21 July 2008: The UN General Assembly
reconvened, on Monday, 21 July, to conclude the plenary meeting on the global
food and energy crisis that began on 18 July 2008. A number of countries,
including Cape Verde and Syria, stressed the interlinkages between the food,
energy and climate challenges.
21
July 2008: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has announced the
development of a new database on the world's soils. This database seeks to
improve knowledge of current and future land productivity, as well as the
carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential of the world's soils. Using
the database, the FAO has also produced a global Carbon Gap Map, which allows
for the identification of areas where soil carbon storage is greatest and the
physical potential for billions of tons of additional carbon to be sequestrated
in degraded soils.
18 July 2008: Addressing the UN General Assembly during its 112th plenary meeting, held on the global food and energy crisis, Srgjan Kerim, President of
the General Assembly, and UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon urged coordinated action to tackle the three challenges of climate
change, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the food and oil crises.
18 July 2008: General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim has
briefed Viet Nam's Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem on the priority issues of
the Assembly's current session, addressing in particular climate change, and
the global food and energy crises.
17 July 2008: Ministers at the Sixth UK-Caribbean Forum, which took place in London, UK, from 14-16 July 2008, highlighted the threat posed by climate change to security and prosperity, and agreed to continue to raise awareness of the threats of climate change and to work towards a rapid transition to a low carbon economy.
17 July 2008: The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) concluded
its three-day Humanitarian Affairs Segment by convening a panel discussion on “Humanitarian
challenges related to global food aid, including enhancing international
efforts and cooperation in this field,” chaired by
Council Vice-President Park In-kook (Republic of Korea) and moderated by John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
16 July 2008: A new report from the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), entitled “Economic Assessment of
Biofuel Support Policies,” concludes that “government support of biofuel
production in OECD countries is costly, has a limited impact on reducing
greenhouse gases and improving energy security, and has a significant impact on
world crop prices.”
16
July 2008: Eric Laroche, the Assistant Director-General of the World Health
Organization (WHO), was the Special Guest for the Daily Noon Briefing at UN
Headquarters in NY, on 16 July 2008. Laroche spoke on the theme “UN Health
Action in Crises – Treating Climate Change, Food Crisis and Other Global Health
Challenges.”
11
July 2008: In a comment on the G8 leaders' statement on global food security,
Joachim von Braun, Director General of the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI), welcomed the proposed actions regarding global markets and
increasing food production, while criticizing the lack of actions on social
protection and nutrition for the poorest.
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
|
| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
