often associated with other climatic factors - such as high temperatures, high winds and low relative humidity – that can aggravate the severity of the event. For example, the 2002-03 El Niño-related Australian drought, which lasted from March 2002 to January 2003, was arguably one of, if not the worst short-term drought in Australia's recorded meteorological history. Analysis of rainfall records for this 11-month period showed that 90 percent of the


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country received rainfall below that of the long-term median, with 56 percent of the country receiving rainfall in the lowest 10 percent (i.e. decile-1) of recorded totals (Australia-wide rainfall records commenced in 1900). During the 2002-03 drought Australia experienced widespread bushfires, severe dust storms and agricultural impacts that resulted in a drop in Australia's Gross Domestic Product of over 1 percent. The first five months of 2005 were exceptionally dry for much of Australia, leading many to label this period a truly exceptional drought.

Extended droughts in certain arid lands have initiated or exacerbated land degradation. Records show that extensive droughts have afflicted Africa, with serious episodes, in 1965-1966, 1972-1974, 1981-1984, 1986-1987, 1991-1992, and 1994-1995. The aggregate impact of drought on the economies of Africa can be large: 8-9 percent of GDP in Zimbabwe and Zambia in 1992, and 4-6 percent of GDP in Nigeria and Niger in 1984. In the past 25 years, the Sahel has experienced the most substantial and sustained decline in rainfall recorded anywhere in the world within the period of instrumental measurements. The Sahelian droughts in the 1970s were unique in their severity and were characterized as “the quintessence of a major environmental emergency” and their long-term impacts are now becoming clearer.

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, often related to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), contribute to rainfall variability in the Sahel. Droughts in West Africa correlate with warm SST in the tropical South Atlantic. Examination of the oceanographic and meteorological data from the period 1901-1985 showed that persistent wet and dry periods in the Sahel were related to contrasting patterns of SST anomalies on a near-global scale. From 1982 to 1990, ENSO-cycle SST anomalies and vegetative production in Africa were found to be correlated. Warmer eastern equatorial Pacific waters during ENSO episodes correlated with rainfall of <1,000 mm yr-1 over certain African regions.

A coupled surface-atmosphere model indicates that — whether anthropogenic factors or changes in SST initiated the Sahel drought of 1968-1973 — permanent loss of Sahel savannah vegetation would permit drought conditions to persist. The effect of drought, reducing soil moisture and thus evaporation and cloud cover, and increasing surface albedo as plant cover is destroyed, is generally to increase ground and near-surface air temperatures while reducing the surface radiation balance and exacerbating the deficit in the radiation balance of the local surface-atmosphere system. This entails increased atmospheric subsidence and consequently further reduced precipitation.

SOLAR RADIATION, TEMPERATURE AND EVAPORATION The only source of energy for the Earth is the Sun but our world intercepts only a tiny amount of this energy (less than a tenth of one percent) needed for the various biological (photosynthesis) and geophysical (weather and climate) processes that life depends on. The Earth system, based on fundamental rules of physics, must emit the same amount of radiation it receives. Therefore, the complex transfer of energy to satisfy this requirement is


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the basis for our weather and climate. Solar radiation is highly correlated with cloudiness, and in most dry-land climates where there are little or no clouds, solar radiation can be quite intense. In fact, some of the highest known values of solar radiation can be found in places like the Sahara desert. Solar heating of the land surface is the main contribution to the air temperature.

Along with rainfall, temperature is the main factor determining climate and therefore the distribution of vegetation and soil formation. Soil formation is the product of many factors that include: the parent material (rock), topography, climate, biological activity, and time. Temperature and rainfall cause different patterns of weathering and leaching in soils. Seasonal and daily changes in temperature can affect the soil moisture, biological activity, rates of chemical reactions, and the types of vegetation. Important chemical reactions in the soil include the nitrogen and carbon cycles.

During the summer in the tropics, surface soil temperatures can exceed 55°C and this intense heat contributes to the cracking of highly-clay soils that expose not only the soil surface but also the soil subsurface to water or wind erosion. Of course, these high temperatures will also increase soil evaporation and further reduce available soil moisture for plant growth. In temperate dry lands, the freeze-thaw cycle can have a direct effect on the composition of the soil by the movement of rocks and stones from various depths to the surface. In high elevations, the freeze-thaw is one factor degrading rock structures, causing cracks and fissures which could lead to landslides and rock avalanches.

Evaporation is the conversion of water from the liquid or solid state into vapor, and its diffusion into the atmosphere. A vapor pressure gradient between the evaporating surface and the atmosphere and a source of energy are necessary for evaporation. Solar radiation is the dominant source of energy and sets the broad limits of evaporation. Solar radiation values in the tropics are high, modified by the cloud cover, which lead to a high evaporative demand of the atmosphere. In the arid and semi-arid regions, considerable energy may be advected from the surrounding dry areas over irrigated zones. Transfer of energy downwards to the evaporating surface is often termed “the oasis effect” and in the cotton-growing areas of Gezira in Sudan, marked oasis effects have been shown to create water losses of up to twice those calculated using standard meteorological formulae.

Climatic factors induce an evaporative demand on the atmosphere, but the actual resulting evaporation will be influenced by the nature of the evaporating surfaces as well as by the availability of water. On degraded land, the land surface itself influences the evaporative demand by the albedo and surface roughness, the latter affecting turbulence. In the arid and semiarid regions, the high evaporation which greatly exceeds precipitation leads to accumulation of salts on soil surface. Soils with natric horizon are easily dispersed and the low moisture levels lead to limited biological activity.


