31 May 2012: At the daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it was announced that he has made three high-level appointments, for the positions of Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
24 May 2012: The Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products (ACPWP) of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) welcomed the proposed new FAO strategic objectives in which forestry and forest-based products play a key role.
18 May 2012: The South American Union's (UNASUR) South American Energy Council decided to form an ad hoc specialized group of policy and legal experts to draft the substantive content of a South American Energy Treaty and report back to the next Council session. 
1 June 2012: The 13th meeting of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (Consultative Process, or ICP 13) brought together representatives from governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and academic institutions to examine this year's topic, marine renewable energies (MREs).
31 May 2012: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched its flagship publication, "The State of the World's Refugees," which provides a global update on the status of refugees since 2006. The report examines the international response to displacement resulting from climate change and natural disasters, highlighting a normative gap in the protection of people displaced across borders owing to these phenomena, which will need to be address by the international community.
May 2012: The Global Water Partnership (GWP) Technical Committee published a background paper building on concepts from integrated water resources management (IWRM) to develop a model for urban and peri-urban environments – integrated urban water management (IUWM). Emphasizing rapid urban growth, competition between agriculture and industrial uses of water, and increased disaster risk due to climate change, the Paper by Akiça Bahri identifies IUWM as a means of managing these challenges.
The first meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 23-25 August 2012. The meeting had initially expected to take place on 31 May 2012, and was postponed pending finalization of the process for nominations from countries to the membership of the Board. At its first meeting, the Board is to start working on the Board's organization and operations, as well as the Fund's first workplan. At its first meeting, the Board also is expected to consider the six offers from countries to host the Fund, from Germany, Mexico, Namibia, Poland, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland.
13 May 2012: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the views of the Adaptation Fund Board on the report of the review of the interim arrangements of the Adaptation Fund (FCCC/SBI/2012/INF.2).
15 May 2012: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released the first Africa Human Development Report (HDR), titled "Towards a Food Secure Future." The report finds that African governments' bias toward investing in towns rather than rural areas, and men rather than women, are the key factors explaining Africa's food insecurity.
15 May 2012: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released six submissions from Parties containing their views on a workplan for the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (FCCC/ADP/2012/MISC.3/Add.1).
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
