The WWDR4 also seeks to show that water has a central role in all aspects of economic development and social welfare, and that concerted action via a collective approach of the water-using sectors is needed to ensure water’s many benefits are maximized and shared equitably and that water-related development goals are achieved. — UN-Water is the United Nations (UN) inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater related issues. It was formally established in 2003 building on a long history of collaboration in the UN family. It currently counts 29 UN Members and 25 other international Partners. UN-Water complements and adds value to existing UN initiatives by facilitating synergies and joint efforts among the implementing agencies. See www.unwater.org
UNDESA, UNECA, UNECE, UNECLAC, UNESCAP and UNESCWA
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk
Report
ASIA-PACIFIC HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
y, the region straddles some of the world’s most geographically diverse and climate exposed
espite having contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions, some of the region’s most le communities who live here will face serious consequences.
on faces multiple challenges. On one hand, while the region’s growing economies are
poverty, climate change threatens further progress and the sustainability of hard won development gains. On the other, more inclusive economic growth, critical for reducing
Empowered lives. Resilient nations.
and equitable sharing of prosperity, is accompanied by steadily urbanizing lifestyles and-
emissions. Of particular concern are losses to communities due to climate impacts that have
order regional dimension: glacial melting, the degradation of coral reefs, desertification,
on of mangroves and eroding river systems.
on to grow now, clean up later is not a choice that the region has unlike today’s developed
s. Though per capita emissions are low, moving towards lower carbon pathways is necessary
are itself, produce and consume differently, build rural resilience and create cities for the
RI O+20 / E NV IR O N M E N T A N D U R BA N I S S U E S
NE PLANET O SHARE
ort was prepared by a multinational team led by the Human Development Report Unit t UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, Bangkok. The Centre serves countries of Asia-Pacific onal hub for development knowledge and expertise, providing policy advisory, capacity ment and advocacy services that nurture the creativity of UNDP Country Offices, host ents and civil society organisations in the region.
P-000130 UN sales number: E.08.III.8.2
ONE PLANET TO SHARE
ckle emissions per se but to do so for human societies to thrive over generations and for to be more equitable. To this end, the Report reveals how the world’s most dynamic region
e want.
ONE PLANET TO SHARE Sustaining human progress in a changing climate
UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre United Nations Service Building, 3rd floor Rajdamnern Nok Avenue Bangkok 10200, Thailand http://asia-pacific.undp.org/
U N I T E D N AT I O N S D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E
9 789231 042355
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The UniTed naTions World WaTer developmenT reporT 4 Volume 1
20/02/12 15.58
State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World
While cities have long been associated with employment, development and economic growth, hundreds of millions of children in the world’s urban areas are growing up amid scarcity and deprivation. This publication presents the hardships these children face as violations of their rights, as well as impediments to fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals. It examines major phenomena shaping the lives of children in urban settings, including migration, economic shocks and acute disaster risk. It also provides examples of efforts to improve the urban realities that children confront and identifies broad policy actions that should be included in any strategy to reach excluded children and foster equity in urban settings driven by disparity.
People in the Asia-Pacific region are profoundly affected by climate change. Home to more than half of humanity, the region straddles some of the world’s most geographically diverse and climate-exposed areas. Despite having contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions, mountain dwellers, island communities and other vulnerable communities face serious consequences for actions not of their making, and over which they have little influence. Cross-border climate-impacts that undermine human habitations — melting glaciers, rising sea-levels, degrading coral reefs, desertification, destruction of mangroves or eroding river systems — remain unaddressed without coordinated global responses. This publication outlines four strategic areas for transformation: production processes, fair and sustainable consumption, resilient rural habitats, and urban centres leading change as centres of finance and power.
Publisher: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Publication Date: February 2012 ISBN: 9789280645972 Pages: 160 Price: $25.00
Publisher: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Publication Date: March 2012 ISBN: 9780415625708 Pages: 250 Price: $45.00
This publication details the current knowledge of complex and interrelated challenges that are compounding efforts to achieve global food security. It discusses the likely implications for the food and agriculture sector and for hunger and poverty reduction efforts, including the Food and Agriculture Organization's role in assisting its Member States in the coming years. This book is designed for everyone interested in better understanding the dynamics of the current global issues and changing patterns affecting agriculture and natural resources.
Ensuring food security in a changing world
Looking ahead in worLd food and agricuLture: Perspectives to 2050 Edited by Piero conforti
Looking Ahead in World Food and Agriculture: Perspectives to 2050
In 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized a Forum and a High-level Expert Meeting on “How to Feed the World in 2050”. This book provides vital statistics and includes valuable papers regarding the meeting. It analyzes several aspects of the perspectives for global agriculture, and it gives FAO’s projections for the years to come. It also explains how macroeconomic indicators underpin the poverty levels in the 2050 horizon. This publication also explores natural resources (notably land and water), as well as capital, investment and technology.
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Publication Date: February 2012 ISBN: 9789251069035 Pages: 556 Price: $110.00
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Publication Date: March 2012 ISBN: 9789251069134 Pages: 270 Price: $62.00
AgriculturAl Development economics Division economic AnD sociAl Development DepArtment
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication
Adapting for a Green Economy: Companies, Communities and Climate Change
While much of the responsibility for driving climate change solutions that address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable rests with governments, it has become increasingly clear that businesses will be an essential partner in preparing for and responding to the impacts of a changing climate and in building a global green economy. Developed in collaboration with Oxfam International, the World Resources Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme, this publication aims to support the efforts leading up to Rio+20, as well as the activities, processes, commitments and partnerships that flow from it. By highlighting the nexus among climate change risks and opportunities, sustainable development and climate change adaptation, this book provides useful guidance to business leaders and policymakers alike.
