UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel next week to the UK and Greece to spotlight the issue of climate change, just weeks before countries will gather in Copenhagen to try to reach agreement on a wide-ranging pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of global warming.
Ban will deliver a keynote address next Tuesday at Windsor Castle, just outside London, to a gathering of religious leaders on the role that faiths can play in tackling the problems caused by climate change.
The gathering, hosted by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will hear from the religious leaders on their long-term plans to deal with climate change, according to information released by the United Nations today.
Ban has called climate change “the defining issue of our era” and stressed the need for a successful outcome at the summit to be held in December in the Danish capital.
While in London Ban will also meet UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and attend an event at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to honour people who have taken part in efforts to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
The Secretary-General will then travel to Greece to help open the third Global Forum on Migration and Development, which is taking place in the capital, Athens.
He will also address a special session of the Greek Parliament and meet with senior Government officials, including Prime Minister George Papandreou and President Karolos Papoulias.
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Ban lays out criteria for successful Copenhagen gathering on climate change
As just over one month remains before nations converge in Copenhagen to ‘seal the deal’ on a new climate change agreement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has laid out his four benchmarks for success at the negotiations in the Danish capital.
Firstly, he wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times, every country – developed and developing – must do all it can to slash emissions from all sources, including deforestation and shipping.
“A successful deal must strengthen the world’s ability to cope with an already changing climate,” Ban added, stressing that “support for adaptation is not only an ethical imperative; it is a smart investment in a more stable, secure world.”
Thirdly, any deal must be backed by funding to allow poorer countries to transition to a low-carbon economy.
Lastly, the Secretary-General wrote, nations must agree on an equitable global governance structure. “All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed. That is how trust will be built.”
Despite the gridlock at the last round of climate change negotiations held in Bangkok, Thailand, earlier this month, “the elements of a deal are on the table,” he underscored.
All that is needed to put them in place is political will, Ban said. “We need to step back from narrow national interest and engage in frank and constructive discussion in a spirit of global common cause.”
The leadership of the US in this endeavour, he said, is vital, noting that he is encouraged by last week’s bipartisan initiative in the US Senate.
“We cannot afford another period where the US stands on the sidelines,” Ban emphasised, adding that an “indecisive or insufficiently engaged” US will result in unnecessary and unaffordable delays in tackling global warming.
With the last round of negotiations before the start of the Copenhagen conference kicking off next week in Barcelona, Spain, “we are now at a rather critical juncture,” Janos Pasztor, director of the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, told reporters today in New York.
There is a flurry of activity in the world’s capitals, with this uptick in activity expected to continue during the final stretch before the December summit, he said. “This is a good development as it is only governments who can make the deal and bring us success in Copenhagen.”
When leaders assemble in Denmark, they have the ability to “deliver an agreement on a range of fast-track implementation measures for which credible resources are needed and which governments need to make available,” Pasztor stated.
Ban, he said, is serving as a “neutral broker” among all 192 UN Member States, pressing for an ambitious multilateral deal to ensure that global temperature increases remain within safe levels.
Firstly, he wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times, every country – developed and developing – must do all it can to slash emissions from all sources, including deforestation and shipping.
“A successful deal must strengthen the world’s ability to cope with an already changing climate,” Ban added, stressing that “support for adaptation is not only an ethical imperative; it is a smart investment in a more stable, secure world.”
Thirdly, any deal must be backed by funding to allow poorer countries to transition to a low-carbon economy.
Lastly, the Secretary-General wrote, nations must agree on an equitable global governance structure. “All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed. That is how trust will be built.”
Despite the gridlock at the last round of climate change negotiations held in Bangkok, Thailand, earlier this month, “the elements of a deal are on the table,” he underscored.
All that is needed to put them in place is political will, Ban said. “We need to step back from narrow national interest and engage in frank and constructive discussion in a spirit of global common cause.”
The leadership of the US in this endeavour, he said, is vital, noting that he is encouraged by last week’s bipartisan initiative in the US Senate.
