scholarly journals Production of Carbon Offsets Using Conservation Agriculture Practices

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Francois Rochecouste ◽  
Paul Dargusch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Carbon Offsets ◽  
The United Nations

This paper examines opportunities for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to consider financial mechanisms for the uptake of conservation agriculture (CA) practices in developing countries to reverse the loss of soil organic carbon. Conservation agriculture, commonly described as the reduction of tillage, maintaining soil cover and introducing crop rotations, is currently being promoted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation as the most sustainable form of farming into the future. It was found that the increasing uptake of CA practices by developed countries improved soil organic carbon benefit and reduced energy inputs. Furthermore industrial agriculture has evolved a range of new technologies that can be adapted in developing countries to improve food security, increase environmental benefits and provide carbon offsets. This is in line with the climate change mitigation strategy of putting atmospheric carbon back in the soil to increase soil organic carbon. It is also noted that recognising conservation agriculture methodologies in carbon offset schemes would require the development of alternative economic instruments specifically to support small landholder changes in farming practices such as exist for hydrological and biodiversity ecosystem services schemes. Some of the constraints for small landowners providing agricultural carbon offsets are investment capital and an established trading mechanism that recognises the inherent issues of agriculture. Adaptation of conservation agricultural practices from industrialised agriculture to developing countries is examined along with current offset schemes being proposed in developed countries. A review of the literature examines Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and suggests a number of methodologies for consideration as part of an offset market. It was found that the two main obstacles in market terms are the acceptance of a level of soil carbon sequestration that can be easily calculated and the degree of attached liability for farmers in selling the equivalent of a Certified Emission Reduction unit from a highly volatile system.

Implementation of a Health Information Systems Programme

2005 ◽  
pp. 420-426
Author(s):  
Zubeeda Banu Quraishy
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Large Growth ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Government

In general, developed countries in the world is where Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is in an advanced state, governments in developing countries particularly in the Asia- Pacific region are only in the initial phases of adopting ICT. ICT has demonstrated benefits for governments in developing countries to improve management, information and reporting, streamline the delivery of government services, enhance communication with the citizenry, and serve as a catalyst for empowering citizens to interact with the government. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2001) considers that ICT is a useful tool for developing countries to progress and leapfrog to the applications applied in the developed world. The Indian draft report on ICT and Human Development records that in the 21st century there is large growth and diversification of the ICT sector in India particularly in areas of agriculture and in service sectors (UNDP, 2004). The United Nations even has an ICT advisory group with representatives from governments of developing countries and the industry (Singh, 2001).

Modelling impacts of climate change and alternative management interventions on the multi-functionality of agricultural landscapes in southern Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reimund Roetter ◽  
Simon Scheiter ◽  
Munir Hoffmann ◽  
Kwabena Ayisi ◽  
Paolo Merante ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Drought Risk ◽  
Crop Models ◽  
Landscape Level

<p><span><span>On the background of increasing welfare and continued population growth, there is an ever-increasing pressure on land and other natural resources in many parts of the world. The situation is, however, particularly severe in the drylands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Southern African landscapes, composed of arable lands, tree orchards and rangelands, provide a range of important ecosystem functions. These functions are increasingly threatened by land use changes through competing claims on land by agriculture, tourism, mining and other sectors, and by environmental change, namely climate change and soil degradation. Among others, climate models project that drought risk in the region will increase considerably. Based on comprehensive data sets originating from previous groundwork by several collaborative projects on the functioning of these ecosystems, a number of biophysical and bio-economic models have been developed and evaluated. In the framework of the South African Limpopo Landscapes network (SALLnet) we have now refined and tailored these models for combined use for the assessment of changes in multiple functions of the prevailing agroecosystems when affected by alternative climate and land management scenarios - from field to regional scale. We apply vegetation models (such as aDGVM), crop models (such as APSIM) and integrative farm level models (e.g. agent-based) for different farming systems in conjunction with geo-referenced databases. Model outputs are combined to assess the impact of management x environment interactions on various ecosystem functions. Of special interest in our study are the ecosystem services related to the provision of food, feed and fuel, soil and water conservation, as well as recycling and restoring carbon and nutrients in soil. To illustrate how the combination of various modelling components can work in assessing management intervention effects under different environmental conditions on landscape level ecosystem services, a case study was defined in Limpopo province, South Africa. We investigated effects of current management practices and an intensification scenario over a longer period of years on soil organic carbon change under rangeland and arable land, potential erosion, productive water use, biomass production, monthly feed gaps, and rangeland habitat quality. Tentative results showed that sustainable intensification closed the livestock feed gap, but further reduced soil organic carbon. More generally, coupling the output of vegetation and crop models regionally calibrated with sound ground/ experimental data appears promising to provide meaningful insights into the highly complex interconnections of different ecosystem services at a landscape level.</span></span></p>

scholarly journals Restoration of degraded grasslands, but not invasion by Prosopis juliflora, avoids trade-offs between climate change mitigation and other ecosystem services

