18 March 2009: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published its annual Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2008. The WMO Statement contains information for 2008 on global temperature, regional temperature anomalies, global precipitation, droughts, flooding and storms, La Niña, tropical cyclones, Antarctic ozone hole and Arctic sea ice extent, as well as an article on benefits for climate monitoring and assessment of data rescue activities.
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17 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released two documents on the Fulfilment of the Bali Action Plan and components of the agreed outcome (FCCC/AWGLCA /2009/ 4 (Part I and II)) prepared by the Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) in response to a request from the AWG-LCA at its fourth session. The documents are aimed at focusing the negotiating process on the fulfilment of decision 1/CP.13 (the Bali Action Plan) and on the components of the agreed outcome to be adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its 15th session, by describing areas of convergence in the ideas and proposals of parties, exploring options for dealing with areas of divergence, and identifying gaps that might need to be filled by building upon the ideas and proposals of parties.
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17 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released a note by the Chair of the fourth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA4), which was held in Poznan, Poland, from 1-10 December 2008.
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17 March 2009: Speaking at “Carbon Market Insights 2009,” which is taking place from 17-19 March 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, noted that, although carbon prices are projected to decrease in 2009 due to the financial crisis, the carbon market has not collapsed. He added that its future depends on “the level of ambition of industrialized countries.” Recognizing that the Poznan Climate Change Conference of December 2008 had not been marked by any major political outcomes, he noted that it made progress in a number of specific areas of work, including the operationalization of the Adaptation Fund, the streamlining and speeding up of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the full endorsement of an intensified negotiating schedule for 2009.
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March 2009: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with financing from the Government of the Netherlands, has published a Green Investment Scheme (GIS) Manual and Model Agreement.
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16 March 2009: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched the State of the World's Forests 2009. The report was released on the first day of the 19th session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO), which is taking place from 16-20 March 2009, in Rome, Italy. The report notes that the economic crisis and climate change raise the profile of forest management on the global agenda, as demand for products and environmental services is expected to increase in the coming decades.
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16 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released an information document for participants attending the upcoming seventh session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP7) and the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA5), which will be held from 29 March-8 April 2009, in Bonn, Germany.
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13 March 2009: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held an international experts meeting on “Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development: scientific, social, cultural and educational challenges,” which convened from 3-6 March 2009, in Monaco. The meeting brought together experts in the social and natural sciences, ethics, education and international affairs who sought the local expertise of indigenous peoples in drafting a set of 66 recommendations for follow-up action.
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13 March 2009: On the occasion of the 31st annual Lions Day at the UN, celebrated in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon explained that he will attend the G20 Summit in April in London, UK, where he would remind leaders of the developed world of the need to fulfill their promises to the most vulnerable people and for their stimulus packages to be “green” in order to help combat climate change by including investments in clean energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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11 March 2009: In a speech titled “Navigating the Shifting Sands of Globalization,” delivered at a conference convened jointly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro underlined the need to acknowledge the gravity of the current challenges facing Africa, including climate change and the food and energy crises.
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