“We cannot afford another period where the US stands on the sidelines,” Ban emphasised, adding that an “indecisive or insufficiently engaged” US will result in unnecessary and unaffordable delays in tackling global warming.
With the last round of negotiations before the start of the Copenhagen conference kicking off next week in Barcelona, Spain, “we are now at a rather critical juncture,” Janos Pasztor, director of the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, told reporters today in New York.
There is a flurry of activity in the world’s capitals, with this uptick in activity expected to continue during the final stretch before the December summit, he said. “This is a good development as it is only governments who can make the deal and bring us success in Copenhagen.”
When leaders assemble in Denmark, they have the ability to “deliver an agreement on a range of fast-track implementation measures for which credible resources are needed and which governments need to make available,” Pasztor stated.
Ban, he said, is serving as a “neutral broker” among all 192 UN Member States, pressing for an ambitious multilateral deal to ensure that global temperature increases remain within safe levels.
Helping developing nations transition to green economy
A new UN-backed report released today details how to ensure that developing countries are part of the transition to a ‘green’ economy.
With some USD500 billion a year expected to be needed to help poorer nations adapt to climate change and at the same time power low-carbon growth, the funds must come from the private sector but that requires creative public policies, according to the study issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and a global partnership of investors and insurance companies.
“Combating climate change represents an important opportunity to move economies onto a low carbon, resource efficient, Green Economy path,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director. “If this is to succeed, developing countries should and must be part of that transformation.”
The new report, he said, shows how current barriers to shifting to a low carbon economy can be “leap-frogged,” paving the way for a new North-South relationship.
Issued today in Cape Town, South Africa, it calls for expanding insurance against country risk and for funds to hedge currency risk, among other recommendations.
A recent study commissioned by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) found that the private sector will have to supply up to 90 per cent of the funds needed to meet the climate challenge, but that at present it is unwilling to undertake large investments in developing countries due to the limited returns on low-carbon investments.
The report issued today – entitled “Catalysing Low Carbon Growth in Developing Economies: public finance mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions” – urges an effective distribution of roles between the public and private sectors.
With appropriate public finance mechanisms, the public sector can help manage risks that the private sector cannot control, it noted.
With some USD500 billion a year expected to be needed to help poorer nations adapt to climate change and at the same time power low-carbon growth, the funds must come from the private sector but that requires creative public policies, according to the study issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and a global partnership of investors and insurance companies.
“Combating climate change represents an important opportunity to move economies onto a low carbon, resource efficient, Green Economy path,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director. “If this is to succeed, developing countries should and must be part of that transformation.”
The new report, he said, shows how current barriers to shifting to a low carbon economy can be “leap-frogged,” paving the way for a new North-South relationship.
Issued today in Cape Town, South Africa, it calls for expanding insurance against country risk and for funds to hedge currency risk, among other recommendations.
A recent study commissioned by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) found that the private sector will have to supply up to 90 per cent of the funds needed to meet the climate challenge, but that at present it is unwilling to undertake large investments in developing countries due to the limited returns on low-carbon investments.
The report issued today – entitled “Catalysing Low Carbon Growth in Developing Economies: public finance mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions” – urges an effective distribution of roles between the public and private sectors.
With appropriate public finance mechanisms, the public sector can help manage risks that the private sector cannot control, it noted.
World insurers unite to cover a green economy
Long-term economic health of insurance industry hinges on management of sustainability & climate risks, says UN-backed global survey
Global insurers controlling assets worth trillions of US dollars have joined with the world's leading academics in a UN-backed survey putting the industry's approach to sustainability and climate risks under forensic examination.
Coming just six weeks before the pivotal UN climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, the report has been welcomed by the UN's environmental head and HRH Prince Charles.
The report highlighting the first-ever such global survey of the powerful insurance sector, and backed by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), says that the industry has a fundamental role to play to speed the transition to a clean, green, low carbon global economy that supports sustainable development and tackles the threat of global warming head on.
