The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the 2012 report on the Momentum for Change Initiative. The report features nine experiences that contribute to address climate change while improving livelihoods and living conditions in developing countries’ urban areas.
The UN has launched the fourth edition of Moving Towards a Climate Neutral UN, the annual progress report on the UN’s journey towards climate neutrality, which details the UN’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2011 and some of the activities undertaken in 2012 to reduce them.
The Organization for American States (OAS) has announced the 14 recipients from ten Central American and Caribbean countries of US$50,000 grants from the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) to non-governmental organizations, community associations and academic institutions for community-based projects in clean energy, disaster resilience, sustainable transport and waste management.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNEP Risø Centre (URC) December’s newsletter includes stories on the Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project and electrification in Africa, including efforts within the Sustainable Energy For All Initiative (SE4ALL). The newsletter also features several stories on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), including capacity building projects in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region.
The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank report, which is based on analyses in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and South Africa, finds that many of the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction measures pay themselves back, while ambitious global action to reduce technology costs, scale up private sector financing, and provide climate financing is still required.
Switzerland and Peru are collaborating under the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) on a project to improve climate services for the Peruvian Andes. The project will also incorporate generated data into environmental decision-making in the agriculture, energy, tourism, transport, health and education sectors.
The reports highlight that improving energy efficiency in operations, products and services, and the increased use of renewable energy are key priority action areas for business to support the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, while they also emphasize that industry-wide standards should be developed as well as new financing mechanisms to overcome risks associated with the suggested action areas.