The report, Hearth and Hiraeth: Constructing Climate Change Narratives around National Identity draws on the findings of a major programme led by Connect4Climate's partner COIN for the Welsh Government. This programme developed language and narratives that could work with all social groups and be applied in all its communications.

The two-year programme built on the latest research into climate change attitudes and a detailed analysis of cultural values. It conducted rigorous testing of messages in groups that had been recruited according to a values-based segmentation model. It is one of the first programmes in the world to apply the research into values-based climate communications across an entire country.

[video:https://vimeo.com/98563072]

 

Roughly one person every second is displaced by a climate- or weather-related disaster and in the last six years, 140.5 million people - two percent of the Earth’s population - has been displaced by such disasters alone. With millions of people forced to move each year by rapid-onset climate-related hazards and slow-onset environmental degradation, social well-being, human rights, economies and even state stability are at risk.

To coincide with UN Human Rights Day, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) is highlighting the need for climate change to be viewed through a human rights lens. Climate change is magnifying the existing vulnerabilities of affected communities and eroding their capacity to cope with change. The global community is failing to provide the protection, assistance and access to durable solutions that those on the frontlines of climate change require and deserve.

In a new report released today, ‘Falling through the Cracks’, the EJF examines the various legal and policy frameworks governing climate-induced displacement at the international level. EJF has found that the ‘protection gap’ is more like a series of holes - suggesting the need for a new global framework, which is broad in scope and sensitive to the needs of multiple populations of concern.

Earth To Paris, a coalition of partners helping to drive awareness about the connection between people and planet as well as the need for strong climate action, announced it will host “Earth To Paris—Le Hub” a two-day, high-impact, live-streamed summit on 7 and 8 December in Paris during COP21 — the United Nations climate conference to deliver a new universal climate change agreement.

Earth To Paris—Le Hub will provide the opportunity for cross-sector, solutions-oriented engagement in climate change conversations around COP21; a platform for amplifying the conversation across social and digital media; and series of activations through inspiring calls to take bold, meaningful action to address climate change. Experts, advocates, CEOs, and other leaders in Paris will discuss creative and impactful solutions to climate change, while participants around the world take part through multi-language livestreamed video and real-time interactions across multiple social media platforms using the unifying hashtag #EarthToParis.

A unique mix of speakers will share their visions for the future. The first tranche of speakers-- with more to come--includes:

•     Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris
•     Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
•     Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF
•     Irina Bokova, Director-General, UNESCO
•     Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former Prime Minister of Norway; Special Envoy, United Nations; Deputy Chair, The Elders; Board Member, United Nations Foundation
•     Esther Agbarakwe, Digital story-teller and +SocialGood Advisor
•     Dr. Paul Bunje, ‎Senior Director of Oceans, XPRIZE Foundation
•     Kathy Calvin, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation
•     Rocky Dawuni, Singer, songwriter, Ambassador for United Nations Foundation-hosted Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
•     Dr. Sylvia Earle, Marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence
•     Andrew Freedman, Science editor, Mashable
•     Livia Firth, Film producer; Executive producer, The True Cost
•     Blanca Juti, Chief Brand Officer, Rovio Entertainment Ltd.
•     Dr. Jane Goodall, Primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist; United Nations Messenger of Peace
•     Runa Khan, Executive Director, Friendship Bangladesh
•     Ismaël le Mouël, Co-founder & President at HelloAsso; Founder, Social Good Week Paris; +SocialGood Advisor
•     Anne-Sophie Novel, Economist, journalist, and organizer of Place to B COP 21
•     Dr. M. Sanjayan, Conservation scientist, writer, and Emmy-nominated television news contributor
•     Max Schorr, Co-Founder and Director, GOOD Magazine
•     Jakob Trollbäck, Founder, Trollbäck + Company
•     Ted Turner, Founder and Chairman of United Nations Foundation and Turner Enterprises, Inc.
•     Timothy E. Wirth, Former United States Senator; Vice Chair, United Nations Foundation Board of Directors

COP21 is an extraordinary opportunity for the international community to rise to meet the threat of climate change. With the world recently adopting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a new set of global goals to end poverty in all its forms, fight inequalities and tackle climate change by 2030, Earth to Paris—Le Hub is primed to capture and build on the desire for leaders, businesses, organizations and individuals from the world to come together and call for real change.

The first day of Earth To Paris—Le Hub, 7 December, will convene at the Petit Palais in partnership with the City of Paris, and the second day, 8 December, will be held at UNESCO headquarters.

More information, including background and partner information and a live-stream of Earth to Paris—Le Hub, can be found at www.EarthToParis.org. Download the overview page.

