This report presents a cross-cutting summary of country study findings and workshop deliberations on linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable poverty reduction. It uses examples from Mexico, Kenya and Vietnam to provide insights into how a more integrated approach to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation can be built.

For many years, scientists have been predicting the impact of climate change. In Latin America and the Caribbean, predictions range from water shortages to an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. The effects of climate change could significantly reduce the ability of ecosystems to operate properly, threatening development projects throughout the region.A report from
the Working Group on Climate Change and Development in the UK describes the
effects of climate change and environmental degradation in Latin
America and the Caribbean.

This report provides a detailed overview of the national circumstances, emission levels, mitigation potential and measures for the major developing countries of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.These countries account for more than 50% of non-Annex I parties’ emissions.

Any view on international finance for climate adaptation in developing countries must deal with the question of the cost of adaptation and how much funds will be available under current conditions. Although existing estimates of adaptation funding needs in developing countries are still very vague, they all indicate that they are and will be in the tens of billions €/$ per annum. At the same time, many developing countries presently do not have the relevant ‘absorptive capacity’, the capacity to carry out the adaptation measures needed, even if the funding were available.

This paper focuses specifically on the various factors that differentiate farm enterprises and farm households, both in terms of their sensitivity to climate events and their capacity to adjust to changing climatic and market circumstances.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is an important component for achieving sustainable development of cities and progress towards the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. This manual is a disaster risk communication tool aimed at facilitating the understanding of disaster vulnerabilities and risk to megacities and large complex urban areas. It identifies, compiles and illustrates sound practices in disaster risk reduction that have been tested and implemented by different cities to aid knowledge sharing opportunities.

This article analyses possible domestic emissions trading systems (ETS) for six developing countries: Brazil, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and South Korea. It also analyses the prospects of linking the developing countries to existing trading systems, in order to establish a harmonised international carbon market. It notes that the outlook of ETS differs from country to country. Brazil has established a stock exchange for voluntary carbon units which may precede a domestic trading scheme.

Energy efficient modes of transport - like Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, bicycles and electric taxis - are providing an effective means for reducing urban greenhouse gas emissions in Latin American cities. The transport sector is one of the largest contributors to global GHG emissions, both worldwide and in the Latin America region. In response, some cities in Latin America are taking steps to revamp their transport sectors as part of a strategy to mitigate GHG emissions.

Waste management is typically viewed as a resource intensive activity. Yet some urban areas in Latin America have managed to turn this idea on its head by converting waste into energy and profit. Effective municipal waste management practices are limited in the developing world, causing public health problems and potent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In December 2011 at the international climate change negotiations at COP17 in Durban, there were further developments on the proposed REDD+ mechanism to reduce forest-based emissions and enhance forest carbon sinks. Various countries have initiated forest-related emission reduction and offsetting schemes within the last year. This policy brief provides an update on national and international REDD+ and other forest carbon policies from April 2011 to January 2012. The brief presents the following updates on international schemes and proposals on REDD+ within the stated time frame: