Biodiversity

Event: 69th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 69) [viewed]

The 69th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 69) will convene at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, 16 September 2014. The General Debate will open on Tuesday, 23 September 2014.  

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Event: 70th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 70) [viewed]

The 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 70) will convene at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, 15 September 2015. The General Debate will open on Tuesday, 22 September 2016.  

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Event: Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety COP-MOP 7 [viewed]

The seventh meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of the Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is scheduled for 29 September-3 October 2014. Among other issues, the meeting is expected to address: handling, transport, packaging and identification (HTPI) of living modified organisms (LMOs); risk assessment and risk management; and socio-economic considerations.  

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UNEP/GRID-Arendal Newsletter Reports on GEF-Funded “Blue Forests” Project [viewed]

January 2012: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP)/GRID-Arendal Marine Programme has released the January issue of its newsletter (Marine Newsletter #1), featuring articles on: the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded demonstration project on the incorporation of carbon and other ecosystem services values into financial markets; the release of the State of the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Environment Report; and the launch of the World Ocean Assessment website.

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TEEB Report Highlights the Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands [viewed]

1 February 13: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners have launched the report "The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Water and Wetlands." The report urges a major shift in attitudes towards wetlands, to recognize their value in delivering water, raw materials and food, as well as their role in maintaining people's livelihoods and the sustainability of the world's economies.

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CGIAR, Global Crop Diversity Trust Collaborate to Maintain Genebanks [viewed]

31 January 2013: An agreement between the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium will provide $109 million over five years to establish a new research programme to maintain the 706,000 samples of plant genetic resources held at 11 CGIAR research centers globally.

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CGIAR Partners Decode Chickpea Genome [viewed]

28 January 2013: In a breakthrough that may lead to new, improved varieties of chickpeas with drought tolerance and disease resistance, scientists from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) have decoded the genome sequences of 90 chickpea varieties from 10 countries.

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6th EU-Brazil Summit Reflects on Rio+20 and Doha [viewed]

24 January 2013: The 6th EU-Brazil Summit discussed a range of issues for cooperation between the EU and Brazil, including the outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) and the Doha Climate Change Conference, as well as renewal of the EU-Brazil strategic partnership.

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Event: 36th Session of IFAD's Governing Council [viewed]

The 36th Session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will focus on the theme "The power of partnerships in advancing smallholder agriculture in developing countries". Partnerships serve smallholder farmers in many ways from expanding their operations cost-effectively to providing access to knowledge, research and technology.  

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SPC Holds Cost-Benefit Analysis Workshop [viewed]

SPC29 January 2013: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) held a workshop at the Kiribati Institute of Technology to train government officers to use cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as a framework to improve decision making and project quality, in particular for projects affected by climate change.

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