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WIND The dry-lands of the world are affected by moderate to severe land degradation from wind erosion and there is evidence that the frequency of sand storms/dust storms in increasing. It has been estimated that in the arid and semi-arid zones of the world, 24 percent of the cultivated land and 41 percent of the pasture land are affected by moderate to severe land degradation from wind erosion.

The worldwide total annual production of dust by deflation of soils and sediments was estimated to be 61 to 366 million tonnes. Losses of desert soil due to wind erosion are globally significant. The upper limit for global estimates of the long-range transport of desert dust is approximately 1*1016g year-1.

Every year desert encroachment caused by wind erosion buries 210,000 hectares of productive land in China. It was shown that the annual changes in the frequency of strong and extremely strong sandstorms in China are as follows: five times in the 1950s, eight times in the 1960s, 13 times in the 1970s, 14 times in the 1980s, and 20 times in the 1990s.

Sand and dust storms are hazardous weather and cause major agricultural and environmental problems in many parts of the world. There is a high on-site as well as off-site cost due to the sand and dust storms. They can move forward like an overwhelming tide and strong winds take along drifting sands to bury farmlands, blow out top soil, denude steppe, hurt animals, attack human settlements, reduce the temperature, fill up irrigation canals and road ditches with sediments, cover the railroads and roads, cause household dust damage, affect the quality of water in rivers and streams, affect air quality, pollute the atmosphere and destroy mining and communication facilities. They accelerate the process of land degradation and cause serious environment pollution and huge destruction to ecology and the living environment. Atmospheric loading of dust caused by wind erosion also affects human health and environmental air quality.

Wind erosion-induced damage includes direct damage to crops through the loss of plant tissue and reduced photosynthetic activity as a result of sandblasting, burial of seedlings under sand deposits, and loss of topsoil. The last process is particularly worrying since it potentially affects the soil resource base and hence crop productivity on a long-term basis, by removing the layer of soil that is inherently rich in nutrients and organic matter. Wind erosion on light sandy soils can provoke severe land degradation and sand deposits on young seedlings can affect crop establishment.

Calculations based on visibility and wind speed records for 100 km-wide dust plumes, centred on eight climate stations around South Australia, indicated that dust transport mass was as high as ten million tonnes. Thus dust entrainment during dust events leads to long-term soil degradation, which is essentially irreversible. The cost to productivity is difficult to measure but is likely to be quite substantial.


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WILDFIRES, LAND DEGRADATION AND ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS Uncontrolled wildfires occur in all vegetation zones of the world. It is estimated that fires annually affect 1,015 million hectares (m ha) of boreal and temperate forest and other lands, 2,040 m ha of tropical rain forests due to forest conversion activities and escaped agricultural fires, and up to 500 m ha of tropical and subtropical savannas, woodlands, and open forests. The extent of the soil organic carbon pool doubles that present in the atmosphere and is about two to three times greater than that accumulated in living organisms in all the Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. In such a scenario, one of the several ecological and environmental impacts of fires is that they are a significant source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

Globally, biomass burning, which includes wildfires, is estimated to produce 40 percent of the carbon dioxide, 32 percent of the carbon monoxide, 20 percent of the particulates, and 50 percent of the highly carcinogenic poly-aromatic hydrocarbons produced by all sources. Current approaches for estimating global emissions are limited by accurate information on area burned and fuel available for burning.

Emissions from fires are considerable and contribute significantly to gross global emissions of trace gases and particulates from all sources to the atmosphere. Natural emissions are responsible for a major portion of the compounds, including nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxide (NO), which determine tropospheric oxidant concentrations. The total NMVOC flux is estimated to be about 84⋅1012 g of carbon (Tg C) which is comprised primarily of isoprene (35 percent), 19 other terpenoid compounds (25 percent) and 17 nonterpenoid compounds (40 percent).

The influence of fire on soil characteristics (soil-water content, soil compaction, soil temperature, infiltration ability, soil properties especially organic matter, pH, exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, Na and extractable P) of a semi-arid southern African rangeland was quantified over two growing seasons (2000/01-2001/02) following an accidental fire. The decrease in basal cover due to fire (head fires) exposed the soil more to the natural elements and therefore to higher soil temperatures and soil compaction in turn leading to lower soil-water content and a decline in soil infiltrability.

3. LAND DEGRADATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE Human activities - primarily burning of fossil fuels and changes in land cover - are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents or properties of the Earth's surface that absorb or scatter radiant energy. In particular, increases in the concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and aerosols are strongly implicated as contributors to climatic changes observed during the 20th century, and are expected to contribute to further changes in climate in the 21st century and beyond. These changes in atmospheric composition are likely to alter temperatures precipitation patterns, sea level, extreme events, and other aspects of climate on which the natural environment and human systems depend.


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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by WMO and UNEP, ecosystems are subject to many pressures (e.g. land-use change, resource demands, population changes); their extent and pattern of distribution is changing, and landscapes are becoming more fragmented. Climate change constitutes an additional pressure that could change or endanger ecosystems and the many goods and services they provide. Soil properties and processes - including organic matter decomposition, leaching, and soil water regimes - will be influenced by temperature increase. Soil erosion and degradation are likely to aggravate the detrimental effects of a rise in air temperature on crop yields. Climate change may increase erosion in some regions, through heavy rainfall and through increased wind speed.

