20 February 2013: The UN General Assembly launched the International Year of Quinoa with a High-Level Panel discussion during its plenary at UN Headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Bolivian President Evo Morales and First Lady of Peru Nadine Heredia participated in the launch, which will be celebrated under the theme "A future sown thousands of years ago."
15 February 2013: The UN Global Compact has appointed Brice Lalonde (France) as Special Advisor on Sustainable Development. He will work with the Global Compact Office to develop close relationships and opportunities for collaboration with governments and other stakeholders on sustainable development and follow-up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).
13 February 2013: The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has inaugurated a new $25 million research complex that will help researchers speed up climate-resilient seed development for maize and wheat.
13 February 2013: The Clean Energy Solutions Center, an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), is seeking feedback on the Global Renewable Energy Opportunity Tool, which facilitates analysis of technical and economic potential for solar electric technologies.
8 January 2013: The European Environment Agency (EEA) has announced that clean air will be the focus of EU environmental policy discussions during 2013, the EU Year of Air. The European Commission is reviewing the EU Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution and related policies in 2013.
11 February 2013: Climate-related projects implemented in Namibia and Sri Lanka, and supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), were two of nine projects highlighted by the "Momentum for Change" initiative during the December 2012 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations held in Doha, Qatar. The initiative, organized by the UNFCCC Secretariat, highlights positive developments in climate change adaptation and mitigation that have the potential to be replicated elsewhere.
11 February 2013: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered the Sorensen Distinguished Lecture on the UN at the Council on Foreign Relations, focusing on the crisis in Syria and the "threat of climate catastrophe." He noted that science has "long sounded the alarm" on “the gathering threat of climate change,” warning against projected increases of extreme weather events, development reversals, forced displacements, and tensions over resources.
11 February 2012: The Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has launched five calls for experts to act as members of its panels, working groups and teams.
4 February 2013: In the context of declining revenue for the Adaptation Fund, the newly elected Chair of the Adaptation Fund Board, Hans Olav Ibrekk (Norway), has called on donors to fill in the funding gap with voluntary contributions.
February 2013: The first order draft review by experts of the “Draft 2013 Revised Supplementary Methods and Good Practice Guidance Arising from the Kyoto Protocol,” developed by the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories (TFI) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), ended on 3 February 2013. The guidance is expected to be finalized by October 2013.
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
