Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: Integrating Local and External Knowledge

Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to climate change impacts including sea level rise, invasive species, ocean acidification, changes in rainfall patterns, increased temperatures, and changing hazard regimes including hurricanes, floods and drought. Given high dependencies in Caribbean SIDS on natural resources for livelihoods, a focus on ecosystems and their interaction with people is essential for climate change adaptation. Increasingly, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches are being highlighted as an approach to address climate change impacts. Specifically, EbA encourages the use of local and external knowledge about ecosystems to identify climate change adaptation approaches. This paper critically reviews EbA in Caribbean SIDS, focusing on the need to integrate local and external knowledge. An analysis of current EbA in the Caribbean is undertaken alongside a review of methodologies used to integrate local and external expertise for EbA. Finally key gaps, lessons learnt and suggested ways forward for EbA in Caribbean SIDS and potentially further afield are identified

A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North

Acknowledgements: We are grateful for assistance from Oda Mulelid and Eirin Husabø for assistance in reviewing literature.Funder: UArcticFunder: Government of CanadaFunder: University of LaplandAbstractThe frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased concentrations of greenhouse gases from thawing permafrost, and alterations in the key high latitude physical systems spurred many authors, and more recently international agencies and supra-state actors, to investigate “emergency measures” that might help conserve the frozen North. However, the efficacy and feasibility of many of these ideas remains highly uncertain, and some might come with significant risks, or could be even outright dangerous to the ecosystems and people of the North. To date, no review has evaluated all suggested schemes. The objectives of this first phase literature survey (which can be found in a separate compendium (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10602506), are to consider all proposed interventions in a common evaluation space, and identify knowledge gaps in active conservation proposals. We found 61 interventions with a high latitude focus, across atmosphere, land, oceans, ice and industry domains. We grade them on a simple three-point evaluation system across 12 different categories. From this initial review we can identify which ideas scored low marks on most categories and are therefore likely not worthwhile pursuing; some groups of interventions, like traditional land-based mitigation efforts, score relatively highly while ocean-based and sea ice measures, score lower and have higher uncertainties overall. This review will provide the basis for a further in-depth expert assessment that will form phase two of the project over the next few years sponsored by University of the Arctic.</jats:p

A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North

Acknowledgements: We are grateful for assistance from Oda Mulelid and Eirin Husabø for assistance in reviewing literature.Funder: UArcticFunder: Government of CanadaFunder: University of LaplandThe frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased concentrations of greenhouse gases from thawing permafrost, and alterations in the key high latitude physical systems spurred many authors, and more recently international agencies and supra-state actors, to investigate “emergency measures” that might help conserve the frozen North. However, the efficacy and feasibility of many of these ideas remains highly uncertain, and some might come with significant risks, or could be even outright dangerous to the ecosystems and people of the North. To date, no review has evaluated all suggested schemes. The objectives of this first phase literature survey (which can be found in a separate compendium (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10602506), are to consider all proposed interventions in a common evaluation space, and identify knowledge gaps in active conservation proposals. We found 61 interventions with a high latitude focus, across atmosphere, land, oceans, ice and industry domains. We grade them on a simple three-point evaluation system across 12 different categories. From this initial review we can identify which ideas scored low marks on most categories and are therefore likely not worthwhile pursuing; some groups of interventions, like traditional land-based mitigation efforts, score relatively highly while ocean-based and sea ice measures, score lower and have higher uncertainties overall. This review will provide the basis for a further in-depth expert assessment that will form phase two of the project over the next few years sponsored by University of the Arctic

Policy Brief: Elevating Mountains in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework 2.0

With the Aichi Biodiversity Targets coming to an end in 2020, the world is preparing for a new set of ambitious biodiversity targets and goals to follow. This brief, prepared ahead of the first Open-Ended Working Group meeting on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in August 2019, highlights how mountains are important areas for the world's biodiversity, how mountains are currently reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and why these regions deserve specific attention in the new biodiversity framework. This thematic brief and its contents will be periodically updated as the framework takes further shape. This brief was prepared by GRID-Arendal and UN Environment in collaboration with the Mountain Research initiative (MRI), the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA), GRASP, the Alpine Convention and the Carpathian Convention, and received financial support from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg through the Vanishing Treasures project

Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires

Across Earth’s ecosystems, wildfires are growing in intensity and spreading in range. From Australia to Canada, the United States to China, across Europe and the Amazon, wildfires are wreaking havoc on the environment, wildlife, human health, and infrastructure. Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Fires is the first report by UNEP and GRIDArendal to take stock of the scale and extent of the global wildfire crisis and has been commissioned in support of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. Over 50 experts from research institutions, government agencies, and international organisations from around the globe have contributed to this report. Their findings are that while the situation is certainly extreme, it is not yet hopeless