2022 Semester 2 Introduction to Climate Change and REDD+ (FES-501-0)

This course will introduce the students to climate change, greenhouse gases, global warming potential and the greenhouse effect, six historic periods and the Milankovitch cycle, methods of determining past climates and ecosystems, rapid climate change and lessons of past climate change, natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change. The unit will further provide an insight into the impacts of climate change on agriculture, fisheries and forestry, climate change impacts on forest fringe population, impact of climate change on food security and livelihoods, climate change and forests, forests as carbon sources and carbon sinks, forest carbon sequestration and carbon pools, definition, importance and scope of climate change adaptation and mitigation, strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation in energy, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture and forestry sectors, wood fuels and climate change mitigation and geoengineering solutions to climate change. The unit also provides a holistic approach to the human dimension of climate change, vulnerability of people and communities to climate change, how people, businesses and ecosystems adapt, interfaces among the capacities of people, businesses, and ecosystems, capacity development for adaptation at local levels, Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), Deforestation and forest degradation: definition and drivers, Emergence of REDD+ in the UN climate change framework, Fiji REDD+ Policy, forest carbon rights in Fiji, the benefits of carbon rights ownership, and landowners and REDD+ projects in Fiji. This unit will also cover topics such as International Agreements on climate change namely United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol, Paris climate change conference, Fiji Government’s Response to Climate Change, Fiji National Climate Change policy, education, training and public awareness, financial and technological needs and constraints, carbon footprint - definition and importance, and reducing emissions related to transport, food, use of energy in the home, water use, and waste management.