A January supplement to Nature Journal celebrates the International Year of Planet Earth and explores recent developments and future directions in the Earth sciences.
The Natural World Museum (NWM) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have revealed plans to bring their innovative and highly celebrated art exhibit, “Melting Ice/A Hot Topic: Envisioning Change,” to the Principality of Monaco in for the Tenth Special Session of UNEP's Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum on Globalization and Environment: Financing the Climate Challenge. 
Coral reef experts and supporters launched the International Year of the Reef 2008 in Washington, DC, US, with a resounding call for greater efforts to combat climate change to protect the world's biologically complex ocean ecosystem. 
In his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Intergovernmenal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said “if action to tackle the threat of climate change emerges soon, driven by knowledge of where we are heading, as provided by the findings of the IPCC, there would be reason for optimism that other serious challenges facing the world may also evoke similar responses based on rational assessments of problems and knowledge driven solutions.” 
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. 
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Climate-L.org is a knowledge management project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), which is fully responsible for the content posted on Climate-L.org. Information on United Nations activities is provided in cooperation with the UN system agencies, funds and programmes through the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) Secretariat and the UN Communications Group (UNCG) Task Force on Climate Change.
