Although greenhouse gas emissions from the Arab world amount to 4.2% of global emissions, the impact of climate change on the fragile environment of the region and its people is expected to be immense. This report aims to provide information to governments, business, academia and the public about the impact of climate change on the Arab countries, and encourage concrete action to face the challenge.

This guide, aimed at climate change negotiators, gives synopsis of the key elements in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Biennial Assessment (BA) of climate finance flows. It also provides an overview of recommendations of the UNFCCC’s Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) to the Conference of Parties. The guide also provides some views on how the identified recommendations can support future international negotiations.

This report reviews existing environmental, social and climate safeguard systems developed and adopted by multilateral and bilateral development agencies. The aim of the report is to assess the potential for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to adopt or rely on these systems. This will help guide the application of DFID’s new SMART rules, which include a commitment to ensuring sustainability and resilience, and to avoid doing harm such as creating or exacerbating resource scarcity, climate change and/or environmental damage.

Lack of access to electricity is seen as a major constraint to economic growth and increased welfare in developing countries. In this report, the authors conducted a review of the evidence that investments in electricity-generating capacity have benefits for poor people, and what factors influence that relationship. The review analyzes a large and diverse range of literature dealing with the poverty impacts of increased generation capacity.

Sattherwaite and Dodman’s editorial is an introduction to a special issue of environment and urbanisation which focusses on climate change responses in cities. It usefully summarises the state of debates about the meanings and complexities of the resilience and transformation concepts, pointing to the latest literature. It focuses on the following areas:

The present report was prepared in response to General Assembly resolution 64/205, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to it at its sixty-sixth session on the status of sustainable development in mountain regions.

This UNEP publication highlights the successes and challenges in meeting the Montreal Protocol on reducing ozone depleting substances. It explains the actions and policies that were key to the success of meeting CFC/HCFC reduction deadlines in the Scandinavian countries; as well it outlines the path forward for the further and ultimate complete phase out of these substances globally.

Evidence on Demand was requested by DFID to carry out a Climate and Environmental Appraisal as part of the Business Case for support to the pilot phase of a new IMF project to conduct a review of the capabilities of key economic policy-making institutions (notably for fiscal and monetary policy) in Tunisia and Libya. The consultant supplemented the Business Case and completed the C& EA Assurance Note, proposing a C category for risk (no/low potential impact) and a B category for opportunity (medium).