Green Energy Schemes for Low-carbon City in Shanghai, China

This Document, which is funded by the World Bank, is an overview of the Environmental and Social Management Framework for the Projects and ‘Green Energy Schemes for a Low-Carbon City in Shanghai, China’.

World Globe, Shanghai

This Project Development objective is to support Shanghai’s quest to become a low-carbon city by developing green energy schemes to reduce carbon emmission, with a focus in the Changing district of Shanghai.

The Government of China is commited to reducing carbon intensity by 40-45 percent from 2005 to 2020. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are expected to contribute significantly to achieving this target. Related ambitious targets include cutting energy intensity by 16 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) and increasing the share of non-fossil fuels (renewable energy and nuclear) in primary energy from 8 percent in 2011 to 15 percent by 2020.

This Framework includes a capacity Building Plan for the Project Environomental Management. Since the associated Chinese Banks are exclusively financial institutions with no technical capacity for implementing this Framework, the Public Management Office will take overall responsibility for implementing the Framework.

Related UN Resources: 

  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
  • Protection of Global Climate for present & future Generations: UN Documents
  • Greenhouse Gas Emission Statistics
  • City Profiles: Shanghai
  • UNEP Environmental Assessment Report: Shanghai

Investigation into Water, Cultural, Diversity & Global Environmental Change

This free investigative book was published jointly but the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

 Water, Culture, Diversity Photo

The book consists of five parts.

  1. Part I explores water’s fundamental place in life, flowing through all organic processes, shaping all of the earth’s environments, and coursing through humanity’s traditions, values, meanings, politics, economics, art and engineering – i.e., culture in its broadest sense. 
  2. Part II considers the “culture of water” through an explicit focus on traditional ecological knowledge and water resource management: approaches that have historically served to sustain the lifeways of indigenous groups and ethnic minorities. 
  3. Part III examines current patterns of water resource management in various ecoregions and geopolitical contexts. 
  4. Part IV considers the changing and possible future dynamics of intersections between water, biodiversity, and cultural diversity, with a critical focus on the lessons learned from the past several decades of hydro-development.
  5. Part V sketches out alternative scenarios for the future, arguing that a sustainable approach to water resource development must, first and foremost, be one that sustains the cultural and biological diversity of life.

Related UN Resources: 

Implementation, Completion and Results Report of Senegal’s ‘Global Environmental Facility Grant’

This Document of the World Bank assesses the implementation, completion and results report of the $USD 5million Global Environmental Facility Grant and the $USD 10million credit loan that was awarded to the Republic of Senegal for an Integrated Marine and Coastal Resources Management Project.

                             Marine Environment 

Ratings for the Integrated Marine and Coastal Resources Management Project for Senegal were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory; Global Environment Objective (GEO) outcomes were moderately satisfactory; risk to development outcome was high; risk to GEO outcome was high; Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory; and borrower performance was also moderately unsatisfactory. Some lessons learned includes: the fundamental constraint of open access to the fisheries resources may remain the key obstacle to the sector achieving its potential. However, the project did successfully pilot a model for local management of targeted fisheries that can help address this constraint in the coastal waters.


Related UN Resources

June 5 is World Environment Day

World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June as mandated by General Assembly Resolution A/RES/2994(XXVII), is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the state of our environment and highlights actions people are taking around the world to preserve our planet for future generations. The 2012 theme is, Green Economy: Does it include you?

UN Resources:


Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Pacific: an institutional and policy analysis (2012)

This study  by the  the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) provides an analysis of the current level of integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in the region, with an emphasis on the institutional and policy environment. The analysis presented includes seven Pacific island countries (Cook Islands, FSM, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu). The study shows that despite the fact that there is typically a low level of integration at the operational level, countries are making efforts to develop Joint National Action Plans (JNAPs) for DRM and CCA, as well as move towards integrating their institutional platforms for DRR and CCA. 

Measuring Water use in a Green Economy

water

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), just released a new report titled, Measuring Water use in a Green Economy. The report analyses the different ways for quantifying and accounting for water flows and productivity within the economy (including environmental needs). Based on the data, the report is said to provide the current state of knowledge of the different indicators and tools for quantifying water productivity and highlights why this is important for developing robust allocation and management systems that preserve the natural capital.

The report focuses on the following main elements;

  • The conceptual knowledge and background on how water use puts pressure on the environment.
  • Methodologies to quantify water availability and use and how this influences the ecosystems.
The English version of the report is available in pdf.
Other resources

Trade and Biodiversity

BioTrade refers to activities related to the collection, production, transformation, and  commercialization of goods and services derived from native biodiversity (species and  ecosystems) under the criteria of environmental,  social and economic sustainability.

