Studies

Interim Assessment of Revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPS)

This study is a collaborative work of United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Facility, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC).This interim assessment of post-2010 NBSAPs undertakes a preliminary review of how countries have considered the Strategic Plan of the CBD and the readiness to achieve the Aichi Targets at national level. Although the assessment is based on a limited number of NBSAPs developed after 2010, indications are that most NBSAPs use the Aichi Targets as an overall framework to set national targets and/or national priorities for action. However, as was the case for pre-2010 NBSAPs, issues of a cross-cutting nature beyond the direct drivers of biodiversity loss have received limited attention. This also applies to legal preparedness and resource mobilization for biodiversity. The assessment provides specific examples of national actions suggested in the revised NBSAPs, and a set of generic recommendations for countries that are still to finalize their NBSAPs.

 Attachment: Interim Assessment of Revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.Pdf

Nile River Basin: Stock Taking of Adaptation Activities in the Nile River Basin

Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and climate variability, a situation aggravated by the interaction of ‘multiple stresses’, occurring at various levels, and low adaptive capacity. Climate change is also likely to aggravate water stress currently faced by some countries in the Nile River Basin, while others that do not currently experience water stress will become at a risk of water stress. According to empirical evidence, climate change in Africa is a fact that has a strong impact on Africa’s water resources. Adaptation to this impact is of crucial importance for political and socio-economic stability and economic growth. There is a great need for adaptation strategies to be developed together with all partners on the basis of sub-regional future scenarios, including expected changes to the hydrological cycle and impact on agriculture and food security. This desktop study by United Nations Environment Programme was undertaken with the aim of identifying key stakeholders and partners at continental, sub-regional, basin, national and local levels, with a particular focus on a wide range of actors such as intergovernmental institutions, regional economic commissions, government agencies, development partners, non-states actors, and research institutions working in the pursuit for adaptation solutions in the Nile Basin.

Attachment: Nile River Basin: Stock Taking of Adaptation Activities in the Nile River Basin.Pdf

Clarifying the role of coastal and marine systems in climate mitigation

The study was done by researchers from the University of Maryland, with support from NOAA, and appears in the Journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The international scientific community is increasingly recognizing the role of natural systems in climate-change mitigation. While forests have historically been the primary focus of such efforts, coastal wetlands – particularly seagrasses, tidal marshes, and mangroves – are now considered important and effective long-term carbon sinks. However, some members of the coastal and marine policy and management community have been interested in expanding climate mitigation strategies to include other components within coastal and marine systems, such as coral reefs, phytoplankton, kelp forests, and marine fauna. This study analyze the scientific evidence regarding whether these marine ecosystems and ecosystem components are viable long-term carbon sinks and whether they can be managed for climate mitigation. The findings of this study could assist decision makers and conservation practitioners in identifying which components of coastal and marine ecosystems should be prioritized in current climate mitigation strategies and policies.

Attachment: Clarifying the role of coastal and marine systems in climate mitigation.Pdf

Assessing recent warming using instrumentally homogeneous sea surface temperature records

A new study “Assessing recent warming using instrumentally homogeneous sea surface temperature records” Published in Science Advances has shown that a 2015 NOAA paper finding that the Earth is warming more rapidly than previously thought was correct. The data is used from buoys, satellites, and Argo floats to construct separate instrumentally homogenous sea surface temperature records of the past two decades. The scientists compared them to the old NOAA ERSSTv3b record, the new ERSSTv4 record, the Hadley Centre’s HadSST3 record, and the Japanese COBE-SST record. The Scientists found a strong and significant cool bias in the old NOAA record, and a more modest (but still significant) cool bias in the Hadley and Japanese records compared to buoy, satellite, and Argo float data. The new NOAA record agrees quite well with these instrumentally homogenous records. This suggests that the new NOAA record is likely the most accurate sea surface temperature record in recent years, and should help resolve some of the criticism that accompanied the original NOAA study. The laborious process in which scientists check and recheck their work and subject their ideas to peer review has led to another success. An independent test of global warming data has confirmed a groundbreaking 2015 study that showed warming was faster than prior estimates. 

Attachment: Assessing recent warming using instrumentally homogeneous sea surface temperature records.pdf