This paper summarizes the additional uncertainty that is created by climate change, and reviews the tools that are available to project climate change (including downscaling techniques) and to assess and quantify the corresponding uncertainty.
Assuming that climate change and other deep uncertainties cannot be eliminated over the short term (and probably even over the longer term), it then summarizes existing decision-making methodologies that are able to deal with climate-related uncertainty, namely cost-benefit analysis under uncertainty, cost-benefit analysis with real options, robust decision making, and climate informed decision analysis. It also provides examples of applications of these methodologies, highlighting their pros and cons and their domain of applicability. The paper concludes that it is impossible to define the “best” solution or to prescribe any particular methodology in general.
Instead, a menu of methodologies is required, together with some indications on which strategies are most appropriate in which contexts.
This TEEB for Water and Wetlands report underlines the fundamental importance of wetlands in the water cycle and in addressing water objectives reflected in the Rio+20 agreement, the Millennium Development Goals and forthcoming post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. The report presents insights on both critical water-related ecosystem services and also on the wider ecosystem services from wetlands, in order to encourage additional policy momentum, business commitment, and investment in the conservation, restoration, and wise use of wetlands.
TEEB Water and Wetlands aims to show how recognizing, demonstrating, and capturing the values of ecosystem services related to water and wetlands can lead to better informed, more efficient, and fairer decision making. Appreciating the values of wetlands to both society and the economy can help inform and facilitate political commitment to policy solutions.
This report evaluates the progress achieved in forest management by indigenous people and local communities, which was set as a key objective at the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It presents new findings and identifies what needs to done to protect global forest areas and ensure their contributions to social, environmental and economic development.
The paper argues that the amount of forests recognised as owned or controlled by indigenous peoples and local communities has increased globally from 10 per cent in 2002 to 15 per cent in 2012; in developing countries the increase has been from 21 to 31 per cent. It observes that the majority of governments continue to resist large-scale recognition of community land rights and many deny that indigenous peoples have any claim to their customary lands. Citing examples from Africa and Asia, the paper shows that no new areas of community rights have been recognised in the last several years.
Based on more than 40 interviews with energy sector CEOs and senior executives, as well as the 2012 Energy Sustainability Index, this 4th edition of the World Energy Trilemma report attempts to identify and describe what industry executives believe they need from policymakers. The report acknowledges that executives and policymakers urgently need to work together in order to achieve a transition to a sustainable energy system. Key to this report are the three dimensions of energy sustainability: energy security, social equity and environmental impact mitigation. These three core dimensions form a complex web of links between private and public actors, regulators, resources, economic and social forces, and environmental concerns that must be fully understood by all.
This report analyzes the experiences of countries that have undertaken reform of their fossil-fuel subsidies and establishes what lessons can be learned. It focuses in particular on France, Ghana and Senegal, as well as drawing from case studies of other countries and previous work that examines the reform of energy subsidies and price subsidies.
The study finds that, once in place, fossil-fuel subsidies are extremely difficult to remove. There is no single formula for success, and country circumstances and changing global conditions must be taken into account. However, strategies can be identified that contribute to successful reform and respond to individual country circumstances. This paper focuses on six important strategies that appear to improve the chances of lasting change: