Residents of informal settlements often bear the brunt of extreme weather and associated flooding. This guide is intended to strengthen participatory risk assessment capabilities for a wide range of municipal and development professionals and practitioners. It is also relevant to professionals involved in housing, social development, health, adult education, CBOs and NGOs. Although it was originally produced to help develop the resilience of residents in most vulnerable areas of the Western Cape, South Africa, it contains valuable lessons for other contexts.

Nearly one-third of all water-related disasters occur in Africa. The second issue of Joto Afrika considers the relationship between climate change, the greater incidence of extreme weather events, such as drought and flooding, and the increasing scarcity of water on the African continent. The briefing presents the following six articles and case studies, which reflect on experiences from different countries and regions:

Climate change impacts disproportionately affect the poor. Impacts will intensify yet poor communities already struggle to cope with current climate shocks. Adaptation is therefore fundamental, yet daunting. This edition of the Tiempo newsletter addresses the issue of community-based adaptation strategies. Four articles included are:

This report brings together a number of case studies from around the world, all of which concern themselves with the basic question of how to create an "enabling framework" for the transfer and diffusion of renewable energy technologies (RETs) in developing countries.

This study analyses the adoption of two private food standards, BRC Food Technical Standard and GlobalGAP, at an aggregated cross-country level using data of 2007. Results of the econometric analysis reveal some potential barriers for farms and firms in developing countries to access this type of organisational innovation. The main implication of the paper is that third-party certification for export purposes seems to reinforce existing trade relations, potentially hampering new entrants.

The study aims to provide comprehensive guidance to policy makers and practitioners in developing countries [Non-Annex I countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)] for the preparation of national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories for the waste sector. Though GHG emissions from the waste sector are still comparatively low compared to other sectors, they are continuously rising in developing countries due to changing production and consumption patterns. Experience shows that emissions from this sector can be reduced significantly at relatively low costs.

Development of NAMA handbook for Renewable Energy NAMAs in IRENA countries with guidance on the NAMA development process. While in a first step the development of NAMAs and the specific barriers for RE projects are discussed, a second step sketches RE NAMA country case studies for three countries (Tunisia, Chile and Mexico).