Pre-Copenhagen Special Edition

Nov 24, 2009

   
CGD Development Update | November 24, 2009
 

FEATURES

FORMA Taps Satellite Data to Monitor Tropical Forests, Slow Global Warming

Payments for tropical forest preservation will be a hot issue in Copenhagen in mid-December, but timely monitoring of deforestation has stumped the global community. Until now. CGD's new Forest Monitoring for Action (FORMA) Internet tool has up-to-date information for Indonesia down to the square kilometer--and plans to eventually cover all tropical forests. Watch the video, hear a CGD Wonkcast with senior fellow David Wheeler, read the press release, or plunge into the FORMA maps.

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Take the CGD Climate Agreement Survey!

The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen begins in less than two weeks, and while scientists generally agree on the causes and horrific consequences of a sudden climate shift, the world has yet to agree on actions to avert such a catastrophe and or to cope with the rapid warming already underway. CGD hopes to contribute to a policy consensus through a 14-question survey that poses many of the same choices that negotiators will face at Copenhagen and beyond. The survey will interest all who care about development.

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TAKE THE SURVEY

Avoiding Unintended Consequences of Climate Action on Development

The impacts of runaway climate change on developing countries are dire and increasingly well understood. At the same time, some measures to cut emissions could have serious unintended negative consequences for developing-country growth. CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian and co-authors offer some preliminary quantification of the impact of possible policy approaches in a pair of new working papers, "Reconciling Climate Change and Trade Policy" and "Can Global De-Carbonization Inhibit Developing-Country Industrialization?"

READ THE WORKING PAPERS

NEW FROM CGD

CGD IN THE MEDIA

About CGD

CGD is an independent think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community.

More about CGD

About this Newsletter

The CGD Development Update is a weekly e-letter that provides information about rich country development policies, CGD events, initiatives, publications, and media citations

Meet a CGD Expert

David Wheeler

Senior Fellow
David Wheeler

David Wheeler leads CGD's work on climate change, which includes assessing the stakes for developing countries, integrating climate change into development assistance, and using public information disclosure to reduce emissions. He is the architect two Web-based carbon monitoring databases, one for all power plants in the world and one for tropical forests.

Selected Works

Blogs

Read David Wheeler's Views from the Center Author Archives here.