Recent estimates of global fossil fuel subsidies for production and consumption are staggering, putting the total near US$730 billion annually or higher. In a time of economic hardship, dangerous climate change, and growing demand for reliable and cleaner sources of energy, these fossil fuel subsidies are a reckless and irrational use of taxpayer money and government investments.

This report provides an analysis of the tools and tactics advocacy groups use to influence policy responses to climate change at international, regional, national and sub-national levels. More than 20 climate networks and their member organisations have contributed to the report with their experiences of advocacy on climate change, including over 70 case studies from a wide range of countries - including many of the poorest - in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.

Nature Outlook maps the challenges in tackling the malaria epidemic.

New Delhi: With the small island countries and the least developed states veering towards the European line on climate change, the larger developing economies came together with African countries binding around the BASIC four — India, China, South Africa and Brazil — to demand that principles of equity and ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ be operationalized in the post-2020 climate regime.

With domestic growth and business cycles becoming more and more globally-aligned, policy cooperation among members is bound to enrich global outcomes. Macroeconomic policy cooperation within the group of 20, or G20, has evolved through at least five distinct stages since the first summit in Washington DC held over three years ago.

Controlling smog and soot is the classic win-win situation, so it's great that the world is finally waking up to the idea, says Drew Shindell.

The Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management in malaria vectors (GPIRM) is a call to action. Through this document, WHO and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership call on governments of malaria-endemic countries, donor organizations, UN agencies, as well as research and industry partners, to implement a five-pillar strategy to tackle the growing threat of insecticide resistance and to facilitate the development of innovative vector control tools and strategies.

The World Bank released its annual book compiling environmental data, which includes information from more than 200 countries relating to agriculture, forests, energy, water, sanitation, and ocean health. The 2012 Little Green Data Book functions as a compilation of information allowing countries to value and organize their natural capital. The datasets include an Adjusted Net Savings indicator, which calculates savings considering factors such as natural resource depletion and pollution damage.

The agricultural sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for up to 30 per cent of the global total. Agriculture is itself also affected by climate change, with overall impacts predicted to be negative, particularly in poor countries. These are likely to have serious consequences, both for food security and the livelihoods of millions of food producers worldwide. Policymakers are therefore presented with a double challenge: to reduce agricultural emissions, and to help agriculture adapt to a changing climate.

The purpose of this report is to improve the knowledge base for facilitating investments in land management technologies that sequester soil organic carbon. While there are many studies on soil carbon sequestration, there is no single unifying volume that synthesizes knowledge on the impact of different land management practices on soil carbon sequestration rates across the world. A meta-analysis was carried out to provide soil carbon sequestration rates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

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