The document reveals that senior executives from the powerful sector are convinced that in order to sustain their industry's long-term economic health, they must systematically integrate key environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into insurance company underwriting guidelines and product development, and other core operations such as investment management, claims management, and sales and marketing.
The report, entitled, "The Global State of Sustainable Insurance - Understanding and integrating environmental, social and governance factors in insurance", summarises the key findings of the UNEP Finance Initiative global survey conducted this year, the nature and scope of which made it the first of its kind ever.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP executive director said: "The insurance industry has long been in the vanguard of understanding and managing risk, and has served as an important early warning system for society by amplifying risk signals. Through loss prevention and mitigation, by sharing risks over many shoulders, and as major investors, the insurance industry has protected society, shaped markets and underpinned economic development."
"And the message is loud and clear - insurers are communicating strong risk signals stemming from a wide range of environmental, social and governance issues - from climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and water scarcity, to poverty, emerging manmade health risks, ageing populations, child labour and corruption," he said.
The report is based on a pioneering global survey conducted this year by the Insurance Working Group and Academic Working Group of UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a strategic partnership between the UN's environmental arm and over 180 financial institutions and partner organisations worldwide.
The 100-plus page report articulates the insurance industry's assessment that the societal response to managing the global, long-term and systemic risks posed by many ESG factors is underdeveloped. The report builds a case for the industry to develop "Principles for Sustainable Insurance" similar to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment which were incubated by UNEP FI between 2003-2006 and launched by the institutional investment industry in April 2006. The PRI is now backed by more than 600 institutions representing US18 trillion in assets.
Paul Clements-Hunt, responsible for the team preparing the UNEP FI study, explained: "Insurers and reinsurers have been at the forefront of the financial service sector's efforts to come to grips with climate risk over the past fifteen years and now they are turning to a broader range of ESG issues in a way that has the power to fundamentally shift thinking across the sector about how to manage planetary challenges and risks associated with resource depletion."
Global insurers controlling assets worth trillions of US dollars have joined with the world's leading academics in a UN-backed survey putting the industry's approach to sustainability and climate risks under forensic examination.
Coming just six weeks before the pivotal UN climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, the report has been welcomed by the UN's environmental head and HRH Prince Charles.
The report highlighting the first-ever such global survey of the powerful insurance sector, and backed by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), says that the industry has a fundamental role to play to speed the transition to a clean, green, low carbon global economy that supports sustainable development and tackles the threat of global warming head on.
The document reveals that senior executives from the powerful sector are convinced that in order to sustain their industry's long-term economic health, they must systematically integrate key environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into insurance company underwriting guidelines and product development, and other core operations such as investment management, claims management, and sales and marketing.
The report, entitled, "The Global State of Sustainable Insurance - Understanding and integrating environmental, social and governance factors in insurance", summarises the key findings of the UNEP Finance Initiative global survey conducted this year, the nature and scope of which made it the first of its kind ever.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP executive director said: "The insurance industry has long been in the vanguard of understanding and managing risk, and has served as an important early warning system for society by amplifying risk signals. Through loss prevention and mitigation, by sharing risks over many shoulders, and as major investors, the insurance industry has protected society, shaped markets and underpinned economic development."
"And the message is loud and clear - insurers are communicating strong risk signals stemming from a wide range of environmental, social and governance issues - from climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and water scarcity, to poverty, emerging manmade health risks, ageing populations, child labour and corruption," he said.
The report is based on a pioneering global survey conducted this year by the Insurance Working Group and Academic Working Group of UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a strategic partnership between the UN's environmental arm and over 180 financial institutions and partner organisations worldwide.
The 100-plus page report articulates the insurance industry's assessment that the societal response to managing the global, long-term and systemic risks posed by many ESG factors is underdeveloped. The report builds a case for the industry to develop "Principles for Sustainable Insurance" similar to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment which were incubated by UNEP FI between 2003-2006 and launched by the institutional investment industry in April 2006. The PRI is now backed by more than 600 institutions representing US18 trillion in assets.
