Ramesh Parsad Bhushal, The Himalayan: “The government’s initiative to bring more than fifty countries to Nepal‚ and start a process for new alliance of mountain countries in the long run to hype the mountain agenda may have various implications in the future‚ but it depends on how the country deals with the challenges” From the [...]

Delegates continue to negotiate the outcome document for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) during back-to-back meetings from 19-27 March 2012, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. The first “informal informal” consultations to negotiate the draft outcome document will take place from 19-23 March, and will be followed by the Third [...]

The Himalayan Times: The Ministry of Environment is preparing to organise a meeting of mountain countries — that has been postponed twice — to discuss climate change in mountainous areas in March. “We are working hard to organise the climate change meeting in March,” said Environment Secretary Krishna Gyawali. At the high-level meeting held in [...]

As our understanding of climate change and its far-reaching ramifications continues to grow, it is imperative for climate change researchers to form strong collaborative bonds that reach across disciplines and other boundaries. Every year the DISsertations initiative for the advancement of Climate Change ReSearch (DISCCRS, pronounced discourse) hosts a symposium for early-career climate change researchers. [...]

WWF: Himalayan nations must move rapidly to commit to efforts that build resilience to the impacts of climate change and generate resources for adaptation, capacity building and technology transfer. The Himalayan glaciers are the water towers of Asia, and the source of many of the world’s great rivers: The Yangtze, the Ganges, the Indus and [...]

 ——————————————— UPCOMING EVENTS ——————————————— The Alpine Convention Platform Water Management in the Alps announces the International Workshop on Sediment Transport, 16 December 2011, Vienna, Austria. Applications due by 20 November 2011: jakob.schrittwieser@lebensministerium.at The Uplands Program at Hohenheim University is organizing a three day scientific conference Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountain Areas, 16–18 [...]

Submission of abstracts to the conference website until 15 November 2011 (extended from 1 November) Organizers: “The Uplands Program”, Hohenheim University The Uplands Program is organizing a three day scientific conference on Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountain Areas at Hohenheim University in Stuttgart from 16-18 April 2012. This conference aims to bring [...]

Kuenselonline: The summit next month will not discuss complex climate change issues. Climate change being closely linked by geography, history, culture, economy and ecology, the impact of climate change would be felt by all four countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal. To discuss concerns and fine-tune the framework of cooperation, the delegates of the [...]

LEUPHANA SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT – Enabling a Transdisciplinary Approach 29th February – 2nd March 2012, Lüneburg, Germany The institutionalization of sustainability as a regulative idea has onlystarted in some spheres of activity and some areas of the world. To achieve transitions towards sustainability, continuous inquiry, learning, and adaptation is needed. And this requires science to go [...]

Business Standard: As the demand for a separate policy for the Himalayan states is gaining momentum, the Centre is preparing an action plan to boost the growth of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh which are criss-crossed by the Himalay n mountains that separate the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan plateau. The government has [...]

Today, with modern technology, humans can live in places where it was impossible before. This is achieved by the provision of buildings and complex infrastructure tuned to the existing climate, such as urban and rural water supplies, drainage, bridges, roads and other communications. These involve huge investments of time and money. Trade, particularly of food [...]

The Aquatic Ecology Centre, Kathmandu University, and Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University in collaboration with the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric), University of Life Sciences, Norway, invite papers and posters from scholars and researchers to be presented at the symposium on “Mountain Resource Management in a Changing Environment” to be held in [...]

IISD List: That humans depend on nature for their existence is an obvious fact. That in time, however, modern societies have come to act as if nature’s services could be fully substituted has also been well acknowledged. Indiscriminate use of resources and a propensity to wasteful consumption has led to the degradation of natural ecosystems [...]

Conference: Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20 Dates: 5-7 Sep 2011 Key Questions to be addressed What is a green economy? Why are mountain systems important for the green economy? What are the important costs, benefits, and challenges of the green economy in the mountain context? What policies [...]

