Three reports released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) evaluate and summarize options for low carbon city planning, non-motorised transport (NMT) and infrastructure risks due to climate variability in India. The reports were published as part of the project on ‘Promoting Low Carbon Transport in India.’
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.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo, in an editorial in the ‘Huffington Post,’ has outlined next steps following on the outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), which concluded a year earlier in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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 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.
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.