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More than ten years after REDD + (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) entered the UN climate negotiations, its current state and future direction are a matter of contention. This paper analyses 162 INDCs (Intended National Determined Contributions), or climate action plans, to assess whether and how countries plan to use REDD + in their implementation the Paris Agreement. Our analysis suggests that REDD + continues to have political traction Many tropical countries still have expectations of REDD +, and hope that public and private donors will support chronically underfunded domestic conservation programs. However, the expectations are not formulated in detail. We argue that until the questions of how to finance REDD + and how to deal with the drivers of deforestation are resolved, REDD is unlikely to move quickly from formulated INDCs plans to implementation on the ground.

Addressing climate change requires a thorough and sincere communication not only as to the scale of the challenge the world faces but also as to the international cooperation possibilities and countries willingness to commit to the challenge. Taking the lead in this group, European Union has acknowledged the fact that climate change is a serious social, political and economic challenge. Following the indications provided by the scientific rationale as to the urgent action that is required, European Community has involved itself in fight against the phenomena by engaging in working on a feasible solution to this problem. European Commission in particular has been taking upon its shoulders much of the workload in this field and has proved its dedication especially by involving stakeholders in constant dialogue on the subject. Sharing the ambitions of the European Commission in creating a cleaner world, the major goal of this paper is to provide the Commission with a series of recommendations from a development/political, environmental and economic perspective to ensure that the ambitions become a reality, and therefore a success. Accordingly, this paper provides an overview of sectoral and general approaches' effectiveness in terms of their economic and environmental as well as compliance prospects. Conclusion wraps up the paper providing a number of recommendations stemming mainly from stakeholders input's analysis.

The case for impending climate change is now proven. Governments can decide, by their action or inaction, to what extent the change will occur; the International Agriculture Research Community (IARC) will have no say in this whatsoever. It is up to the IARC to try to maintain objectives in the face of the possible scenarios. In this paper we discuss the various types of agricultural research projects in terms of their time to fruition and the expected longevity of their results. We look at the information requirements for ensuring that project products have the necessary lifetimes to justify the investments in the research. We show that strategies differ depending on the type of research that is undertaken. Basic research into genetic traits and capacities within the available germplasm has to be planned in the long term with outcomes in mind. The vulnerability of the populations and agricultural systems that use developments from this basic research now places its priority setting in a changing climate and world concept. Ensuring that the germplasm is available for use has taken on a critical new importance with recent studies. Germplasm banks comprise a small fraction of what we will be relying on for the future. Well over 90% of useful genetic variability may still be in the wild. This has to be considered carefully in setting out research objectives. Plant breeders, who will put together the results of the basic research into useful packages, now have an uncertain target to aim for when regarding future climate conditions. They may not be able to choose their testing sites in present climates to target agricultural populations that will be using their products in the future. Agronomic and agricultural development projects face the most difficult task. How do we develop stable farming systems in an environment that is not only unstable, but also changing so slowly that the farmers cannot see, or even envisage, the changes. These are some examples of the problem. The paper sets out to categorise the types of research and information that will be necessary at all levels. We draw on experience from the CGIAR system and from CIAT in particular. We show that a number of software tools have been developed that can address some of these problems. ; Peer-reviewed

Threats to health from climate change are increasingly recognized, yet little research into the effects upon health systems is published. However, additional demands on health systems are increasingly documented. Pathways include direct weather impacts, such as amplified heat stress, and altered ecological relationships, including alterations to the distribution and activity of pathogens and vectors. The greatest driver of demand on future health systems from climate change may be the alterations to socioeconomic systems; however, these "tertiary effects" have received less attention in the health literature. Increasing demands on health systems from climate change will impede health system capacity. Changing weather patterns and sea-level rise will reduce food production in many developing countries, thus fostering undernutrition and concomitant disease susceptibility. Associated poverty will impede people's ability to access and support health systems. Climate change will increase migration, potentially exposing migrants to endemic diseases for which they have limited resistance, transporting diseases and fostering conditions conducive to disease transmission. Specific predictions of timing and locations of migration remain elusive, hampering planning and misaligning needs and infrastructure. Food shortages, migration, falling economic activity, and failing government legitimacy following climate change are also "risk multipliers" for conflict. Injuries to combatants, undernutrition, and increased infectious disease will result. Modern conflict often sees health personnel and infrastructure deliberately targeted and disease surveillance and eradication programs obstructed. Climate change will substantially impede economic growth, reducing health system funding and limiting health system adaptation. Modern medical care may be snatched away from millions who recently obtained it.