Climate change has hit every component in the earth. The capacity to cope with climate hazards and adapt to impacts of climate change depends on the strength and diversity of peoples’ livelihood assets viz. natural, social, human, financial and physical assets. Adaptation to climate change impacts, on the other way, can be enhanced through increasing [...]

Call for abstracts: The need for carbon-negative solutions – i.e. systems that withdraw more CO2 from the atmosphere than they emit – as safeguards against irreversible climate change is increasingly being recognised on an international level. In a recent (5th June 2011) interview with UK newspaper The Guardian, Exec. Secretary of the UNFCCC stated that [...]

The workshop has an objective to build capacity for environmental impact assessment (EIA) practitioners in Asia to incorporate climate change impacts and adaptation in EIA processes. Workshop sessions aim to raise awareness and understanding on the implications of climate change in the context of development and project planning; explore opportunities and constraints in using EIA [...]

CCAFS: The build up to the Bhutan Climate Summit for a Living Himalayas received unprecedented response last week with the completion of expert group meetings on the key themes of water, biodiversity, food security and energy. The Bhutan Climate Summit is an initiative of the Royal Government of Bhutan, and will bring together leaders, decision [...]

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) is being organized in pursuance of General Assembly Resolution 64/236 (A/RES/64/236). The Conference will take place in Brazil on 4-6 June 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of [...]

Kuensel Online: The Eastern Himalayan countries face huge energy deficits that must be addressed through a common framework of action, say experts. Experts from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal have agreed to assess the requirement for the development of regional power transmission grid in the region. In a two-day meeting on energy security in the [...]

The purpose of LCES-2011 is to provide a world-class meeting place for information exchanges and trade fairs to promote low carbon economy. The World Expo Center will differentiate itself from other conferences by covering more comprehensive issues from both public and private sectors regarding the anticipated climate change. We also hope such an initiative can [...]

MRI: The following is a short list of major conferences scheduled through the end of 2012 at which research on global change in mountains will or ought to be presented. The list soon will be installed and regularly updated on MRI’s web site. In anticipation of that, here it is in the Newsflash. The MRI [...]

India-ICIMOD day is taking place on 30 September 2011 in New Delhi with the theme: ‘Challenges in Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation: Potential for collaboration between ICIMOD and India’. The event will strengthen ICIMOD’s collaboration with the Indian Government and various Indian institutions. It is also hoped that the event will allow ICIMOD to explore [...]

Scientific and technical presentations for the World Solid Waste Congress 2012 Academics, operators, public officials and operators in the waste industry are invited to submit a one page abstract in English before October 30th 2011, to participate in the World Solid Waste Congress. The proceedings as well as the template for submission are available on [...]

Community Forestry: Key to Solving Current and Emerging Challenges Many Asia-Pacific countries have made considerable strides in giving local people a greater stake in managing their forests resources. However, pressure on forests is high, and decision makers often must revalue forest land as a result of changing environmental, economic, and social drivers. The time is [...]

DNA India: A global campaign on climate change featuring scientists, celebrities, business leaders and concerned citizens would be launched in September by former US vice-president Al Gore, his NGO said Wednesday. Organised by Gore’s NGO ‘The Climate Reality Project’, the campaign will kick off on September 14-15 with “24 hours of reality” — a live [...]

Over half the world’s population is concentrated in urban areas covering just 4 % of the world’s  surface. In particular, mega cities (with populations greater than 10 million) are characterized  by a high population density and tremendous pressure on supporting infrastructure, increasing  susceptibility to lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Both rapid urbanization  [...]

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organising its annual flagship event in the carbon market space – India Carbon Market Conclave – on September 7-8, 2011 at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. The Conclave is being organised for the fifth consecutive year in partnership with the Ministry of Environment & Forests, [...]

Climate change is forcing us to reassess our energy usage and will have real substantial impacts on the water cycle as well as energy production. Solving the interlinked challenges of water, climate and energy in a sustainable manner is one of the fundamental goals of this generation. The Congress will explore topics of resilient and [...]

