12 February 2009: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is preparing for its 32rd Governing Council meeting, to be held from 18-19 February 2009, in Rome, Italy. The meeting will feature three roundtables on challenges for smallholder farmers focusing on: unpredictable markets and high price volatility; the risks and opportunities arising out of the growing demand for land; and research and innovation needs in the context of a rapidly changing climate.
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11 February 2009: The UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) has added new participants, including the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the FIFA 2010 World Cup, “Rally Norway,” the Norwegian Grand Prix and the Norwegian Golf Federation. These sporting events and organizations will work to neutralize their carbon footprint through greening of the events and offsetting of the remaining carbon emissions, including from travel.
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10 February 2009: In a press conference given at UN Headquarters in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon provided an overview of his recent travels. He recalled that in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum, he spoke on climate change and stressed the need for “global leadership of the highest order” to complete the negotiations in December in Copenhagen. He also mentioned that in Delhi, India, at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, he argued for “green growth” or a Green New Deal that stimulates economic growth and fights climate change by investing in renewable energy. He indicated that he would carry this theme forward at the upcoming G-20 summit meeting in London, UK, on 2 April.
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10 February 2009: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has launched Project Transitions, a multi-stakeholder, multi-output research programme, to determine effective policy responses to the issue of the useful life of energy infrastructure and its related greenhouse gas emissions through micro-scale analysis from an investor's perspective.
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10 February 2009: On 10 February 2009, during the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2009 (EUSEW 2009), which is taking place from 9-13 February 2009, approximately 400 city mayors signed the “Covenant of Mayors,” in which they committed to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by over 20% by 2020 through energy efficiency and renewable energy actions.
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February 2009: The Capacity Development Workshop on Improving Agricultural Productivity, Water Use Efficiency and Strengthening Rural Livelihoods, took place from 28-30 January 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand. The event was organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Division for Sustainable Development (DSD), in collaboration with the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and brought together representatives from governments, local authorities, UN Agencies and academia to share lessons learned and best practices in combating rural poverty.
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February 2009: The lead article of the latest issue of “IFPRI Forum,” a newsletter published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and its 2020 Vision Initiative, describes the looming global water crisis, outlines its causes and presents approaches towards more sustainable water management.
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10 February 2009: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has organized a tree planting ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya, on 14 February 2009.
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9 February 2009: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a research center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the Government of India's Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have initiated the establishment of a Platform for Translational Research on Transgenic Crops (PTTC). The Platform will combine the expertise of DBT and ICRISAT and build partnerships for agri-biotechnological research and development of products that meet the needs of agricultural growth and benefit poor farmers by improving their incomes.
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9 February 2009: The Youth Division at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) is organizing a series of events focusing on youth participation in social integration, the main theme of the 47th session of the Commission for Social Development, which is meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 4-13 February. One of the side events focused specifically on the role of youth in climate change adaptation and mitigation.
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