Global Change Abstracts The Swiss Contribution - SCNAT

Global Change Abstracts – The Swiss Contribution | Human Dimensions
08.1-398
Climate or development: is ODA diverted from
its original purpose?
Michaelowa A, Michaelowa K
Switzerland
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences , Economics ,
Political Sciences
We analyze the interaction of climate and development
policy that has taken place since the early
1990s. Increasing dissatisfaction about the results
of traditional development cooperation and the appeal
of climate policy as a new policy field led to a
rapid reorientation of aid flows. At the turn of the
century, over 7% of aid flows were spent on greenhouse
gas emissions mitigation. However, the contribution
of emissions mitigation projects to the
central development objective of poverty reduction
as specified in the Millennium Development Goals
is limited and other project types are likely to be
much more effective. Adaptation to climate change
can be expected to have higher synergies with poverty
alleviation than mitigation, primarily through
its impact on health, the conservation of arable
land and the protection against natural disasters.
An analysis of the Clean Development Mechanism
shows that projects addressing the poor directly
are very rare; even small renewable energy projects
in rural areas tend to benefit rich farmers and
the urban population. Use of development aid for
CDM projects and / or their preparation via capacity
building is thus clearly not warranted. We further
analyze whether the use of development aid for climate
policy could be justified as a countermeasure
against the emission increase related to successful
development itself. However, countries that are
achieving an improvement of human development
from a low level are unlikely to increase their energy
consumption substantially. Only at a level where the
middle class expands rapidly, energy consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions soar. Thus targeting
middle class energy consumption by appliance efficiency
standards and public transport-friendly
urban planning are the most effective measures to
address developing country emissions. Rural renewable
energy provision in poor countries has a much
higher impact on poverty, but a much lower impact
on greenhouse gas emissions. We conclude that
while there are valid reasons for long-term collaboration
with emerging economies on greenhouse gas
mitigation, there should be a separate budget line
for such activities to avoid “obfuscation” of a decline
of resources aimed at poverty alleviation. Nevertheless,
mitigation will remain attractive for donors because
it ensures quick disbursements and relatively
simple measures of success. Moreover, mitigation activities
in developing countries provide politicians
189
in industrialized countries with a welcome strategy
to divert the attention of their constituencies from
the lack of success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
domestically.
Climatic Change, 2007, V84, N1, SEP, pp 5-21.
08.1-399
Phenology of Ixodes ricinus and infection
with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato along a
North- and South-facing altitudinal gradient
on Chaumont Mountain, Switzerland
Moran Cadenas F, Rais O, Jouda F, Douet V, Humair
P F, Moret J, Gern L
Switzerland
Zoology , Medicine , Meteorology & Atmospheric
Sciences
Questing Ixodes ricinus L. ticks were collected
monthly from 2003 to 2005 on the north- and southfacing
slopes of Chaumont Mountain in Neuchatel,
Switzerland, at altitudes varying from 620 to 1,070
in. On the south-facing slope, questing tick density
was higher than on the north-facing slope, and it
decreased with altitude. Density tended to increase
with altitude on the north-facing slope. Saturation
deficit values higher than 10 mmHg and lasting
for >2 mo were often recorded on the south-facing
slope, explaining seasonal patterns of questing tick
activity. The overall prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi
sensu lato was 22.4%, and prevalence differed
according to exposure and among years. No difference
was noticed between nymphs and adults. Four
Borrelia species were identified. Mixed infections
were detected in 52 ticks, B. garinii and B. valaisiana
(n = 21) and B. afzelii and B. burgdorferi s.s. (n
= 20) were the most frequent associations observed.
The density of infected ticks varied from 3.6 to 78.7
infected nymphs per 1 00 m(2) and from 0.6 to 16.9
infected adults per 100 m(2), both slopes combined.
The study on the south-facing slope was a followup
of a previous study carried out at the same location
during 1999-2001. Comparison of climatic
data between the two periods showed a marked
increase in saturation deficit. Substantial differences
in density and phenology of ticks also were
observed. At high elevations, ticks were significantly
more abundant during the current study. This
can be explained by rising temperatures recorded
during summer at altitude, reaching values similar
to those registered in the first study beneath.
At the lowest altitude, adults were significantly less
abundant, probably due to long-lasting high saturation
deficits that impaired nymphal survival. The
density of Borrelia-infected ticks was higher than
in the previous study.
Journal of Medical Entomology, 2007, V44, N4,
JUL, pp 683-693.