PSN takes on the role of PCCA Secretariat
PSN has recently taken on the task of co-ordinating The Population and Climate Change Alliance (PCCA).
This important alliance was created in 2009 by a number of civil society organisations working on sexual and reproductive health and rights in general and on the linkages between population and climate change issues.
The initial members of this alliance were the Population and Sustainability Network, Marie Stopes International, Population Action International, European Parliamentary Forum, The Danish Family Planning Association (Sex & Samfund) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
The members agreed to develop joint advocacy efforts in order to influence the climate change agenda in general and the COP 15 process in particular. The agreed goal for this joint advocacy effort is to ensure the integration of a rights based approach and voluntary family planning in the adaptation programmes to climate change in countries which are most affected.
PCCA at Copenhagen
The PCCA held two successful VIP lunch events at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen; one for youth leaders, and one for parliamentarians.
Each were addressed by PSN's Karen Newman, who gave an introduction to the controversial, complex but critically important links between population dynamics and climate change; MSI's Leo Bryant summarized research carried out by MSI and PSN showing that 37 out of 40 of the National Adaptation Programmes of Action prepared by developing countries as part of the UNFCCC dialogue specifically mentioned population growth as one of the factors confounding efforts to adapt to climate change; and Negash Teklu from the Ethiopia Consortium for Integration of Population, Health and Environment (PHE), spoke about PHE's project work which specifically addresses these links.
Future activities
Since that time, the PCCA, which has now grown to encompass additional NGOs, including PHE, has been planning to identify additional opportunities in 2010 and beyond for profiling the links between population dynamics and climate change.
Climategate scientists "cleared" by inquiry
The climate scientists at the centre of a media storm over leaked emails have been cleared of accusations that they fudged data and silenced critics.
Sir Muir Russell, who led a six-month inquiry into the affair, said the "rigour and honesty" of the scientists at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at UEA were not in doubt. They did not subvert the peer review process to censor criticism, however, their responses to "reasonable requests for information" had been "unhelpful and defensive".
World Bank reproductive health action plan 2010-15
The World Bank has released a Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010-2015 to help less developed countries reduce high fertility and prevent the number more than 350,000 deaths of women each year in pregnancy and childbirth complications.
World fails to meet 2010 biodiversity targets
World leaders have failed to deliver on a pledge to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, scientists say.
In a study published in Science (09 May 2010) , researchers said governments had instead presided over alarming declines in biodiversity. The pledge to reduce the rate of loss was made in the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity and the research is the first to gauge progress towards the goal.
Focus for September
Nearly a quarter of a billion people escaped slums in the past decade, but the housing effort was outstripped by population growth and rural exodus to the cities, the United Nations said.