Threats to health from climate change are increasingly recognized, yet little research into the effects upon health systems is published. However, additional demands on health systems are increasingly documented. Pathways include direct weather impacts, such as amplified heat stress, and altered ecological relationships, including alterations to the distribution and activity of pathogens and vectors. The greatest driver of demand on future health systems from climate change may be the alterations to socioeconomic systems; however, these "tertiary effects" have received less attention in the health literature. Increasing demands on health systems from climate change will impede health system capacity. Changing weather patterns and sea-level rise will reduce food production in many developing countries, thus fostering undernutrition and concomitant disease susceptibility. Associated poverty will impede people's ability to access and support health systems. Climate change will increase migration, potentially exposing migrants to endemic diseases for which they have limited resistance, transporting diseases and fostering conditions conducive to disease transmission. Specific predictions of timing and locations of migration remain elusive, hampering planning and misaligning needs and infrastructure. Food shortages, migration, falling economic activity, and failing government legitimacy following climate change are also "risk multipliers" for conflict. Injuries to combatants, undernutrition, and increased infectious disease will result. Modern conflict often sees health personnel and infrastructure deliberately targeted and disease surveillance and eradication programs obstructed. Climate change will substantially impede economic growth, reducing health system funding and limiting health system adaptation. Modern medical care may be snatched away from millions who recently obtained it.

Issues to be addressed when signatories to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) meet at Kyoto, Japan in Dec. 1997. Air pollution, greenhouse gases, emissions reduction, and policy options.

Natural resource conflicts in Mali in the last decade represent an important case to visualise the interconnection between land and climate issues. The country has received significant international attention in recent years both due to the announcement of large-scale land deals and due to its perceived vulnerability to climate stress. At the same time, Malian peasant movements have formed important networks of resistance and have been leading the pilot implementation of village land commissions to recognise and manage community resources, based on a new Agricultural Land Law. This paper explores emerging trends in natural resource politics through the lens of interactions between land and climate policies and discourses. We analyse the growing use of the frame of 'climate security' to associate climate change, conflict and migration in relation to countries such as Mali, by looking into the possibilities that this frame could shift focus and blame towards conflicts between marginalised groups and further close space for bottom-up participation. As an alternative, we explore the relevance of a platform of agrarian climate justice and the possibilities and challenges of enacting some of its principles through the implementation of the village land commissions.

Abstract The Central American Dry Corridor (CADC) is among the most climate-vulnerable regions worldwide. Climate change, commonly referred to as a "threat multiplier" of pre-existing socioeconomic issues, already undermines rural livelihoods by reducing agricultural yields and income opportunities. This paper provides a review of climate-related migration in the CADC region while identifying the specific pathways by which climate change manifests itself as a threat multiplier to migration. Different forms of human mobility (seasonal/temporal/permanent and internal/international migration) are increasingly attempted as adaptation strategies by affected households to diversify incomes and offset climate impacts. Preferred intra-regional migrant destinations tend to be less climate-vulnerable and also less violent. Notably, climate change is not isolated from socioeconomic and political migration drivers. Erosion of rural livelihoods reduces the costs of engaging in illicit coping strategies (e.g., illegal crop production) and simultaneously favours rapid urbanisation, which is linked to (forced) gang recruitment, primarily affecting the youth. These processes contribute to extraordinarily high violence levels, which are a major push factor for migration on their own, ultimately challenging state authority. Moreover, as outmigration from the region is projected to increase, the observed securitisation of borders, particularly along the USA-Mexico border and the Mexico-Guatemala border, while unfit to limit migration attempts, make migration more desperate and dangerous, allowing organised crime to step in and exploit migration as an economic undertaking. Thus, for the CADC, the depoliticised and simplistic narrative of migration serving as adaptation must be questioned. Policy coherence and state capacity for addressing climate-security-migration nexus challenges are critical needs.