CO2-induced climate change and land degradation remain inextricably linked because of feedbacks between land degradation and precipitation. Climate change might exacerbate land degradation through alteration of spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, and winds. Several climate models suggest that future global warming may reduce soil moisture over large areas of semi-arid grassland in North America and Asia. This climate change is likely to exacerbate the degradation of semi-arid lands that will be caused by rapidly expanding human populations during the next decade. It is predicted that there will be a 17 percent increase in the world area of desert land due to the climate change expected, with a doubling of atmospheric CO2 content.

Water resources are inextricably linked to climate, so the prospect of global climate change has serious implications for water resources and regional development. Climate change - especially changes in climate variability through droughts and flooding - will make addressing these problems more complex. The greatest impact will continue to be felt by the poor, who have the most limited access to water resources. The impact of changes in precipitation and enhanced evaporation could have profound effects in some lakes and reservoirs. Studies show that, in the paleoclimate of Africa and in the present climate, lakes and reservoirs respond to climate variability via pronounced changes in storage, leading to complete drying up in many cases. Furthermore, these studies also show that under the present climate regime several large lakes and wetlands show a delicate balance between inflow and outflow, such that evaporative increases of 40 percent, for example, could result in much reduced outflow.

The frequency of episodic transport by wind and water from arid lands is also likely to increase in response to anticipated changes in global climate. Lower soil moisture and sparser vegetative cover would leave soil more susceptible to wind erosion. Reduction of organic matter inputs and increased oxidation of SOM could reduce the long-term water-retention capacity of soil, exacerbating desertification. Moreover, increased wind erosion increases windblown mineral dust, which may increase absorption of radiation in the atmosphere.


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4. THE UN CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION The Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted in Paris on 17 June, 1994, by the United Nations General Assembly, is a treaty established to promote effective action to protect dry-lands through innovative local programs and supportive international partnerships. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which is the Convention’s supreme body, is these days made up of 170 countries. After the failure of past efforts, the Convention states the need for a fresh approach, through innovative local programs and supportive international partnerships, to avoid the worsening of the world problem of land degradation.

ROLE OF UNCCD The UNCCD aims to promote effective action through innovative local behavior and supportive international partnerships. Countries affected by desertification will implement the Convention by developing and carrying out national, sub-regional, and regional action programmes (criteria for preparing these programmes are detailed in the treaty’s four “regional implementation annexes”).

The Convention states that these programmes must adopt a democratic, bottom-up approach, including strong participation by non-governmental organizations in the development and implementation of such programmes. In addition, these action programmes must be fully integrated with other national policies for sustainable development. Desertification can only be reversed through profound changes in local and international behavior. Step by step, these changes will ultimately lead to sustainable land use and food security for a growing world population. Combating desertification, then, is really just part of a much broader objective: the sustainable development of countries affected by drought and desertification.

THE UNCCD SECRETARIAT The permanent Secretariat of the UNCCD was established during the first Conference of the Parties (COP 1) held in Rome in 1997. It has been located in Bonn, Germany since January 1999, and moved from its first Bonn address in Haus Carstanjen to the new UN campus in July 2006.

The functions of the secretariat are to make arrangements for sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary bodies established under the Convention and to provide them with services as required. One key task of the secretariat is to compile and transmit reports submitted to it.

The secretariat also provides assistance to affected developing country Parties, particularly those in Africa. This is important when compiling information and reports required under the Convention. UNCCD activities are coordinated with the secretariats of other relevant international bodies and conventions, like those of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).


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5. NATIONAL CONTEXT Bhutan’s attendance at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 marked the nation’s increasing participation in global environmental management efforts. Subsequently, the country became Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), when the National Assembly ratified them in August 1995. It acceded to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in August 2003. In addition to these three Conventions – often collectively known as the “Rio Conventions” – the country is Party to nine other environment related international conventions.

KEY LAND DEGRADATION ISSUES AND CONCERNS IN BHUTAN

OVERGRAZING

Livestock is maintained by the rural Bhutanese mainly for dairy and meat production, draught power and production of dung for farmyard manure. Despite consistent government efforts to reduce livestock population through introduction of improved breeds, artificial insemination and sterilization, livestock population has remained high. Cattle population has increased albeit slightly following a rather erratic trend from 308,273 in 1990 to 320,509 in 2000. Similarly, yak population has increased from about 33,035 to 34,928 during the same period. High livestock population has led to overgrazing in many instances. Over-grazing of pastures and forests, mainly in broadleaf forests, may lead to attrition or loss of species, reduction of land productivity and soil erosion. Forest regeneration is also hampered and change in vegetation is induced where grazing is rampant.

While in general the impacts of grazing are said to be negative, it must be recognized that livestock rearing is integral to rural livelihood and forms a part of the fabric that links other elements of the socio-economic structure of individual households and communities. Cattle are owned by almost all of the rural households in the country and it dominates the temperate and subtropical regions of the country. In the alpine region of the country, such as Laya and Lingshi, yak is predominant and the economy is solely based on yak products. Individuals, households and communities have grazing rights over pastures, legitimated by the Thrimzhung Chenmo 1957, Land Act 1979 and Forest and Nature Conservation Act 1995. The National Assembly has also passed resolutions relating to ownership and management of grazing land/ pastures from time to time. Livestock rearing and forest grazing are therefore to stay both from socio-economic and legal perspectives. In this context, it is important to recognize that grazing is an environmental problem when it is excessive and not managed but when it occurs at low or moderate level and is managed it can have environmental benefits, e.g. dispersal of seeds aiding natural regeneration.


