Video: Red Eyes in Copenhagen: Adaptation at COP15
27/12/09 08:26
Red Eyes in
Copenhagen: Climate Adaptation at COP15
7 mins, December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
In December 2009, representatives of 192 nations met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. Most of these efforts focused on climate mitigation — reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to slow down the rate of climate change. These results received widespread analysis. But there were also heated if less publicized negotiations to help the poor and vulnerable of the world adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. Filmed within hours of the conclusion of the Copenhagen Accord on 19 December 2009, this film shows the sleep-deprived thoughts of WWF staff about the impacts and efficacy of the Accord for international climate adaptation policy. These staff have worked on these issues for many years.
7 minutes, produced and directed by John Matthews. Read More...
7 mins, December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
In December 2009, representatives of 192 nations met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. Most of these efforts focused on climate mitigation — reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to slow down the rate of climate change. These results received widespread analysis. But there were also heated if less publicized negotiations to help the poor and vulnerable of the world adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. Filmed within hours of the conclusion of the Copenhagen Accord on 19 December 2009, this film shows the sleep-deprived thoughts of WWF staff about the impacts and efficacy of the Accord for international climate adaptation policy. These staff have worked on these issues for many years.
7 minutes, produced and directed by John Matthews. Read More...
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Video: Jim Jarvie from Mercy Corps on Development and Ecosystem-based Adaptation
26/12/09 06:04
Jim Jarvie
of Mercy Corps: The Direction of Adaptation and
Development.
2:25 mins, November 2009, Fuller Symposium, Washington, DC
Jim Jarvie was stood apart at the WWF Fuller Symposium last November: he works for Mercy Corps, one of the leading economic development non-governmental organizations active in the developing world today. In this video, he reflects on issues that are extremely relevant to the practice of climate adaptation globally: Is ecosystem-based adaptation different than community-based adaptation? How should environmental organizations and development groups work together? These topics have been burning issues for some time, and I've seen conflict — latent usually but sometimes explicit — directed form each type of group at the other over the past two years. This anxiety and anger are a terrible waste of energy, and there is plenty of fault to go around for the continuation of the fighting. But Jim speaks movingly of the way beyond. Jim was interviewed shortly after his full talk, which is also very much worth viewing at this site.
2:25 minutes, produced and directed by Daphne Patterson of WWF. Read More...
2:25 mins, November 2009, Fuller Symposium, Washington, DC
Jim Jarvie was stood apart at the WWF Fuller Symposium last November: he works for Mercy Corps, one of the leading economic development non-governmental organizations active in the developing world today. In this video, he reflects on issues that are extremely relevant to the practice of climate adaptation globally: Is ecosystem-based adaptation different than community-based adaptation? How should environmental organizations and development groups work together? These topics have been burning issues for some time, and I've seen conflict — latent usually but sometimes explicit — directed form each type of group at the other over the past two years. This anxiety and anger are a terrible waste of energy, and there is plenty of fault to go around for the continuation of the fighting. But Jim speaks movingly of the way beyond. Jim was interviewed shortly after his full talk, which is also very much worth viewing at this site.
2:25 minutes, produced and directed by Daphne Patterson of WWF. Read More...
Guest Blog: Farming with the Titimangsa: Losing Weather (and Water) in Time
23/12/09 17:02
By
Nikolai Sindorf,
WWF-US, based in Laos
In 1997 I went to the western part of Java in Indonesia to research on agricultural water management. Java is one of the most densely populated regions and high-yielding rice paddy lands in the world.
The focus of my research was
how rice farmers dealt technologically and
organizationally with ongoing reforms in
large, engineered irrigation systems. During
this research I met a farmer who had
meticulously typed out his traditional
cropping calendar. This cropping calendar —
a titimangsa
— read like a
beautiful poem, describing the smell of the
dew, the color of the sunset, the touch of the
soil, and the observation of insect life
cycles.
Read More...
In 1997 I went to the western part of Java in Indonesia to research on agricultural water management. Java is one of the most densely populated regions and high-yielding rice paddy lands in the world.
Read More...
The Future of Climate-Water Talk: WWW's Conclusions
21/12/09 18:59
World Water Week
has come up
several times here. Every August, the
Stockholm International Water
Institute (SIWI) hosts what is probably the
most important water event of the year —
certainly one that’s more fun and focused than
World Water Week, which is ridiculously large.
This week, SIWI has just pubbed their year-end
review of World Water Week’s
“results,” compiled by the rapporteur teams for
each subject area. For 2009, I was the one of
six rapporteurs for the
climate change theme, which
felt like a great honor to me. Our part of the
report has what I think are some interesting
implications for the state of the water and
climate change policy dialog internationally.
Which might be an encouraging contrast to
the more
disappointing news from
Copenhagen. Some highlights:
Read More...
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A Final COP Postcard: The Longest Day
21/12/09 08:07
The COP is finally
over, and I’ve had about 36 hours to begin to
absorb its truths and promises. Written so soon
after the negotiations have ended, I have no doubt
my reflections will achieve at best a facile and
tenuous first draft of history (or a poor excuse
for journalism). But I must write something to
describe where climate adaptation — our efforts to
prepare ourselves and other species for the coming
climate — is headed since the conclusion of the
Copenhagen sessions.
Read More...
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Video: More Water Asks at the COP
17/12/09 06:47
Quick update: a video
on the UNFCCC COP15 site of me speaking
last week on
water and climate from an event sponsored by the
Global Water Partnership, Stakeholders Forum,
and the Stockholm International Water Institute.
