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One of the promises emerging from the confusion of the Copenhagen climate talks focused on climate finance. Ramping up to US$100 billion a year starting in 2020, the promised finance would support developing countries in adapting to climate impacts and adopting low-carbon pathways. This briefing explores the wording in the Copenhagen Accord to unearth six big questions about the promise – any one of which could seriously challenge the trust these funds were designed to build.

La terre est essentielle à la subsistance, la sécurité alimentaire et l'identité de millions de personnes dans le monde en développement, en raison de leur dépendance directe à l'agriculture et aux ressources naturelles. Il n'est donc pas surprenant qu'une récente vague d'acquisitions foncières à grande échelle dans les pays les plus pauvres ait suscité un débat important. Par ces acquisitions, les investisseurs des pays plus riches achètent ou louent de larges étendues de terres arables pour l'investissement agricole en Afrique, en Asie centrale et en Asie du Sud-Est, en Amérique latine et en Europe de l'Est. Ces investissements, dont certaines transactions couvrent plusieurs centaines de milliers d'hectares, ont été surnommés « land grabs » (accaparements fonciers) par les médias. L'appellation est cependant simplificatrice, car ces investissements peuvent, selon leur structure, soit ouvrir de nouvelles opportunités pour l'amélioration du niveau de vie local, soit marginaliser davantage les pauvres. Une analyse de cette situation complexe et changeante, centrée sur l'Afrique, fait apparaître des tendances clés et permet d'indiquer comment procéder pour que le renouveau en matière d'investissement agricole ait un effet positif sur le développement local et les moyens de subsistance des populations locales.

It seems obvious that the more people there are on the planet, the more the pressure on planetary resources and the larger the emissions of greenhouse gases. So it also seems obvious that population growth must be a major driver of global warming. But it is just as obvious that very poor households contribute very little to greenhouse gas emissions. So if most of the world's population growth is among very poor households, population growth is not the culprit. The greatest human driver of global warming is the number of consumers on the planet and their consumption level. Individuals and households contribute to global warming by consuming goods and services that cause greenhouse gas emissions – for instance, by owning a refrigerator or a car. Through this they are responsible for all the fossil fuels that go into making, distributing, advertising, selling, using and disposing of it.

Resilience to climate change has many roots. A healthy, biodiverse environment is increasingly recognised as key to resilience, particularly in poor communities directly dependent on natural resources. Knowledge about ways of coping with climate variability is also essential – and for many of the poor who live in climate-vulnerable regions, already an area of expertise. A look at the National Adaptation Programmes of Action of the Least Developed Countries shows that many of these nations recognise and prioritise the role that biodiversity, ecosystems and natural habitats play in adaptation. It is now up to policymakers to follow suit.

How can we break through the impasse on the road to Copenhagen? As the climate talks stall over the size of emissions cuts and who pays for them, it is increasingly clear that funding will be key to breaking the deadlock. Guaranteeing adequate levels of climate finance will be a deal maker or breaker for the poorest nations as the December summit approaches. But on the brink of a new chapter in climate funding, with unprecedented flows at stake, donor countries need to learn from decades of aid experience – mistakes as well as successes. Failure to do this risks wasting a great opportunity to kickstart low-carbon, climate-resilient development for the world's poor.

Reducing tropical deforestation is a major climate and development issue: forest clearing is responsible for roughly a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, and the forest-dependent poor number over a billion. In the runup to the Copenhagen climate summit, REDD – reducing emissions from deforestation and (forest) degradation by providing incentives to tropical forest countries – has been touted as one of the most cost-effective mitigation mechanisms on the table. But the benefits would be only temporary if forests saved today are cleared once incentives cease. Would the expense of maintaining such incentives over decades raise the price to uncompetitive levels? A forest reserve in Amazonas, Brazil, offers some of the first real-world data on the costs of REDD. Even with pessimistic assumptions about future pressures, the project's carbon cuts look highly affordable.