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FOREST F IRE

Depending on the local site conditions, the negative impact of forest fires may be immediate or on a longer term. In steep areas the negative impact may be immediate, especially if heavy rains follow forest fire. The rainwater washes away topsoil and ash, depriving the exposed area of nutrient to support natural regeneration. If such a process is repeated several times, a succession process starts whereby the site completely degenerates into a barren area. Some species such as Chir pine Pinus roxburghii can withstand few forest fires. However, there is gradual degeneration of the site, and the associate species would be completely destroyed rendering the site to soil erosion and degradation of the ecosystem. This may also result in a change of the ecosystem if it is repeatedly subjected to forest fires.

Forest and Nature Conservation Act 1995 prohibits setting of forest on fires and imposes fines and penalties including imprisonment. In spite of such stringent legislation, forest fires are a recurrent and widespread phenomenon. Records maintained by the Department of Forestry reveal that from 1992/93 to 2004/05, 870 incidents of forest fires have occurred, affecting more than 128,000 hectares of forest land. All forest fires in the country are man-made; either set deliberately to invigorate the growth of pastures or commercially valuable grasses such as lemon grass, or occur due to general public carelessness.

While strict penalties to deter occurrence of forest fires are necessary, proactive approaches such as educating the local communities on the negative effects of forest fires and legal implications of setting forest fires, and involving them in forest fire management through training and stewardship may have more lasting impact in reducing forest fires.

EXCESSIVE FOREST UTIL IZATION

A report of the Forest Resources Development Division (FRDD) mentions that the annual total consumption of timber at 190,000 m3

in the recent years exceeded the total annual

allowable cut (AAC) of about 149,000 m3 from all Forest Management Units (FMUs). The excess demand was met from ad hoc sources, which is a cause for concern as these sources are not operated based on sustainable forest management planning. Fuelwood consumption is even higher at 1.27 tonnes or 1.8 m3 per person per annum. This works out to nearly 1.2 million m3

per annum. Although collection of dry fuelwood in the form of fallen twigs and

driftwood is common, bulk of the fuelwood needs is met from natural forests. As a result of excessive forest use, localized deforestation has occurred in several places especially where population density is high, for example in parts of eastern and southern Bhutan.

During the Ninth Five Year Plan period (July 2002 – June 2007), a total of 214,267 hectares of forests has been earmarked for logging operations, primarily to harvest timber. An AAC of 208,088 m3

has been projected from these forest areas, nearly 40 percent increase over the

previous AAC. This entails creation of five FMUs in addition to the existing 10 FMUs. Additional FMUs will mean more roads into forest areas and laying of cable cranes, which will have concomitant environmental consequences, the degree of which will depend on the quality and design of road construction and logging operations. Environmental monitoring of


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FMUs is critical but this has been hitherto far from adequate and is likely to remain so in the future too due to lack of trained personnel, funds and equipment.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Concomitant with modernization, the need for infrastructure development has grown. Socio-economic development objectives necessitate construction of roads and electrification among other things. During the Ninth Five Year Plan (2002-07), the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement has envisaged construction of 77 km of national highway, 123 km of feeder roads and 32 km of bypass roads, widening of the 179 km Thimphu-Phuntsholing highway, and realignment of 25 km of existing road. In addition, the MoA plans to construct more than 100 km of farm roads across the country to connect agricultural production areas to markets during the ongoing Plan period. In the Ninth Five Year Plan, power transmission grids are planned for Tingtingbi-Trongsa/ Bumthang line and Basochhu-Tsirang/ Dagana-Gelephu line, and grid power supply extensions for Gasa dzongkhag headquarters, and for Bhangtar and Lamoizingkha dungkhag headquarters. Furthermore, the rural electrification programme which is targeted to cover 15,000 additional households across the 20 dzongkhags by the end of the Ninth Five Year Plan will entail construction of an extension network of power distribution lines. Where environmental safeguards are not adequately planned and applied, development of physical infrastructure leave adverse impacts such as loss of vegetation, slope instability and geologic disturbances.

LAND USE INTENSIF ICATION AND COMPETITION

The Bhutanese population must make its living within fragile and inherently unstable ecosystems. Bhutan’s usable land resource is limited due to difficult and high mountain terrain, vast areas of snows and barren rocks, and large forest coverage which is mandated to be maintained at least at 60 percent in perpetuity. While 69 percent of the population depend primarily on agriculture, arable agriculture land is less than 8 percent mostly located in the mid-altitude valleys and hill slopes, and southern foothills. This limited area has also to support other development activities of a population, which is currently growing at 1.3 percent each year. While conservation of the natural environment is an overriding national priority, economic activities and support systems can only intensify or expand onto steeper and less suitable terrain, where the inherently unstable geologic conditions and climatic factors increase the land’s susceptibility to degradation. There is also competitive land use between various sectors, especially between agriculture and urban development. Between 1996 and 2001, about 630 acres of prime agricultural land have been converted to other forms of land use. Townships and urban housing projects alone accounted for more than 496 acres (78.7 percent) of the total conversion.

UNSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

Unsustainable agricultural practices, for example increased and unmanaged irrigation of paddy lands on steep slopes or practice of tseri with shortening of fallow period, have caused land degradation in several areas. Also, agricultural production is becoming increasingly


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intensive as farmers transit from traditional subsistence farming to market-based, high yield production practices requiring increased inputs especially of pesticides and fertilizers.