In 1996, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched the BioTrade Initiative has been promoting sustainable BioTrade in support of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Bio Trade initiative recently released two publications:

Trade and Biodiversity: The Bio Trade Experience in Latin America

This reports highlights Sustainable Environment Management practices such as BioTrade in Latin America. In 2008, these practices have already generated over $230 million in exports of sustainably-produced products and services derived for Latin American’s biodiversity. This report is available in English.

Improving International Systems for Trade in Reptile Skins based on Sustainable Use

The aim of the report is to examine the changing context within which the reptile skin trade has existed, the extent of the current industry and its regulatory strengths and weaknesses, and what the future can or should bring. The report is available in English.

Resources

Greening the Blue Helmets: Environment, Natural Resources and UN Peacekeeping Operations

Greening the Environment

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has published the report titled, Greening the Blue Helmets: Environment, Natural Resource, and Peacekeeping Operations.This report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how peacekeeping operations affect and are affected by natural resources and environmental conditions. The report is a component of ongoing technical collaboration between UNEP, DPKO and DFS, to increase the consideration given to natural resources and the environment in UN peacekeeping efforts

It report has been open to peer review by all of the current UN peacekeeping missions as well as to a selected number of international experts, academics and non-governmental organizations.

Other reports in this series

Freshwater Under Threat - Pacific Islands UNEP Report

Water The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released Freshwater Under Threat: Pacific Islands.

According to the report climate change will exacerbate water stress in Pacific Islands, particularly small islands that rely on seasonal rain for their freshwater needs.



Key recommendations:

  • Long-term strategies to address sustainable management capacity in the region;
  • Delivery of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) within a model adapted to the Pacific is critical to enable countries to maximize development opportunities associated with water resources and better meet basic human rights.
  • Investment in infrastructure with a combination of household level and centralized infrastructure on larger islands.
  • Integration of Disaster risk management into national planning and integration of water resource management needs to be integrated into disaster risk management.
  • Ensure that communities are an integral component in planning and delivery of disaster management plans.
  • National and regional feedback on progress towards addressing major water resource issues and develop indicator frameworks are required at national and regional levels.

The report is available in English (pdf).

Resources

Resilient people, resilient planet: a future worth choosing

The High-level Panel on Global Sustainability presented its report to the Secretary-General on 30 January 2012 in Addis Ababa.

The 22-member Panel, established by the Secretary-General in August 2010 to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable development and low-carbon prosperity, was co-chaired by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma. The Panel’s final report, “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing”, contains 56 recommendations to put sustainable development into practice and to mainstream it into economic policy as quickly as possible.

  • The Secretary-General has also transmitted the report of the Panel to Member States, together with a cover note, as General Assembly document A/66/700, available in all UN official languages:
    [عربي]   [中文]   [English]   [Français]   [Русский]   [Español]

 Additional information:

Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk

United Nations World Water Development report

“Freshwater is not being used sustainably, according to needs and demands. Accurate information remains disparate, and management is fragmented. In this context, the future is increasingly uncertain and risks are set to deepen.”
Irina Bokova, Foreword

Today the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)  launch the 4th edition of the World Water Development report.

According to the Report, people in many parts of the world enjoy improved access to safe drinking water –86 per cent of the population in developing regions will have it by 2015.  But there are still nearly one billion people without such access, and in cities the numbers are growing. Sanitation infrastructure is not keeping pace with the world’s urban population, which will almost double by 2050 to 6.3 billion people.  Today, more than 80 per cent of the world’s waste water is neither collected nor treated.

Related Information

UNEP Yearbook 2012

The UNEP Year Book 2012 shows that the we are facing a number of environmental challenges. However, scientists and policy makers made headway on addressing some of the most pressing environmental issues through new discoveries and investments.

The 2012 Year Book presents the most important events and developments from the year, gives a picture of the status of key environmental indicators, and also highlights two emerging issues in detail: the benefits of soil carbon and the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.

Resources:

United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020 

The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity was officially launched on December 17 by the UN Secretary-General. The General Assembly previously declared the period 2011-2020 as United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (A/RES/65/161) to promote the implementation of a strategic plan on biodiversity and its overall vision of living in harmony with nature.

The main goal is to mainstream biodiversity at different levels. Throughout the Decade, governments are encouraged to develop, implement and communicate the results of national strategies for implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.

Resources:

3 October- World Habitat Day


While cities take up approximately 2 per cent of the Earth’s land mass they cause up to 70 per cent of the worlds total CO2 emissions.
Photo: UN-HABITAT

In Resolution 40/202 of 17 December 1985, the UN General Assembly designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day. In 2011, World Habitat Day is commemorated on 3 October.

In 2011, the theme of World Habitat Day is Cities and Climate Change. The effects of urbanization and climate change are converging in dangerous ways. The results of this convergence threaten to have unprecedented negative impacts on quality of life, and economic and social stability.

Resources: Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements 2011

SG’s message

Documents