EbA uses biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people and communities adapt to the negative effects of climate change at local, national, regional, and global levels. It recognizes, and in fact highlights, the importance of equity, gender, and the role and importance of local and traditional knowledge, as well as species diversity. Furthermore, it provides co-benefits such as clean water and food for communities, risk reduction options and benefits, and other services crucial for livelihoods and human well-being. Appropriately designed ecosystem adaptation initiatives can also contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing emissions from ecosystem degradation, and enhancing carbon sequestration. There are a range of approaches that are used to assess economic benefits of goods and services and these same approaches can and are used to assess costs and benefits of adaptation options including EbA. The three most commonly used ones are 1) Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA); 2) Cost-Effective Analysis; and 3) Multi-criteria Analysis. In order to contribute to policy through improved decision making at the national level, two case studies are highlighted in this report that look at the costs and benefits of EbA in the Philippines.
Author: Saima Baig
The Ahmadi Conundrum in Pakistan
(Published in The Huffington Post)
Blasphemy is a crime in Pakistan, the punishment for which can be death. The law is a left over of the Indian Penal Code that the British had introduced, and which was later expanded upon by the military dictator Zia ul Haq. More often than not, it is used to target minority communities, especially the Ahmadiyya, who were declared non-Muslims in 1974, through a constitutional amendment. Under this amendment, the community is banned from using Islamic terms, using Islamic texts to pray or even calling their places of worship ‘masjid’.
Christopher Hitchens: the unabashed sceptic who eloquently questioned religious totalitarianism
(Published in The Nation Pakistan)
His idea that free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and as a means of defining humanity, was and is something that clearly should be strongly considered in this age, where religious extremism and terrorism have become a norm. Think about where the human civilization would go if it started concentrating on something other than religious morality.
On Blasphemy in Pakistan
(Published in The Huffington Post)
On January 4, 2011, the Governor of the Pakistani Province of Punjab was shot and killed by one of his own security guards, Mumtaz Qadri. The reason for this was Taseer’s defense of the proposed amendments in the Country’s blasphemy laws, as well as his support for the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Prophet Mohammad. The murderer Qadri was subsequently sentenced to death for his crime.
In search of Einstein’s gravitational waves
(Published in The Nation Pakistan)
It has been a hundred years since Einstein proposed GR, stating that spacetime was curved due to the presence of massive bodies, which change this curvature as they move. This successfully explained and predicted additional physical phenomena, which would be later confirmed through experimentation. For a century this theory has passed every test.
One prediction of GR has been elusive however. That is, the direct proof for gravitational waves – ripples or fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime – caused by accelerating masses – which transport energy as gravitational radiation.
What will Pakistan bring to COP21?
(Published in The Nation)
The country is likely to face extremely high financial, social and environmental costs in terms of water shortages, food insecurity and energy deficits, which will substantially limit its ability for future sustainable development. All of these issues are due to the combined effects of a lack of governance – which leads to mismanaged development and unpreparedness for disasters – and climate change. And the recurrance of climate induced disasters negatively impact efforts towards poverty reduction, enhancing food security, improving access to energy and achievement of other development goals.
Synergies between Climate Mitigation and Adaptation in Forest Landscape Restoration
Forests have always been cleared to provide land uses necessary for human existence. This trend has naturally increased over time and now global estimates suggest, “that 30% of original forest cover has been converted for other uses and an additional 20% has been degraded.” Humans also benefit from resources from forests. The rural poor, in particular, benefit extensively from forest goods and services (such people are approximately 1.6 billion in number).ii IUCN has estimated the economic benefits of forests at USD 130 million per year.iii On the other side, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) calculate the costs in lost value from forest destruction to be between USD 2-5 trillion per year. Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) is a process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded forest landscapes. It involves people coming together to restore the function and productivity of degraded forest lands – through a variety of place-based interventions, including new tree plantings, managed natural regeneration, or improved land management. The purpose of this study is to understand the current discourse and practice on climate change mitigation and adaptation in FLR, as well as to analyze the implications for a better understanding the complementarities and synergies between mitigation and adaptation, specifically in the context of FLR. Both mitigation and adaptation are considered equally important to address with climate change. Developing countries, least developed countries (LDCs) and island states all now agree on instituting mitigation efforts as well as adaptation.
Pakistan: The Road to COP21
(Published in Crisis Response Journal)
The COP21 this year aims to put countries on the same page in the fight for the planet, and Pakistan needs to be making its own contribution – but as the author notes, it most likely will not. Can a developing country that is routinely battered by climate change still pretend that it isn’t a problem? That is the question.
Source: Pakistan: The Road to COP21
Female Genital Mutilation: Pakistan’s well kept secret
(Published in The Nation Pakistan) It is a little known fact that it is also secretly practiced in Pakistan, primarily by the Bohra Community, who are thought to have brought the practice over from Africa and whose leaders consider it a religious duty. Girls of 7 or 8 years are made to undergo this violation of their rights, often performed by medically untrained women. However, the Bohra community now claims that trained health practitioners perform the practice. The Sheedi community is also thought to practice it and they too brought them over from Africa.
Paris attacks: Moderate Muslims must do more than just condemn terrorism
(Published in The Nation Pakistan) Stop trying to do damage control and posting this one verse and stop expecting people to magically believe that Islam means peace, when the word’s literal meaning is “submission”. Groups like ISIS, Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, etc are doing exactly that: submitting and making others submit. Saying that these people are not Muslims is a disservice to the world and to yourselves, because they are – they themselves say so. This kind of takfir is exactly what gives them agency to kill people.