16 September 2008: Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a former
foreign minister of Nicaragua and the new President of the UN General Assembly
(UNGA), opened its 63rd session with a call to democratize the UN in order to
deal more effectively with the world's most pressing problems, including the
impact of climate change, widespread hunger and poverty, and unequal access to
water.
15 September 2008: Leaders of the Rome-based UN agencies,
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), World Food Programme
(WFP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), together with
the World Bank, presented a common statement to the European Parliament's
Development Committee, urging it to take the lead in providing assistance to
help farmers cope with surging food and commodity prices.
16 September 2008: The European Parliament's Development Committee has adopted a report arguing that the budget proposed by the European Commission to help developing countries fight climate change is not enough, and suggesting that the Global Climate Change Alliance should receive at least 25% of the revenue of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
September 2008: The International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) has released an advance copy of its report entitled ‘Global
Food Crises: Monitoring and Assessing Impact to Inform Policy Responses.'
11 September 2008: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has
released the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report 2008, which finds that
the strong and sustained progress in reducing extreme poverty achieved by the
world is being undercut by higher prices, particularly of food and oil, and the
global economic slowdown.
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.”
10 September 2008: Presenting his report on the status of
the Community Work Programme, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, President of the Economic
Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, highlighted the economic
impacts of the increase of food and commodity prices in West African States.
10 September 2008: In a speech at Fairleigh Dickinson University, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki moon outlined the challenges of the world today, including climate change, the food and energy crises, and the fear of a global financial crisis.
8 September 2008: In his address to the “Asia-Pacific Security Challenges: Implications for Europe and the Atlantic Alliance” Conference, held in Prague, Czech Republic, from 7-9 September 2008, Nobuo Tanaka, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director, focused on the energy implications of the rise of Asian economies and the need for a global energy revolution.
September 2008: Global consultations for the development of
a “Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change for the World Bank
Group” continue receiving comments online from civil society, until 15
September 2008.
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