January, 2012 - Extreme Weather: On the Rise and Increasingly Linked to Global Climate Change

Increasing instances of what might have once been considered 100-year events - including catastrophic flooding, deadly heatwaves, hurricanes, and tornado clusters - have helped to highlight the fact that climate change is already here, and have spurred scientific inquiry into the link between global warming and specific weather events.

While 2011 was the costliest year ever recorded in terms of natural disaster damage, it differed from recent trends in that geophysical events not linked to climate (the Japanese earthquake and tsunami) accounted for most of the damage.  However, according to Peter Hoppe of Munich Re,  which has compiled a long-term database of reported natural disasters,   while earthquake events have increased slightly since 1980, likely due to better reporting,  the rise in weather-related damage has been much more severe.  "Our figures indicate a trend toward an increase in extreme weather events that can be fully explained only by climate change" Hoppe told Scientifc American in June 2011, "It's as if the weather machine had changed up a gear."

Researchers have also become more confident in their assessments of the link  between global climate change and individual events.  Until very recently, careful scientists would only say that certain extreme events were made more "likely" by rising global temperatures.  Recently, however, specific events including the 2010 Russian heat wave and flooding in the UK in 2000 have been "replayed" hundreds of times via computer modelling in order to establish statistically significant attribution of these events to climate change.

Increasing power and precision of such modelling efforts will likely yield more accurate findings in the future; unfortunately, it is  also increasingly apparent - even without use of the scientific method - that rising global temperatures will continue to yield more damaging climate and weather.

(More at: Climate Himalaya and Scientific American)

September, 2011 - Call for Pilot Adaptation Projects

THE HIGHER GROUND FOUNDATION has posted a "Call for Project Concept Notes" on its website. THE HIGHER GROUND is looking for projects based in developing countries that could be strong candidates to serve as the first pilots to generate climate related Vulnerability Reduction Credits (VRCs) under a new voluntary market it is creating.

The post includes guidelines for project developers. "While we are open to a variety of different project types, strong candidates for a pilot project need to demonstrate that they have clear climate vulnerability baselines and quantifiably prove that if a project is executed according to plans, it will provide clear, quantifiable and verifiable vulnerability reductions," said Climate Adaptation Works' Chief Executive Karl Schultz, a co-founder of THE HIGHER GROUND initiative. "Those involved in the selected pilot projects will be at the forefront of a climate adaptation market that could be much larger than today's carbon market. Their efforts promise to point the way for market-driven climate adaptation projects that could solve the dilemma that governments face in finding the means for sufficient sourcing, funding and executing climate adaptation projects in the world's developing countries, those most vulnerable to climate change."

Visit THE HIGHER GROUND FOUNDATION website for further information on this exciting opportunity.

June, 2011 - Climate Adaptation Works' Karl Schultz Co-Organizes Climate Finance Workshop in Bhutan

Climate Adaptation Works' Founder, Karl Schultz led a workshop on climate adaptation finance in Thimphu, Bhutan that considered conventional and innovative approaches to funding the needed measures to reduce this country's vulnerability to climate change.
The workshop brought together Royal Government of Bhutan officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gross National Happiness Commission, the NEC, and the key sector ministries involved in activities impacted by climate change along with representatives from UNDP and UNCDF. The workshop focused on identifying and evaluating financing measures and resources to reduce vulnerability and adapt to climate change.

For Bhutan this is critical as downscaled climate scenarios are indicating very significant changes in temperature and rainfall. These changes will impact rural communities, agricultural and energy production, and transport, municipal services, and a host of other potential sectors including health, tourism, and biodiversity. The costs are likely to be significant and additional to Bhutan’s existing development requirements, while there are a variety of existing and potential approaches and financing sources that RGoB and the Bhutanese people may tap.

Participants agreed that further work is needed to develop a national climate adaptation strategy, and that additional information on the climate adaptation funds and guidelines for applying will be important for Bhutan to prepare and fund needed adaptation measures at the sectoral and coordinated levels.

Related:

http://www.nec.gov.bt/cfw/funds

Dec. 14, 2010 - Copenhagen Principles adopted at Cancun

The 16th UN Conference of the Parties, which concluded on Saturday in Cancun, may have received less coverage than the proceedings in Copenhagen one year previously, but, according to the UN, “faith in the multilateral process” has been restored through the integration into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  of major elements of the Copenhagen Accord, including recognition of industrialised countries’ emission pledges under the accord, the development of funding mechanisms for “green aid” to developing countries, and an agreement to develop a framework of international verification of countries’ actions.

On mobilizing aid for to developing countries for mitigation and adaptation, the "Cancun Agreements" include a provision for providing $30 billion in "fast start" finance by 2012, with the intention of  raising $100 billion in long term funds  by 2012.

The UNFCCC press release on these agreements can be found here.

Nov. 5, 2010 - UN Panel Outlines Paths to Adaptation Funding

New York – The UN’s High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF) today released its report on mobilizing the transfer of funds for climate change adaptation from developed nations to undeveloped nations, many of which are particularly vulnerable to climate change.  According to the AGF, the goal of providing $100 billion per year by 2020, which had been targeted at the Copenhagen Climate Conference last December, is “challenging but feasible”.

In the report, the AGF suggests that a primary funding source could come from the transfer of a percentage of the revenues from carbon taxes and/or permit auctions; based on carbon prices of $20-$25/t CO2e, 10% of such revenues from developed countries could mobilize up to $30 billion per year for adaptation.   Other potential sources include direct budgetary funding, the repurposing of existing fossil fuel subsidies, and more indirect levers such as international private capital flow stimulus and green investment through multilateral development banks.   An additional $10 billion per year might be raised through a tax on international currency transactions, although the AGF notes, and commenters have warned,   that this would be difficult to implement universally.

The findings of the report will be forwarded to the heads of state attending next month’s Conference of the Parties 16 in Cancun, where the options for possible amendment and inclusion into the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be debated.  Although in principle the goal of funding adaptation measures seems attainable, a number of major parties will have significant disagreements over the details of this plan.  Additionally, the overall political climate may not prove to be favourable,   especially given the results of the recent midterm elections in the US.   

Climate Adaptation Works’ Karl Schultz notes, “the AGF’s report is a powerful step forward in securing political momentum to finance climate adaptation.  Climate Adaptation Works hopes our expertise and offerings, in particular our market-based credit mechanism can help play a role in both identifying politically viable sources of finance and deploying it in the most effective way to help vulnerable communities in developing countries.”

For more information on the AGF, visit: http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/pages/financeadvisorygroup

  For more information on Climate Adaptation Works’ market based climate adaptation finance mechanism, see: www.climate-mitigation.com/CP126.pdf

  Sept. 30, 2010 - Climate Finance Meeting in Geneva             

High-ranking representatives from 46 countries and the EU met in Geneva on 2 and 3 September 2010 for an informal exchange on the financing of climate action. The dialogue was chaired by Swiss Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa. Both praised the constructive atmosphere at the talks in  -for the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun.

The aim of the climate dialogue of 2 and 3 September 2010 in Geneva was to raise awareness among the invited countries of the challenges involved in the financing of measures to deal with climate change. It was also intended to discuss possible financing methods with a view to exerting a positive influence on the formal climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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Climate Adaptation Works' Founder, Karl Schultz led a workshop on climate adaptation finance in Thimphu, Bhutan that considered conventional and innovative approaches to funding the needed measures to reduce this country's vulnerability to climate change...more