7 October 2008: In a press conference at the UN Headquarters
in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon characterized climate change
as the “defining challenge of our era,” and warned that the fight against this
challenge risks being “obscured by shorter-term problems, and in particular the
deepening financial crisis.” He expressed the hope that the climate
negotiations scheduled to take place in December 2008 in Poznan, Poland, will
result in increased cooperation and agreement on a timeframe of work, as well
as “a strong willingness” by developed and developing countries to lead on this
issue.
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8 October 2008: On the occasion of the International Day for
Disaster Reduction, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted the greater
incidence of disasters in 2008 and called for increased action to “turn
commitments on paper into deeds” and implement the 2005 Hyogo Framework for
Action.
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8 October 2008: In a statement to mark the International Day
of Disaster Reduction, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja highlighted that action on climate change
mitigation and adaptation must consider managing risks to drought in a global
coordinated approach, and said the Hyogo Framework for action is a platform to
achieve these considerations.
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7 October 2008: Addressing the Gambia Climate Change Forum,
taking place in Kololi, the Gambia, from 6-7 October 2008, the
Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Michel
Jarraud, stated that the potential impacts of climate variability and change on
water resources demand special attention, particularly in Africa.
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6 October 2008: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in
cooperation with governments, is drawing up some projects to demonstrate that
re-investing in damaged ecosystems can generate significant economic,
environmental and social returns.
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6 October 2008: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
António Guterres told the opening session of his agency's governing Executive
Committee, which met in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2-6 October 2006, that
climate change, extreme poverty and conflict are increasingly inter-related,
leading to a surge in forced displacement rising and demands on the UNHCR.
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6 October 2008: The list of experts for the first meeting of
the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on biodiversity and climate change of
the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has been approved by the Bureau of
the CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and
the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties.
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6 October 2008: In her remarks to the Second Committee of
the General Assembly, taking place in New York, US, UN Deputy Secretary-General
Asha-Rose Migiro underlined that Africa is the region that faces the greatest
challenges, in particular in the context of climate change and the food and oil
crises.
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6 October 2008: Top UN officials marked World Habitat Day by
drawing attention to the need to raise awareness of the problems of rapid
urbanization, its impact on the environment and the challenges of rising urban
poverty. The UN has designated the first Monday in October each year as World
Habitat Day, to reflect on the state of towns and cities and the basic right to
adequate shelter for all. This year, Luanda, Angola, led the observance of the
celebration, which focused on the theme “Harmonious Cities.”
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3 October 2008: The seventh European Conference on Applied
Climatology and the eighth Annual Meeting of the European Meteorological
Society were held jointly from 29 September–3 October 2008, in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands.
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