Print
Email

CliMates' Publications

CliMates conducts collaborative research on different topics related to climate change. In 2011-2012, the CliMates were grouped in national delegations corresponding to their country of origin. Delegations worked on common, transversal topics within the same timeframes (Research Sessions), resulting in national publications.

They worked on four different research projects:

 

 

 

CliMates Country Profiles 

The CliMates Country Profile is a document written by CliMates delegations that compiles and analyzes general information on climate issues in their specific country. This official CliMates document will permit all CliMates to familiarize themselves with the different national and local contexts of represented countries, and will serve as a basis for discussion and negotiation between delegates throughout our research and our Summit. 

Session One: Agriculture and Climate Change

How could the agricultural sector become more conducive towards climate change mitigation and adaptation?

Agriculture is a key driver of climate change. According to the FAO, animal agriculture alone accounts, from feed crops to shipment, for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Projected agriculture-related emissions are leading us towards a temperature increase well above 2 degrees Celsius. 

Agriculture is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, in varying ways across regions of the world, and there is obviously a dire need for adaptation. The IPCC projected that rain-fed agriculture in Africa could be reduced by 50% by 2020, and all regions of the world will likely be threatened by decreased productivity due to drought, fires, pressures on natural resources among other climate change related factors.  

This problem is a challenge for all countries, that is both precise and wide enough in scope. It will always and increasingly be essential in the context of climate change's impacts, with an estimated global population of 9 billion people in 2050, a projected heightened food insecurity and the necessity of cleaner economic development.   The agricultural sector, in the context of climate change, requires immense attention in the present, and in the near and distant future.

 

Session Two: Linking Climate Change Adaptation Policies to Development

How can development be linked to climate change adaptation policies?

In a context of international "climato-economic crisis", figuring out how to couple climate change adaptation strategies with those of development is an urgent necessity. In many cases, lack of adaptation has been highly detrimental to countries' development. Economic and social consequences of natural disasters in the Asia South Pacific, for example, can be enormous in the absence of effectively implemented adaptation strategies and policies.

Development has often led to strategies that have gone directly against adaptation. In Senegal, for example, many developing communities decided to cut mangrove in order to produce and sell firewood. While this led to a short term increase of income on the one hand, it caused soil erosion and increased vulnerability to natural disasters on the other hand.

Conversely, there exists the risk that adaptation strategies may hinder and neglect development. Yvo de Boer, former executive secretary of the UNFCCC, warned of the risks of "climate washing" funding that is intended for development. The needs for adaptation and of development additional, and strategies for the two must be complementary.

In this second collaborative research session, CliMates are looking to identify the links between development and adaptation policies, seeking innovative ways to demonstrate how adaptation is a means for poverty eradication, a necessity to minimize economic costs of climate change impacts, and a way to rethink models of development.

Session Three: From Draft Zero to the CliMates Call for Action

The CliMates Call for Action will be the outcome document of the CliMates International Summit. It will present CliMates' vision and be a list of solutions to present to decision makers at all levels, including negotiators at the UNFCCC COP18. 

This Draft Zero will be filled in by CliMates delegations with commitments and recommendations throughout the third research session. At the CliMates Summit from October 29th to November 2nd 2012, CliMates, members of its partner organizations, and associated experts will discuss and negotiate the content of this CliMates Call for Action. 

 

 

Since the International Summit 2012, CliMates are however grouped by research project, independently from their country of origin. The research process leading to publications is now intercultural and interdisciplinary, as explained in the “Process” section.

You’ll find the new research groups’ publications here shortly!

 

Subscribe to our newsletter

 

CliMates' Latest!

 

Interactive platform