Just Environments Series (2017)
Antonio La Viña continues the “Just Environments” series with an analysis of climate justice challenges and opportunities, particularly from the perspective of vulnerable countries, in light of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The framing of issues of mitigation and adaptation to climate change in terms of justice—assistance, liability, and accountability—is now part of the global debate. Though the absence of the United States from global climate processes is less than ideal, La Viña suggests that this opening can provide opportunities to address climate justice and for other countries to emerge as global leaders. … Read more
Co-authored with: Purple Romero and Rosalind Reeve
Forest News, Research from CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (2016)
The new climate deal may not be perfect, but embedded in it is guidance on how to undertake climate actions while ensuring socially and ecologically sustainable outcomes.
The Paris Agreement, which was completed on December 12, 2015 after years of negotiations among 196 countries, is indeed historic. It not only mandates limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – well below the original 2 degree goal – it calls for the protection of indigenous land rights and ecosystem health. … Read more
Co-authored with: Joyce Melcar Tan, Lawrence Ang, et al.
Policy Brief Series (2016)
This policy brief series brings together insights and recommendations in the realms of climate and energy and crystallizes a clear policy direction for the Philippines to secure its growth ambitions. It draws from current thinking from the public, private and academic sectors and argues for a priority policy agenda that clearly sets the pathway for how climate and energy can and should drive inclusive development for the next decade.
Responding to climate change helps fulfill seven of the ten priorities identified in President Duterte’s ten-point agenda. … Read more
Co-authored with: Francis Saturnino Juan and Lawrence Ang
Policy Brief Series (2016)
This policy brief series brings together insights and recommendations in the realms of climate and energy and crystallizes a clear policy direction for the Philippines to secure its growth ambitions. It draws from current thinking from the public, private and academic sectors and argues for a priority policy agenda that clearly sets the pathway for how climate and energy can and should drive inclusive development for the next decade.
Change is happening fast in power industries worldwide. With climate change awareness increasing and its impact already manifesting, there is a general consensus among nations to move towards a cleaner energy mix. … Read more
Co-authored with: Teresa Ira Maris Guanzon and Lawrence Ang
Policy Brief Series (2016)
This policy brief series brings together insights and recommendations in the realms of climate and energy and crystallizes a clear policy direction for the Philippines to secure its growth ambitions. It draws from current thinking from the public, private and academic sectors and argues for a priority policy agenda that clearly sets the pathway for how climate and energy can and should drive inclusive development for the next decade.
The government aspires to achieve a high-income economy by 2040. It would entail an average annual GDP growth of 7%. This in turn would require a total energy capacity addition of 12,307 MW by 2030. … Read more
Co-authored with: Lawrence Ang, Jethro Hipe, et al.
(2015)
This policy brief is developed as a contribution to ongoing discussions around the role of coal-fired power plants in the Philippines’ journey towards sustainable development. This brief complements more detailed supplementary reports outlining the sectoral dynamics of coal-fired power plants as viewed from economic, technological, environmental, health, social and policy perspectives. … Read more
Visit this website for more details.
Co-authored with: Jennifer Morgan and Sebastian Oberthür
Agreement on Climate Transformation 2015 (ACT 2015) Working Paper (2015)
The suggested legal text takes account of the current negotiating text developed by the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), but it goes further in attempting to reconcile many different viewpoints and strike a balance that will contribute to the development of a final Agreement that is fair, equitable and effective in realizing the goals of the Convention. The purpose of the suggested legal text is to provide ideas for the consideration by Parties. … Read more
Co-authored with: Cecilia Therese T. Guiao
Agreement on Climate Transformation 2015 (ACT 2015) Working Paper (2014)
The key to accomplishing a durable and effective climate agreement may lie in finding the ideal legal form to ensure that it is acceptable to most Parties, yet specific and enforceable enough to actually reduce emissions. The content of the agreement is under wide discussion, but with only a year left before its scheduled adoption, not much progress seems to have been made on the legal form or architecture of the 2015 agreement. … Read more
Co-authored with: Alaya M. de Leon
Climate and Forest Paper Series #14 (2014)
This paper provides an analysis of the international political dynamics around the reduction of tropical deforestation and forest degradation as a climate mitigation strategy, emphasizing the necessity of an enabling environment and sustainable financing to support the scaling up of these efforts globally. After describing the evolution from the 1990s of international cooperation to combat tropical deforestation, the paper focuses principally on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and how it provided an impetus for a renewed effort on this issue. … Read more
Co-authored with: Cecilia Therese T. Guiao and Selam Kidane
Working Paper from CDKN’s work on consensus-building (2013)
This paper provides an introduction to the UNFCCC negotiation process and suggests how consensus may be achieved. It is aimed particularly at negotiators who have just joined the process, but should also be of interest to facilitators and more experienced negotiators, by provoking reflection or presenting new perspectives to be explored. … Read more
Co-authored with: Lawrence Ang, et al.
(2012)
Over the past two years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests have brought together regional experts to reflect on the outcomes of the 15th and 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The resulting booklets Forests and Climate Change After Copenhagen: An Asia-Pacific Perspective and Forests and Climate Change After Cancun: An Asia-Pacific Perspective were distributed widely and very well received. … Read more
Co-authored with: Lawrence Ang and Joanne Dulce
Excerpt from The Cancun Agreements: Do they advance global cooperation on climate change? (2011)
UN climate talks formally resume in Bangkok in April, and the one thing that we can all bet on is that strong support remains for mechanisms that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). Tony La Viña is the man who keeps REDD negotiators in line, and he recently co-authored this summary of negotiations to date. … Read more
Working Paper (2009)
In this working paper Antonio G.M. La Viña, who led the negotiations on REDD-Plus in the preparations for the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009, considers the REDD-Plus negotiations and REDD-Plus initiatives, and shares his views on ways forward. … Read more
Co-authored with: Lawrence Ang
(2011)
In the fight against climate change, one approach that has been gaining increasing international momentum is the REDD-Plus mechanism. REDD-Plus stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and the Conservation and Enhancement of Existing Forest Carbon Stocks. It was adopted as an international mechanism to address climate change during the 16th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC) in Cancun, Mexico held last December, 2010 (La Vina et al 2011). … Read more
Co-authored with: Owen J. Lynch
(2011)
This paper argues in favor of the ownership by indigenous peoples and local communities of carbon in forests and trees and that such ownership could be the basis of social accountability that should be mainstreamed in implementing what is popularly known as the REDD-Plus mechanism. … Read more
Tony La Viña 