Climate change is now widely acknowledged as one of the great – if not the greatest – challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. Through its impact on average temperature, precipitations and sea levels, it will endanger the livelihood of hundreds of millions and impose increasing costs on our societies if nothing is done.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the only way to get the sort of commitments needed to effectively deal with the challenge is to create a global consensus that involves all stakeholders. Such a consensus will only arise if there is a seemingly “just” sharing of the burden in this battle to keep the planet hospitable to human beings.
This is particularly true when it comes to employment. It goes without saying that climate change and policies to mitigate it will in time have an enormous impact on industries, jobs and workers. Yet, despite the rhetoric about the elusive “social dimension” of sustainable development, until very recently climate change negotiations showed only limited concern about the fate of workers, and far greater efforts were directed at measuring the environmental rather than the social impacts of climate change.
This report captures the mission and actions of the Asia Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI), launched by Asian Development Bank (ADB) in May 2010, in response to the exponential growth opportunities to install solar energy capacity in Asian and Pacific.
The report provides information to relevant stakeholders on the importance and benefits of developing the solar energy sector in Asia and the Pacific, investment opportunities and challenges in the sector, and the approach adopted by the Asia Solar Energy Initiative to facilitate the rapid deployment of solar energy applications in the region, including knowledge management, project development and innovative finance.
This paper argues that least developed countries (LDCs) are greatly threatened by human induced climate change, because their dependence on rain-fed agriculture and forestry as sources of employment and income make them vulnerable to climatic changes and variability. Many LDCs are already subject to climatic stress due to their location in the tropics and other areas subject to a high incidence of weather-related shocks. The paper notes that the most important source of greenhouse gas emissions in LDCs is land use change, in particular deforestation. Halting deforestation is, thus, a key priority for low carbon development.
This report, Recycling Rates of Metals, provides an overview on the current knowledge of recycling rates for sixty metals.
The 2007 International Labour Conference report and conclusions on sustainable enterprises address several economic, social and environmental aspects which are to be taken into account in order for businesses to be sustainable. The main purpose of the present paper is to illustrate the environmental elements of a strategy towards the creation of sustainable enterprises by highlighting impacts on employment of different environmental instruments and policies.