GECHS

The Coastal City Summit will be held 17-20 November 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. One of the most challenging issues facing the ocean today is rapid coastal urbanization whose implications have yet to be assessed. Today, the majority of the world’s population lives within sixty kilometers of the coast line and this is steadily increasing. This profound demographic shift has significant implications for the coastal environment, inhabitants and ecosystem stability. Combined with increasing birth rate and life expectancy, as well as future climate change, the escalating strain on public resources means that coastal city managers face unprecedented challenges. The summit aims to bring together coastal city leaders, managers, and academics to discuss environmental, social, economic, and public policy challenges and viable solutions. Deadline for proposals is 15 May 2008. Completed research papers, case studies, panels and round table discussion papers will be considered. Please find the guidelines for proposals at the conference website.

This years theme for the global Human Development Report is climate change, as the defining human development challenge of the 21st century. The report, “Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world”, states that failure to respond to that challenge will stall and then reverse international efforts to reduce poverty. And looking to the future, no country – however wealthy or powerful – will be immune to the impact of global warming. This Human Development Report argues that climate change poses challenges at many levels. In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, it challenges all people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing that we share in common: planet Earth. The report points out that climate change challenges us to reflect on social justice and human rights across countries and generations. It challenges political leaders and people in rich nations to acknowledge their historic responsibility for the problem, and to initiate deep and early cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Above all, it challenges the entire human community to undertake prompt and strong collective action based on shared values and a shared vision.

The 7th International Science Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (Open Meeting) will be organised by The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, IHDP. The conference, which was originally scheduled for 15 – 19 October 2008 in New Delhi, will take place from 26 – 30 April 2009 in Bonn, Germany. With the theme of the 7th Open Meeting, “Social Challenges of Global Change”, IHDP wants to indicate the need to incorporate not only the general discussion about climate change, but also many other environmental changes which happen in our society: resource shortages, the destruction of ecosystem services, and new threats to human health. Four core questions on the social aspects of environmental change will be addressed:

• How do we deal with demographic challenges?
• How do we deal with limitations of resources and ecosystem services?
• How do we maintain social cohesion while increasing (global) equity?
• How do we adapt institutions to address global change?

GECHS will contribute with numerous sessions and paper presentations in the conference. For more information, please see the conference website.

In the July 2007 issue of Ambio Jon Barnett, Suraje Dessai and Roger N. Jones present the results of a preliminary study of climate vulnerability in East Timor. It shows the results of projections of climate change in East Timor: the country’s climate may become hotter, drier, and increasingly variable; and sea levels are likely to rise. The paper then considers the implications of these changes on three natural resources—water, soils, and the coastal zone—and finds all to be sensitive to changes in climate and sea level. Changes in the abundance and distribution of these resources is likely to cause a reduction in agricultural production and food security, and sea-level rise is likely to damage coastal areas, including Dili, the capital city.

Visit the Ambio web site for downloading information.

An international workshop on Evaluating Climate Change and Development will take place May 10-13, 2008 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt. This workshop aims to identify good practices, methodologies, and information gaps in evaluation of climate change and development projects and programs.

Proposals for papers or presentations are being accepted until September 15, 2007 and should address methodological issues in evaluating either climate change mitigation or adaptation. Research studies and on-evaluative assessments may also be considered, provided they are relevant to the evaluation of climate change issues. These may include reports on methodologies, measurements, and indicators or studies on the relationship between mitigation/adaptation and development.

For more information please visit the conference website.