1 August 2008: UN Secretary-General wore a casual outfit to kick off the “Cool UN” scheme, which seeks to curb the organization's greenhouse gas emissions, limit the use of air conditioning and save money for the UN. The UN Economic Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) premises in Bangkok, Thailand, which houses over a dozen of the Organization's entities, also joined the “Cool UN” scheme.
1 August 2008: The United Nations plans to decrease its
carbon footprint for the month of August by increasing the temperature in its
New York Headquarters and eliminating air conditioning on the weekends. The
initiative will result in an emissions decrease of the equivalent of 300 pounds
of carbon dioxide and, if the trial period is successful and the initiative is
extended, could save the UN roughly US$1 million annually.
July
2008: The UN Office for Outer
Space Affairs is organizing a workshop on the theme ‘Building Upon Regional Space-based
Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response for the Pacific
Region' to be held in Suva, Fiji, from 16-19 September 2008.
16 July 2008: The 69th UN Economic Commission for Europe's (UNECE) Committee on Housing and Land Management is scheduled to take place from 22-23 September in Geneva, Switzerland.
14
July 2008: The Ohio State University, the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Regional Office for
Asia and the Pacific, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
Pacific (ESCAP), in collaboration with a number of agencies, are organizing the
Regional Symposium on Climate Change, Food Security, Sea Level Rise and
Environment in South Asia in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 25-29 August 2008.
13 June 2008: The Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC) held its thirty-second session from 9-13 June 2008,
in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Among the thirteen approved resolutions
were a number of elements related to climate change.
June 2008: This workshop is
scheduled to take place on 1-2 July 2008 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and
will be organized under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Europe
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and
International Lakes (Water Convention) and the Protocol on Water and Health to
the Water Convention. The event will address, inter alia: current
knowledge about adaptation and climate change; policy, legislative, institutional
and financial frameworks; forecasting, modelling and vulnerability, including
vulnerability of water-related sectors such as energy, agriculture and tourism;
and adaptation and coping measures.
13 May 2008: The Energy Charter, in close cooperation with the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), will organize an international conference on International Cooperation on Energy Efficiency, to take place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28 May 2008.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Vice-President Kanayo Nwanze told participants at the first annual meeting of the African Union/United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, that “A concerted, coordinated and collective effort is the most effective way to tackle the triple scourge of poverty, climate change and high food prices and to guarantee a sustainable future for women, marginalized groups and smallholder farmers in Africa.”
In his 1 April 2008 address to the UN General Assembly's thematic debate on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that “development progress is gravely threatened by the effects of climate change and other major environmental challenges.” He highlighted that changes in our natural environment “can have adverse impacts on economic and social development,” and emphasized developing countries' need for “additional assistance and resources to support their adaptation efforts,” given their limited technological and financial resources.
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