This publication demonstrates that the greening of economies is not generally a drag on growth but rather a new engine of growth; a net generator of decent jobs, and a vital strategy for the elimination of persistent poverty. It seeks to motivate policymakers to create conditions for increased investments in a transition to a green economy in three ways — by illustrating how added employment through green jobs offsets job losses in a transition to a green economy, by using sustainable forestry and ecologically friendly farming methods to show how a green economy can reduce persistent poverty across a range of important sectors, and by providing concrete suggestions as a guide to achieving this transition.
Publisher: United Nations Publication Date: March 2012 ISBN: 9789211046175 Pages: 72 Price: $15.00
Publisher: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Publication Date: January 2012 ISBN: 9789280731439 Pages: 632 Price: $80.00
Enabling Shelter Strategies
Women at the Frontline of Climate Change: Gender Risks and Hopes
Adaptation, vulnerability and resilience of people to climate change depend upon a range of conditions. These vary from their degree of exposure and dependency upon weather patterns for livelihoods and food security, to varying capacities in adaptation, which are influenced by gender, social status, economic poverty, power, access, and control and ownership over resources in the household, community and society. This report demonstrates that women represent a primary resource for adaptation through their experience, responsibilities and strengh, and that women play a much stronger role in the management of ecosystem services and food security. Hence, it argues that sustainable adaptation must focus on gender and the role of women if it is to become successful.
This cutting-edge guide addresses the current need for a succinct reference text on enabling shelter strategies, including the necessity to explain what they are and how they can be implemented. This publication also calls for a fundamental shift in the role of government, from provider to enabler of affordable housing. While such strategies have been used over the last two decades to improve affordable shelter delivery to people who need them, there are very few publications that document the underlying basis of the enabling approach and that actually dwell on how to develop and implement such strategies.
Publisher: United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Publication Date: March 2012 ISBN: 9789211320343 Pages: 68 Price: $10.00
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This three-volume report highlights that more responsible action by all water users has enormous potential to lead to better outcomes. It encourages all stakeholders to engage early in decision making processes to improve the quality and acceptance of decisions and the probability of successful implementation. The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the world’s water resources and describes the major changes, uncertainties, and risks taking place in the world and their links to water resources. It also reviews the status and the trends related to water supplies, uses, management, institutions and financing; it highlights regional hotspots, and addresses issues such as gender equality, water-related disasters, health and the role of ecosystems.
Publisher: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Publication Date: March 2012 ISBN: 9789231042355 Pages: 866 Price: $80.00
—
Asia-Pacific Human Development Report: One Planet to Share — Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate
FAO in the 21st Century: Ensuring Food Security in a Changing World FAO in the 21st century
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
R I O+20 / E N V I R O N ME N T A N D U R BA N I S S U E S
The WWDR4 is a milestone within the WWDR series, reporting directly on regions and highlighting hotspots, and it has been mainstreamed for gender equality. It introduces a thematic approach – ‘Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk’ – in the context of a world which is changing faster than ever in often unforeseeable ways, with increasing uncertainties and risks. It highlights that historical experience will no longer be sufficient to approximate the relationship between the quantities of available water and shifting future demands. Like the earlier editions, the WWDR4 also contains country-level case studies describing the progress made in meeting water-related objectives.
World Water Development Report (WWDR4): Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk
PD0015 - UN Water Cover volume 1.indd 1-3
n the Asia-Pacific will be profoundly affected by climate change. Home to more than half of
ves. ons.
This flagship report is a comprehensive review that gives an overall picture of the world’s freshwater resources. It analyses pressures from decisions that drive demand for water and affect its availability. It offers tools and response options to help leaders in government, the private sector and civil society address current and future challenges. It suggests ways in which institutions can be reformed and their behaviour modified, and explores possible sources of financing for the urgently needed investment in water.
The UniTed naTions World WaTer developmenT reporT 4
Publisher: United Nations University (UNU) Publication Date: March 2012 ISBN: 9789280812039 Pages: 448 Price: $42.00
The United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) is hosted by UNESCO and brings together the work of 28 UN-Water members and partners in the triennial World Water Development Report (WWDR).
Volume 1
The theme of a just transition reconciles the sustainable use of natural resources with a pervasive commitment to sufficiency (where over-consumers are satisfied with less so that under-consumers can secure enough). It explores the perplexing logics of a range of different literatures and synthesizes them to illuminate new ways of thinking from a sustainability perspective. It rethinks development with a special reference to the greening of the developmental state, explores the key role that cities could play in the transition to a more sustainably urbanized world, and highlights the neglect of soils in the global discussions around the potential of sustainable agriculture to feed the world. Case studies drawn from the African continent detail the challenges, but they are set in the context of global trends. The authors conclude with their experience of building a community that aspires to live sustainably.
Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk —
Just Transitions: Explorations of Sustainability in an Unfair World
www.un.org/publications unpublications@nbnbooks.com
UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS
Publisher: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Publication Date: January 2012 ISBN: 9788277010991 Pages: 64 Price: $32.00
SPRING SUMMER 2012
phone: 1. 888.254.4286 fax: 1. 800.338.4550
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