PALESTINIAN ECONOMY WINS BOOST FROM ONLINE PROGRAMME FOR CUSTOMS AUTHORITY – UN

International businesses based in the West Bank are set to benefit from a state of the art web-based system for tracking goods coming in and out of the area, launched today by Palestinian customs in partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The online system, known as ASYCUDA WORLD, will speed up transactions and lower costs for Palestinian exporters and importers, according to a news release issued by UNCTAD.

Palestinian customs clearance agents and private trading companies will be able to process customs declarations and related documents electronically from their own premises without having to visit customs offices.

UNCTAD said that the new software, the final stage in upgrading Palestinian customs' computerized system, is also expected to improve the customs authority's risk management and post-auditing processes, reduce fraud and smuggling, provide better data to inform public policy and increase customs and tax revenues.

The launch ceremony – sponsored by Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Authority Prime Minster and Minister of Finance – was held in Ramallah, and attended by representatives from the European Commission (EC) and UNCTAD, the main partners for the Palestinian customs modernization programme.
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UN SOUNDS ALARM ON THREAT TO PACIFIC NATIONS’ SECURITY POSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE

With rising sea levels threatening to inundate Pacific Island nations, United Nations officials have issued a call for urgent action to be taken to ensure that human security and development gains are not reversed.

"We recognize climate change to be a critical development challenge with enormous implications for the entire range of development concerns: poverty, livelihoods, food security, conflict and social cohesion, to name a few," Ajay Chhibber, Director of the Asia and the Pacific Regional Bureau of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said at the two-day 40th Pacific Leaders Forum in Cairns, Australia, which ends today.

Mr. Chhibber also warned that during the current financial turmoil, global warming could potentially reverse "hard-won development gains in the region, which could compromise our collective ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals [that seek to slash poverty, hunger and a host of other social ills by 2015] and plans for a prosperous, peaceful and secure region."

The Pacific region is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world, with natural hazards likely to worsen as the planet's temperature rises.

Some villagers in Kiribati have already been forced from their homes by rising sea levels, but officials have cautioned that relocation could spark conflict due to traditional land rights.

It is clear that climate change "adds to the scale and complexity of human movement and displacement in the region," said Richard Towle, the Regional Representative for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We need to act now if we are to find solutions for people whose homes, lands and livelihoods are, as we speak, being destroyed by rising sea levels and violent fluctuations in weather patterns in the region," he added.

In a bid to quell potential climate change-driven conflicts before they erupt, UNDP is helping to set up a new programme in the Pacific region in partnership with other organizations in the area.

The "Interface between Climate Change, Disasters and Potential for Conflict in the Pacific" initiative seeks to boost national and regional groups' ability to prevent and manage violent conflicts triggered by global warming.

"Climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of disasters, which are causing displacement, livelihood insecurity and increasing instability," according to Jean-Luc Stalon, senior regional advisor on Crisis Prevention and Recovery at UNDP's Pacific Centre in Suva, Fiji.

"We need to focus on integrating climate change risks into conflict prevention efforts – before it is too late and too costly," he warned.

In his message to the Forum, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday that the UN is establishing a new system to mitigate the impact of the global economic crisis on poorer countries, such as those in the Pacific region that are already being hobbled by climate change.

"The full repercussions (of the economic crisis) have yet to be felt, but already we know we must do our utmost to prevent the unfavourable economic climate from undermining our efforts to fight climate change and achieve the Millennium Development Goals," Mr. Ban said.

"For the Pacific, the downturn is likely to hit hard, limiting resources for development, leading to job losses and a decline in exports, and creating a risk of instability," he added in the message, delivered by Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The new Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System will allow the world body "to better track the impact of the crisis – and thereby better respond."

Noting that climate change is at the top of the Forum's agenda, the Secretary-General called on participants to enhance efforts to 'seal the deal' at the international meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December which will strive to reach a new pact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Toward that end, I urge you to attend the climate summit that I will be convening next month in New York, and use that gathering to create the political momentum we need for an agreement," he said.
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NEW UN SCHEME TO HELP POOR COUNTRIES WEATHER ECONOMIC CRISIS, CLIMATE CHANGE

The United Nations is setting up a new system to mitigate the impact of the global economic crisis on poorer countries, such as those in the Pacific region that are already being hobbled by climate change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

"The full repercussions (of the economic crisis) have yet to be felt, but already we know we must do our utmost to prevent the unfavourable economic climate from undermining our efforts to fight climate change and achieve the Millennium Development Goals [that seek to slash poverty, hunger and a host of other social ills by 2015]," Mr. Ban said in a message read out to the 40th Pacific Leaders Forum in Cairns, Australia.

"For the Pacific, the downturn is likely to hit hard, limiting resources for development, leading to job losses and a decline in exports, and creating a risk of instability," he added in the message, delivered by Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

"As part of the UN system's wide-ranging response to the crisis, we are establishing a Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System to better track the impact of the crisis – and thereby better respond."

Noting that climate change is at the top of the Forum's agenda, Mr. Ban called on participants to show "dynamic engagement" in sealing a deal at the international meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December which will strive to reach a far-reaching new pact on global warming 'greenhouse gas' emissions.

"Toward that end, I urge you to attend the climate summit that I will be convening next month in New York, and use that gathering to create the political momentum we need for an agreement," he said.

He pledged full cooperation with the region, including through the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, to address the negative consequences of climate change that are already being experienced, from extreme weather to environmental degradation. "Mitigation and adaptation must both be our urgent priorities," he declared.

Low-lying island States are already concerned about a potential rise in ocean levels while other nations in the region have suffered from torrential rain storms and flooding, as happened in Fiji at the beginning of 2009.
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FOOD PRICE FLUCTUATION DRIVEN BY FINANCIAL SPECULATION – UN REPORT

FOOD PRICE FLUCTUATION DRIVEN BY FINANCIAL SPECULATION – UN REPORT
New York, Mar 19 2009 5:00PM

Both the surging food prices from 2007 to 2008 and their subsequent drop in some areas are a result of large-scale speculation by financial investors, according to a new report by the United Nations trade body, which called for greater regulation to protect millions of poor people worldwide.

Increased transparency is needed in futures markets for vital commodities such as food, said the report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which also stressed the importance of regulators having greater power to step in when speculation in futures drives up the price of food.

There have been speculative bubbles for certain commodities on some occasions, the publication, entitled "The Global Economic Crisis: Systemic Failures and Multilateral Remedies," found.

It also said that speculation in housing, currencies and commodities led to a disconnect from the 'real' economy because appropriate prices could not be determined.

By the time these bubbles had burst, the current global economic crisis was inevitable, UNCTAD said.

The "herd" behaviour behind this kind of speculation went unregulated, the report stated, appealing for reforms of the international financial and monetary systems to allow for government intervention and international oversight.

It pegged greed as the reason for the severity of the current crisis, and said there should have been regulations and practical policies in place to anticipate short-sightedness.

Also to blame for the financial turmoil is the de-regulation, both within and between countries, the new publication said.

The "markets know best" approach failed to consider the possibility that markets can, in fact, fail, according to the report, which pointed out that existing economic risk indicators show low risk at the peak of the credit cycle, when risk levels are high.
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