The authors explore the many successful strategies and measures for climate resilience and low carbon development that communities and leaders have pursued at the subnational level. They draw on the rich and practical experiences of CDKN’s project partners and the broader ICLEI network.

They argue that the battle for climate compatible development will be won or lost in provinces, districts and cities. There are distinct challenges at subnational level– for example, future climate data for local and subnational levels is more uncertain than at larger scales, and subnational decision-makers face intense local pressure to act on the negative impacts of climate extremes and disasters. There are also unique opportunities. Subnational decision-makers often have a sound understanding of climate trends in their area, based on first-hand experience and local and indigenous knowledge. They have a good sense of solutions that are effective in the local context and they have the ability to mobilise local resources for implementation, including people’s time and knowledge.

Effective strategies for subnational climate compatible development respond to these challenges and build on these opportunities. Such strategies:

● use flexible modes of decision-making available at the subnational level to go beyond national mandates for climate compatible development and to innovate solutions.

● raise the awareness of climate ‘champions’ in subnational government and bolster their climate leadership.

● build a strong case for action through effective, locally relevant communications about climate change impacts and the benefits of low-carbon, climate-resilient development.

● mobilise local expertise and support including in-kind resources, and forge alliances among civil society, businesses, researchers (including climate scientists), government decision-makers and civil servants.

● secure additional resources from outside the locality where necessary.

CDKN’s and ICLEI’s programme experience demonstrates that these strategies yield promising results at the subnational level. However, the scale of the global climate challenge is huge. Alone, individual subnational initiatives do not achieve enough. It will take a global transformation in the way that society approaches development if we are to achieve a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. Successful subnational climate compatible strategies must be rapidly scaled up and scaled out to meet this challenge.

The paper will be launched at CDKN’s session ‘Tackling Poverty and Climate Change in Cities‘ at the World Urban Forum in Medellin, Colombia on 10 April 2014.

Download the full copy of the paper: Close to home: Subnational strategies for climate compatible development.

Twenty-three African experts, including academics and journalists, took time to review the UNESCO publication entitled “Reporting on Climate Change in Africa: A Practical Guide for Journalists”. The Connect4Climate Visualising A Warming World Africa maps designed by Laura Canali have been reproduced in the publication.

According to Fackson Banda, programme specialist at UNESCO Headquarters, “The publication is meant to contribute towards developing transnational and interdisciplinary climate literacy among media professionals and especially journalists, in an attempt to demystify efforts at climate change mitigation and adaptation”.

The review workshop on the publication brought together various African experts from Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Co-authored by the International Institute for Environment and Development and INTERNEWS, the manuscript stimulated intense debate focused on the “interdisciplinary” basis of climate change knowledge, and how it could be appropriated by journalists in the “African” context.

The publication responds to a very real need in African journalists’ reporting of the complex phenomenon of climate change. Climate change poses a clear danger to lives and livelihoods across Africa. Journalists there have critical roles to play in explaining the cause and effects of climate change, in describing what countries and communities can do to adapt to the impacts ahead, and in reporting on what governments and companies do, or do not do, to respond to these threats.

Yet research on public understanding of climate change and surveys of journalists reveal that across Africa the media can and should do more to tell the story of climate change. UNESCO produced this book to help fill this important gap.

The authors of this guide represent the organizations that have trained hundreds of journalists around the world to report more effectively on climate change. They consulted 44 journalists from 17 African countries and 38 climate-change specialists, who provided their insights into what was missing from African media coverage and how this book should help to fill those gaps.

The publication is available on UNESCO's website and on our climate resources page

 

Climate Change is one of the most important challenges facing the world in this century in all the four dimensions of sustainable development (ecological, economic, social and cultural). Europe takes a leading role in the necessary response to these challenges. Severe impacts are unavoidable and European adaptation strategies must be supported by a coherent base of knowledge on its key vulnerabilities and response options. Such a base can only be generated by European, national and regional policy-relevant research.

CIRCLE-2 is focused on the interface between Climate Change science and policy. Through the promotion of networking activities it aims to maximise the degree to which research outcomes address both national and European climate policy needs.

The CIRCLE-2 Climate Adaptation INFOBASE, is a publicly accessible, online database on Climate Adaptation research. The INFOBASE includes relevant information on European research projects funded at national and local levels as well as transnational projects funded within the framework of CIRCLE1 and CIRCLE-2 ERA-Net. The INFOBASE is limited to projects with a completion date subsequent to 2005, and by the end of CIRCLE-2 (set to 2014) it will cover a timeframe of 10 years (2005-2014) of European Climate Adaptation research.

The INFOBASE aims to contribute to the mapping of national, local and transnational CCIVA projects in a larger Europe, as well as other countries that want to contribute. The information at InfoBase will allow to address the fundamental gaps in the understanding of how Climate Adaptation science has evolved over the past decade and to provide policy-makers, the scientific community and research managers, with relevant facts and figures on the larger Europe research landscape on climate change adaptation.