Global demand for climate-friendly transport fuels is driving vast commercial biofuels projects in developing countries. At the opposite end of the spectrum is small-scale bioenergy production. This offers a way for the poor to meet their energy needs and diversify their livelihoods without compromising food security or environmental integrity. Governments hope that it will be possible to combine the advantages of both large- and small-scale production of biofuels to generate energy security and GDP at the national level, while opening up local opportunities. In Africa, most governments are keen to attract foreign direct investment, and see big business as a strategic means of scaling up rural development. But there is a middle way. By encouraging business models that bridge large and small enterprise, African governments could show that commercial competition can go hand in hand with a range of real local benefits.~~Key Words: business models for sustainable development

Governments gather in Denmark in December 2009 for what is perhaps the most important meeting since the end of the second world war. December is the deadline they have set themselves for agreeing on action to tackle climate change, and the COP15 conference in Copenhagen is where hopes are high that a new global deal can be struck. This briefing is a guide for journalists reporting on this event, its buildup and its aftermath. It explains key processes, major actions to be agreed and possible outcomes.

Four billion people – over half of humanity – live on less than US$2 a day, effectively forming the bottom of the world economic pyramid. This majority may have minimal access to cash but they need, and will pay for, essential goods and services – including energy. 'The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid,' a 2002 article, argues that if global corporations target this 4 billion, they can reduce poverty and make profit. That the private sector is already playing a key role in meeting development challenges, such as energy poverty, is increasingly recognised. 'Inclusive' and 'shared value' business approaches have begun to multiply. International energy companies, including hydrocarbon and renewable energy producers, can (and do) facilitate local access to energy in poorer regions of the world. To reach the poorest and to effectively contribute to sustainable local development in the long term, however, standard business models need to be modified, and alliances forged with government, local enterprises, donors and NGOs. Smaller local firms are often the ones that reach the poor more effectively. They just need the right support.~~Keywords: business models for sustainable development

Forests are power bases, but often for the wrong people. As attention turns from making an international deal on REDD to making it work on the ground, the hunt will be on for practical ways of shifting power over forests towards those who enable and pursue sustainable forest-linked livelihoods. The Forest Governance Learning Group – an alliance active in Cameroon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda and Vietnam – has developed practical tactics for securing safe space, provoking dialogue, building constituencies, wielding evidence and interacting politically. It has begun to have significant impacts. To deepen and widen those impacts, FGLG seeks allies.

All farming is a gamble with nature. The impacts of climate change, however, can pit farmers against impossible odds - particularly in poor, geographically vulnerable nations with largely agrarian economies. Tanzania is one such country. Some 80 per cent of its workforce is in agriculture and, with climate change set to lower yields in key crops, the implications for its economy are serious. Where, how and when climate impacts will hit is key – as is an action plan for averting the highest costs. Policy needs to focus immediately on helping farmers adapt to climate impacts by addressing both food production and marketing efficiencies. This is crucial: Tanzania is a test case for economic impacts predicted throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Replicating this policy approach in other low-income countries is essential if low-carbon growth and other development priorities are to become realities.

For many millions in the developing world, land is central to livelihoods, food security, even identity – the result of a direct dependence on agriculture and natural resources. It is not surprising, then, that a recent wave of large-scale land acquisitions in poorer countries has sparked a major debate. Through these acquisitions, interests in richer countries are buying or leasing large tracts of farmland for agricultural investment in Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. With some deals involving hundreds of thousands of hectares, these investments have been dubbed 'land grabs' by the media. But this is too simplistic. Depending on the way they are structured, these investments can either create new opportunities to improve local living standards, or further marginalise the poor. An analysis of this complex and shifting situation, focusing on Africa, lays out key trends, drivers and main features, and outlines how to make the renewed momentum in agricultural investment work for local development and livelihoods.

With millions of the poor already facing the impacts of a changing climate, adaptation is a globally urgent – and costly – issue. The Adaptation Fund, created under the Kyoto Protocol, has unique features that could herald a new era of international cooperation on adaptation. Its governance structure, for instance, offers a fresh approach to fund management under the UN climate convention. The Fund's Board has also developed a constructive working atmosphere, and further progress is expected before the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen. But developing countries' demand for adaptation funding is huge: conservative estimates put it at US$50 billion a year. The Fund's current structure and funding base are clearly only a first step towards filling that gap. And despite its significant progress over the last 18 months, many countries, particularly in the developed world, remain sceptical about this approach. Looking in detail at the Fund's evolution offers insight into its future potential as a model for adaptation finance.