Abstract submission is now open for “Planet Under Pressure”, a major international science conference focusing on solutions to the global sustainability challenge. The conference will provide a comprehensive update of the pressure planet Earth is now under. It will discuss solutions at all scales to move societies on to a sustainable pathway and will provide [...]

Lakes and other wetlands are an important source of methane, the third most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. However, the absolute contribution of methane from these ecosystems to the atmosphere and the role of abiotic and biotic factors in determining overall methane fluxes are still under debate. As a consequence it is presently difficult [...]

Abstract submission is now open for this major international science conference focusing on solutions to the global sustainability challenge. This is an open call for participants and for abstracts for presentations and posters to be submitted against the session topics described on the conference website under the following outline: Day 1: State of the planet: [...]

FINAL REMINDER – EXTENDED DEADLINE – 3 JULY 2011: 23rd Ph.D. Workshop on International Climate Policy 20-21 October 2011 Malta, Valletta Campus, University of Malta The 23rd Ph.D. Workshop on International Climate Policy is organised twice every year under the auspices of the European Ph.D. Network on International Climate Policy. It has the aim to [...]

HuffPostGreen: Chinese officials announced Wednesday a three-day international conference to discuss how to address climate change, while conveying to the world that China is determined to develop a low-carbon economy. Representatives from 30 international organizations and 10 areas and countries will attend the conference in Beijing starting Wednesday, said Huang Wenhang of the National Development [...]

Mountains provide a suite of ecosystem services, including biodiversity and water, that are critical not only to mountain communities but to the people who live downstream from these systems. Yet mountain regions are disproportionately vulnerable to global change and socioeconomic and demographic pressures. The Mountain Research Initiative will bring together a small number of leading [...]

Next major step of Gangetic Climate Change Initiative they are organizing a “Save Ganga & Save Himalayas Yatra from Badrinath to Nilgiris” from 5th  September   2011  to  create save Gaga & save Himalayas mass awareness and put moral pressure on the Government to Save the Ganga, our national river and lifeline of crores of our [...]

Abstract & registration deadline: 15 Aug 2011: The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (an autonomous research Institute under Dept of Science and Technology, Govt. of India) is organizing an “International Conference on Indian Monsoon and Himalayan Geodynamics (IMHG 2011)” during November 2-4, 2011 at its premises. On November 5, 2011 one day field excursion to [...]

The Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG) is going to organize its 8th Annual Conference on 15-16 December 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal in association with Central Department of Public Administration (CDPA), Tribhuvan University, Nepal. This year the theme of the conference is‘Reinventing Governance for Managing Climate Change and [...]

Increasing water productivity in agriculture, making targeted investments and putting in place the right institutional measures will be the key to effective water use for food and environmental security. The main purpose of the conference is to find opportunities to improve farmer income, food production, food security and promote environmentally sustainable agricultural water management practices [...]

The Uplands Program is organizing a three day scientific conference on Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountain Areas at Hohenheim University in Stuttgart from 16-18 April 2012. This conference aims to bring together international experts to share knowledge, lessons learned and experiences from across the globe related to sustainable mountain development with an [...]

The Secretariat would like to bring to your kind notice that the Regional Expert Group meetings will be held in the month of July in all the four countries as per schedule below: Bangladesh will host the Water meeting on the 2nd and 3rd of July in Dhaka; Bhutan will host the Biodiversity meeting on [...]

Change is all around us and the rate of change is accelerating. Change in demography, trade, and financial structures; but most of all in the use and availability of natural resources. Climate change is high on the agenda with increasing impacts from storms, floods and droughts; but even without the added effects of climate change, [...]

Times of India: World Tea Science Congress, the biggest international conference on tea research, will be held at Tea Research Association (TRA) at Tocklai in Assam’s Jorhat district during a three-day programme from November 22. Hundreds of international scientists from across the globe are expected to participate in the event. An international advisory committee has [...]

