25 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released three reports related to technology transfer under the Convention. The three notes by the Chair of the Expert Group on Technology Transfer contain advance reports on: the long-term perspective to facilitate the development, deployment, diffusion and transfer of technologies; financing options; and performance indicators.
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24 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released a compilation document containing the submissions by parties on “Ideas and proposals on the elements contained in paragraph 1 of the Bali Action Plan” (FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/MISC.1/Add.2). This document is an addendum to previous submissions from parties contained in documents FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/MISC.1/ Add.1 and FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/MISC.1, and contains two further submissions from Australia on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries, and from the Philippines on Proposed Mitigation Actions.
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March 2009: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will hold its 63rd session from 30 March-1 April 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland, and is scheduled to address economic development in the region, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
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March 2009: The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released “The Financial and Economic Crisis: A Decent Work Response,” which examines current rescue efforts in 32 countries, including all members of the G20, and notes that demographic projections suggest that nearly 90 million net new jobs would be needed over 2009-2010 to absorb new entrants in the labor market and avoid a prolonged jobs gap. The study calls for enhanced cooperation among key international organizations and a reprioritization between these goals, to, inter alia: pave the way for a green economy; and enhance the Green Jobs agenda, considering that green technologies tend to be more job-rich than their carbon-intensive counterparts.
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March 2009: The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), an informal process of dialogue and cooperation bringing together the 27 EU member States and the European Commission with 16 Asian countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat, is organizing the First ASEM Ministerial Conference on Energy Security, to be held from 17-18 June 2009, in Brussels, Belgium.
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19 March 2009: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) President has transmitted the recommendations of the Commission of Experts of the President of the UNGA on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System to UN member States. The recommendations will be addressed in an interactive thematic dialogue on “The World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development,” which will convene from 25-27 March 2009, at UN Headquarters in New York, US.
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18 March 2009: Thirty countries met in Paris, France, to discuss the fifth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-5), with several calling for a substantial increase in the replenishment of the GEF. The First Meeting of Contributing Participants towards GEF-5 gathered prospective donors from developed and developing countries from 17-18 March 2009, to consider, inter alia, innovative sources of funding, including the possibility of obtaining carbon credits for GEF projects that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
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23 March 2009: The International Policy Dialogue on “Financing the Climate Agenda: The Development Perspective” took place in Berlin, Germany, from 19-20 March 2009. The event was convened by the Development Policy Forum, InWEnt, Germany, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in cooperation with the UN Foundation and with the support of the KfW Banking Group.
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19 March 2009: Speaking at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties’ (OPEC) Fourth International Seminar on Petroleum, organized around the theme “Petroleum: Future Stability and Sustainability,” which took place on 18-19 March 2009, in Vienna, Austria, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer underscored the importance of introducing climate-friendly technologies despite the fact that oil will remain a dominant source of energy in the near future.
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17 March 2009: UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang addressed several audiences at the fifth World Water Forum, which met from 16-22 March 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey. During the opening ceremony, he suggested “four strategic actions on bridging divides for water,” including engaging with other policy communities on the nexus between water challenges and climate change, accelerating progress in climate change adaptation, and improving human and institutional capacity backed by adequate financial resources.
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19 March 2009: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released “Global Green New Deal: Policy Brief,” which aims to inform the debate at the upcoming G20 meeting to be held in London, UK, in early April 2009.
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18 March 2009: Speaking at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) International Seminar, which took place in Vienna, Austria, from 18-19 March 2009, under the theme “Petroleum: Future Stability and Sustainability,” Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA), outlined the IEA’s view on world energy markets, underscoring the present and future need for continuous and substantial investments with respect to both the traditional supply side and clean energy technologies.
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18 March 2009: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published its annual Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2008. The WMO Statement contains information for 2008 on global temperature, regional temperature anomalies, global precipitation, droughts, flooding and storms, La Niña, tropical cyclones, Antarctic ozone hole and Arctic sea ice extent, as well as an article on benefits for climate monitoring and assessment of data rescue activities.
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17 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released two documents on the Fulfilment of the Bali Action Plan and components of the agreed outcome (FCCC/AWGLCA /2009/ 4 (Part I and II)) prepared by the Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) in response to a request from the AWG-LCA at its fourth session. The documents are aimed at focusing the negotiating process on the fulfilment of decision 1/CP.13 (the Bali Action Plan) and on the components of the agreed outcome to be adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its 15th session, by describing areas of convergence in the ideas and proposals of parties, exploring options for dealing with areas of divergence, and identifying gaps that might need to be filled by building upon the ideas and proposals of parties.
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17 March 2009: Speaking at “Carbon Market Insights 2009,” which is taking place from 17-19 March 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, noted that, although carbon prices are projected to decrease in 2009 due to the financial crisis, the carbon market has not collapsed. He added that its future depends on “the level of ambition of industrialized countries.” Recognizing that the Poznan Climate Change Conference of December 2008 had not been marked by any major political outcomes, he noted that it made progress in a number of specific areas of work, including the operationalization of the Adaptation Fund, the streamlining and speeding up of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the full endorsement of an intensified negotiating schedule for 2009.
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16 March 2009: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched the State of the World’s Forests 2009. The report was released on the first day of the 19th session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO), which is taking place from 16-20 March 2009, in Rome, Italy. The report notes that the economic crisis and climate change raise the profile of forest management on the global agenda, as demand for products and environmental services is expected to increase in the coming decades.
