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| NEWS |
APFSD Special Webpage Launch
The Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) is an annual meeting convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), and aims to strengthen the region’s readiness for the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The theme of the 8th APFSD is "Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and the Pacific". It will be organised from 23-26 March, in a hybrid mode, both online and offline. This page introduces IGES’ key messages for APFSD 2021, side events and related publications.
 More details available here |
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7th Asia-Pacific Adaptation Forum
IGES will participate in the 7th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum (APAN Forum) as a Forum Session Partner. Held virtually from 8-12 March, the APAN Forum will take place with the theme “Enabling Resilience for All: The Critical Decade to Scale-up Action”, and will share learnings from actions towards climate-resilient development. It aims to formulate a set of recommendations on how to magnify current efforts on adaptation in the Asia-Pacific and provide the basis for the region’s contributions to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom and the 2021 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Kunming, China. With Japan as the host country, IGES is providing operational support to the Forum alongide the Ministry of the Environment Japan. In addition to co-organising three sessions, IGES is presenting commitments for future adaptation efforts based on discussions at the APAN Forum during the High Level Closing Session being held on 12 March, together with other partner organisations.
More details available here
Details of the sessions organised by IGES are available here
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UNEA-5 Special Webpage Launch
A special page about the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) is now available. UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, with a universal membership of all 193 Member States. The Assembly meets biennially in Nairobi, Kenya, and through its ministerial declaration and resolutions provides leadership, catalyses intergovernmental action on the environment, and contributes to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UNEA Secretariat decided to organise the fifth session (UNEA-5) in two parts: virtually in 2021 and in-person in 2022. The first session of UNEA-5 was conducted online on 22-23 February. Agenda items that require in-depth negotiations will be discussed during the in-person session of UNEA-5, which will resume in February 2022. The webpage features an introduction to the background of and discussions at UNEA-5, as well as related IGES publications.
More details available here |
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ASEAN Project on Disaster Risk Reduction Website Launch
IGES and the ASEAN Secretariat launched a new website for the ASEAN Project on Disaster Risk Reduction by Integrating Climate Change Projection into Flood and Landslide Risk Assessment (ASEAN DRR-CCA). IGES is taking the lead coordination role, implementing the DRR-CCA Project under the guidance of the ACDM, through the ACDM Working Group on Prevention and Mitigation. Supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), the website promotes advocacy efforts by disseminating information and the latest developments on DRR-CCA in ASEAN to the public, and gives visitors an in-depth look into what the project accomplished during its first phase. Details on these achievements include pilot studies in Myanmar and Lao PDR, an overview of a series of structured training sessions and a field survey demonstrating the integration of climate change projection into flood and landslide risk assessments, and reports on case visits which showcased the best available practices for flood and landslide risk management. Additional highlights of the site are short impact stories from locals in the region, and downloadable factsheets. The website also includes two recently released ASEAN publications: the Guideline on Integrating Climate Change Projection into Flood Risk Assessments and Mapping at the River Basin Level, and the Guideline on Integrating Climate Change Projection into Landslide Risk Assessments and Mapping at the River Basin Level. They are accessible online, in English, and the Burmese and Laotian versions will be available soon.
More details available here
The website can be accessed here
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| EVENTS |
The 7th 3R International Scientific Conference (3RINCs)
On 11 March and 15-19 March, the 7th 3R International Scientific Conference will be held online. Although social activity has stagnated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many parts of the world have already begun to rebuild their economies with green recovery policies. Green recovery is also required in the field of waste and material cycling. Under these circumstances, global academics, policymakers and business representatives, especially those from the Asia-Pacific region, will come together for interdisciplinary discussions. In the “Special Session” of the conference participants will, with respect to various countries, share information about and discuss topics such as: analytical methods of plastic waste, organic waste and food waste management, disaster waste management, and waste management during/after COVID-19. The “General Session” will cover a wide range of topics and be a good opportunity to publish research outputs as part of the proceedings e-book. There is also an opportunity to submit a full paper for the special issue of a well-known international journal. The Conference will focus on the dissemination of information from companies and the exchange of ideas between companies and researchers/participants during discussions of global issues in the field of waste and material cycling. In addition, the plenary lectures and special events on disaster waste will be organised in order to communicate with a larger number of participants. This is a unique opportunity to listen intensively to these discussions and interact with the people involved.
