ALBERT

Description: Die Freiwilligen Leitlinien Land der Ernährungs- und Landwirtschaftsorganisation der Vereinten Nationen sollten vor allem bei der Prüfung von Hochrisikoprojekten und bei der Bewertung von größeren agrarpolitischen Trends angewendet werden. So lautet das zentrale Ergebnis der neuen englischsprachigen Studie "Safeguarding Human Rights in Land Related Investments" des Deutschen Instituts für Menschenrechte. Sie vergleicht bestehende internationale Prüfungsstandards der finanziellen Zusammenarbeit mit den Freiwilligen Leitlinien Land aus dem Jahr 2012.

Description: This study was commissioned by the German Federal ministry for Economic Cooperation and development in order to help identify whether there are differences and potential issues in the VGGt that are currently omitted or only partially covered by the IFC PS or the World Bank Safeguards. It will also discuss how potential gaps might be addressed. the intention of the ministry is that development policy actors in Germany that apply the IFC PS or the World Bank Safeguards can make use of this study to analyse in how far their own use of policies and standards should address potential gaps. Moreover, it will analyse whether there are issues that require closer examination and further investigation in order to provide a complete and adequate framework/international legal instrument committed to ensure the respect for and implementation of human rights.

Description: This project started in October 2015 with a crazy idea : prepare and submit a funding application for an international, multidisciplinary and non-traditional scientific outreach project… within the next 48 hours. Well, it worked out. A group of highly motivated young researchers from Canada and Europe united to combine arts and science and produce a series of outreach comic strips about permafrost (frozen ground). The aim of the project is to present and explain scientific research conducted across the circumpolar Arctic, placing emphasis on field work and the rapidly changing northern environment. The target audience is kids, youth, parents and teachers, with the general goal of making permafrost science more fun and accessible to the public. Because guess what : permafrost represents an area of more than twenty million km2 in the Northern Hemisphere, a huge area. As the climate warms, permafrost thaws and becomes unstable for houses, roads and airports. This rapid thawing of previously frozen ground also disrupts plant and animal habitats, impacts water quality and the ecology of lakes, and releases carbon into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, making climate change even stronger. Hence permafrost and its response to climate change concerns us all. The project received initial support from the International Permafrost Association (IPA) as a targeted ‘Action Group’, and since then several other sponsors have joined the project. Here we are, now, two years after this first idea. What you are about to read is the result of an iterative process of exchanging ideas between artists and scientists. We first made an application call and received 49 applications from artists in 16 countries. Through a formal review process, we then selected two artists to work on this project: Noémie Ross from Canada, and Heta Nääs from Finland. With input from scientists, Noémie and Heta created fantastic cartoons that explain some of the changes happening to the environment in permafrost areas, how they affect people and wildlife, and what scientists are doing to better understand these changes to help people find innovative ways to adapt. We wish everyone plenty of fun reading this booklet and we would like to thank all those who supported this project.