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Purity Rima Mbaabu ◽  
Daniel Olago ◽  
Maina Gichaba ◽  
Sandra Eckert ◽  
René Eschen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Prosopis Juliflora ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
Semi Arid

AbstractGrassland degradation and the concomitant loss of soil organic carbon is widespread in tropical arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Afforestation of degraded grassland, sometimes by using invasive alien trees, has been put forward as a legitimate climate change mitigation strategy. However, even in cases where tree encroachment of degraded grasslands leads to increased soil organic carbon, it may come at a high cost since the restoration of grassland-characteristic biodiversity and ecosystem services will be blocked. We assessed how invasion by Prosopis juliflora and restoration of degraded grasslands in a semi-arid region in Baringo, Kenya affected soil organic carbon, biodiversity and fodder availability. Thirty years of grassland restoration replenished soil organic carbon to 1 m depth at a rate of 1.4% per year and restored herbaceous biomass to levels of pristine grasslands, while plant biodiversity remained low. Invasion of degraded grasslands by P. juliflora increased soil organic carbon primarily in the upper 30 cm and suppressed herbaceous vegetation. We argue that, in contrast to encroachment by invasive alien trees, restoration of grasslands in tropical semi-arid regions can both serve as a measure for climate change mitigation and help restore key ecosystem services important for pastoralists and agro-pastoralist communities.

World Environmental Trends Between 1972 and 1982

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin W. Holdgate ◽  
Mohamed Kassas ◽  
Gilbert F. White
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
United Nations Environment Programme ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

The United Nations General Assembly has instructed the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme to keep the world environmental situation under review. In 1982, 10 years after the UN Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm, the first comprehensive report on the state of the global environment is being published. The present paper, by the Editors of that Report, summarizes its main findings. It first reviews changes in the sectors of The Biosphere (while recognizing that the interlinkages between them have been stressed increasingly during the past decade), before turning to the human components of the total Man—environment system.In the atmosphere, rising carbon dioxide concentrations, acidification of rain and snow in or by industrial regions, and stratospheric ozone depletion, remain the chief concerns, although the last has not yet been demonstrated instrumentally. In the oceans, pollution (including oil) has not been shown to have more than a local impact on ecosystems, and overall fishery yields have continued to rise slowly and erratically despite some overexploitation. The world's freshwater resources are better known than in 1970, and pollution control and the prevention of problems in irrigated agriculture have advanced; but the targets of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade appear less attainable as time passes. Mineral production rose without a concomitant increase in environmental damage. Changes in terrestrial life—especially loss of tropical forests—were the subject of widely varying estimates. Food production rose, but fell short of needs in many areas, while desertification, waterlogging, salinization, pest-resistance, post-harvest crop-losses, and the side-effects of agricultural chemicals, remained serious problems.The dominance of the human element in the Manenvironment system was increasingly recognized during the decade. Human population growth slowed somewhat, except in Africa, although the world total passed 4,400 millions in 1980. The cities of the developing world expanded rapidly, outstripping public services and threatening new problems. In the Third World, infectious and parasitic diseases remained major killers, whereas hypertension, coronary heart disease, and cancers—some due to self-inflicted influence—dominated the statistics in developed nations: environmental factors remained important in both. The 1970s showed that industrial growth could occur without environmental damage or unacceptable cost. The energy crisis of 1974 had a serious impact on developing countries with strategies based on cheap oil, and firewood shortages led to severe environmental problems there also: in contrast, many developed countries were able to adjust their energy plans with only moderate difficulty.Transport and international tourism grew dramatically during the decade, consuming energy and land, and inspiring countermeasures to curb pollution, increase safety, and avoid social and environmental disturbances in areas that were frequented by many visitors. Environmental education schemes expanded—especially in developed countries, where the coverage of environmental issues in popular media grew dramatically between 1960 and 1970, falling back subsequently. The environmental impact of past wars and increasing military preparations caused concern, and the arms race continued to absorb resources that developing countries could ill afford.Reviewing the decade, four dominant trends can be recognized. First, scientific and popular interest in environmental protection have come together to form a new kind of conservation movement. Second, there has been a data explosion in the environmental field, but much of the information is of limited value in assessing trends or as a foundation for decisions and actions. Third, new understanding of the structure and functioning of environmental systems offers a prospect of more reliable planning. Fourth and finally, it has become apparent that the lack of social organization, education, training, and political will, are commonly the limiting factors in environmental improvement, rather than a shortage of scientific knowledge.

scholarly journals HFC-23 (CHF<sub>3</sub>) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF<sub>2</sub>) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 7875-7890 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Miller ◽  
M. Rigby ◽  
L. J. M. Kuijpers ◽  
P. B. Krummel ◽  
L. P. Steele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
United Nations Environment Programme ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Past ◽  
Remote Sites ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Using Data

