30 January 2009: UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner participated in a panel on “Rising to the Challenge of Copenhagen,” at the World Economic Forum on 29 January 2009, in Davos, Switzerland. The panel was moderated by Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times, and included Jacques Aigrain, Swiss Re CEO, Al Gore, former US Vice-President and Nobel Laureate, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, and Jeroen van der Veer, Royal Dutch Shell CEO.
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27 January 2009: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has reported that a summit of the leaders of 20 major economies (G-20) on the financial crisis will convene on 2 April 2009, in London, UK, and will include discussions on the creation of a low-carbon economy.
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23 January 2009: The UN Environment Programme has reported that a new study carried out by Indian and Swedish scientists shows that two-thirds of the soot particles contributing to the “Asian Brown Cloud,” which has a large effect on South Asia's climate, are caused by biomass combustion. The results of the study, which are presented in the latest issue of Science, suggest that the remainder of the soot comes from fossil fuel combustion.
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23 January 2009: The Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane, in addition to Greenfest, an Australian music festival, Clean Up the World, an Australian community-based environmental campaign, and BalanceCarbon, an Australian carbon management company, have joined the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Climate Neutral Network (CN Net).
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January 2009: The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) are jointly organizing the International Conference on Green Industry in Asia under the theme “Managing the Transition to Resource-Efficient and Low Carbon Industries.”
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January 2009: The Scientific Planning Meeting for a Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Student Research Campaign on Climate Change will take place from 26-28 January 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland.
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15 January 2009: Three projects aimed at countering the gorilla's slide towards extinction were spotlighted as the international Year of the Gorilla (YoG) 2009 got underway with a “Gorillas on Thin Ice” event. The projects, which were drawn up by the UN Environment Programme Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS), seek to boost the prospects for the Cross River Gorilla, which is Africa's rarest ape.
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9 January 2009: In an effort to spur economic growth, Japan and the Republic of Korea have both announced plans to invest billions of dollars in green projects. Speaking about the countries' plans, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), noted that investments in clean technologies and renewable energy infrastructure can “counter recession and unemployment” and lay the basis for more sustainable economic growth in the 21st century.
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9 January 2009: Prince Albert II of Monaco has begun a month-long visit to Antarctica to assess the impact and raise awareness of climate change.
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31 December 2008: The UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Climate Neutral Network has reported that Air New Zealand successfully tested a new jatropha-fuelled jumbo jet. The airline said the experience demonstrated that jatropha biofuel is suitable for use in airplanes without the need for engine modifications.
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