En Afrique rurale, la ' pauvreté en eau ' peut ruiner les vies humaines et moyens de subsistance. Les enfants âgés de moins de cinq ans sont extrêmement vulnérables aux maladies d'origine hydrique. A Londres, une conduite d'eau rompue est un incident fâcheux, certes, mais en Afrique sub-saharienne, un puits hors d'usage peut provoquer une catastrophe. Et c'est cette catastrophe qui se propage sur l'ensemble du continent, où on estime à 50.000 le nombre de points d'approvisionnement en eau qui ne fonctionnent plus. Ceci est principalement dû au manque de prévoyance du service des eaux pour l'entretien systématique de l'infrastructure, qui freine considérablement la perspective d'atteindre les Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement en matière d'eau et d'assainissement. Pourtant, des plans détaillés existent pour la construction et le financement de puits de tous genres, et l'approvisionnement en eau potable à long terme n'exige pas de connaissances poussées. Pour être durable, l'investissement direct dans l'infrastructure d'approvisionnement en eau nécessite également de déterminer qui la maintiendra et d'où proviendront les fonds et les compétences à cet égard.

East Africa harbours a huge hidden asset: its millions-strong herds of dryland livestock managed by pastoralists. Governments in the region see pastoralism as archaic and economically inefficient. This briefing reveals a very different picture. Capturing pastoralism's total economic value shows its immense potential to reduce poverty, manage the environment, promote sustainable development and build climate resilience.

Over a billion people - the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities - will bear the brunt of climate change. For them, building local capacity to cope is a vital step towards resilience. Community-based adaptation (CBA) is emerging as a key response to this challenge. Tailored to local cultures and conditions, CBA supports and builds on autonomous adaptations to climate variability, such as the traditional baira or floating gardens of Bangladesh, which help small farmers' crops survive climate-driven floods. Above all, CBA is participatory – a process involving both local stakeholders, and development and disaster risk reduction practitioners. As such, it builds on existing cultural norms while addressing local development issues that contribute to climate vulnerability. CBA is now gaining ground in many regions, and is ripe for the reassessment offered here.

O desmatamento é responsável por aproximadamente 17% das emissões globais de gases de efeito estufa. Não surpreende então, que ao aproximarmos dos debates climáticos em Copenhagen em dezembro de 2009, o REDD – inglês para “redução de emissões por desmatamento e degradação” – esteja surgindo como uma estratégia de grande potencial para mitigar as mudanças do clima. Com o REDD, comunidades e produtores locais podem ser remunerados por conservar suas florestas, e assim esta abordagem pode contribuir para a erradicação da pobreza além de reduzir emissões de carbono. Evidências têm mostrado que o REDD é simples e funciona. No entanto, a construção de um mecanismo global para o seu financiamento é uma questão bem mais complexa. Qual é o papel do mercado e do governo: seria uma abordagem dupla de financiamento possível?

For indigenous peoples round the world, traditional knowledge based on natural resources such as medicinal herbs forms the core of culture and identity. But this wealth of knowledge is under pressure. Indigenous communities are increasingly vulnerable to eviction, environmental degradation and outside interests eager to monopolise control over their traditional resources. Intellectual property rights such as patents, however, sit uneasily with traditional knowledge. Their commercial focus wars with fundamental indigenous principles such as resource access and sharing. Local customary law offers a better fit, and findings in China, India, Kenya, Panama and Peru show how this pairing can work in practice. The research has identified common elements, and key differences, in customary law that should be informing policy on traditional knowledge and genetic resources.

How can business pull a local farming community out of poverty? Tackle climate change? Protect a forest's biodiversity? This, the first of eight briefings in the IIED 'business models for sustainable development' series, shows how business can help to deliver the Millennium Development Goals. This overview covers all the stages in the process, from ensuring that environment and development are at the core of business activities, to the key design principles of business models, the essential alliances businesses need to forge, and the challenges they face on the road to sustainability.

Small forestry was for years half-lost in the shadow of industrial logging. Now, as forests become flashpoints for conflict and a focus for climate concerns, community forestry could be coming into its own. Collective ownership and strategic alliances, for instance, make for sustainability and cooperation. The second in IIED's 'business models for sustainable development' series, this briefing reveals how forest communities round the world are creating a new business model that works. ~~Key Words: business models for sustainable development, enterprise, forestry, communities, value chain, new green economies