Land and forestry-based activities could in principle play important roles as climate change mitigation strategies. In practice, however, several questions have been raised about their feasibility. Therefore, understanding the processes and determinants of land use changes is critical. This paper aims to contribute to such understanding in the larger part of a larger project on sustainable development and economic growth. It begins with a dynamic model of land use.

The study "Evaluation of the greenhouse gases and energy production landfills and dumps in the cities of Costa Rica "was financed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET). By means of methodologies and tools approved by the Development Mechanism (CDM) and by meetings, visits and interviews, the report analyzes future greenhouse gas emissions of solid waste landfills, the possible mitigation of these emissions and the potential of electricity production.

This newletter contains four short articles discussing the potential for financing carbon sequestration services. The articles particularly focus on this issue in the context of the Kyoto protocol and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Below are the titles of the four articles and some of the key points made by their authors: Access to finance for community forest management under the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol

Recent years have seen considerable interest in using Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as an incentive to enhance conservation efforts. Latin America has been particularly receptive to this approach with programmes in operation in Costa Rica, Columbia, Ecuador and Mexico, amongst others.