Paul Clements-Hunt, responsible for the team preparing the UNEP FI study, explained: "Insurers and reinsurers have been at the forefront of the financial service sector's efforts to come to grips with climate risk over the past fifteen years and now they are turning to a broader range of ESG issues in a way that has the power to fundamentally shift thinking across the sector about how to manage planetary challenges and risks associated with resource depletion."
Climate change the focus as Ban kicks off visit to Seattle
Climate change was the focus today as Ban Ki-moon kicked off his first visit to Seattle as United Nations Secretary-General, setting out to see firsthand the efforts of United States citizens, communities and businesses to protect the environment.
There are just 42 days left until countries meet in Copenhagen to 'seal the deal' on a new global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, which Ban has called “the defining challenge of our era.”
Today, the Secretary-General is slated to attend an event for children as part of the Shrinking Bigfoot programme, an interactive project sponsored by Seattle City Light to help young people learn about climate change and environmental issues.
Launched in November 2008, the initiative focuses on empowering children to shrink their carbon footprints with easy, everyday actions such as turning off the lights and recycling.
Ban is also scheduled to meet today with local leaders, civil society groups, the private sector and community representatives to discuss climate change and environmental and economic sustainability.
In addition, he will call for renewed multilateralism and greater engagement on the major challenges of the day, including for climate change and for an agreement in Copenhagen, when he addresses the local chapter of the UN Association of the US (UNA-USA).
There are just 42 days left until countries meet in Copenhagen to 'seal the deal' on a new global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, which Ban has called “the defining challenge of our era.”
Today, the Secretary-General is slated to attend an event for children as part of the Shrinking Bigfoot programme, an interactive project sponsored by Seattle City Light to help young people learn about climate change and environmental issues.
Launched in November 2008, the initiative focuses on empowering children to shrink their carbon footprints with easy, everyday actions such as turning off the lights and recycling.
Ban is also scheduled to meet today with local leaders, civil society groups, the private sector and community representatives to discuss climate change and environmental and economic sustainability.
In addition, he will call for renewed multilateralism and greater engagement on the major challenges of the day, including for climate change and for an agreement in Copenhagen, when he addresses the local chapter of the UN Association of the US (UNA-USA).
UNDP helps Benin villages enjoy solar power
Today, solar energy supplies 308 households in Hon and Koussoukpa. Photos: UNDPUntil recently, the villages of Hon and Koussoukpa, like many others, (100 kilometers from Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital) got their light from oil lamps and candles, suffering all the damage to health and the environment. The darkness also emphasised the sense of danger and rural isolation. Today, solar energy supplies 308 households in Hon and Koussoukpa in this western coast of Africa. It is easy for residents to light their homes, charge their mobile telephones and even access educational community television.
The project is the result of a partnership between UNDP, the Association béninoise pour l’éveil et le développement, the Global Environment Facility’s microfinance programme and Barefoot College, an NGO. UNDP plans to expand the initiative to a number of villages in Benin, creating rural electrification centers using solar energy or renewable energy sources.
In Hon two locals, Julienne Loko and Azouassi Togbé, have been trained to install and maintain the solar network.In a few days Koussoukpa will enjoy full solar electricity coverage when another 500 hundred households get solar energy. To ensure that the initiative is continued and equipment maintained, training will be provided to students and local tradespeople.There are also plans to create a research and development centre for solar electricity technology in partnership with the University of Abomey Calavi in Cotonou.
In Koussoukpa, each subscriber pays a monthly fee of 1,500 CFA francs (USD3.50). The subscription is managed by a committee responsible for operating the network and for maintaining and replacing equipment (solar panels, batteries, etc.)
In Hon, two residents, Julienne Loko and Azouassi Togbé, have been trained to install and maintain the solar network. After a six-month stint in India, they now know how to install and maintain solar panels. They work on an almost full-time basis in the electronic workshops built for the villages.
