One of the few proposals to achieve widespread support at the Copenhagen climate talks, REDD encourages developing nations to preserve their vulnerable forest land by linking conservation measures with carbon offsets which can then be traded on the global market.

REDD uses a complex accounting system to monitor the carbon offsets resulting from various forest projects and ensure standards around the world.  This system recently passed the first of two formal audits required by the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), a Washington-based group charged with ensuring the legitimacy and transparency of REDD projects by imposing strict standards.

“The methodology is expected to be broadly applicable where mosaic patterns of deforestation occur throughout Southeast Asia and Africa,” says Leslie Durschinger, founder and managing director of Terra Global Capital, a finance and advisory firm specializing in REDD projects.  These “mosaic” projects include various plans to protect forests from logging, farmland conversion, fires and collection of fuel wood and thus reduce carbon emissions.

Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change,  which the U.N. says accounts for between 20-25% of total global emissions.  Many developed nations have lent support to help develop REDD, most notably Norway, which has signed a $ billion forest conservation deal with Indonesia.  REDD aims to become part of a broader global climate accord in 2013.

British consultancy group Maplecroft crafted a “water security risk index” of 165 nations around the world based on criteria such as access to drinking water, per capita demand and dependence on water from rivers which first travel through other neighboring nations.

The survey showed primarily African and Asian nations had the most vulnerable supplies, with Somalia, Mauritania, Sudan, Niger and Iraq leading the list of “riskiest nations.”

However, poor countries are not the only ones facing increased water risk, noted Anna Moss, an author of the study.  Regions of the United States and Australia are also at high risk levels., as are European countries like Bulgaria, Belgium and Spain.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most secure water supplies can be found in Iceland, Norway and New Zealand.

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China and India have formally agreed to ratify the Copenhagen Accord, the global climate agreement which stemmed from last year’s U.N. climate change convention in Copenhagen.

Over 100 countries have already approved the Accord, which aims to limit the increase in global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels.  The Accord also calls for spending on the scale of $100 billion a year to assist emerging countries in making adaptations to climate change.

China and India are two of the world’s fastest growing economies, and in recent years their rates of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have skyrocketed.  By joining the Accord, China and India have added legitimacy to the treaty and have demonstrated to the rest of the world that they are serious about addressing these important climate issues.

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Because water is so essential for every aspect of human and animal life, there are “potential for conflicts” as water resources grow scarce.  As temperatures rise, it is likely that up to 250 million people could suffer additional water stress by 2020.  Central Asia and Africa are some of the regions most likely to be affected by this stress, and could face increased desertification, flash floods, heat waves as well as increased occurances of water-borne diseases as a result of poor sanitation.  Right now, Adeel said, about 2.8 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation.

Adeel is urging for a stronger focus on water issues in the global dialog of climate change, food security and economic recover.  ”Water is central to each of these debates, but typically isn’t seen as such.”

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Future demand for energy is rising substantially, particularly in rapidly emerging economies and in many developing countries that lack even the most basic of energy services. The investments required to address future energy demand as well as climate change are substantial. Significant scaling up of investment flows into the development and deployment of low-carbon energy technologies is urgently required in both developed and developing countries to bridge the “so-called” emerging investment gap. Additional finance is also needed for adaptation, particularly in the world’s poorest countries. Private investment will be essential.

The ability of a technology or infrastructure project to attract investment depends heavily on commercial returns. The report provides a clear commercial business perspective by addressing how and why business invests, investment risk profiles, and the incentives needed in order to scale up investment in new technology research, development, demonstration and deployment.

Most stakeholders agree that it will take a combination of public and private financial sources, a broad range of mechanisms and instruments, carbon markets, and official development assistance to guarantee the energy demands of the future in a way that mitigates climate impacts. Policies are urgently needed that integrate development, energy and climate priorities.

Creating demand for new technologies, giving clear and strong expectations of a carbon price, building capacity through stable and transparent regulatory regimes, and providing incentives during crucial technology demonstration phases and fast-track approval processes are also likely to help green the investment flow and reduce the overall “energy bill” of developing countries.

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India will begin construction on the nation’s largest desalination plant in the city in Nemmili next month.  The project is slated for completion in two years, at which point it will be capable of producing 100 million liters per day (MLD) of fresh water from sea water via reverse osmosis.  The desalination plant will help meet municipal water needs, which have previously been met via monsoon rains.  Changing climate and weather patterns, however, are making India’s monsoon season more unpredictable.  Read more here…

In South Africa, upgrades are being made to an existing desalination plant on the Eastern Cape.  Upon completion, the new plant will have a ready to serve a municipal population of nearly 50,000 people in the Ndjambe Municipality.   Read more here…

CSP technology employs mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a single central point in the installation.  The concentrated energy heats up water which then drives a turbine to produce electricity.  The North African project aims to generate 900 MW by 2020, effectively tripling the world’s total CSP capacity.  The majority of the electricity generated will be used in North Africa, but a significant portion will be put up for sale, and will likely be exported to European markets.

It is estimated the project will prevent the release of 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases each year, and is the equivalent of removing 600,000 cars from the world’s roadways.  Construction is scheduled to begin in 2011.

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The Copenhagen Accord is a non-binding agreement between developed and developing nations which aims to cap overall temperature rise to within 2° Celcius.  Over the next three years, $30 billion in financing from developed nations will help support emissions reductions projects in some of the world’s poorest countries.  Developed nations are working towards a long term, $100 billion a year financing plan by 2020.  Read more about the Copenhagen Accord…

The Copenhagen Accord is not a legally binding agreement, and many delegates are frustrated with the underwhelming results of the talks.  World leaders like Barack Obama, on the other hand, called the accord “an important breakthrough,” but stressed that much more action is needed to truly address the global threat of climate change.  Read more about world responses to the conference…

The DESERTEC Initiative plans to invest €400 billion over the coming years to harness the North African sunlight with massive solar thermal installations.  The energy generated from the sun will then be transported to Europe via underwater cables.  By 2050, the Initiative could provide up to 15% of Europe’s electricity needs.  Morocco is competing with nations like Algeria, Tunisia and Libya for some of these investment dollars.

Because Morocco already has a power cable link to Europe, DESERTEC member companies such as Munich Re, Siemens AG and RWE AG have shown great interest in the project.  Further details will be fleshed out during a round of talks between the governments next week.

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African countries are very vulnerable to the dangerous effects of climate change, and without assistance and commitment to action from the rest of the world, they could fall prey to food and water shortages, and increased flooding, droughts and heatwaves.  ”Africa believes that the other groups are not taking talks seriously enough, not urgently enough,” said Kabeya Tshikuku, one of the delegates from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Artur Runge-Metzger, head of the European Commission delegation, said he respected the protesting delegates’ intent, but called the move “self-defeating.”  Blocking the negotiations now will “certainly not get us to a result” now that the Copenhagen talks are a little over a month away.

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