In this last issue of the newsletter for 2011, we introduce a new study on corruption in the land sector. The study was carried out by FAO and the Berlin-based Transparency International and it illustrates that the land sector is one of the main public sector areas where corruption exists. In climate change news, the world’s attention is focused on Durban, South Africa where the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – including FAO - are meeting this month. And finally, we take a look at a new publication that examines the need to better link climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and programmes to genetic resources objectives.

Accra, Ghana. 25-27 November 2008. This conference focused on Africa’s contribution to the global carbon cycle and climate system through an overview of the carbon related studies in sub- Saharan Africa carried out both by the project CarboAfrica and other African and international initiatives. The Conference illustrated the high number of initiatives currently ongoing in Africa, related to the study of all the component of the carbon cycle, from science to socio-economic issues, and considering all natural components, from soil to the atmosphere, through terrestrial ecosystems. In spite of the high number of efforts and of the important results already achieved, it was evident that there is still a strong need for continued and enhanced observations of Africa's carbon stocks and fluxes.

In this issue, we look at the launch of the new Global Soil Partnership and examine the next steps. We also look report on FAO’s collaboration with NASA to create an international fire-reporting system, the Global Fire Information Management System, which delivers key data to remote regions of developing countries. Finally, we introduce FAO-MOSAICC, an integrated package of models to carry out climate change impact assessment at the national level.

This publication provides guidelines for all FAO units (headquarters departments and offices, as well as decentralized offices) to undertake environmental impact assessments of field projects. The use of these guidelines apply to all FAO field projects and activities, as further specified in the sections below, requiring implications to be fully considered early in the planning process (and all the more so prior to taking final decisions) so as to avoid significant negative impacts of environmental or associated social nature.