Energy

IUCN Releases Reports on Sustainable Bioenergy Production and Linkages between Energy, Ecosystems and Livelihoods in the Face of Climate Change Impacts [viewed]

January 2009: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published two reports on sustainable bioenergy production and on linkages between energy, ecosystems and livelihoods.

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World Bank Releases Technical Report on Development and Climate Change [viewed]

World Bank Releases Technical Report on Development and Climate Change

28 January 2009: The World Bank has released an extensive technical report that serves as a background document for its strategic framework for climate change approved in 2008, titled “Development and Climate Change: A Strategic Framework for the World Bank Group.”

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IDB Supports Renewable Energy Matrix in Peru [viewed]

IDB supports creation of new sustainable energy matrix in Peru

28 January 2009: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will provide financial and technical support to the Government of Peru to support an integrated approach to developing conventional and renewable energy sources in order to contribute to climate change mitigation. A new energy matrix is the centerpiece of a package of measures Peru has agreed to carry out under a US$150 million programmatic policy-based loan approved by the IDB Board of Executive Directors on 28 January 2009.

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International Renewable Energy Agency Established [viewed]

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

27 January 2009: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) held its founding conference in Bonn, Germany, on 26 January 2009, bringing together representatives from over 100 governments. IRENA was set up to promote renewable energy worldwide and help create conditions for renewable energy development.

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UNIDO and EurAsEC to Cooperate on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment [viewed]

UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

23 January 2009: Kandeh Yumkella, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director-General, and Tair Mansurov, Secretary-General of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the two organizations, at UNIDO headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The MoC provides new cooperation prospects between UNIDO and EurAsEC countries in areas such as: energy and climate change; the environment, including water management; agro-industries; trade capacity building and private sector development.

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IFAD Discusses Opportunities and Risks of Biotechnologies [viewed]

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

21 January 2009: Ides Willebois, on behalf of Leonard Båge, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), delivered a statement to the German Bundestag outlining IFAD's perspective on the risks and opportunities of agro-biotechnology and other agricultural technologies.

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Qatar Joins World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership [viewed]

Qatar Joins World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership

25 January 2009: The World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership (GGFR) welcomed Qatar as the first Gulf State to join the global effort to reduce the flaring of gas associated to oil production.

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UN-ESCWA to Organize Meeting on Promotion of Renewable Energy Applications [viewed]

UN-ESCWA to Organize Meeting on Promotion of Renewable Energy Applications. Picture credit: Ahmad S. Qader

January 2009: The UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (UN-ESCWA) is organizing an Expert Group Meeting on “Best Practices and Measures for Promoting Renewable Energy Applications in ESCWA Region,” scheduled to take place from 3-4 February 2009, in Beirut, Lebanon. Back to back with the meeting, the UN-ESCWA Committee on Energy will convene its seventh session from 5-6 February.

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World Bank Approves Energy Efficiency Project in Honduras [viewed]

World Bank

22 January 2009: The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a US$30 million interest-free loan to strengthen the energy sector in Honduras. The project's three components are: building the national electric power company's (Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (ENEE)) management and commercial capacity; renewing and rehabilitating distribution equipment, including the removal of polluted transformers; and institutional strengthening and corporate governance.

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UNDESA to Release WESS 2009 on Climate Change and Development [viewed]

January 2009: The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) will launch the World Economic and Social Survey 2009-Climate Change and Development (WESS 2009) around mid-2009, to be available to the UNFCCC process, in particular, the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

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