August 2008: The Global Partnership Initiative for Plant
Breeding Capacity Building (GIPB), a platform and partnership of public,
private and civil society institutions hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the FAO Inter-Departmental Working
Group on Bioenergy, has called for expanded, up-to-date information on genetic
resources and breeding of selected underutilized species, together with
detailed analysis of their potential as bioenergy crops adaptable to sustainable
smallholder production systems.
read more »
13 August 2008: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has launched a new webpage on the
interrelationship between land and climate. The webpage highlights that soil
can make a difference in addressing climate change issues, and presents
information on land and climate change, land degradation and poverty, energy
security, food security, and UNCCD processes to address climate change and
soil.
read more »
12 August 2008: In a speech delivered during the opening of the Food and Agriculture Organization/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Symposium on Induced Mutations in Plants, Werner Burkart, IAEA
Deputy Director General, noted that in 2008, the international community became conscience of the links between climate change, the food and energy crises and hunger.
read more »
6 August 2008: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has invited submissions regarding experiences in the
development and application of tools relevant to the sustainable production and
use of biofuels, as well as relevant information from research on, and
monitoring of, the positive and negative impacts of the production and use of
biofuels on biodiversity and related socioeconomic aspects, including those
related to indigenous and local communities.
read more »
11 August 2008: The International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) are organizing
an International Symposium on Induced Mutations in Plants, from 12-15 August
2008, in Vienna, Austria. The event will bring together scientists to focus on
the latest innovations aimed at improving crop productivity in an effort to
solve the food and energy crises.
read more »
8 August 2008: On the eve of the International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which is celebrated on 9 August, Regina Laub, the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) focal point for Indigenous Peoples,
noted that climate change and limited land rights increasingly threaten
indigenous peoples’ livelihoods.
read more »
August 2008: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
(FAO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have announced a call for papers addressing
“Gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: differentiated
pathways out of poverty” to be presented at a global technical expert workshop
to be held in March-April 2009 (dates to be confirmed), in Rome, Italy. The
workshop comes as a follow up to recent international policy discussions on
rural employment, a central element in equitable growth and poverty reduction,
but which faces the challenges of the global food crisis and climate change.
read more »
6 August 2008: The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s
(UNCTAD) Trade and Development Board hearing with civil society will address
the global food crisis as a systemic failure in development strategy, including
its relationship with climate change.
read more »
4 August 2008: In an address to the Joint Session of the
Mexican Senate and Chamber of Deputies, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon,
noted their pivotal role in bridging the local and global, highlighting the
three inter-related challenges faced by the world today, namely, a climate
crisis, a food crisis, and an emerging development emergency.
read more »
3 August 2008: The fifteenth Summit meeting of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), held from 2-3 August 2008,
in Colombo, Sri Lanka, concluded with the adoption of the Colombo Declaration
and the Colombo Statement on Food Security. In the Declaration, entitled
“Partnership for Growth for Our People,” the Heads of State and Government
reiterate the need for increased regional cooperation in tackling climate change,
in particular for capacity building, the development of Clean Development
Mechanism projects, and awareness raising.
read more »