POLLUTION

Pollution of land is emerging as an environmental problem in and around urban areas and industrial sites. Over the recent years, generation of solid waste has increased significantly in urban centers. According to data collected by the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature, Thimphu’s solid waste generation has increased from eight metric tons (MT) a day in 1994 to 22 MT in 2003-04, and to 37 MT as of August 2005. Existing solid waste management is basically limited to waste collection and disposal at landfill sites, which are being filled up much quicker than expected due to excessive waste generation and lack of waste segregation at source. Recycling of waste was initiated only in late 2005 and that too is currently limited to recycling of plastic bottles and paper boards on a very small scale in Thimphu.

RAPID URBANIZATION

During the Eighth Five-Year Plan (July 1997-June 2002), the urban population was estimated to be only 15 percent of the country’s total. By the onset of the Ninth Five Year Plan (July 2002-June 2007), it had grown to 21 percent. The Population and Housing Census of Bhutan 2005 revealed that the urban population has now grown to 31 percent. These figures indicate a very rapid growth of the urban population. What is even more alarming is that more than half of the urban population is concentrated in just two towns – Thimphu and Phuentsholing. Thimphu alone has more than 40 percent of the total urban population while Phuentsholing has more than 10 percent. In order to accommodate surplus population, these urban centers have consumed prime agricultural lands in the valleys and encroached on hill slopes which were once forested. Extraction of sand and stones from the river banks and harvesting of timber from adjacent forests have increased in frequency and volume in the recent years to cater to the growing construction demands in the urban centers.

NATIONAL INITIATIVES TO COMBAT LAND DEGRADATION While there are numerous programmes and activities of the RGoB that directly or indirectly contribute to combating land degradation even if they are not specifically or inherently aimed to do so, there are two major initiatives that stand out for their exclusive focus on land degradation problems in the country. These are:

i. National Land Management Campaign; ii. Sustainable Land Management Project funded by the Global Environment Facility

through the World Bank; iii. Capacity Building in and Mainstreaming of Sustainable Land Management in

Bhutan (pipeline GEF/UNDP project)


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THE NATIONAL LAND MANAGEMENT CAMPAIGN

The Land Management Campaign was launched in July 2005 in response to the need to proactively address land degradation problems which had become increasingly visible and profound in terms of impacts on the local people and their livelihoods, especially in many parts of eastern Bhutan. The monsoon in the summer of 2004 had caused heavy floods and landslides in eastern Bhutan, resulting in the loss of nine human lives, destruction of 29 houses, washing away of 664 acres of agricultural land, and damage to some 39 irrigation channels and 22 bridges. Under the command of His Majesty the King, the Honorable Minister of Agriculture visited the affected areas to assess the scale of the damage. During the visit, the Honorable Minister observed that one of the key factors leading to land degradation was the lack of proper land management practices.

The Land Management Campaign is not a one-off activity but a continuous programme of the MoA to instill in people the awareness and understanding of various land management techniques based on site-specific land degradation problems. It focuses on on-the-ground demonstrations using a broad-based participatory approach bringing together local communities, dzongkhag staff as well as professionals from various disciplines.

THE PROJECT ON SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT

The RGoB embarked on this project in 2006 with grant from the GEF through its Operational Programme 15 and co-financing from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Financial and technical support for project development was provided by the World Bank. The project has been conceived with the development objective to strengthen institutional and community capacity in terms of human resource, policies, incentives, technologies and knowledge for anticipating and managing land degradation in the country. It has been designed with the following guiding principles:

i. Support to bottom-up planning approach that focuses on community priorities and decisions;

ii. Phased implementation, starting initially in three geogs and later extending to additional geogs as adequate capacity is built in the pilot geogs;

iii. Support to decentralization by strengthening the role of local communities, geogs and dzongkhags in planning and implementation, and increasing their potential of becoming sustainable agents of natural resource management change;

iv. Ensure that community decisions on sustainable land use options are guided by appropriate knowledge and information about farmer incentives;

v. Adoption of an integrated multi-sectoral approach as a strategy for improving the management of natural resources.

The SLMP, as the project is known in short, has the following four complementary, mutually-reinforcing components:

COMPONENT ONE - PILOT PROJECTS TO DEMONSTRATE EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF LAND DEGRADATION PREVENTION APPROACHES


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The pilots will be implemented in three geogs. The three pilot geogs were selected to represent a range of land degradation pressures in Bhutan. The geogs are Nangkor in Zhemgang dzongkhag (east central part of the country), Phuentsholing in Chhukha dzongkhag (south western part) and Radhi in Trashigang (eastern part). This part of the project has three sub-components. First, it will support a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based biophysical and socio-economic mapping exercise to identify the causes and incidence of land degradation. Second, information generated through the mapping exercise will be used to identify “hot-spots” and to assess the presence or absence of incentives that currently guide farming practices and inform community decisions. Third, it will support community decision-making and prioritization of sustainable land management (SLM) investments at the chiog level. The project will finance a range of activities including: capacity building for community decision-making and planning, training of geog staff to plan and implement SLM activities in a multi-sectoral manner, investments at the community and farm levels to strengthen the adoption of SLM practices, monitoring to validate SLM investments, and national and regional level workshops to discuss results and scaling-up options. Physical investments at the farm and community level may include vegetative conservation measures, terracing, forest and rangeland regeneration, reforestation, agro-forestry, etc as necessary.

