17 October 2008: The sixteenth session of the Global Climate
Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee took place from 14-17 October 2008,
in Geneva, Switzerland. The GCOS Steering Committee is a group of experts
selected for their personal expertise and appointed jointly by the GCOS
sponsoring organizations – the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the
International Council for Science (ICSU) – to formulate the overall concept and
scope of GCOS and to provide scientific and technical guidance to the
sponsoring and participating agencies for the planning, implementation and
further development of GCOS. Committee members were presented with an overview
of key activities over the past year and with feedback from sponsors regarding
future development of GCOS.
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17 October 2008: The sixteenth session of the Global Climate
Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee took place from 14-17 October 2008,
in Geneva, Switzerland. The GCOS Steering Committee is a group of experts
selected for their personal expertise and appointed jointly by the GCOS
sponsoring organizations – the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the
International Council for Science (ICSU) – to formulate the overall concept and
scope of GCOS and to provide scientific and technical guidance to the
sponsoring and participating agencies for the planning, implementation and
further development of GCOS.
read more »
21 October 2008: Representatives of over 150 corporations,
civil society organizations, governments and UN agencies gathered in Geneva,
Switzerland, on 21 October 2008, for the first meeting of signatories to
‘Caring for Climate,' a voluntary global action platform jointly launched in
2007 by the UN Global Compact, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
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21 October 2008: A policy dialogue took place on 21 October
2008, at UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome,
Italy, on the role of wood products and forests in climate change mitigation
and greenhouse gas balances. The event was one of several taking place as part
of European Forest Week 2008, which is being held from 20-24 October 2008.
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17 October 2008: The Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC) convened a seminar on "Climate change in Latin
America: Impact, Possibilities for Mitigation and Financing," from 15-16
October 2008, in Santiago, Chile. During the meeting, participants discussed
the possible imposition of trade barriers on products from the region due to
carbon emissions in their production and transportation and stressed the
urgency to mitigate the effects of climate change.
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20 October 2008: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Fourth International Workshop on Monsoons is taking place from 20–25 October
2008, in Beijing, China. The workshop is part of the WMO major quadrennial
symposia and workshops series under the World Weather Research Programme
(WWRP).
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20 October 2008: In a message to the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' seventh Pan African
Conference, taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 19-22 October
2008, Cheick Sidi Diarra, the Secretary-General's High Representative for the
Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island
Developing States, on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, called for
strengthening the relationship between the UN and the International Federation.
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18 October 2008: During a meeting on the sidelines of the
Francophonie Summit, which convened in Quebec City, Canada, from 17-19 October
2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
agreed on the need to hold an emergency G-8 summit to address the financial
crisis and ensure that its negative impact on the world's economies does not
undermine the major UN efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, to
fight against the effects of climate change and to address the food crisis.
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17 October 2008: The Secretariat of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD), in collaboration with the UN University's
Traditional Knowledge Initiative and Tebtebba, has announced the beneficiaries
of financial assistance for participation in the Global Indigenous Peoples'
Consultation on Potential Impacts of “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation (REDD)” on Indigenous and Local Communities (12-14 November
2008, Baguio City, Philippines).
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October 2008: The UN World Trade Organization (UNWTO), in
partnership with the World Travel Market, will hold a Ministers' Summit at the
World Travel Market in London, UK, on 11 November 2008, under the theme
“Responding to the Economic Downturn and Staying on Course with the Climate and
Poverty Reduction Agenda.”
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