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Implications of and possible responses to climate change

Kahiluoto, Helena and Rötter, Reimund (2009) Implications of and possible responses to climate change. University of Helsinki.

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Summary

Climate change is expected to worsen food insecurity and seriously undermines rural development prospects. It makes it harder to achieve the Millenium Development Goals and ensure a sustainable future beyond 2015. Findings from the recent 4th assessment report of IPCC, Working Group II indicate that already towards 2050 with respect to food crops yield losses between 10 and 30 % can be expected as compared to current conditions in large parts of Africa, including Western, Eastern and southern Africa. Climate change is likely to increase disparities between developed and the developing world, while many uncertainties remain. It is, for instance, estimated that developing countries would need to bear 75-80 % of the costs of damages caused by a changing climate.
The prevention of such threats cannot rely on economic growth, but requires climate policies that combine enhancement of development with reduction of vulnerabilities and effective financing mechanisms that support the transition to low-carbon economics. The major strategies to reduce the potentially harmful effects of global changes, especially climate change are 1) adaptation of food and farming systems to climate change, 2) enhancing their resilience and adaptive capacity to changes in climate variability and extremes that are difficult to predict, and to global change more generally (including socio-economic changes), and 3) mitigation of climate change and trading the options to mitigate in low-income countries on the global carbon markets to create a substantial financial flow from the North to the South.


EPrint Type:Report
Keywords:climate change, Sub-Saharan Africa, adaptation, agriculture, carbon trade, food, bioenergy
Subjects: Environmental aspects
Research affiliation: Finland > Univ. Helsinki
Finland > Luke Natural Resources Institute
Related Links:http://www.mtt.fi/english
Deposited By: Koistinen, Riitta
ID Code:17114
Deposited On:14 May 2010 12:09
Last Modified:14 May 2010 12:09
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Not peer-reviewed
Additional Publishing Information:Discussion Papers n:o 39

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