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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DISCUSSIONS ON NEGOTIATING TEXTS ON PACT TO COMBAT GLOBAL WARMING KICK OFF – UN

DISCUSSIONS ON NEGOTIATING TEXTS ON PACT TO COMBAT GLOBAL WARMING KICK OFF – UN
New York, Jun 1 2009 11:00AM
Delegates from 182 nations are gathering in Bonn, Germany, today to initiate discussions on negotiating texts which could form the basis of an ambitious United Nations-backed climate change deal, to slash greenhouse gas emissions, expected to be clinched in December.

The two-week Bonn talks, the second round of UN climate change talks this year, are expected to draw over 4,000 participants, including representatives from Governments, the private sector, environmental organizations and research institutions.

The new pact, to be concluded in Copenhagen, Denmark, is intended to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

"The political moment is right to reach an agreement," <"http://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/press_releases_and_advisories/application/pdf/20090106_opening_pr_sbs_2009.pdf">said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (<"http://unfccc.int/2860.php">UNFCCC). "There is no doubt in my mind that the Copenhagen climate conference in December is going to lead to a result."

The current financial crisis has reinforced the need for a global response to global issues, he added.

The negotiating texts serve as a "starting point" for talks among nations, according to Michael Zammit Cutajar, who chairs the working group for long-term cooperation under the UNFCCC.

Also expected to be discussed in Bonn are how to improve emissions trading and coverage of emissions credits, among other topics.

In recent weeks, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been exhorting nations to "seal the deal" on a new climate change pact, warning that cost of inaction will be far greater than the cost of taking decisive action now.

"We live in an interconnected world," he <"http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=500">told business leaders last month. "An effective agreement in Copenhagen would be a powerful vote of confidence in multilateralism. By the same token, failure would be bad news for everyone."
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TOP UN OFFICIALS EXHORT COUNTRIES TO TAKE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

TOP UN OFFICIALS EXHORT COUNTRIES TO TAKE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, May 14 2009 7:00PM
Warning that the clock is ticking towards a major United Nations conference in Copenhagen this December where nations are expected to reach agreement on a new greenhouse gas emissions pact, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the world body's top climate change official today urged the international community to pick up the pace of negotiations.

<"http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2009/090514_Climate_Change.doc.htm">Addressing reporters in New York, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (<"http://unfccc.int/2860.php">UNFCCC), noted that the Denmark gathering is only 200 days away.

He said he is encouraged by progress made in the past 100 days, including the "very clear commitment of the new United States administration to the issue of climate change, to re-engage in the international negotiations to come to an agreement in Copenhagen in December, but also to put an ambitious domestic policy package in place."

Further, Mr. de Boer said he is heartened to see that many countries – China and the Republic of Korea in particular – are seriously considering changing the direction of their economic growth as part of their recovery packages.

"Climate change as an issue has survived politically the financial crisis," he said.

Even if there is "strong commitment" to conclude negotiations in December, Mr. de Boer cautioned that the limited amount of time remaining could threaten the comprehensiveness of any agreement.

The international community is "on track" to clarifying four key issues, Mr. de Boer said. Firstly, developed countries must lay out how much they are willing to slash emissions by 2020, and secondly, major developing countries must in turn identify what actions they are willing to take to curb their own emissions.

Thirdly, the topic of financial support for adaptation and mitigation for poorer nations is crucial. "I do not believe that developing countries will be willing to address climate change in a much more vigorous way unless there is international support," he said. "They've made it clear that their overriding concern is economic growth and poverty eradication."

Lastly, he called for the establishment of an international governance structure to oversee a long-term climate change regime.

Speaking at the launch of a report by the Commission on Climate Change and Development, comprising 13 renowned individuals, Mr. Ban emphasized that "climate change is happening, now."

Stressing the necessity of leadership in reaching a deal in Copenhagen, he called attention to the need for adaptation for the world's poor to help them to deal with some of the worst consequences of global warming.
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LATEST ROUND OF UN TALKS ON PACT TO COMBAT GLOBAL WARMING WRAPS UP IN BONN

The latest round of United Nations talks aimed at reaching an ambitious new treaty on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions wrapped up today in Bonn, Germany, having achieved what the world body's top climate change official called "important" progress.