If you are aware of climate adaptation research projects in your country please insert them using the INFOBASE user interface or contact the CIRCLE-2 coordination at circle2infobase@fc.ul.pt

Global Unification the Gambia (GU) is a youth-led, community-based, research and development organisation, established 2006.  In partnership with relevant institutions, our objective is to provide education, skills and strengthen the capacity of young people, groups working with youths and local communities to enable them participate effectively in sustainable development processes of The Gambia. We work with young people and local communities, supporting their efforts to move out of poverty, access quality health care services and adapt to the impact of climate change.

In 2008, we decided redirected more of our efforts towards creating awareness on environmental protection, sustainable management of forest resources, biodiversity conservation and climate change solutions geared to reducing the threats to livelihood security among local communities cause by the changing climate. As result in 2009, we developed a five year action plan that is dedicated to climate change education and creating pro-poor climate action projects. Under this strategy, we do sensitisation, trained traditional communicators, youth leaders, women cooperative societies on adaptation skills and support public access to climate change information. We lobby policy makers at national and international level for policy shift toward green economy, promote youth participation on discussion and decision on sustainable development issues in the country.

Some of our previous projects are climate talk; rethinking our future, a year radio advocacy program, National Stakeholders Workshop on community based adaptation, which was a platform to identify barriers to adaptation in the Gambia and proposed sustainable solution, Green School initiatives, which promote tree planting in schools, where we award prices to most green school. We also celebrate major international days such as world environment day, earth day, earth hour etc.  Please visit this link for update list of past activities.

 

Leaders from across government and business are sending a clear message to the world this week that climate change is a risk that cannot be ignored, and, importantly, that they are ready to work together to bring down emissions.

Seventy-three countries and 22 states, provinces and cities – together responsible for 54 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 52 percent of GDP – joined over 1,000 businesses and investors in signaling their support for carbon pricing through a series of initiatives being announced at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Leadership Summit on Tuesday.

The list includes countries like China and South Africa that are planning carbon pricing, as well as Russia and countries at high risk from climate change, like the Marshall Islands. It includes business ranging across industry, energy and transportation, and institutional investors with more than $24 trillion in assets.

This is a wake-up moment. Carbon pricing if expanded to this scale and then globally has the potential to bring down emissions in a way that supports clean energy and low-carbon growth while giving businesses the flexibility to innovate and find the most efficient choices. 

“The science is clear. The economics are compelling. We are seeing a shift toward the economic architecture that will be necessary to avoid a 2-degree-warmer world, an architecture that supports green growth, jobs and competitiveness,” said World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change Rachel Kyte.

To move carbon pricing use and understanding forward, the World Bank Group, World Economic Forum, and We Mean Business Coalition announced that they would convene a carbon pricing leadership coalition with business and government leaders.

Since 1997 ClimateCare has specialised in projects that tackle climate change and deliver sustainable development outcomes. Winners of a Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development, ClimateCare recently announced targets to cut 20 million tonnes of CO2 and improve the lives of 20 million people by 2020. CEO Edward Hanrahan shares his thoughts about what makes a successful climate and development programme.

 

In a recent story written by Ashley Halligan, an analyst at Software Advice, she gave recognition to four global urban sustainability initiatives that are lesser known in terms of environmental innovation. Some are lesser known because of being historically volatile--whether in terms of violence or excess waste--or, perhaps, being nonexistent altogether.

In an article outlining the initiatives of Medellin, Colombia; Naples, Italy; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and, Songdo, South Korea, Halligan outlines vastly different approaches to creating environmental sustainability goals and becoming global leaders for these initiatives.

Medellin, for example, has a violent history. Once being deemed the most violent city in the world, it's now a 2012 awardee of the Sustainable Transport Award, alongside long-respected San Francisco.

Naples, on the other hand, has been infamous for its devastating trash crisis, with alleys, parks, and squares literally piled with waste--mostly linked to the local Camorra (mafia-like organization). Residents have taken matters into their own hands hosting guerrilla gardening groups and flash-mob clean-ups.

Philadelphia, a U.S. city not particularly known for its environmental forwardness, vowed in 2008 to become the country's "greenest" city when Mayor Mike Nutter gave his inaugural speech. With a six-year, 14-initiative project underway, Philadelphia shows that any city can overcome current challenges.

Lastly, Songdo, represents an entirely different approach to sustainability. A city built from scratch atop South Korean swampland, Songdo is the country's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighbhorhood--all of its buildings also either meet or exceed LEED standards.

To read more about these sustainability projects across the globe, visit the original story here.