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13 March 2009: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held an international experts meeting on “Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development: scientific, social, cultural and educational challenges,” which convened from 3-6 March 2009, in Monaco. The meeting brought together experts in the social and natural sciences, ethics, education and international affairs who sought the local expertise of indigenous peoples in drafting a set of 66 recommendations for follow-up action.
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13 March 2009: On the occasion of the 31st annual Lions Day at the UN, celebrated in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon explained that he will attend the G20 Summit in April in London, UK, where he would remind leaders of the developed world of the need to fulfill their promises to the most vulnerable people and for their stimulus packages to be “green” in order to help combat climate change by including investments in clean energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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10 March 2009: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has launched a report titled “Climate Change and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review.” The report was released during a seminar on “Climate Change: The Challenges for Growth in Chile and Latin America,” which took place on 11 March 2009, in Santiago, Chile. The report concludes that Latin America and the Caribbean may suffer more impacts of climate change than other regions because of the number of island States present in the region, low coastal areas and prevalence of hurricanes. Considering greenhouse gas emissions in the region are relatively low (11.7% of global emissions in 2000) the authors recommend authorities to focus on adaptation.
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9 March 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the provisional annotated agendas for the 30th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) (FCCC/SBSTA/2009/1) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) (FCCC/SBI/2009/1), which will convene from 1-12 June 2009, in Bonn, Germany.
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6 March 2009: Speaking at the noon press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, US, Yvo de Boer reported on his recent meetings with high-level US officials in Washington, DC, US. The Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC said he had been “very encouraged” by his meetings with representatives of both Houses of Congress on the prospects for the passage of climate change legislation, as well as with senior Cabinet members. He pointed to Congress’ support to set up a US cap-and-trade scheme and to provide financial support to developing countries to make the transition to a low-carbon pathway.
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February 2009: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is financing the construction of the Totoral Wind Farm, Chile’s first-ever project-financed wind farm. In related news, the World Bank’s Vice President for Europe and Central Asia approved a grant of US$1.5 million for the Armenia Geothermal Energy Development project funded under the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) Geothermal Energy Development Program (GeoFund).
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March 2009: At a special meeting held in Bonn, Germany, from 24-26 February, the Expert Group on Technology Transfer (EGTT) discussed and finalized three advanced reports on: performance indicators for technology development and transfer; identification and analysis of existing and new financing resources and relevant vehicles for the development and transfer of technologies; and long-term strategy to support the development and transfer of technologies.
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3 March 2009: The first Environment Council of the EU under the Czech Presidency took place on 2 March 2009, in Brussels, Belgium. The Council adopted conclusions further developing the EU position on a comprehensive post-2012 climate change agreement, which is due to be concluded at the UN climate change conference in December in Copenhagen.
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27 February 2009: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced a contest to finance proposals for promoting energy efficiency and access to renewable energy in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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27 February 2009: Carbon Finance for Agriculture, Silviculture, Conservation and Action against Deforestation (CASCADe), which is coordinated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNEP Risø Centre in partnership with the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development and the French National Forestry Office, recently selected four projects to move forward, pending formal approval of their Project Idea Notes.
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March 2009: The World Bank, in collaboration with the French Agency for Development, the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Initiative and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, is organizing the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Carbon Forum, scheduled to convene from 6-7 May 2009, in Cairo, Egypt.
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March 2009: The Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) will convene for its fifth meeting from 24-27 March 2009, in Bonn, Germany.
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March 2009: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), together with the European Water Partnership, the Dutch Ministry for Transport and Public Works, the World Water Council and the Cooperative Programme on Water and Climate, is organizing a Conference on Climate Change Adaptation and Water, which will take place from 12-13 March 2009, in Brussels, Belgium.
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27 February 2009: The annual Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Partnership Forum, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February 2009, offered the ECA and its development partners the opportunity to exchange views and provide an update on ongoing initiatives, as well as to showcase new ones. This year’s discussion was dominated by the African climate change initiative, a programme initiated in 2006 and led by the Climate Information for Development in Africa (ClimDev Africa) programme – a joint partnership between the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the ECA.
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26 February 2009: In a lecture titled “Dealing with a Changing World - African Solutions to Africa’s Challenges,” delivered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underlined that Africa will be particularly affected by climate change. He also recalled that he had declared 2009 the year of climate change, both because of the Copenhagen Conference in December and because of the need for a global green new deal to address the economic crisis.
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25 February 2009: During his meeting with South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, in Pretoria, South Africa, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon indicated that his trip to Africa was aimed at reaching out to countries that have a potential leadership role in confronting global challenges, including climate change.
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23 February 2009: In a speech delivered at the “Global Korea 2009 - Korea in a Reshaping World” conference, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka stressed the importance of investment for energy supply and clean energy technologies, and international cooperation for energy efficiency and clean energy technology diffusion.
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23 February 2009: Delegates to the 25th Session of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC25/GMEF), which met from 16-20 February 2009, in Nairobi, Kenya, took 17 decisions including on international environmental governance, a significantly increased UNEP budget, support to Africa on climate change, and mercury. In the decision on support to Africa, the GC requests the UNEP Executive Director to work with the UN Economic Commission for Africa to provide technical support to the African Climate Policy Centre once established, and to promote the mainstreaming of climate change into social and economic development processes. On coordination within the UN, the GC welcomes the Executive Director’s efforts as chair of the UN Environment Management Group, including in promoting the UN’s commitment in moving towards climate neutrality. In addition, the GC approved funding to support climate change activities.
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February 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the provisional annotated agenda for the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA5), which will take place from 29 March-8 April 2009, in Bonn, Germany (FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/1).
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