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Ramsar, Danone and IUCN Call for Wet Carbon Proposals

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:14:20 +0000

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]

Workshop Report on Carbon Offsets through Wetlands Released

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:33:07 +0000

8 June 2010: The Ramsar Secretariat has released the report of the expert workshop “Achieving Carbon Offsets through Mangroves and Other Wetlands,” which convened in Gland, Switzerland, in November 2009.
The workshop was organized under the “Danone Fund for Nature” (DFN) partnership between the Danone Group, IUCN and the Ramsar Convention. It brought together those directly involved in the implementation of the Danone Fund for Nature with a wider group of experts from other organizations, including Ramsar’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), with expertise in one or more aspects of mangrove restoration, wetland restoration, carbon measurement (in mangroves and other types of wetland), and carbon offsets and markets. Participants reviewed and advised on the further development of the Danone/IUCN/Ramsar initiative in the context of other wetland-related carbon storage and offsets initiatives and projects, and with a particular focus on mangroves.
The outputs from the workshop will be relevant not only to the further implementation of the DFN, but also to the work of other organizations and processes addressing issues of carbon and wetlands.
The final report includes workshop conclusions and recommendations for further work on: establishing small-scale and large-scale carbon offset certification methodologies for mangroves; elaborating the DFN restoration project guidance documentation for carbon projects; and identifying the main opportunities for reconciling wetland carbon offsets and social development in different types of both coastal and inland wetlands. The report also includes a baseline and monitoring methodology for carbon restoration project activities implemented on wetlands such as mangroves, and a qualitative decision support tool matrix for carbon offset potential in different wetland types, developed during the workshop. [The Report]

Ramsar Headquarters Move to Sustainable Building

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:32:25 +0000

4 June 2010: The Ramsar Secretariat has informed that its headquarters were moved to a new IUCN sustainable office building – IUCN’s new Conservation Centre, which was inaugurated on 4 June 2010.

The Centre’s innovative features include: use of rainwater for toilets and irrigation; heat recuperation from refrigerators to produce hot water; a CHF one million solar parc from Romande Energie Renouvelable that also provides energy back to the Swiss electricity grid; energy efficient lighting; local and recycled building materials; geothermal heating; and a decentralized carbon dioxide controlled air supply system. [IUCN Press Release]

Ramsar’s Standing Committee Holds 41st Meeting

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:39:25 +0000

11 May 2010: The 41st meeting of the Standing Committee (SC) of the Rasmar Convention on Wetlands took place in Kobuleti, Georgia, from 26 April-1 May 2010. Opening the meeting, Giorgi Khachidze, Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, Georgia, emphasized the importance of wetlands, especially in the era of climate change and increased potential for disasters.

The Ramsar Secretary General described the visit made by participants before the opening of the meeting to the Ramsar site Ispani percolation mire, stressing the importance of peatlands for climate change mitigation. During the meeting, the SC adopted a number of decisions pertaining to climate change. In Decision SC41-1, the SC asks the Secretariat, given the importance of climate change issues, to continue providing input in appropriate fora so that the Ramsar Convention will be an important player in that context. In Decision SC41-17, the SC requests the Secretariat to explore the preparation of a draft Resolution of the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) recognizing the parties’ willingness to accept the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as a funding mechanism for the Ramsar Convention, under the GEF focal areas for international waters, climate change, land degradation and biodiversity.[Report of SC 41]

Wadden Sea Management Plan Adopted

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:24:56 +0000

7 April 2010: The 11th Trilateral Governmental Conference, hosted by Germany at Westerland on the Wadden Sea island of Sylt, next to the Danish border, took place from on 17-18 March 2010. The participating governments adopted a management plan for the entire Wadden Sea region to support action against a number of invasive alien species and in response to major challenges resulting from the effects of climate change in the coastal area, including sea level rise and shore line protection.
The Wadden Sea is Europe’s largest Wetland of International Importance, covering the coast line of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. During the 11th Conference, the three Governments agreed on a joint political programme for the coming years geared towards better protection of the common ecosystem. They also agreed to promote their model at the international scale. In addition, Ministers signed a new Joint Declaration and a new administrative Agreement for the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat. [Texts Adopted by the Conference] [Ramsar Press Release]