Abstract. HFC-23 (also known as CHF3, fluoroform or trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential (GWP) of 14 800 for a 100-year time horizon. It is an unavoidable by-product of HCFC-22 (CHClF2, chlorodifluoromethane) production. HCFC-22, an ozone depleting substance (ODS), is used extensively in commercial refrigeration and air conditioning, in the extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam industries (dispersive applications) and also as a feedstock in fluoropolymer manufacture (a non-dispersive use). Aside from small markets in specialty uses, HFC-23 has historically been considered a waste gas that was, and often still is, simply vented to the atmosphere. Efforts have been made in the past two decades to reduce HFC-23 emissions, including destruction (incineration) in facilities in developing countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and by process optimization and/or voluntary incineration by most producers in developed countries. We present observations of lower-tropospheric mole fractions of HFC-23 measured by "Medusa" GC/MSD instruments from ambient air sampled in situ at the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network of five remote sites (2007–2009) and in Cape Grim air archive (CGAA) samples (1978–2009) from Tasmania, Australia. These observations are used with the AGAGE 2-D atmospheric 12-box model and an inverse method to produce model mole fractions and a "top-down" HFC-23 emission history. The model 2009 annual mean global lower-tropospheric background abundance is 22.6 (±0.2) pmol mol−1. The derived HFC-23 emissions show a "plateau" during 1997–2003, followed by a rapid ~50% increase to a peak of 15.0 (+1.3/−1.2) Gg/yr in 2006. Following this peak, emissions of HFC-23 declined rapidly to 8.6 (+0.9/−1.0) Gg/yr in 2009, the lowest annual emission of the past 15 years. We derive a 1990–2008 "bottom-up" HFC-23 emission history using data from the United Nations Environment Programme and the UNFCCC. Comparison with the top-down HFC-23 emission history shows agreement within the stated uncertainties. In the 1990s, HFC-23 emissions from developed countries dominated all other sources, then began to decline and eventually became fairly constant during 2003–2008. By this point, with developed countries' emissions essentially at a plateau, the major factor controlling the annual dynamics of global HFC-23 emissions became the historical rise of developing countries' HCFC-22 dispersive use production, which peaked in 2007. Thereafter in 2007–2009, incineration through CDM projects became a larger factor, reducing global HFC-23 emissions despite rapidly rising HCFC-22 feedstock production in developing countries.

scholarly journals HFC-23 (CHF<sub>3</sub>) emission trend response to HCFC-22 (CHClF<sub>2</sub>) production and recent HFC-23 emission abatement measures

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 13179-13217
Author(s):  
B. R. Miller ◽  
M. Rigby ◽  
L. J. M. Kuijpers ◽  
P. B. Krummel ◽  
L. P. Steele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
United Nations Environment Programme ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Past ◽  
Remote Sites ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Using Data

Abstract. HFC-23 (also known as CHF3, fluoroform or trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with a global warming potential (GWP) of 14 800 for a 100-year time horizon. It is an unavoidable by-product of HCFC-22 (CHClF2, chlorodifluoromethane) production. HCFC-22, an ozone depleting substance (ODS), is used extensively in commercial refrigeration and air conditioning, in the extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam industries (dispersive applications) and also as a feedstock in fluoropolymer manufacture (a non-dispersive use). Aside from small markets in specialty uses, HFC-23 has historically been considered a waste gas that was, and often still is, simply vented to the atmosphere. Efforts have been made in the past two decades to reduce HFC-23 emissions, including destruction (incineration) in facilities in developing countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and by process optimization and/or voluntary incineration by most producers in developed countries. We present observations of lower-tropospheric mole fractions of HFC-23 measured by "Medusa" GC/MSD instruments from ambient air sampled in situ at the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network of five remote sites and in Cape Grim air archive (CGAA) samples (1978–2009) from Tasmania, Australia. These observations are used with the AGAGE 2-D atmospheric 12-box model and an inverse method to produce model mole fractions and a "top-down" HFC-23 emission history. The model 2009 annual mean global lower-tropospheric background abundance is 22.8 (±0.2) pmol mol−1. The derived HFC-23 emissions show a "plateau" during 1997–2003, followed by a rapid ~50% increase to a peak of 15.0 (+1.3/−1.2) Gg/yr in 2006. Following this peak, emissions of HFC-23 declined rapidly to 8.6 (+0.9/−1.0) Gg/yr in 2009, the lowest annual emission of the past 15 years. We derive a 1990–2008 "bottom-up" HFC-23 emission history using data from the United Nations Environment Programme and the UNFCCC. Comparison with the top-down HFC-23 emission history shows agreement within the stated uncertainties. In the 1990s, HFC-23 emissions from developed countries dominated all other sources, then began to decline and eventually became fairly constant during 2003–2008. From the beginning of that plateau, the major factor determining the annual dynamics of global HFC-23 emissions became the historical rise of HCFC-22 production for dispersive uses in developing countries to a peak in 2007. Thereafter in 2007–2009, incineration through CDM projects became a larger factor, reducing global HFC-23 emissions despite rapidly rising HCFC-22 feedstock production in developing countries.