COMPONENT TWO - MAINSTREAMING OF PRACTICES FOR PROTECTION AGAINST LAND DEGRADATION

This component will support the scaling up of the pilots to six additional geogs (two in each of the pilot dzongkhags) based on the lessons learned from Component One. Support to additional geogs will be phased, starting in geogs where there is substantial potential for success of SLM interventions and where existing capacity is adequate. In addition, it will facilitate coordinated and participatory planning at the dzongkhag level which integrates the cross-sectoral impacts of development (e.g. infrastructure, roads, irrigation, power, agriculture and industrial development). Inter-dzongkhag conflicts (particularly over grazing) and inter-sectoral conflicts over land use and planning will be resolved at this level. Capacity building efforts will precede replication to the new geogs. Under this component, the project will support on-the-ground investments, technical assistance, community cross-site visits, training, research and awareness programmes, new analytical tools, GIS and databases.

COMPONENT THREE - POLICY SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE FOR MAINSTREAMING LAND DEGRADATION PREVENTION PRACTICES

This component will bring lessons from Components 1 and 2 to inform national legislation and policy pertaining to watershed management, upland agriculture and livestock production, forestry, urban planning and infrastructure. It will provide technical assistance to develop guidelines for mainstreaming SLM principles into RGoB’s Five Year Plans, and geog and dzongkhag five-year and annual plans. This would be undertaken through compilation and dissemination of lessons learned from pilot sites, policy guidance notes, capacity building and awareness workshops.


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COMPONENT FOUR - NATIONAL LEVEL SUPPORT FOR COORDINATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF LAND DEGRADATION PREVENTION PRACTICES

This component would further support RGoB’s support to strengthen and build capacity within the Ministry of Agriculture to systematically and effectively coordinate a programme of activities in order to help anticipate and manage land degradation in the country. It will provide overarching support across different sectors and different levels of the government for supporting SLM activities. This would be achieved through project support for technical assistance, training, equipment, and management information systems.

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PART D

SUMMARY - THE RIO CONVENTIONS

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1. CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS Biological diversity refers to the number and variety of living organisms on the planet. It is defined in terms of genes, species, and ecosystems which are the outcome of over 3,000 million years of evolution. To date, an estimated 1.7 million species have been identified. The exact number of the Earth’s existing species, however, is still unknown. Estimates vary from a low of 5 million to a high of 100 million.

Species extinction is a natural part of the evolutionary process. However, species and ecosystems are more threatened by human activities than ever before in recorded history. The losses are taking place all over the world, primarily in tropical forests – where 50-90 percent of identified species live – as well as in rivers and lakes, deserts and temperate forests, and on mountains and islands. The most recent estimates predict that some two to eight percent of the Earth’s species will disappear over the next 25 years. Species extinction therefore has important implications for economic and social development. At least 40 percent of the world’s economy and 80 percent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition, the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.

Main causes of species extinction include habitat loss, such as deforestation whether accidental or due to the conversion of forests to other uses, such as mono crop agriculture, and land degradation due to pollution, drought, and over-exploitation. Main causes of marine biodiversity loss include pollution and over harvesting of marine species (corals, fish, etc.). The degradation or conversion of wetlands is an important cause of biodiversity loss. The deliberate or accidental introduction of invasive alien species is another cause of species extinction.

KEY FEATURES OF THE CBD The Biodiversity Convention aims towards the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. It addresses all aspects of biological diversity: genetic resources, species, and ecosystems. It also recognizes the need to reconcile conservation and socio-economic development needs. Parties are thus requested to develop or adapt national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and to integrate the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.

Means to support developing countries implement the Convention include scientific and technical co-operation, access to financial and genetic resources, and the transfer of ecologically sound technologies. To this end, the Convention provides for a financial

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“mechanism” (the GEF) and a subsidiary body on scientific, technical and technological advice.

A “Clearing House for Technical and Scientific Co-operation” is also established to provide a means for identifying and disseminating information relevant to the implementation of the Convention. This includes providing data for decision-making; supporting access to existing knowledge, generating new knowledge and more generally to promote technical and scientific communication and avoid duplication of efforts.

The Conferences of the Parties have defined “Thematic Work Programmes” on Coastal and Marine Biodiversity, Forests, Inland Waters, Agricultural Biodiversity, and Dry and sub-Humid Lands. These thematic “work programmes” outline the priorities for implementation of the Convention, related to specific ecosystems. Each work programme also identifies specific areas where research is required in support of implementation objectives. In the forest area, for example, these include the relationship between forest biodiversity and forest products and services; the impact of climate change on biodiversity, especially related to forests, and research on indigenous knowledge of conservation of forest resources.

EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES TO CONSERVE BIODIVERSITY

DIRECT MEASURES: IN SITU CONSERVATION

i. Protection of ecosystems and natural habitats; development of legislation for the protection of threatened species and populations.

ii. Rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems; support to local populations to develop and implement remedial action in degraded areas.

iii. Controlling risks associated with biotechnology (living modified organisms). iv. Sustainable wildlife management. v. Identification of components of biological diversity important for its conservation

and sustainable use; monitoring these components through sampling and other techniques (including databases).

vi. Identification and promotion of indigenous knowledge related to biodiversity use and conservation, and assistance for indigenous groups to participate in relevant meetings at national and international levels. Support for developing countries’ participation in the expert-level discussions held to clarify the key technical and scientific issues relevant to the implementation of the Convention.

