Unit Code: FES503

Unit Name: Climate Change and REDD+

Description: This unit introduces the students to climate, heat transfer across the world, concept of energy balance, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, global warming potential, history of earth's climate, six historic periods, Milankovitch cycle, methods of determining past climate and ecosystems and causes of climate change. The unit provides information on the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity, water resources, coastlines, health, biodiversity, marine resources, human settlements and infrastructure, impacts of climate change on forests - migration of species northward or towards higher altitudes, forest productivity, forest disturbances, invasive species, climate change impacts in the South Pacific islands, vulnerability and resilience to climate change, vulnerability of traditional forest dependent communities to climate change, traditional knowledge of indigenous people and climate change, and traditional adaptation strategies. The unit further provides insight into food security and livelihoods of forest fringe population, impacts of climate change on forest fringe population, climate change and forests, the dual role of forests in the climate change scenario, wood fuels as a benign alternative to fossil fuels, forest carbon sequestration and carbon pools, forest management planning and practices to mitigate climate change, climate change adaptation and mitigation through Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Fiji, building resilience to climate change through forest conservation restoration and sustainable use, dealing with risk and uncertainty in forest management under climate change, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, forest management and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and geoengineering solutions to climate change. The unit also introduces the students to definition and drivers of REDD+, emergence of REDD+ in the UN climate change framework, Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV) and REDD+, key issues in REDD+ namely additionally, leakage and permanence, Fiji National REDD+ programmeme, Fiji National REDD Plus Policy, Forest carbon rights in Fiji, international agreements on climate change: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol, Paris climate change conference, Fiji Government and Climate Change, Financial and technological needs and constraints, Fiji National Climate Change Policy, definition and importance of carbon footprints, and reducing emissions related to transport, food, use of energy in the home, water use, and waste management.

Learning Target Outcomes:

Prerequisite: N/A

Prerequisite Sentence: Student must be enrolled in the programme.

Credit Point: 15

Offered In: Semester 1