Category: Climate
Barcelona: Last stop before Copenhagen
Ed note: This post is from Abhishek Nayak, who is part of the Indian Youth Delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Abishek recently deferred a semester to work as a researcher and analyst at the India office of New Energy Finance, world’s leading provider of information and analysis in clean technology and carbon markets. He was also part of the founding team of Dhanax ‘s business to introduce retail investment in microcredit. He was a speaker at the FORTUNE Global Forum, 2007 and a student delegate to the 39th St Gallen symposium. Read more
Don’t tell George Will or Dubner or Levitt
In a Washington Post column in February George Will attacked the commonly held scientific consensus on global warming and argued that recent trends actually show that global cooling is occurring. His argument was swiftly refuted by the very research organization, the University of Illinois Arctic Climate Research Center, from which he drew his data. Nevertheless, he Read more
Tim Wirth on taking action on climate change during a recession
UN Foundation chief Tim Wirth cuts a video for the UK foreign office 100 Voices in a 100 days campaign.
Video: Seal the Deal with Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle, Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, and the President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed ask nations to “Seal the Deal” in Copenhagen this December.
Looking for an ambitious interim agreement at Copenhagen
In an interview with the Financial Times yesterday, the UN’s top climate change negotiator Yvo de Boer dampened expectations that a comprehensive climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocols will be concluded by the Copenhagen summit in December.
What the future might look like
In a very clever publicity stunt, ministers from the Maldives held a cabinet meeting yesterday at a table bolted to the floor of the Indian Ocean. The agenda?…signing a document calling on all nations to reduce carbon emissions.
Promise of Copenhagen
UN Dispatch is joining thousands of blogs across the world for the 2009 Blog Action Day on climate change. I have one simple point to make:
Getting into the spirit of blog action day
Tomorrow, UN Dispatch will be one of nearly 7,000 blogs in 135 countries that will send up a post on climate change. The event is being organized by the same folks who brought you the 2007 Blog Action Day on Environment and the 2008 Blog Action Day on Poverty. The idea is that no matter what kind of content a blog covers, you should take time out of your regular blogging schedule to educate and inform readers about a globally critical topic. This year climate change is the obvious choice as the world heads to the COP 15 summit in Copenhagen. UN Dispatch w Read more
The Other Nuclear Option
My old boss Michael Tomasky wrote an interesting piece in The Guardian arguing that the contentious U.S. debate over health care reform augurs poorly for the prospects of a climate change deal making its way through congress anytime soon.
-
Iran; Syria; Internet Governance; Libya; and more
UN atomic watchdog chief Yukiya Amano and top aides will travelto Tehran on Sunday for talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, a few days before Iran and world powers meet in Baghdad to discuss the broader nuclear dispute. News of the rare visit came as Western diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran were making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about Iran’s atomic activity.
-
Sudan/South Sudan; State of the World Economy debate; International Day against Homophobia; and more
The U.N. Security Council has called on Sudan and South Sudan to reach an agreement on the status of the disputed, oil-rich Abyei border region and extended the U.N. security force’s mission there by six months. The council passed a resolution Thursday calling the situation a serious security threat and demanding the creation of a jointly administered Abyei police force.
-
The top United Nations refugee official today voiced his alarm at new inflows of refugees into Rwanda and Uganda, fleeing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 8,200 refugees have crossed from DRC into Rwanda since 27 April, according to staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These are in addition to the 55,000 Congolese refugees that Rwanda is already hosting.
-
Syria: U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan is urging Syria’s government to accept U.N. conditions for expanding the distribution of humanitarian aid to roughly 1 million Syrians in need of assistance, the United Nations said today. Meanwhile, three vehicles belonging to … Read more
-
Sustainable Future Symposium; ICT for Development; IAEA/Iran; Global Financial Transaction Tax; and more
Partnerships and development cooperation among countries will play a key role in accelerating sustainable development, the Secretary-General of the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), Sha Zukang said today, stressing that assistance will need to focus on helping developing countries find longer-term solutions to eradicate poverty and transition into a green economy.The two-day Australia High-Level Symposium, “Shaping a Sustainable Future – Partners in Development Cooperation,” which began today, seeks to facilitate an informal dialogue on development cooperation among high-level policymakers, multilateral and civil society organizations, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.
-
DR Congo; South Sudan; UNHCR and OIC; and more
Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, today voiced concern over the human rights situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has experienced a recent upsurge in violence. Mr. Šimonovic said he was “appalled” by the heightened levels of recent violence triggered by defections in the Congolese armed forces, including former members of certain militia groups, and welcomed joint efforts between the peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), humanitarian actors and the authorities to protect civilians and respond to human rights violations.
-
Asia-Pacific Human Development Report; Syria; Horn of Africa; UNRWA
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region must find ways to continue to grow economically and lift millions out of poverty while also responding to climate change and environmental concerns, according to UN report released today, which stresses that new methods of production are needed to meet this goal.UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012 argues that policies and actions in the region will have a global impact as it is home to more than half of the world’s population and half of the planet’s megacities.
-
SG on Rio/Post-2015 Development; Syria; Middle East; Global Fund; and more
Appealing for flexibility in reaching agreement on a final outcome document, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today, emphasized the need for Member States to agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the Rio+20 conference while also announcing the appointment of three co-chairs to his High-Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Planning. We should agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals that build on the Millennium Development Goals … find better ways to measure progress that goes beyond Gross Domestic Product …and advance action to improve people’s lives through decent work, social protection and the empowerment of women and young people,” the UN chief said in his address to the UN General Assembly.
-
Syria; Guinea-Bissau; UNAIDS; Afghanistan; and more
Amid concerns from the international community over the prospects of a “full civil war” in Syria, the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, said today that the ongoing levels of violence and human rights abuses in the Middle Eastern country are unacceptable and the UN observer mission is possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize it.
-
Peacebuilding; South Sudan; Indigenous Issues; Rwanda
The United Nations is determined to do everything possible to assist societies torn by war from sliding back into conflict, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an audience in the United States capital today, adding that while there have been setbacks, peacebuilding remains a crucial element of the world body’s efforts.In a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D. C., Mr. Ban highlighted the work of the UN’s 16 peacekeeping operations and 15 political missions in the area of peacebuilding – a core mandate of the Organization.