More details available here |
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Event Report: “Towards a Disaster-Resilient ASEAN”, a Seminar on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia-Pacific
On 23 February (via video-conference), IGES and the ASEAN Secretariat co-hosted the final seminar for the ASEAN Project on Disaster Risk Reduction by Integrating Climate Change Projection into Flood and Landslide Risk Assessment (ASEAN DRR-CCA), which is supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). The seminar was the final activity under Phase 1 of the project, which began in October 2018, and (1) highlighted Phase 1 achievements ranging from a pilot study to field survey, and risk assessments to case visits in the region; (2) shared experience and lessons during implementation, and; (3) reached agreement on the way forward for application and utilisation of the guidelines and findings. It also included attendees from 10 ASEAN countries, who represent a range of sectors, including disaster management, water resources, urban planning (and housing), roads and natural resources (including agriculture). In addition, the event marked the official launch of two ASEAN publications: the Guideline on Integrating Climate Change Projection into Flood Risk Assessments and Mapping at the River Basin Level, and the Guideline on Integrating Climate Change Projection into Landslide Risk Assessments and Mapping at the River Basin Level.
More details available here
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Event Report: Video for Mechanical-Biological Treatment “Webinar on the CCET guideline series on intermediate municipal solid waste treatment technologies”
On 17 February, IGES co-presented the third of three webinars dedicated to assisting policymakers and practitioners in developing countries with their selection of appropriate waste management technologies, and in carrying out related policies and strategies to improve management of waste. This webinar on Mechanical - Biological Treatment (MBT) is also related to the 3R International Scientific Conference on Material Cycles and Waste Management (3RINCs) which will be organised by the Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management (JSMCWM) online on 11 March and 15-19 March. A video of the webinar is now available.
More details available here
YouTube link: here
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Event Report: Seminar on the Joint Crediting Mechanism - Recent Developments in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement towards Carbon Neutral -
In October 2020, the Japanese government announced its aim for the “realization of a carbon-neutral and decarbonized society by 2050”. In order to accomplish this goal, this seminar was held on 16 February and provided opportunities for private companies that were interested in the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) to share insights on recent global movements in carbon markets and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, as well as practical cases, on the ground in partner countries such as Thailand, Bangladesh and Kenya.
Event details and the presentation materials are available here
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Event Report: Workshop on Biennial Update Report (BUR)
From 9-11 February, IGES collaborated with the Global Support Programme (GSP) and the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC) for Asia and the Pacific to co-organise the “Workshop on Biennial Update Report (BUR*)”. The three-day workshop, held in response to requests to provide capacity building on preparing BURs among South Asian member countries, highlighted three aspects for preparation of BURs: (1) Understanding the basic information about BUR and possible solutions to existing challenges in institutional arrangement; (2) GHG inventory and its linkage to mitigation actions; and (3) Reporting mitigation actions including uncertainty assessment, and domestic MRV (monitoring, reporting, verification) systems. There were 37 participants, including: government officials in charge of national communications (NCs), biennial update reports (BURs), GHG inventories from eight countries in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), and experts from various international organisations.
*BURs are reports to be submitted every two years by non-Annex I Parties (developing countries) to UNFCCC, containing information on national circumstance, national GHG inventory, information on mitigation actions, and needs and support received to implement these activities.
More details available here
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| MEDIA COVERAGE |
| Nandakumar Janardhanan, a Research Manager (Climate and Energy) at IGES, was interviewed by the BBC Hindi channel about India’s energy dependence and renewable energy development.
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BBC News Hindi Link: here |
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| RECRUITMENT/INTERNSHIP |
| The Technical Support Unit of the IPCC Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories wishes to recruit a Programme Officer |
More details available here
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| The Research and Publications Unit of the Strategic Management Office Calls for Internship Applicants
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More details available here |
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