4 December 2008: At a side event to the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, taking place in Poznan, Poland, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Risø Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development (URC) held a side event on “Perspectives on Future Directions and Capacity Development Needs.” The event was the occasion for the launch of a URC publication, “A Reformed CDM –including new Mechanisms for Sustainable Development,” which explores how to reform the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in a post-2012 climate regime.
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5 December 2008: The UN Environment Programme –
World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) has produced the Carbon and Biodiversity Demonstration Atlas, which highlights areas
where high carbon content and high biodiversity overlap, illustrating that
reducing emissions from deforestation can combat climate change and
biodiversity loss.
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5 December 2008: The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) launched a Strategic Framework for Forests and Climate Change during a side event held during the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, taking place in Poznan, Poland.
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4 December 2008: In a news conference held at UN Headquarters in New York US, Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, stated that 2009 will be a critical year for action on climate change. Also addressing the press conference, Janos Pasztor, Director of the UN Secretary-General's Climate Change Support Team, stressed that the Poznan meeting should lay out a “shared vision” that addresses what countries are willing to undertake in terms of long-term cooperation on climate change.
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December 2008: The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) has released the report of the 16th session of its Steering Committee (SC), which convened in Geneva, Switzerland, from 14-17 October 2008, at World Meteorological Organization (WMO) headquarters.
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December
2008: The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is
looking for an institution to host the secretariat of its recently approved
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Challenge Programme (CCCP). The
CCCP is a collaborative endeavor between CGIAR and partners, and the Earth
System Science Partnership (ESSP). It is aimed at overcoming the additional
threats posed by a changing climate to achieving food security, enhancing
livelihoods and improving environmental management in the developing world.
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4 December 2008: The International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, attended by 92 countries, expressed its “deep concern that the international community is now challenged by the severe impact on development of multiple, interrelated global crises and challenges,” highlighting increased food insecurity, volatile energy and commodity prices, climate change and a global financial crisis.
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4 December 2008: In a message delivered at the High-level Conference on the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), organized by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underlined the key role played by the Organization in terms of emergency assistance. He noted the importance of humanitarian disaster response for development, and stressed that the financial crisis, climate change and population growth are likely to increase demands for relief aid in the future.
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4 December 2008: The 10th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans convened from 25-27 November 2008, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and addressed issues related to climate change and the Regional Seas Programmes, and adaptation to climate change vulnerability and sea-level rise.
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4 December 2008: Farmers and forest users should become more strongly involved in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to unlock the potential of agriculture and forestry for climate change mitigation, said Alexander Müller, Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in Rome, Italy.
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