"Countries have narrowed gaps in many practical areas, for example on how to strengthen action for adapting to the impacts of climate change," said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"This is important progress given the very limited time negotiators have to get to an agreed outcome in Copenhagen in December this year," Mr. de Boer added, referring to the climate change conference at which countries are expected to adopt an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ends in 2012.

More than 2,000 delegates from government, business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions, participated in the Bonn meeting, which began on 29 March and is the first of three sessions planned ahead of the Copenhagen conference.

Negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions reductions to be achieved by industrialized countries after 2012 centred on issues related to the scale of the reductions, improvements to emissions trading and the Kyoto Protocol's carbon offset mechanisms, as well as concerns relating to land-use change and forestry.

"There have been positive discussions on a range of issues, including on technology cooperation between industrialized and developing countries, as well as on the specificities of reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries," noted Michael Zammit Cutajar, Chair of the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA).

Mr. Cutajar added that countries have the opportunity to provide input to the draft for the negotiating text ahead of the next round of talks in June.

"I invite countries to forward their input to the climate change secretariat by 24 April 2009, so that their views on how to shape the text and what to include in the text can be incorporated," he said.

Some 192 States have signed on to the UNFCCC, the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which has 184 parties and legally binds 37 highly industrialized nations and countries transitioning to a market economy to limit and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
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Scientists Must Raise Climate Alarm: Lord Stern.

The economic impact of global warming has been grossly underestimated and scientists must warn that inaction will spell disaster, top economist and climate change expert Nicholas Stern said on Thursday.

Stern told 2,000 climate scientists that they had failed to clearly tell humanity what it faces if global temperatures reach the upper range of forecasts made by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).

"You have to tell people very clearly and strongly just how difficult (a temperature rise of) four, five, six or seven degrees Celsius is," he said. "Billions of people would have to move and there would be very severe conflict," Stern told scientists at the Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen".

Stern told the conference that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy. He said; "Coming out of this we have got to lay the foundations for a low-carbon growth, which is going to be like the railways, like the electricity, like the motorcars, this is going to be over the next two, three decades the big driver in investment"

ARCTIC PEOPLES MUST BE CONSULTED ON ADAPTATION TO WARMING, SAYS UN-BACKED GROUP

ARCTIC PEOPLES MUST BE CONSULTED ON ADAPTATION TO WARMING, SAYS UN-BACKED GROUP
New York, Mar 13 2009 1:00PM

Indigenous Arctic peoples must be consulted on ways to preserve their ways of life and boost employment opportunities as the northern ice retreats due to climate change, a group of experts convened by the United Nations cultural agency has agreed.

"Action formulated to address Arctic issues must begin from an understanding that many of the peoples of the Arctic have self-governing institutions," according to recommendations issued by participants at the meeting organized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

"These peoples and their institutions have immense creativity and seek to advance the self-determination, prosperity and aspirations of their communities and their regions," they added.

According to UNESCO, rapidly changing climate in the Arctic is putting pressure on hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in the circumpolar north.

The agency noted that for decades they have been witnessing a dramatic shift during the Arctic Ocean's open water season, as sea ice retreats further and further from coasts. Industrial development and shipping are expected to rise in its place.

The four-day meeting hosted by Monaco in early March sought to address the concerns of the Arctic communities and identify strategies for the sustainable development of the region, bringing together experts in the social and natural sciences, ethics, education, and international affairs with representatives of indigenous peoples.

The recommendations of the group include establishing "a working/advisory group to develop dialogue and strategy on the challenges of climate change for circumpolar indigenous peoples, including safeguarding intangible heritage and building synergies between indigenous and scientific knowledge."

Other objectives range from promoting employment opportunities through the conservation of traditional activities to improving the access of researchers to exclusive economic zones in the Arctic area.

Participants at the meeting included representatives of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), the Saami Parliament, the Arctic Council, UNESCO and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

In addition, all Arctic States (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States) were represented as well as other concerned States, some from Europe but some from as far south as New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan.

The Director General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, opened the discussions, applauding the bold mandate of the meeting. "Adaptation and response have become an unavoidable necessity. The development of appropriate adaptation and response strategies has therefore emerged as a central preoccupation of all actors, including the UN system," he said.
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