For the World Food Day, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in conjunction with Welthungerhilfe (formerly known as German Agro-Action) and Concern Worldwide has published the new World Hunger Index 2008. The index documents alarming or extremely alarming levels of hunger in thirty-three countries around the world. More information and the index itself are accessible here.

The World-wide Hydrogeological Mapping and Assessment Program (WHYMAP) has published a map of world-wide transboundary groundwater resources. Accordingly, almost 96% of the planet’s freshwater resources are to be found in underground aquifers, most of which straddle national boundaries. The map and further information is available here .

World Vision has released a new Planet Prepare Report on the impact of climate change in coastal areas in Asia. The findings suggest that increased sea levels and a growing number of natural disasters can potentially threaten small islands, impose unprecedented challenges on Mega Cities in coastal areas and are likely to be a strong driver of climate induced migration. The report can be found here .

The new UN Sustainable Development Innovation Brief addresses the use of non-renewable resource revenues for sustainable local development. It discusses the performance and impacts of activities financed by revenues from natural resources in selected African and Latin American countries. Furthermore, it identifies problems and provides ideas on how to improve the efficiency and equitable use of such revenues for sustainable development. The report is available here .

In the course of the international EFMSV-Conference on climate induced migration in Bonn, the research project EACH-FOR presented its preliminary findings. Germanwatch and the ECC-Platform organized one of the many workshops at the convention. Academics and practitioners discussed the issue of “Climate Change, Migration and European Foreign Policy”. The preliminary results of EACH-FOR are available for download here .

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, October 2008