Greenpeace: 19 years ago more heads of states than ever came together in Rio de Janeiro for what was termed the Earth Summit. They agreed on a few sensible things, such as that “the right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations” or [...]

More progress on substantive issues is needed to keep the climate talks headed in the right direction. As negotiators prepare to gather in Bonn, Germany, for the latest round of UN climate talks, there’s a pressing need to put substance ahead of politics in moving toward greater international cooperation on climate change. As the clock [...]

In exactly one year’s time, world leaders will converge on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the UN conference on sustainable development, 20 years after the first “Earth Summit” was held there in 1992. Will this turn out to be another “Copenhagen moment” for the climate movement? Most people I speak to think it will not [...]

Climate change experts and negotiators from Brazil, South Africa, India and China, the ‘Basic’ grouping, are meeting in Durban over the next two days, to discuss a common negotiating position for the 17th conference of the parties (COP17) in December. The meeting would be followed by a Ministerial meeting on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29, [...]

The Fifth International Scientific Conference BALWOIS 2012 will be held in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia from 28th May to 2nd June 2012, in Metropol Ohrid Resort www.metropol-ohrid.com . The purpose of the conference is to provide a solutions-based forum and to exchange information regarding research activities and plans for studying the relationship between climate and environment changes and [...]

The objective of the Summer School is to offer an updated and recent view of the ongoing trends in Climate Change research in an annual basis. This school is designed to approach the main scientific topic from a multidisciplinary approach, depending on the main trends of Climate Change issues and allowing for an integrated view [...]

Changing climate and weather patterns are predicted to have severe negative impacts on food production, food security and natural resources in East Africa. Without appropriate responses climate change is likely to constrain economic development and poverty reduction efforts and exacerbate already pressing difficulties. Especially countries with economies rooted in climate sensitive sectors like agriculture, fisheries [...]

ACTIS, in collaboration with the Alliance for Global Sustainability (a university partnership between the ETH Zürich, MIT Boston, University of Tokyo and Chalmers University), the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences (SATW) and WRF (World Resources Forum, Davos), is pleased to announce our  2011 Youth Encounter on Sustainability (YES) course in Switzerland – with a special [...]

As a part of the ongoing programme to unite young people against climate change, Youth Alliance for Climate (YAC) is organising youth summit in Guwahati and Gangtok on 17, 18 and 20th May. . The programme would be held in active association with Laya and INECC (Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change).YAC and LAYA-INECC [...]

The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries begins on 9th May 2011 in this Turkish city. It is an opportunity to breathe new life into economic recovery and to fulfil commitments in the world’s 48 LDCs. This week (May 9-13) in Istanbul, world leaders have the chance to kill two birds with [...]

Scholarships are now open to study the International Water Centre’s Master of Integrated Water Management (Australia).    – Full tuition scholarships – AU$41,520   – Partial tuition scholarships   – Open to international & domestic students   – Applications close 1 August 2011   – Program starts in February 2012 (The University of Queensland, Brisbane) New feature: the IWC [...]

On behalf of the Steering and Programme Organising Committee I would like to invite you to participate in the topical Inaugural International Conference Energy & Meteorology (ICEM) to be held at the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 8 to 11 November 2011 (Pre-Conference Seminar “Energy & Meteorology: Fundamentals and [...]

Germany’s Federal Development Minister Dirk Niebel patron of CLIMATE 2011 / 2011 conference to focus on “Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management” / Global call for papers. Dirk Niebel, German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development is to be the patron of the fourth worldwide online climate conference CLIMATE 2011. In this context, he [...]

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) are organizing the Second National Research Conference on Climate Change to be held at IITM from July 11-13 2011.  The conference will cover major topics on scientific, technical, economic, and policy aspects of climate change [...]

In the face of Climate Change, there is urgent need for Himalayan nations to build resilience to buffer the impacts of Climate Change and generate resources for adaptation, capacity building, and technology transfer. Such actions can no longer wait for a global agreement. In the Himalayas where the impacts of global climate are manifesting at [...]