The authors use a comparative politics framework, examining electoral interests, policy-maker's own normative commitments, and domestic political institutions as factors influencing Annex 1 countries' decisions on Kyoto Protocol ratification and adoption of national policies to mitigate climate change. Economic costs and electoral interests matter a great deal, even when policy-makers are morally motivated to take action on climate change. Leaders' normative commitments may carry the day under centralized institutional conditions, but these commitments can be reversed when leaders change. Electoral systems, federalism, and executive-legislative institutional configurations all influence ratification decisions and subsequent policy adoption. Although institutional configurations may facilitate or hinder government action, high levels of voter concern can trump institutional obstacles. Governments' decisions to ratify, and the reduction targets they face upon ratification, do not necessarily determine their approach to carbon emissions abatement policies: for example, ratifying countries that accept demanding targets may fail to take significant action. Adapted from the source document.

The paper analyzes the climatic anomalies in Oltenia that occurred in spring 2020. After the Mediterranean winter of 2019-2020, the spring was excessively early on large areas, and on average very early. As a result, the vegetation started to develop very early, since the first part of March, and the flowering of the early fruit trees took place in the first half of March. In the first two months of spring there were 31 days in which the daily minimum temperatures were negative and there was hoar and frost on the soil surface. Thus, in March, minimum negative temperatures were registered in the intervals: 1.III, 6.III, 16-19.III, 23-31.III, ie 15 days. In April, minimum negative temperatures were registered in the intervals: 1-10.IV, 15-16. IV, 23-25.IV and 27.IV, totaling 16 days. The cooling of the weather culminated with the interval 22-25.III, in which the highest amounts of precipitation were registered in March but also in the whole cold season 2019-2020. There were blizzards that deposited a consistent layer of snow and banks formed, lasting 4 days being the longest in the cold season 2019-2020. The intense cooling of the weather after the warm winters are destructive climatic anomalies. The paper is part of an extensive series of studies on climate variability in southwestern Romania (Oltenia) in the context of climate change (I. Marinică, 2006, 2008; Marinicǎ I., Marinicǎ Andreea Floriana, 2016).

In the wake of 25 UN Climate Change Conferences of the Parties (and counting), international cooperation on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions to avoid substantial and potentially irreversible climate change remains an important challenge. The limited impact that the Kyoto Protocol and its successor, the Paris Agreement, have had on curbing emissions demonstrate both the dificulties in negotiating ambitious environmental agreements and the reluctance of countries to comply with their agreed emission targets once they have joined the treaty. Therefore, a better understanding of the obstacles and opportunities that the interactions between domestic and international policy pose for the design of successful international climate cooperation is of utmost importance. To shed light on the roots of the stalemate (and suggest possible ways out), this article reviews, and draws lessons from, a growing theoretical, experimental and empirical literature that accounts for the hierarchical interplay between domestic political pressure and international climate policy.

An assessment of the vulnerability of Australia's biodiversity to climate change was commissioned by the Australian Government to help increase our understanding of how to help Australia's rich biodiversity adapt to climate change. The assessment finds that Australia's biodiversity is at risk from even moderate climate change and already under stress, for example from habitat degradation, changed fire regimes and invasive species. Climate change is likely to exacerbate these existing stressors and add additional stresses such as through declining water availability. Australia is one of 17 megadiverse countries - a group of countries that harbour more than 70 per cent of the Earth's species and are therefore considered extremely biodiverse. Australia has many species that are unique to Australia and vulnerable to climate change. About 85 per cent of Australia's terrestrial mammals, 91 of flowering plants, and 90 per cent of reptiles and frogs are found nowhere else in the world. More than 50 per cent of the world's marsupial species occur only in Australia. Rates of extinction of species are likely to increase as the global average temperature rises by just 1.0 or 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and likely to accelerate sharply as temperature rises beyond 2 degrees Celsius. The assessment was undertaken by an independent group of experts, led by Professor Will Steffen, for the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council.