RAMSAR STRP Addresses Carbon Storage in Wetlands

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:12:46 +0000

3 March 2010: The Ramsar Convention’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) met in Gland, Switzerland, from 22-26 February 2010, for its ‘mid-term workshops’ to further progress its 2009-2012 Work Plan.
The event brought together approximately 50 STRP members, invited experts and representatives of observer organizations to review and undertake substantive work on the range of high priority and other tasks requested of it by parties at the 10th session of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP 10).
During the workshop, a taskforce established under the STRP continued work on the preparation of a synthesis of the quantitative extent of carbon storage and sequestration in a wide range of different types of inland and coastal wetlands. This effort is being carried out in follow-up to the November 2009 Danone Fund for Nature (DFN) Expert Workshop on “Achieving Carbon offsets through mangroves and other wetlands.” The taskforce’s synthesis is also addressing common misconceptions about wetlands and carbon storage, and its outcomes will be made available to Ramsar COP 11, to be held in 2012. [Ramsar Press Release] [IISD RS Sources] [Danone Workshop]

Ramsar Secretariat and World Bank to Collaborate on Climate Change Projects in Wetlands

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:38:22 +0000

16 February 2010: Anada Tiéga, Ramsar Secretary General, and Hartwig Schafer, Acting Vice President, Sustainable Development Network, World Bank, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims to “establish a framework of cooperation between Ramsar and the World Bank in exchange of technical expertise and capacity building related to the development and implementation of climate change projects in wetlands in the context of the World Bank-financed climate change portfolio.”

According to the agreement, the Ramsar Secretariat will: provide technical support for the assessment, formulation, and development of climate change projects in wetlands in the geographical areas of wetland projects in the World Bank portfolio; assist in the development of tools and methodologies to assess the magnitude of carbon sinks in mangroves; support the development of the wetlands typology and protocol for assessing net carbon storage or carbon dioxide emissions under different conditions; and prepare jointly publications on the findings of the cooperation. [The MoU]

World Wetlands Day Focuses on Role of Wetlands in Addressing Climate Change

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:29:56 +0000

2 February 2010: World Wetlands Day was celebrated on 2 February 2010 around the theme “Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change,” with the slogan “Caring for wetlands: an answer to climate change.”
In a message to mark the Day, Anada Tiéga, Secretary General of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, explained that the Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of these vital ecosystems for our common future and that this year’s theme “captures the sense of urgency we all feel about the need to address the potentially disastrous consequences of global climate change as quickly as possible, particularly in the wake of the Copenhagen meeting of the UNFCCC.”
He stressed that the role of wetlands in mitigating and adapting to climate change “must be central in all future debates about the way forward.” He also underlined that as 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity, the materials for World Wetlands Day 2010 attempt to illustrate how wetland biodiversity can be adversely affected by climate change and the importance of robust biological diversity in maintaining the wetlands’ ability to provide the ecosystem services, in the face of climate change effects. He concluded by underlining the importance of addressing climate change in a holistic manner.
Also in a message to mark the Day, Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), recalled that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that most of the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and people will be felt through changes in the Earth’s water cycle and that therefore wetlands will be particularly vulnerable. He underscored the importance of the role played by wetlands in providing ecosystem services that help address climate change, including by being efficient carbon stores, regulating the water cycle, and reducing the risk of disasters. He concluded by noting that “the conservation of biodiversity and the needs of people are intimately tied.” [Ramsar Statement] [CBD Statement] [World Wetlands Day Website]

RAMSAR STRP Releases Briefing Note on Wetlands and Climate Change

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:35:18 +0000

13 November 2009: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has announced that its Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) has compiled a briefing note based on recent decisions adopted by Ramsar contracting parties and on recent information and recommendations provided by the STRP in relation to wetlands and climate change.
The note was prepared to serve as an aide-memoire for preparations for, and during, the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, to ensure that wetland issues are given due consideration. The note is structured around headline messages that provide that: wetland ecosystems, their biodiversity and the wetland ecosystem services on which humans depend are threatened by the likely impacts of climate change; wetland ecosystems are important for climate change mitigation and adaptation; and policies, planning and implementation related to climate change at all levels should recognize and incorporate the role and importance of wetland ecosystems. [The Briefing Note]

Ramsar Secretariat Selects Theme for 2010 World Wetlands Day: Caring for Wetlands – an answer to climate change

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:43:10 +0000

8 October 2009: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has announced that the theme for 2010 World Wetlands Day (WWD), celebrated on 2 February, will be “Caring for wetlands – an answer to climate change.”

WWD materials are available for download from the Ramsar Convention website. [WWD materials]