Event: International Conference on Food Security in Dry Lands [viewed]
This conference is held under the auspices of the Heir Apparent, His Highness, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thaniin, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) of Qatar Foundation, among other partners. The conference will bring together a broad range of stakeholders and will focus on three thematic areas, namely food security, water resources, and responsible investment. The conference will include a Ministerial Dialogue on Dry Lands Agriculture under a Changing Climate, which will focus on two themes: the energy-water-food nexus; and financing dry land agriculture and food production. The conference is expected to yield an outcome document with distilled summary recommendations that represent the consensus of the participants on future courses of action required under all thematic areas examined by the conference. The outcome document aims to lead to the adoption of the Doha Declaration that would clearly set a target percentage and date for the allocation of a significant proportion of the national public expenditure for programmes and projects to achieve food security on an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable basis. The outcome document will also present the main thrusts of an Action Plan to follow-up on agreed recommendations and commitments.
1 November 2012: The Pilot Country Meetings for the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) met from 30 October-1 November 2012, in Istanbul, Turkey, in association with the CIF 2012 Partnership Forum, which meets on 6-7 November 2012. The Pilot Country Meetings provided the opportunity for those working on CIF-financed operations to discuss progress and experiences in an open and collaborative manner.
25 October 2012: The 5th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), which was attended by 25 ministers and delegates from 72 countries, concluded with the adoption of the Yogyakarta Declaration on DRR in Asia and the Pacific 2012, which calls for integrating DRR and climate change adaptation (CCA) into local level development planning.
25 October 2012: The Global Gas Flaring Reduction (GGFR) partnership, a public-private initiative led by the World Bank that facilitates and supports national efforts to use currently flared gas, has called on oil producers, countries and companies to reduce flaring of natural gas associated with oil production by 30% by 2017. 
24 October 2012: The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the Climate Information Development and Forecasting Project and the Water Resources Mobilization and Development Project in Niger, and the Baixo Limpopo Irrigation and Climate Resilience Project in Mozambique.
October 2012: The Water Partnership Program (WPP) provided support for a study that aimed at providing a new approach to supporting green growth principles in water defense challenges. The two-part study, titled Green Water Defense in East Asia, focuses on the experiences and lessons learned in water and flood risk management, and recommends best practices and management models to address these challenges.
October 2012: The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) have published a report on the priority needs of countries with regards to REDD+ readiness.
October 2012: According to a report from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank, countries seeking to balance economic growth with carbon reduction can achieve both. The report details case studies on low-carbon development in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and South Africa.
