28 January 2009: The European Commission has released a communication entitled “Towards a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen,” which sets out proposals to achieve the EU's objective to ensure that global average temperature does not increase more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. It addresses three key challenges: targets by developed countries and appropriate actions by developing countries; the need to address the financing of actions by developing countries (both to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change); and the need to build an effective global carbon market.
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27 January 2009: The 2009 Humanitarian Action Report was launched in Geneva, Switzerland, by UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Ann Veneman and UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Sigrid Kaag. The Report highlights the plight of children and women around the globe in humanitarian emergencies, such as conflict situations and natural disasters.
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January 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released an addendum containing the position of Venezuela on the issue of carbon dioxide capture and storage in geologic formations as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project activities established in the Kyoto Protocol under discussion in the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (FCCC/SBSTA/2008/MISC.10/Add.1).
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January 2009: The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) will launch the World Economic and Social Survey 2009-Climate Change and Development (WESS 2009) around mid-2009, to be available to the UNFCCC process, in particular, the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
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January 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the revised “Assembly Document,” containing the ideas and proposals presented by parties and accredited observer organizations on the elements contained in paragraph 1 of the Bali Action Plan (BAP), received by 6 December 2008.
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January 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released reports of the individual review of the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories of Australia, submitted in 2008, and of Italy and Romania, submitted in 2007 and 2008. The expert review team (ERT) finds that all the inventories have been prepared generally in line with the Revised 1996 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines, the IPCC good practice guidance and the IPCC good practice guidance for Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF).
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January 2009: South Centre, an intergovernmental think tank of developing countries, has released a report entitled “Developed Country Climate Financing Initiatives Weaken the UNFCCC,” which examines the level and delivery vehicles of public financing for climate change actions in developing countries from Annex I parties of the UNFCCC.
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21 January 2009: The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has released a revised 2009 Terminology Report, which aims to promote common understanding and common usage of disaster risk reduction concepts and to assist the disaster risk reduction efforts of authorities, practitioners and the public.
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12 January 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published a document summarizing the performance of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in 2008. The document describes the CDM, its purpose, approval process and potential, and outlines the number and distribution of projects.
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19 January 2009: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UK Forestry Commission have produced a 17-minute video on “Forests and Climate Change: a Convenient Truth.” The video shows how forests can contribute to the mitigation of climate change, stressing the importance of reversing forest loss.
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