DIRECT MEASURES: EX-SITU CONSERVATION

i. Establishment and maintenance of ex-situ conservation facilities in developing countries (e.g. botanical gardens, gene banks etc).

ii. Establishment of facilities for ex-situ research on, plants, animals and micro-organisms.

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iii. Assistance related to the Clearing House Mechanism: access to relevant scientific information networks and databases, including notably through Internet and capacity development in relevant disciplines.

iv. Support for improved access to, or transfer of, technologies that are relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or make use of genetic resources.

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

INTEGRATION OF BIODIVERSITY INTO NATIONAL PLANNING AND POLICY MAKING

i. Identification of processes and activities which have, or are likely to have, a significant adverse impact on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity; systematic environmental impact assessments.

ii. Development of appropriate legislative frameworks, for example in the area of biosafety.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, RESEARCH

i. Legislative, administrative and policy measures on access to genetic resources for environmentally sound uses.

ii. Facilitate access to, and transfer of, technology. iii. Capacity to identify, acquire, develop and apply necessary technologies to ensure

sustainable use of biological resources; and to comply with reporting requirements. iv. Exchange of information relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of

biological diversity. v. Establishment of national assessment and monitoring systems and assistance for

technical and policy formulation efforts relevant to each of the “thematic work programmes”.

2. UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS Climate change is due to increasing concentrations of certain gases in the atmosphere. There are many uncertainties about the scale and impacts of climate change. Because of the delaying effect of the oceans in absorbing or emitting GreenHouse Gases (GHGs), surface temperatures do not respond immediately. However, the balance of the evidence suggests that the climate may have already started to change.

GHGs control the flow of natural energy through the atmosphere by absorbing infrared radiation. The overall concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere depends on the balance between the release of GHG into the atmosphere and their re-absorption back from the atmosphere. Principal GHGs include Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, a range of artificial chemicals (CFCs, HCFCs and Sulphur Hexafluoride), Ozone. While many GHGs

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are released by natural processes, human activities contribute to the build-up of GHG in the atmosphere by releasing GHGs (anthropogenic GHG sources) and by interfering with natural GHG “sinks”. GHG sources are processes that lead to the release of GHGs into the atmosphere. Examples include burning fossil fuels and cattle raising. GHG sinks remove GHGs from the atmosphere. For example, a growing tree is a “Carbon Sink”: it takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, uses the carbon to create wooden matter, and releases oxygen (This is called photosynthesis). Converting a forest to other uses stops this “sink” function. Because considerable amounts of carbon are captured in the sub-soil, land degradation leads to the emission of carbon back into the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced when fossil fuels are used (e.g. coal, petroleum) to generate energy and when forests are converted to other uses. These are probably the first and second largest sources of GHGs emissions from human activities. Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) are emitted from agricultural activities, changes in land use and the decomposition of organic wastes in landfills. Extracting, processing, transporting, and distributing fossil fuels also release greenhouse gases. This happens when natural gas is flared or vented from oil wells, emitting mostly carbon dioxide and methane, respectively but also from accidents, poor maintenance, and small leaks in well heads, pipe fittings, and pipelines. Ozone in the lower atmosphere is generated indirectly by automobile exhaust fumes, Artificial chemicals (CFCs, HCFCs, PFCs) and other long-lived gases such as sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) are released by industrial processes.

IMPACTS AND REMEDIES Climate change is likely to have a significant impact on the global environment. In general, the faster the climate changes, the greater will be the risk of damage. The mean sea level is projected to rise, causing flooding of low-lying areas and other damage. Climatic zones (and thus ecosystems and agricultural zones) could shift towards the poles, forests, deserts, rangelands, and other unmanaged ecosystems would face new climatic stresses and individual species will become extinct. Risks of more extreme weather events and of changes in the Gulf Stream could increase.

Human society will face new risks and pressures. Some regions are likely to experience food shortages and hunger. Water resources will be affected as precipitation and evaporation patterns change around the world. Physical infrastructure will be damaged, particularly by sea-level rise and by extreme weather events. Economic activities, human settlements, and human health will experience many direct and indirect effects. The poor and disadvantaged are the most vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change.

KEY FEATURES OF THE UNFCCC AND THE KYOTO PROTOCOL The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change sets an “ultimate objective” of stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a “safe” level, namely a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. This

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should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner. To achieve this objective, all parties have a general commitment to address climate change, adapt to its effects, and report on the action they are taking to implement the Convention.

The Convention notes “that the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries, that per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low, and that the share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs.”

The Convention divides countries into “Annex I-Parties” and “non-Annex-Parties”. Annex I Parties include developed countries, and economies in transition.4 Non Annex I Parties include primarily developing countries. Annex I Parties committed to adopting national policies and measures with the (non-legally binding) aim of returning their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. In their actions to achieve the objective of the Convention and to implement its provisions, the Parties shall be guided, inter alia by the set of Principles laid out in Article 3.

The Convention commits all Parties to:

i. develop and submit “national communications” containing inventories of greenhouse-gas emissions by sources and greenhouse-gas removals by “sinks”;

ii. adopt national programmes for mitigating climate change and develop strategies for adapting to its impacts;

iii. promote technology transfer and the sustainable management, conservation, and enhancement of greenhouse gas “sinks” and “reservoirs” (such as forests and oceans);

iv. take climate change into account in their social, economic, and environmental policies;

v. co-operate in scientific, technical, and educational matters; and vi. promote education, public awareness, and the exchange of information related to

climate change.

Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol have agreed that Annex I countries will have a legally binding commitment to reduce their collective emissions of six greenhouse gases by at least 5 percent below 1990 levels in the period 2008–2012. The Protocol also establishes an emission trading regime and a “clean development mechanism (CDM)”.

EXAMPLE OF MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION

COLLECTION AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATED TO CL IMATE CHANGE

i. Scientific, technological, technical, socio-economic and other research, systematic observation and development of data archives related to the climate system (causes,

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effects, magnitude and timing of climate change; economic and social consequences of various response strategies).

ii. Exchange of scientific, technical, socio-economic information related to climate change.


Cultural, educational, institutional, legal, and regulatory practices are all very important to effective mitigation of climate change. Examples of relevant activities in this area include:

i. Formulation of measures to foster the incorporation of climate change concerns into social, economic and environmental policies and actions.

ii. Impact assessments of sectoral policies on GHG emissions and removals. Relevant sectors include energy, transport, water management, agriculture, forest management and others. This includes measures to take into account potential climate change impact when designing infrastructure.

iii. Establishment of policies and regulatory frameworks to encourage GHG reduction by consumers, investors and producers. This includes taxes, regulatory standards, tradable emissions permits, voluntary programmes, and the phase-out of counterproductive subsidies, etc.

MEASURES TO CONTAIN GHG EMISSIONS AND ENHANCE GHG ABSORPTION

The avenues for limiting GHG emissions are many and varied. They include encouraging energy efficiency and the limitation of GHG emissions in industry, power generation, transport, housing, waste management and agriculture. Specific examples include:

i. Development, application and diffusion, including transfer, of technologies, practices and processes that control, reduce or prevent GHG emissions.

ii. Sustainable management of forests, wetlands, drylands, etc. iii. Improved agriculture and livestock management. iv. Programmes to improve urban management (reducing congestion, urban sprawl,

etc). v. Activities to reduce the release of GHGs in the extraction and processing of fossil

fuels (e.g. by reducing leaks or recovering methane).

Many of these measures will have direct socio-economic benefits apart from climate change-relevant benefits.

3. UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS “Desertification” means land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. While land degradation occurs everywhere, it is only defined as “desertification” when it occurs in

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those areas. Desertification affects seventy percent of the world’s dry-lands, amounting to one fourth of the world’s land surface.

Land degradation means reduction or loss, of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain-fed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands. Land degradation is often linked with food insecurity and poverty, in a cause-effect relationship.

Causes of land degradation include natural hazards – droughts, floods – combined with human activities – notably over-tilling and overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation practices (leading to salinization). Fertilizers, pesticides, and contamination by heavy metals, and the introduction of exotic (invasive) plant species also lead to soil degradation.

Actions to combat desertification include activities aimed at preventing and/or reducing land degradation; rehabilitating partly degraded land and reclaiming desertified land.

Actions to mitigate the effects of drought include activities related to the prediction of drought and intended to reduce the vulnerability of society and natural systems to drought as it relates to combating desertification.

KEY FEATURES OF THE UNCCD The Convention to Combat Desertification aims to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in affected countries, particularly in Africa, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. It recognizes that achieving this objective will involve long term integrated strategies aimed at improving the productivity of land and rehabilitating, conservation and management of land and water resources, with a view to improving living conditions, especially at the community level. Under the Convention, affected country parties undertake to give due priority to combating desertification and allocate adequate resources, address the underlying causes of desertification, with special attention to socio economic factors providing an enabling policy and legislative environment, and promoting increased awareness and facilitating the participation of local populations and NGOs in efforts to combat desertification and mitigating the effects of drought. Developed country parties are committed to promote the mobilization of financial and other resources to combat desertification, and encourage the mobilization of private sector and non-governmental sources.

Under the Convention, affected developing country parties5 are required to prepare National Action Programmes to combat Desertification. These plans elaborate long-term policies and strategies to combat desertification; mitigate the effects of drought; prevent the degradation of land not yet affected. These plans should be formulated within the broader context of national policies for sustainable development. Action Plans to combat desertification can be developed at the national, sub-regional or regional levels as appropriate.

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EXAMPLES OF MEASURES TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION

DIRECT MEASURES

i. Food security systems. ii. Fixation of shifting sand dunes; erosion control; biodiversity conservation.

iii. Strengthening agricultural extension services, training rural organizations. iv. Development and dissemination of efficient use of alternative energy sources and

technologies. v. Water resources management for arid-land agriculture.

vi. Integrated management of International River, lake, and hydro-geological basins. vii. Alternative livelihoods, (e.g. eco-tourism).

These activities are often integrated as part of broader socio-economic development projects, including Integrated Local Area Development Programmes (LADPs).


i. Research on the processes leading to desertification and drought and on the impact of natural and human causal factors; collection and exchange of information related to desertification.

ii. Strengthening hydrological and meteorological services. iii. Development of environmentally sound technology relevant to combating

desertification. iv. Adaptation of traditional methods of agriculture to modern socio-economic

conditions. v. Identification of policy and institutional factors which may hamper the fight against

desertification (e.g. in the area of agriculture, water management etc). vi. Strengthening of institutional and legal frameworks; including the regimes for tenure

and resource harmonization of policy and legislation.

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• NOAA National Climatic Data Center site on Global Warming: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html.

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• Anderson, Magnus. Nine lessons from Poland. International environmental affairs, Vol. 10, 1998.

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Documents

Reference Guide for Rio Conventions