September 30, 2009

September 30, 2009

CGD and REDD at World Bank annual meetings

On Tuesday, October 6, CGD and WRI will host a panel discussion at the World Bank Annual Meetings in Istanbul called "Financing Forest Conservation to Combat Global Warming: Keys to Success". Vinod Thomas, Director-General of the Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), will chair, with comments by the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Toernaes, Manish Bapna of WRI, Ken Chomitz of IEG, and myself. Dan and Robin will demonstrate a prototype forest monitoring system using satellite data, called Forest Monitoring for Action (FORMA).

Protecting against sea-level rise

In a new paper, my co-authors Susmita Dasgupta, Benoit Laplante, Siobhan Murray, and I explore the implications of sea-level rise and storm surges for coastal cities across the developing world, concluding that carefully targeted international assistance will be essential to effectively and equitably protect coastlines and prevent disasters. Read more in "Climate Change and the Future Impacts of Storm-Surge Disasters in Developing Countries".

My thanks to Robin Kraft for his help in preparing this letter.

Best wishes,

David Wheeler
Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development

News

Indonesia CO2 pledge to help climate talks-greens (Reuters)

China makes landmark pledge to curb CO2 emissions (Reuters)

Insiders predict China could beat US to cap-and-trade launch (The Guardian)

India plans to cut carbon and fuel poverty with untested nuclear power (The Guardian)

Power Plant News:

Inside CARMA


XCEL
AEP
Southern Co
TVA

A lawsuit brought by several states and land trusts against four US utilities may open the door to lawsuits for harm from GHG emissions, in the wake of a decision by the US Court of Appeals. A lower court had dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that emissions must be addressed politically by Congress or the president, not by the courts.