GRID-Arendal Annual Report 2014

A young girl does school work by the light of a kerosene lamp. Kerosene is one of the main sources of household air pollution throughout the developing world. Photo: iStock/triloks

GRID-Arendal also conducted a training session for 12 Indian and Nepalese journalists in Assam, Northeast India in February 2014. The workshop focused on climate and flood issues within the Brahmaputra river basin, and led to the publication of numerous articles in the local, national and international press. 10 GRID-Arendal and ICIMOD also launched a grant programme for journalists in the region to provide opportunities to report from remote areas directly affected by climate change. In collaboration with UNEP/Vienna, GRID-Arendal has developed a series of Mountain Policy Briefs for the Mountain Partnership on why mountains matter for Energy, Climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Forests and Biodiversity, and Water. 11 Partly as a result of this work and related outreach efforts, at the time of writing wording on mountains have been included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals process being led by the United Nations. Why mountains matter

a proposal for a multi-million dollar Global Environment Facility project. The objective is to develop methods and skills to conserve and enhance biological diversity and reduce pasture degradation in selected areas of reindeer herding in Russia and Mongolia. In 2014, the project organised a field visit for a group of 15 Russian and Mongolian reindeer herders and decision makers to the Laponia World Heritage Site, enabling them to learn about a unique form of governance that allows for biodiversity objectives and traditional livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples such as reindeer husbandry to co-exist successfully. This is a model that could be transferred to other reindeer herding regions. GRID-Arendal worked on a report for the Government of Norway on the health effects of emissions originating from incomplete combustion of fuels used for cooking, heating and lighting in the developing world. The report, Survive Breathing – Reduce household air pollution to save lives and help the climate , 12 also pointed to the combined benefits to health, climate and the economy that can be achieved by reducing pollutants such as black carbon (or soot). It summarizes what is known about solid fuel (primarily wood fuel & charcoal) and kerosene use and provides an overview of the science of air pollution and examines some of the key initiatives to reduce it. Finally, it provides a framework to help decision makers implement effective pollution reduction strategies. Household air pollution and human health

Resilience in pastoral ecosystems and livelihoods of nomadic herders

During 2014, GRID-Arendal with the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR), the Association of World Reindeer Herders (WRH), and partners in Mongolia and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) worked on

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