Introduction brochure to the project 'Integrating Traditional Crop Genetic Diversity into Technology: Using a Biodiversity Portfolio Approach to Buffer against Unpredictable Environmental Change in the Nepal Himalayas'.

The project aims to contribute to the conservation of globally important crop biodiversity, which form the basis for food security in areas of high environmental instability and variability in many high-elevation agricultural systems throughout the world.

It is implemented by UNEP and executed by Bioversity International, NARC, DoA and LI-BIRD.

This conference presents the culmination of the PGR Secure project (www.pgrsecure.org) – a collaborative project involving eleven partners funded under the EU Seventh Framework Programme, THEME KBBE.2010.1.1-03, 'Characterization of biodiversity resources for wild crop relatives to improve crops by breeding', Grant agreement no. 266394. It is jointly organized with the section on genetic resources of the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding (EUCARPIA).

The REDD-ALERT (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation from Alternative Land Uses in the Rainforests of the Tropics) project started in 2009 and finished in 2012, and had the aim of evaluating mechanisms that translate international-level agreements into instruments that would help change the behaviour of land users while minimising adverse repercussions on their livelihoods. Findings showed that some developing tropical countries have recently been through a forest transition, thus shifting from declining to expanding forests at a national scale.

According to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, changes in the climate over the last 30 years have already reduced global agricultural production by 1 – 5 % per decade relative to a baseline without climate change. In addition, recent studies indicate that even a 2 degrees increase in global temperature will affect agricultural productivity, particularly in the tropics, and this impact will rise with increases in temperature.

We apply a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature to assess constraining and enabling

factors to the uptake of medium- to long-term climate information in a wide range of sectoral

investment and planning decisions. Common applications of climate information are shown to

relate to adaptation of environmental policy and planning, urban planning and infrastructure,

as well as flood and coastal management. Analysis of identified literature highlights five

The resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 September 2015 is symptomatic of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. It postulates goals and related targets for 2030 that include (1) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG2); (2) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG6); and (3) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all (SDG7).