21 July 2008: The Global Mechanism (GM) of the UN Convention
to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced that it has been invited by the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to join an advisory
group assisting with the development of a Carbon Fund/Facility.
21 July 2008: Fourteen
developing countries - Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Lao PDR, Liberia, Madagascar Mexico, Nepal,
Panama, and Vietnam - will be beneficiaries of funding from the Forest Carbon
Partnership Facility (FCPF), launched at the Bali climate negotiations. The
FCPF partners donor countries, the World Bank, and developing countries in an
effort to build capacity for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation.
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.
11 July 2008: In a speech delivered during the conference
The European
Union (EU) and its Overseas Entities: Strategies to Counter Climate Change and
Biodiversity Loss,” which was hosted on Reunion Island,
Mauritius, from 7-11 July 2008, under the auspices of the French Presidency of
the Council of the EU, Michel Jarraud,
Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), provided
an overview of the Organization's history and work in tackling climate change.
14 July 2008: On the occasion of the
Technical Workshop on Protected Areas in the Amazon, which took place from 14-16 July 2008 in Amacayacú National Park,
Colombia, the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Ahmed Djoghlaf, outlined the benefits of reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) initiatives.
10 July 2008: In the North-East Gallery of the UN Visitors'
Lobby, an exhibit entitled “The Amazon Forest & Climate Change” opened on
10 July 2008, and will be on display until 6 August 2008.
2 July 2008: On the occasion of the Fourth International
Conference on Sustainable Agriculture for Food, Energy and Industry, held from
2-5 July 2008, in Sapporo, Japan, the Convention on Biological Diversity's
(CBD) Executive Secretary, Ahmed Djoghlaf, highlighted that around 20% of
domestic animal breeds are at risk of extinction, with an average of one breed
lost each month.
8 July 2008: The Group
of Eight Industrialized Countries (G8) Hokkaido Toyako
Summit took place from 7-9 July 2008
in Japan. On 8 July, the G8 leaders agreed on a Document on Environment and
Climate Change. The leaders of the G8
agreed to share with parties to the UNFCCC the vision of a goal of achieving at
least 50% reduction of global emissions by 2050, recognizing that this global
challenge can only be met by the contributions from all major economies,
consistent with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities.
9 July 2008: The
Leaders Meeting of the Major Economies took place on 9 July 2008, in Hokkaido,
Japan, in conjunction with the G8 Summit. The leaders of Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom,
and the United States issued a Declaration, which had been agreed during a
previous meeting held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 21-22 June 2008.
1 July 2008: In his
address to the Annual Ministerial Review of the High-level Segment of the 2008
Substantive Session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ahmed
Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
stressed that the UN's priority challenges as identified by the UN
Secretary-General – natural disasters, climate change, the food crisis and the
surge in fuel prices – are deeply rooted in the unprecedented loss of
biodiversity.
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
