September 2008: The 2008 International Day for Disaster
Reduction, celebrated on 8 October, will focus on making hospitals and health
facilities safe from disaster. The Day will be part of the UN International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction's (UN/ISDR) new World Disaster Reduction
Campaign 2008-2009: Hospitals Safe from Disasters.
15 September 2008: Noting that media interest in climate
change issues has been fading since the release of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment Report in November 2008, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed the importance of cooperation among
all sectors of society to tackle this challenge.
10 September 2008: Presenting his latest report to the Human
Rights Council in Geneva, Olivier De Schutter, the Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Food, said rising food prices continue to jeopardize the right to
food, stressing that “any potential solution to the problem must be viewed
through the lens of human rights.”
2 September 2008: Reacting to Hurricane Gustav and recent
flooding in India, Achim Steiner, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive
Director and UN Under-Secretary-General, released a statement underscoring the
human and economic costs caused by weather events linked to climate change.
25 August 2008: Achim Steiner UN Under-Secretary General and
the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Executive Director, spoke on risk and
climate change at the International Disaster Risk Conference (IDRC), which
convened in Davos, Switzerland, from 25-29 August 2008.
August 2008: The nineteenth South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Meeting of Officials, which will be held from 4-12 September 2008, in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, will consider
a number of climate related matters, including the Action Plan for the
implementation of the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change
2006-2015. Participants are also scheduled to examine a Plan for Action on the
Pacific Year of Climate Change 2009.
August 2008: This UN International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UN/ISDR) publication emphasizes the special vulnerability of women
to disaster risk, as well as their role in preparedness and response efforts.
Through a series of good practices from various parts of the world, the report
shows the linkages among women's experiences with natural resource management,
climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR).
21 August 2008: The Supporting Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SEED) Initiative has announced the winners of its 2008 SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development. The SEED Initiative is a global network for action on sustainable development partnerships, founded by IUCN, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), to deliver progress toward the internationally-agreed goals in the UN's Millennium Declaration and the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.
22 August 2008: A report commissioned by the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and CARE International finds
that climate change greatly complicates, and could undermine, efforts to manage
the challenges presented by droughts, floods and cyclones. The study identifies
the most likely humanitarian implications of climate change for the next 20-30
year period.
9 August 2008: In an opinion piece, published in the Hindu,
Vinod Thomas, Director General of the World Bank's Independent Evaluation
Group, underscores the increased frequency of natural disasters, their effect
on development, and the need for policy makers to recognize this growing threat
on economies.
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