The Uganda POA is the first of its kind in the world, and promotes solid waste composting in urban areas, a system that, unlike landfills, returns organic matter to the soil, prevents land degradation, and significantly reduces methane emissions. The new program helps Ugandan municipalities set up waste composting facilities that are financially sustainable because of the revenues generated from the sale of both compost and carbon credits. A total of 156,889 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) and 52,296 Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) will be sold to the World Bank’s Community Development Carbon Fund.

The programme also builds on South-South linkages by harnessing expertise and models of simple composting development in South Asia. And it was designed with the involvement of experts from India, who will also offer monitoring and training support. [World Bank Press Release]

The mayors from the Philippines join 60 other mayors from around the world already committed to the campaign. The aim of the campaign is to enlist over 1,000 local government leaders to invest more in disaster risk reduction (DRR), including by: improving urban planning, infrastructure and building safety; reinforcing drainage systems to reduce flood, storm and health threats; installing early warning systems; conducting public preparedness drills; and taking measures to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change.

The new signatories from the Philippines include: the Municipality of Dumangas, a coastal town in the province of Iloilo, which has implemented the Climate Field School for Farmers as an innovative DDR and climate adaptation strategy for agriculture; Southern Leyte, recipient of the Gawad Kalasag Award, an annual Philippine Presidential award for the best contingency plan for disaster preparedness and DRR programme; and the Municipality of San Francisco, an area facing increasing threats to its coastal mangrove forests, seagrass belts and corals, including increasing storm surges, sea level rise, coral bleaching, overfishing and coastal encroachments.

The signing ceremony was held during the Southeast Asia Regional Consultation Workshop on Strengthening Climate Resilience, which convened from 22-23 July 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand, and was organized by Plan International, the Institute of Development Studies and Christian Aid. [UN/ISDR Press Release]

July 2010: The Danone wet carbon partnership, an initiative of the Ramsar Secretariat, IUCN and Danone, has extended the deadline for submission of project proposals that can deliver certified carbon credits and local community benefits through restoring mangrove ecosystems.

The partnership is interested in large-scale projects that can be implemented quickly and efficiently. The partners are seeking to invest in “wet carbon” projects that have the potential to deliver between 10,000 and 300,000 tons per annum of carbon offsets, certifiable by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or the Voluntary Carbon Standard. [Wetcarbon Call for Proposals]

The study responds to recommendations formulated at the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable held in the Marshall Islands in 2009, where concern was expressed about the Pacific region’s challenges in accessing available funding, effectively managing and implementing projects under current funding arrangements, and ensuring timely reporting to donors.

The study is expected to assess resources currently available to Pacific island countries for climate change initiatives, and identify likely new funding, in order to guide future national and regional responses and policies, including coordination arrangements. The results of the study will be presented to the SPREP Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place in Madang, Papua New Guinea, in September 2010. [SPREP Press Release]

The grant will be used to support local authorities in creating the policy, regulatory, institutional, financial and monitoring mechanisms for the “eco-city,” which is expected to be home to 350,000 people by 2020. The project will help promote “green transport,” such as public transport, walking tracks and bicycle pathways. It will also support the construction of “green buildings” through the introduction of energy efficient building standards that are higher than the national standard.

Tianjin, China’s third largest city with a population of 11.76 million, is developing the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City in collaboration with the Singapore Government. A Framework Agreement was signed between the two Governments in November 2007. [World Bank Press Release]

Through the SEED Awards, UNEP aims to identify inspiring examples of partnership-based enterprises that can help meet sustainable development challenges. SEED Awards winners receive expert advice on developing their business plans, take part in tailor-made workshops and benefit from high-level profiling of their initiatives through link-ups with SEED’s international network. Entrepreneurs from developing and emerging economies can apply for a SEED award. This year, as part of UNEP’s Green Economy project, particular emphasis will be placed on seven target countries in Africa: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. A total of 35 start-up initiatives will be awarded in 2010. [UNEP Press Release]

The Global Outlook that UNEP is in the process of compiling is designed to provide credible, science-based information in an unbiased format for use by the public and decision makers. The project website, which is designed to inform experts and policy makers, contains details on the project, topical news, an events calendar and a multimedia gallery. A website for the public is also being constructed. [Project Website]

The US students, who will be assisted by three Swiss students and three American landscape architecture professors, will develop a sustainable landscape design that will be implemented over a five-year period. The US Mission building in Geneva is described as the ‘Flagship Post for Energy and Sustainability’ by the US State Department. Some of its features include the largest solar energy installation ever undertaken by the US Department of State abroad, and a unique magnetic levitation (MaglevTM) chiller air conditioning system that runs a virtually friction-free compressor. In 2009, the US Mission in Geneva was the first State Department facility to earn a certificate from the US National Wildlife Federation for Wildlife Habitat as a result of their conservation efforts.[Information on the Landscape Project] [Greening the Blue Press Release]

As part of the biodiversity project objectives, some 300 villagers across ten villages in the region were trained in new methods of agriculture and livestock husbandry to support sustainable and income-generating activities. The project resulted in the preservation of critical ecosystem services, such as water and carbon regulation, which helped Tanzania secure special funds under the international climate change programme to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD).

In order to develop a REDD Strategy for Tanzania, a stakeholders’ workshop was convened in January 2009 to develop a National REDD Framework to guide the formulation of the National REDD Strategy. In addition, the Tanzania UN-REDD Programme was approved in March 2009 and the budget allocation of US$4.5 million approved. The REDD Programme in Tanzania aims to achieve four outcomes: strengthen the national governance framework and institutional capacities to implement REDD activities; increase capacity for capturing REDD elements within national monitoring, assessment, reporting and verification systems; improve capacity to manage REDD and provide other forest ecosystem services at district and local levels; and build broad-based stakeholder support for REDD in Tanzania. A final National REDD Strategy for Tanzania is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. [UNDP Press Release][UN REDD Programme in Tanzania] [Tanzania REDD Initiative]

In a first effort to move toward climate neutrality, the office has concluded the calculation of the carbon footprint of its operational activities in 2009 and will disseminate and replicate the results using the UN GHG calculators in Nigeria. This will feed into the global UNDP initiative to develop a GHG Emission Inventory for the entire organization. The carbon emission profile of the Nigerian country office revealed that official air travel, on site fuel combustion, purchased electricity, and on-ground transportation accounted for the major elements responsible for carbon emission.

The UN House in Nigeria, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Environment are also expected to follow the initiative. [UNDP Press Release]