Publication Name

Several climate-related publications have been produced.

The

Green Carbon, Black Trade

RRA on

Illegal Logging

fo-

cused on the tactics being deployed in illegal logging

and options for reducing both deforestation and carbon

emissions.

Clean Energy Postcards

are concise and easily

accessible sources of information for the general public,

journalists, NGOs and policy-makers worldwide, enabling

them to easily grasp and effectively communicate clean

energy concepts. The postcards were produced for the

UNFCCC COP18 in Doha in December 2012. The

Short–

lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) Vital Graphics

are pro-

duced to support UNEP’s activities in the Climate Clean

Air Coalition (CCAC).

GRID-Arendal continues to be an active partner in the

Himalayan Climate Adaptation Programme (HICAP),

which aims to enhance mountain communities’ resilience

to change, particularly climate change, by improving the

understanding of vulnerabilities and opportunities for ad-

aptation.

Marine and coastal resources

The continental shelves contain among the greatest natu-

ral resources available for developing coastal states and

mapping their boundaries is critical for future planning.

For coastal nations, the continental shelves contain valu-

able minerals, hydrocarbons, and living resources critical

to tourism, fisheries, food security, coastal livelihoods,

health and culture.

The Shelf Programme, one of the “flagship” programmes

of GRID-Arendal, is seen (as expressed by high officials of

governments) as one of the most important Norwegian

programmes supporting developing countries. Particular

focus of GRID-Arendal’s programme was on West Afri-

can countries. In 2012, GRID-Arendal as part of a tech-

nical partnership, completed a major a major sea-floor

mapping programme providing the most comprehensive

seafloor geophysical data set ever collected in the region.

Technicians and specialists from seven West African

countries (Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,

Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone) participated in

regular capacity-building workshops held at GRID-Aren-

dal during 2012-13, where interpretation and analysis of

the marine geophysical data collected in the West African

region was carried out. These workshops have not only

built technical capacity for the participants, but have also

built bridges and professional networks among African

experts, fostering regional collaboration, sharing of infor-

mation and dialogue.

In the Pacific region, the Maritime Boundaries partnership

contributed to regional stability and improved ocean gov-

ernance opportunities. The partnership has played a key

role in making this happen alongside that almost 30% of

the shared maritime boundaries in the region have been

resolved and appropriate legislation enacted.

In support of the United Nations World Ocean Assess-

ment (WOA), GRID-Arendal has created a dedicated web-

site and helped to organize capacity-building workshops.

The new website provides information for the general

public as well as an editorial system to assist members

of the WOA Group of Experts to compile information and

draft their report by the end of 2014. The workshops have

enabled developing countries in South East Asia and West

Africa to conduct their own State of the Marine Environ-

ment reporting and to thus be able to participate in and

contribute to the WOA.

Major outputs have been completed in regard to the Pacif-

ic Deep Sea Minerals Assessment. The Secretariat of the

Pacific Community-European Union Deep Sea Minerals

in the Pacific Islands Region: A Legal and Fiscal Frame-

work for Sustainable Resource Management Project is be-

ing implemented in 15 Pacific countries. The Pacific Deep

Sea Minerals Assessment, which is part of this project,

has been completed by GRID-Arendal and was launched

in December 2013. The two-volume report provides the

first integrated examination of the key aspects of miner-

al extraction for policy-makers, including the geological,

biological, technical, social, economic, and fiscal com-

ponents. These volumes have, for the first time, brought

together international experts with a broad range of skills

and backgrounds relating to deep sea minerals. Consoli-

dating this information to support decision-making, and

the regional development of a legislative framework to

underpin resource development, both within and beyond

national jurisdictions, places the Pacific Island states at

the forefront of responsible management of their non-

renewable resources.

To illustrate that the ecological health and economic pro-

ductivity of marine and coastal ecosystems, which are

currently in decline around the globe, can be boosted

by shifting to a more sustainable economic paradigm,

GRID-Arendal published, in fulfillment of a UNEP request,

the

Green Economy in a Blue World

report in 2012. The report

describes how generating renewable energy and promoting

eco-tourism, sustainable fisheries and transport are more

compatible with sustainable and inclusive economies.

Building on experience with the Shelf Programme for de-

veloping coastal countries, GRID-Arendal has engaged

with several Regional Seas Conventions to support capaci-

ty development for sustainable management of the marine

environment, including the Abidjan Convention (coast of

West Africa), the Nairobi Convention (coast of East Afri-

ca), the Barcelona Convention (Mediterranean Sea) and

the Tehran Convention (Caspian Sea). GRID-Arendal has

entered into special cooperation with the Abidjan Con-

vention, and participated in their meetings and activities.

Coastal populations in the 22 member states (the Atlantic

coast of Africa, from Mauritania to South Africa) are to

a large extent dependent on the marine environment for

food and socio-economic development. As unsustainable