Friday, 27 September 2013

IPCC climate report: research, resources and expertise

by Julia Day, STEPS Centre

As the most comprehensive statement on climate science to date is published, we have gathered some of our key resources on the impact of climate change on poor and marginalised people in developing countries.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change summary for policymakers on the physical science of global warming is published today, with the full report to follow. The summary concludes that human influence on the climate system is clear and that warming in the climate system is unequivocal.

“As the ocean warms, and glaciers and ice sheets reduce, global mean sea level will continue to rise, but at a faster rate than we have experienced over the past 40 years,” said  Qin Dahe of the China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, and co-chair of the IPCC working group that produced the summary for policymakers.

The ESRC STEPS Centre and its partners around the world have been working on research projects that seek to address the many different impacts that climate change has on peoples’ lives and livelihoods in sustainable ways that work for those people and the planet, using their own knowledge and expertise.

Projects:
  • Energy and Climate Change domain With increasing access to modern energy services a key international development priority, the STEPS Centre believes a much broader and ambitious approach to energy and development is needed.
  • Political Ecologies of Carbon in Africa New deals and funding mechanisms aim to reduce emissions. One consequence of this is the growth of a market in carbon. This project examines the power, politics and perceptions of carbon in Africa as new schemes are planned and put into action.
  • Uncertainty from Above and Below How do people deal with uncertainty about the climate? Theories, models and diagrams from “above” may have little to do with the way how everyday men and women live with, understand and cope with uncertainty. This project brings together the views of people who study uncertainty, with the perspectives of people who experience it.
  • Pro-poor, low carbon development This project aims to improve the transfer and uptake of low carbon technologies in developing countries, and to do so in ways that can assist in their economic development.
  • Environmental Change and Maize Innovations in Kenya
    In East Africa, maize is an important staple crop, a vital part of food security. This project examined the various options for farmers in the region – from choosing alternative crops, to using new techniques or technology. It looked at how farmers and others see and make these choices in the context of climate change, uncertain markets and changes in land use.
  • Future Agricultures How will climate change shape agricultural development in Africa over the coming decades and what are the most appropriate solutions?
  • Low Carbon Innovation in China This project explores the extent, nature and social implications of low-carbon transitions in China, a key concern for the whole world.
  • The Rising Powers: Clean Development and the Low Carbon Transition in sub-Saharan Africa Examining clean and renewable energy projects in South Africa and Mozambique, in order to understand how, why and to what extent China, India and Brazil are enabling the transition to low carbon energy systems in southern Africa
  • Climate Geoengineering Governance This project seeks to provide a timely intervention to intensive global discussions about the appropriate ways to govern climate geoengineering – ranging from outright bans to different notions of regulation.
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This article was originally posted on the STEPS Centre blog.
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