A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental
Activities Addressing Global Climate Change Policy

29 September 2008: Nicholas Haysom, Director for Political

Affairs in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, and Robert Orr, one

of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s top aides, highlighted during a news

conference that the role of the UN and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in global

crises is increasingly recognized.

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26 September 2008: Speaking at the thirty-second meeting of

the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 (G-77), Baldwin Spencer,

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda and Chair

of the G-77, welcomed the Group’s continued efforts to strengthen its

solidarity and unity in advancing its development agenda. Referring to the

recent debates on climate change, he warned that the position of developed

countries with respect to development cooperation does not bode well, noting

that it will be “a tough battle.”

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26 September 2008: In his address to the thirty-second

meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, Kemal Derviş,

Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), outlined the development

challenges and opportunities created by the current global economic

environment, and the role of the UN and UNDP’s own support to programme

countries.

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26 September 2008: In preparation for the first meeting of

the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Biodiversity and Climate Change,

to be held from 17-21 November 2008, in London, UK, the Secretariat of the

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is launching an internet-based

discussion group at: http://www.cbd.int/climate/forums/public/.

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26 September 2008: Pascal Lamy, World Trade Organization

(WTO) Director-General, addressed the 2008 WTO Public Forum highlighting that

trade in “environmental goods and services, in particular in climate-friendly

technology, can make vital pollution prevention and reduction equipment more

accessible to countries in need; thereby easing the climate crisis.”

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24 September 2008: The Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) held its

third meeting from 15-18 September 2008, at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany. The

Board discussed several issues pending from its first and second meetings. Work

was concluded on draft Rules of Procedure of the AFB, draft Roles and

Responsibilities of the Board, and draft Strategic Priorities, Policies and

Guidelines.

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24 September 2008: Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru, and

Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan, President of Suriname, used their opening statements

at the sixty-third session of the UN

General Assembly (UNGA) to call for assistance in, respectively, adapting to

and mitigating climate change.

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23 September 2008: The meeting of the World Meteorological

Organization’s (WMO) Commission for Climatology Expert Team on Research Needs

for Intraseasonal, Seasonal and Interannual Prediction, including the

Application of these Predictions, took place from 23-26 September 2008, at US

National Weather Service headquarters in Maryland, US.

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24 September 2008: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has

announced the launch of the United Nations’ Reduced Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) Programme, which aims to combat

climate change through creating incentives to reverse deforestation trends.

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24 September 2008: The International Labor Organization

(ILO), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), International Trade Union Confederation

and the International Organization of Employers have released the first

comprehensive study on the emergence of a “green economy” and its impact on the

world of work.

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