UN General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim has written to permanent representatives and observers to the UN with information on a thematic debate entitled “Addressing Climate Change: the United Nations and the World at Work.” In a letter dated 15 January 2008, President Kerim indicated that the General Assembly event would take place on 11 and 12 February 2008, at UN Headquarters in New York.
Lennart Båge, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), announced that he had signed a US$ 35 million loan in Viet Nam to expand market access and develop businesses for small farmers in Mekong Delta.
In an address to the Information Meeting of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Executive Board, Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, said UNESCO will extend current research efforts – such as those undertaken by the World Climate Research Programme jointly sponsored by WMO, UNESCO/IOC and ICSU – to include adaptation research.
Maciej Nowicki, Minister of Environment of Poland, and Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, signed the Host Country Agreement between the Government of Poland and the Secretariat concerning the United Nations Climate Change Conference - Poznan, 2008.
Speaking during a recent press briefing, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Kemal Dervis identified climate change as one of three UNDP priorities for the current year.
In his Singapore Environment Lecture 2008, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Ahmed Djoghlaf, stressed that “climate change is real, and represents a global challenge not only for humankind, but for every life on Earth.” Addressing the relationship between climate change and security, Executive Secretary Djoghlaf said “the loss of biodiversity is also another major threat to peace and security as it undermines the capacity of the ecosystems to continue providing their goods and services and sustaining life on Earth.
The Chinese Government and the World Bank have announced the preparation of a new Energy Efficiency Financing Project, using a proposed new US$ 200 million World Bank loan and US$ 13 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is developing a new vision for using dozens of satellites to monitor climate change and weather.
The World Bank approved IDA financing totaling US$ 247 million to help Bangladesh recover from the dual shocks of the August flooding and November cyclone, which caused significant loss of life and enormous social, human, and economic costs.
The third meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action, a body established at COP 13 in Bali, will take place Accra, Ghana, from 21-27 August 2008. The sixth session of the AWG on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Protocol will also take place at the same time.