The impact of hedges maturation on soil organic carbon stocks in agricultural landscapes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Biffi ◽  
Pippa j Chapman ◽  
Richard P Grayson ◽  
Guy Ziv
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soc Stock ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;Hedgerows can provide a wide range of regulatory ecosystem services within improved grassland landscapes, such as soil function improvement, soil erosion reduction, biodiversity, water quality, and flood prevention and mitigation. Because of their beneficial effects, farmers are incentivised to retain their hedgerows and the planting of hedges has been encouraged in agri-environment schemes in Europe. Today, hedgerow planting it is one of the most popular practices adopted in the Countryside and Environmental Stewardships in England. The role of hedgerows in climate change mitigation has been increasingly recognized over the past decade, however, while other services have been more widely studies, less is known about hedges soil organic carbon (SOC) storage capacity. The Resilient Dairy Landscapes project aims at identifying strategies to reconcile dairy systems productivity and environment in the face of climate change, and with the Committee on Climate Change calling for a 30% - 40% increase in hedgerow length by 2050 in the UK, it is important to determine the role of hedgerows in meeting Net Zero targets. In this study, we estimate the extent of SOC stock beneath hedges and how it may vary with depth, hedge management and age, as well as how it&amp;#160;may compare&amp;#160;to SOC stock in adjacent agricultural fields. Thus, we measured SOC under 2-4 years old, 10 years old, 37 years old, and 40+ years old hedgerows at 10 cm intervals up to 50 cm of depth under 32 hedges located on dairy farms in Cumbria, UK. We found that the time since planting and the depth of samples play a crucial role in the amount of SOC stock stored underneath hedgerows when accounting for differences in soil type. Our results contribute measurable outcomes towards the estimate of targets for Net Zero 2050 and the extent of ecosystem services provision by hedgerow planting in agricultural landscapes. &amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

The Adoption of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomaž Gerden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
The United Nations

The measures at the level of the United Nations have been implemented in light of the scientific research on the increasing emissions of gases, predominantly created during fossil fuels combustion, which cause the warming of the atmosphere and result in harmful climate change effects. The adoption of this measures has also been demanded by non-governmental environmental organisations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted by the leaders of the intergovernmental organisation members at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. After the ratification process, it came into force in March 1994. It also provided for the drawing-up of an appendix: a Protocol on the obligatory reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The Parties to the Framework Convention started the negotiations at their first annual conference COP1 in Berlin in March and April 1995. Due to their modest greenhouse gas emissions per capita and their right to development, the developing states demanded that the obligatory reductions of these emissions only be implemented by the industrially-developed countries. In the latter camp, the European Union favoured a tougher implementation; the United States of America argued for a less demanding agreement due to the pressure of the oil and coal lobbies; while the OPEC member countries were against all measures. After lengthy negotiations, the Protocol was adopted at the end of the COP3 Conference in Kyoto on 11 December 1997. It only involved a group of industrially developed countries, which undertook to reduce their emissions by 5.2 %, on average, until the year 2012 in comparison with the base-year of 1990. In the EU as well as in Slovenia, an 8 % reduction was implemented. As the United States of America withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, its ratification was delayed. It came into force on 16 February 2005, after it had been ratified by more than 55 UN member states, together responsible for more than 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions.

Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with climate change impacts.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-0
Author(s):  
Monika Adamczak-Retecka
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Loss And Damage ◽  
The United Nations

The topic of loss and damage in the context of climate change has gained increasing importance in the UNFCCC climate change talks in recent years. The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage was established after two years of deliberations by the Conference of the Parties (COP) 19 in 2013. It is supposed to be the main vehicle under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to promote the implementation of approaches to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in a comprehensive integrated and coherent manner.

scholarly journals The Clean development mechanism

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-112
Author(s):  
Yusuf Muchelulea ◽  
Kevin Mulama
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Technology Transfer ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Clean Development Mechanism ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
If Current ◽  
Development Mechanism

The Clean development mechanism (CDM) is a new tool for promoting sustainable development in developing countries. It was established by the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It promises developed countries certified emission reductions (CERs) if they comply with their quantified emission targets and developing countries sustainable development benefits if they participate and invest in clean renewable technologies. Energy development through investments in clean technology transfer can contribute to sustainable development. However, sustainable development will only be achieved if current barriers and gaps facing CDM project implementation in Kenya are mitigated or removed altogether paving way for the development of more CDM projects in Kenya.

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