GRID Polar Division News

The first International Polar Day is launched on Friday, 21 September 2007

Five thematic posters will be prepared for the IPY, with funding from the Norwegian Research Council

The proceedings from the Many Strong Voices Stakeholder Workshop, held in Belize from May 27-30 2007, are now available online.

The Right to be Cool: Celebrating International Day of the World's Indigenous People

This 200-page report covers issures related to fuels extraction in the circum-polar Arctic. Four case studies present experiences and outlook related to integrated ecosystem management (IEM), local communities and indigenous peoples and the situation in Canada, Alaska and Sakhalin.

Lives and Livelihoods of Hundreds of Millions if Not Billions in Many Parts of the World Influenced by Ice and Snow Losses Linked to Climate Change.

New UNEP report released to mark World Environment Day: Tourism in the Polar Regions - The Sustainability Challenge

Driven by the need to protect the cultures and economies of countries and regions most affected by climate change, representatives of Arctic communities and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from the Caribbean, and Pacific have formed an alliance called Many Strong Voices to press for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Meeting in Belize will develop adaptation strategies for Arctic and Small Island Developing States.

Climate Change is impacting biodiversity at a global and unprecedented scale. The Arctic region is hit particularly hard. It is already warming 2 – 2,5 times faster than the global average, due to a thinner atmosphere and several positive feedback responses. Changes in the Arctic will have major repercussions for all other global regions through changes in the hydrological cycle, the weather cycle, the carbon cycle or atmospheric changes, but also by impacting its unique biodiversity.