Climate change could cause the production of irrigated and rainfed staple crops to drop by 25 percent compared to a no-climate change scenario in 2050 in the Asia Pacific region. IFPRI Senior Research Fellow Mark Rosegrant shared this and other findings at a conference in Sydney this week.

Read more: http://www.ifpri.org/blog/coping-climate-change-asia-pacific-region-0?ut...

India has solar irradiation ranging from 4 to 7 kilowatt hours per square meter per day. Every year, the country has about 300 clear sunny days and about 2,300 to 3,200 sunshine hours.

For 5 years starting in 2004, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) studied the challenges and opportunities of building the world’s largest solar park in the state of Gujarat in India. A report by the Clinton Climate Initiative confirmed the state as a solar hot spot, a region with high “direct normal irradiance levels.”

Read more: http://www.adb.org/publications/thorough-planning-solar-park-mitigates-r...

Gazi's two sons are in Dhaka with their families. Gazi is clinging to village life the way he did the palm tree. It is the only existence he knows, but he realizes he soon may not have a choice but to leave. "Climate change has wrecked everything," he says. "Our people are living in other towns and cities, like refugees."

Climate change means higher temperatures, more rain, stronger winds. It will trigger a migration unlike anything the world has seen.

As it gradually render parts of Asia and Africa uninhabitable, as many as 250 million people - seven times the population of Canada - will be forced to move by 2050, experts predict.
They will go from deserts to places where water is less scarce, the land not so arid; from coasts, they will move inland, where they are safe from cyclones and tidal waves. They will move from flatlands to higher ground, where sudden storm surges don't flood their villages and destroy farmland with salt water.

Read more: http://thenewnationbd.com/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=65703

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), the company at the center of a decades-long campaign against its logging activities, committed to end all deforestation of natural forests on Tuesday.
The company published a new "Forest Conservation Policy" on Tuesday committing it to end development of all natural forested areas, including peat forests, improve its peatland management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and work more closely with local communities and other stakeholders.

Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/02/06/asia-pulp-paper-commits-end-rain...

Transportation in Jakarta is paralyzed by floodwaters on January 17th. Days of flooding left tens of thousands homeless and caused 32 deaths. In the midst of catastrophe, many Jakartans volunteered to help, donating time, money and goods.

The floods that ravaged Jakarta in mid-January changed many lives – often in tragic ways. Yet, like other disasters, they set the stage for life-changing experiences of helping others.

Days of flooding in the city of over ten million caused at least 32 deaths and at its peak on January 17th forced 46,000 people from their homes, according to the latest figures quoted by AFP. The Jakarta government estimates the flood caused the city a Rp. 20 trillion ($2 billion) loss.

Read more: http://khabarsouthasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2013/02...

The World Bank has begun a two-year process to review and update its environmental and social safeguard policies. These policies embody core values of the institution and are the cornerstone of the Bank's efforts to protect people and the environment and to ensure sustainable development outcomes.

Throughout the review process, the Bank will seek the views of shareholders and a wide range of stakeholders to help shape the next generation of safeguard policies.

Read more: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/PROJECTS/EXTPOLICIES/EXTSAFEPOL...

Creating electricity for the planet requires hundreds of massive power plants, and a transmission grid system to deliver the power. In the Himalayan nation of Nepal, mountains impede this delivery.

“Nepal is a poor country,” says Kiran Man Singh, a senior rural energy expert. “We don’t have many resources, because we are landlocked, and we don’t have fossil fuels.”

But one thing the nation does have is water. So small-scale hydroelectric projects, called micro-hydro, are being used to harness the power of water to produce electricity. Cheaper and faster than large hydroelectric dams, these micro-hydro projects are channeling Nepal’s ample water resources to power dark villages in the nation of 27 million.

Read more: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/articles/2013/01/30...

A short film by ACCCRN partner Mercy Corps showcasing a range of projects in Indonesia aimed at building urban climate change resilience in coastal cities and vulnerable communities.

The rise in global food prices and the ever-growing food import bill have prompted sharp attention on agricultural policies in Africa. African policy makers are grappling with what unstable food prices mean for their countries; how these price movements will affect their food security situation; how the private sector is likely to respond; and what governments themselves can do. In addition, they fear that global warming may significantly change the location of food production within Africa. This report discusses how opening up cross-border trade will boost the potential for greater food production in Africa and contribute to food security by improving poor people’s access to food and by increasing returns to poor farmers for the food they produce.

Africa Can Help Feed Africa by World Bank Publications

In a boost for global efforts to combat climate change and tropical deforestation, Finland, Germany, and Norway have each announced new financial contributions totaling approximately US$180 million to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the World Bank administered facility that was set up to compensate developing countries for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions achieved by preserving their forests.

Read more: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2013/01/10/new-funding-for-climate-fore...