The Asia-Pacific region needs to spend about $40 billion a year to "climate proof" its economies against the impact of global warming, Asian Development Bank vice president Bindu Lohani said Monday.

Countries need to undergo "transformational change" to build resilience to climate change disasters, Lohani told the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum in Bangkok.

Read more: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/319491

The Asian Development Bank is expected to invest about $100 million in a multinational fund that will be put up to boost investments in environment-related technologies and projects in developing countries like the Philippines.

The planned investment in the Climate Public-Private Partnership Fund has already been endorsed by Bindu Lohani, acting head of the ADB, to its board of directors.

Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/47543/adb-plans-to-invest-100m-in-environme...

To meet the threat of climate change, Bangladesh launched a national strategy and action plan 2009. A multi donor climate change fund will help the government to implement the ten-year plan and Sweden will be contributing SEK 90 million.

Read more: http://www.sida.se/English/Countries-and-regions/Asia/Bangladesh/Program...

The small-scale farmers in Bolivia’s arid regions are very vulnerable to climate change. To meet the farmers’ needs and teach them new agricultural methods, the local authorities need to develop their capacity. This will be done through the threeyear project PROAGRO 2.

Read more: http://www.sida.se/English/Countries-and-regions/Latin-America/Bolivia/P...

Tom Tanner makes the case for pro-poor adaptation to climate change. By making adaptation sensitive to the needs of the groups most affected by climate change responses could double as a pathway out of poverty.

The project development objective is to enhance adaptation to climate change in agriculture and irrigation water management practices through awareness-raising, institutional and capacity strengthening, and demonstration activities in the 3H basin. The reallocation is necessary to adjust for the appreciation of the Chinese currency over the US dollar since the time of project effectiveness, and to shift resources away from slow progressing activities towards faster moving activities.

Read more: http://www.worldbank.org/projects/documents/2011/10/15532080/china-mains...

This workbook is intended to help policy makers in developing countries plan for a safer future in urban areas in the face of natural disasters and the consequences of climate change. It is based on the experiences of three cities in Vietnam, Can Tho, Dong Hoi, and Hanoi, that worked with international and local experts under World Bank supervision to develop local resilience action plans (LRAPs) in 2009-10.

Read more: http://go.worldbank.org/Q4RPZGYVQ0

This report addresses the mitigation of short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) and its key role in air pollution reduction, climate protection and sustainable development. SLCFs are substances in the atmosphere that contribute to global warming and have relatively short lifetimes in the atmosphere. The focus is on three SLCFs -- black carbon, tropospheric ozone and methane -- because reducing them will provide significant benefits through improved air quality and a slowing of near-term climate change.

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Norway has commended the progress made by Tanzania and a decision by the government to integrate climate change and environment issues in its development plan.

Norway, a chief investor in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Tanzania, said through its ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Ingunn Klepsivik, that it has been impressed by the work done by the national Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) programme.

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“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty and advancing economic growth” is an ambitious goal by any measure but that is what South Korean diplomat, Ban Ki-moon, has set out to do for the next five years of his term as United Nations Secretary General with the help of governments, the private sector, and civil society. (Photo: DG Yumkella and UN SG Ban Ki-moon in Abu Dhabi)

Outlining his “five global imperatives – five generational opportunities and two enablers” that will shape his global agenda and build the world of the future; a world where economic prosperity, freedom, justice and peace reign, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has challenged the world community to forge a common partnership. “Together, no challenge is too large. Together, nothing is impossible,” he said.

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