'Climate Change and the UN System' The WFUNA Climate Change Project is finally online!
While there are now many civil society groups focused on one or other aspect of climate change, WFUNA is committed to informing its members about what is being done at the UN. A supplementary goal is to build a global network of people who can help sustain the momentum to make better use of the UN in multilateral climate change processes, at the global, regional and national levels.
Since the release in February 2007 of the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , which clearly demonstrated the link between human activity and global warming, the climate change debate has moved to the top of the political agenda. In mid April, the Security Council considered the issue of climate change for the first time. While the UK Foreign Minister asserted that the threat from climate change has grown and its impact goes far beyond the environment "to the very heart of the security agenda", developing country leaders protested that the Security Council was not the proper forum for this issue, which they considered belonged in the General Assembly.
On 2 May 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of three Special Envoys on Climate Change: Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway; Han Seung-soo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea; and Ricardo Lagos Escobar, former President of Chile. The envoys will be working with governments at the highest level to explore the level of interest in the UN convening a climate change summit in the context of the General Assembly this year.
Indicative of the difficulty of finding consensus on climate change, this year's session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-15) from 1-12 May 2007 failed to reach agreement on the adoption of a proposed resolution. Instead it ended with a "Chairman's Summary" - to read the document, click here >>
The theme of last year's World Environment Day on 5 June 2007 - Melting Ice: A Hot Topic? - highlighted the impact that climate change is having in all regions, not just at the poles. In his statement on this occasion, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the world needs "new thinking and a new inclusiveness" to tackle the perils of climate change, and called for urgent global action that takes into account the needs of the world's least affluent countries.
 On 24 September 2007, a high-level meeting on climate change took place. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has declared climate change as a central focus of the UN. Officials from 150 countries and 71 Heads of State and Government were present.
The Human Development Report 2007/2008 was launched on November 27. It is dedicated to climate change, and the title is Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world. It exposes the threats that global warming represents for development.
The UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, 3-14 December 2007, adopted the Bali Roadmap. The ministers and high-level officials of 187 countries reached an agreement that launched the negotiations to adopt a new climate regime that will enter into force in 2013, after the expiration of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol. They have set an agenda for the negotiations up to 2009, when the agreement should be presented in Copenhagen. Some of the key issues that will be discussed in the following two years will be: action for adaptation to climate change, ways to reduce greenhouse emissions, technology transfer and financing of adaptation and mitigation measures.
United Nations General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim convened on 11-13 February 2008 the thematic debate "Addressing Climate Change: The United Nations and the World at Work ". The aim of this event was to discuss how the UN system can most effectively work with Member States, the private sector, and civil society in addressing climate change, and sustain the momentum built in Bali last year.
The negotiations on the Bali Action Plan took place at the Bangkok Climate Change Talks between 31 March and 4 April 2008. The talks drew delegates from 162 countries, who were charged with the task of discussing the Bali Road Map. Next to come are three climate change meetings that are to focus on specific details of the major themes. In the latest of these meetings, from 2-13 June 2008 in Bonn, Germany, delegates are discussing advancing adaptation of climate change through finance and technology.
 The theme for World Environment Day 2008 was Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. Recognizing that climate change is becoming the defining issue of our era, UNEP wanted to promote low carbon economies and life-styles. The city of Wellington (New Zealand) hosted the main international event on 4 June 2008.
For useful tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint, click here>>>
One hundred and eighteen nations were represented at the High-Level Conference on World Food Security, which took place on 3-5 June 2008 in Rome, Italy. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared that food production must rise by 50 percent by 2030 to meet the needs of the world's population and emphasized the need for a "bold and urgent" response the global food crisis. During the summit, several countries announced new financial contributions, which totaled US$18.36 billion. These funds will allow nations that were severely affected by the food crisis, in part by allowing them to grow enough food for the coming seasons.
The Rome summit concluded with the adoption of a declaration that calls for countries to increase assistance to the nations in dire need. With respect to climate change, the declaration says, "It is essential to address the fundamental question of how to increase the resilience of present food production systems to challenges posed by climate change. In this context, maintaining biodiversity is key to sustaining future production performance." For the full text of the declaration, click here>>>
Click here to learn about UNA's climate change activities>>>
All the information you need to start learning more about climate change background, UN mechanisms and outcomes, and more!
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Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-16)
UN Headquarters, New York, 5-16 May 2008
For more information click here>>>
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Contemporary art exhibit ‘Melting Ice / A Hot Topic’
The Field Museum, Chicago, April 18, 2008 - September 6, 2008
Organized the Natural World Museum (NWM), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
For more information click here>>>
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Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies
Hotel Maritim, Bonn, Germany, 2-13 June 2008
28th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) of the UNFCCC will (4-13 June 2008)
2nd session of the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 2) and the 2nd part of the fifth session of the Ad hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 5 ) (2-12 June 2008)
For more information click here>>>
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United Nations Climate Change Conference
Poznañ, Poland, 1-12 December 2008
COP 14, CMP 4 and sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies
Organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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