3 mins, UNFCCC official footage. In case the
link doesn’t work, you can find the entire
event here. Read More...
Joining the Strands at the COP
16/12/09 09:15
My interest in
knitting probably marks me as one of the more
visibly peculiar members of the WWF delegation to
the COP, but knitting is a great asset in a
high-stress setting. Some of the oldest knitting in
the world was found in bogs in this part of
northern Europe — perhaps five or six thousand
years old. Knitting is essentially the ability of
taking a single length of yarn and looping it back
against itself in order to make fabric and
clothing. It was a simple, brilliant invention. And
it can be quite beautiful. The idea of taking
strands of yarn and creating something new,
functional, and strong is a calming image as I
listen to the needles clicking in my room.
Especially given how the COP has been developing.
Read More...
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Video: The Language of Climate Change Is the Language of Water
14/12/09 04:04
At a recent event
sponsored by TERI and the Yale School of Forestry,
WWF-US CEO Carter Roberts spoke to a small
distinguished group in Denmark’s Kronborg Castle
about the vulnerability of freshwater species and
ecosystems — and communities and their livelihoods
— to climate change. His key message: the language
of climate change is the language of water. Listen
to the language of climate change. This message has
largely been missing from current discussions about
how to prioritize climate change adaptation
actions. This
video was produced over the weekend
from the event. 5 mins. Read More...
Video: Voices on water, biodiversity, and COP15
14/12/09 00:35
The Dutch government
and its environmental assessment
agency organized a great series of
events over two weeks here at the COP on climate
adaptation issues. If you’re interested in
water, it would be hard to leave the Holland
Climate House. I’m involved in a total of four
side events there, with one remaining. A
video was produced from
one of the events I participated in last week
focusing on water, climate adaptation, and
biodiversity issues in the negotiations
(background material on the event itself is
described here). Some nice quotes from a
wide range of people!
Read More...
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Teenage Angst at the COP: At the Hinge
14/12/09 00:02
A week of prelude is
over. The real work has begun in Copenhagen.
Last week was intense, fast paced, and frantic. Most people here are profoundly exhausted. But we’re at the hinge now. Negotiation teams are shifting from delaying and positioning to taking firm and often oppositional stands. More senior level staff are engaging in the government delegations — and more loudly. The hinge of the week has turned.
Read More...
Last week was intense, fast paced, and frantic. Most people here are profoundly exhausted. But we’re at the hinge now. Negotiation teams are shifting from delaying and positioning to taking firm and often oppositional stands. More senior level staff are engaging in the government delegations — and more loudly. The hinge of the week has turned.
Read More...
Asks for the COP: More Water, Please!
08/12/09 04:06
Much of the practice
of creating climate resilient, sustainable water
management is already well known and described in
policy statements such as the Dublin Principles of
1992, The Hague Ministerial Declaration on Water
Security of 2002, the Brisbane Declaration of 2007,
the Nairobi Statement on Land and Water Management
for Adaptation to Climate Change of 2009, and the
Stockholm Message to Copenhagen of 2009. I stand
proudly with these documents and their authors. A
comprehensive international agreement to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and the rate of climate
change is essential. But as we approach
international efforts to reduce the negative
impacts of climate change, especially the COP15, I
ask negotiators and policymakers to focus their
efforts on climate adaptation on these principles:
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Trust: Why We're Here in Copenhagen
08/12/09 03:55
Copenhagen is very
open city. For instance, it’s really rare to see a
bike in a stand that’s been locked. This is
amazing, given the actual number of bicycles here
in Copenhagen. There are counters at some of the
major intersections that show the number of bikes
that have passed by that day, and walking past one
of these counters around noon I saw that over
10,000 bikes had passed. And this is in weather
that has been hovering around freezing, very windy,
and extremely wet for the past week.
Read More...
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Arrivals: The Beginning of Copenhagen
07/12/09 00:04
My first morning in
Copenhagen, and I haven’t yet seen the light. Most
of our delegation is staying in a hostel that a
reviewer wondered if this is what a prison might
look like if it had been designed by Ikea. It’s
actually not that bad — I’ve stayed in much worse.
And the beginning of a long stay in any place far
from home always focuses on securing essentials and
dealing with practicalities: unpacking, making sure
you have the right plugs for your electronics, and
laundry. Read
More...
New adaptation blog: ClimatePrep.org
06/12/09 23:57
We are happy to
announce the launch of WWF’s new adaptation focused
blog,
ClimatePrep.org!
ClimatePrep.org is designed to share the stories, lessons, and explorations of people preparing for a changing climate. While the impacts of global warming are already being felt all over the world, how to anticipate and adjust to these potentially devastating and yet uncertain impacts remains extremely unclear. ClimatePrep.org aims to bridge these gaps by illustrating climate change adaptation through on-the-ground projects and tracking firsthand the progress of preparing for a changing climate at the national and international policy levels.
Read More...
ClimatePrep.org is designed to share the stories, lessons, and explorations of people preparing for a changing climate. While the impacts of global warming are already being felt all over the world, how to anticipate and adjust to these potentially devastating and yet uncertain impacts remains extremely unclear. ClimatePrep.org aims to bridge these gaps by illustrating climate change adaptation through on-the-ground projects and tracking firsthand the progress of preparing for a changing climate at the national and international policy levels.
Read More...