In Hon subscriptions are managed by a committee responsible for operating the network and maintaining and replacing equipmentIn Benin, despite the enormous potential for development of solar energy, rural electricity coverage still stands at just 3 percent. Given the high cost of linking up to the conventional electricity, photovoltaic solar energy is one of the most realistic technological alternatives available to isolated areas. Furthermore, global electrical energy coverage has increased from 25.7 per cent in 2006 to 27.9 per cent in 2008 and should reach 40.09 per cent in 2011, according to government projections.
Global alert against ‘Monsantosising’ our food
“The big companies are about to control seed, harvest, trade and even food production.”UN General Assembly to discuss patents on seeds and right to food The global appeal is being filed by the international coalition “no patents on seeds”, organised and supported by farmers and development and environmental organisations.
The alert is directed at governments, parliaments and patent offices like the European Patent Office, and warns about a new class of patents covering plants and animals derived from conventional breeding. These patents even claim harvests and derived food products such as milk, butter and bread. By speaking of ‘Monsantosising’ the signatories are warning that the whole chain from seed to food production might be controlled by a few big international companies like Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta, leading to a process of oligopolies and increasing concentration.
"A radical change in both patent legislation and the practice of patent offices is needed to eliminate patents on plants and farm animals," says François Meienberg of the Berne Declaration. "Corporations should not be allowed to continue to misappropriate and monopolise seeds, plants and farm animals via patent law. If they are, these patents will become a major threat to global food security, food sovereignty and innovation.”
The alert was initiated by the organisations Berne Declaration, Swissaid, Misereor No Patents on Life , Greenpeace and The Development Fund (Norway), and is supported by farmer organisations from Europe, South America and Asia. They include Coldiretti in Italy, COAG in Spain, dairy farmers from Germany, Federación Agraria Argentina and Bharat Krishak Samaj, an Indian farmer organisation.
“The big companies are about to control seed, harvest, trade and even food production,” warns Luis Contigiani at Federación Agraria Argentina. “We can see how Monsanto tries to license fees on soy production , imposing embargoes on European importers of Argentinian soy and derivatives based on patents that are not valid in our country. This is an example of the consequences when genetic resources are subjected to the logic of monopolisation by patent rights.”
In a vein very similar to the global alert, the background report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (A/64/170), Olivier de Schutter, raises concerns that seed patents might increase food crises. As it explains: “The oligopolistic structure of the input providers’ market may result in poor farmers being deprived of access to seeds, a productive resources essential for their livelihoods, and it could raise the price of food, thus making food less affordable for the poorest.”
The No Patents on Seeds coalition and its supporting farmers' organisations welcomed the UN report. “We will keep on fighting against patents on seeds and animals,” says Miguel López Sierra, general secretary of COAG , one of the biggest European farmers’ organisations. “We are urging the European Union and the European Patent Office to stop granting these patents, which steal the common goods of farmers and traditional breeders. The concerns as raised by farmers, NGOs and the report of the UN no longer can be ignored.”
Ban urges opinion-makers to spread the word about green technologies
Green technologies generate not only environmental advances but also promote economic growth, UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon has said, calling on opinion-makers attending a forum in Seoul to encourage businesses and governments to make climate-friendly investments. In a message to the World Knowledge Forum, delivered by the President of the UN Foundation Timothy Wirth, Ban called on governments “to show the flexibility and leadership” that will seal a “fair, ambitious and binding” global climate agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
“Investing in green technologies yields not only environmental gains but also large-scale economic growth,” he said.
Established in October 2000, the forum gathers more than 100 business executives and policy-makers from around the world to grapple with the major challenges facing humankind.
“The world is over-armed; the nuclear threat persists,” said Ban, “but now is also a moment of opportunity, as momentum builds toward next year’s nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.”
Urging participants to play their part in efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of targets for solving social and economic problems, Ban said the World Knowledge Forum could serve as a catalyst in the struggle to eradicate poverty.
“The global economic downturn threatens to push an additional 100 million people below the poverty line. Governments everywhere are facing increasing budgetary pressures but this is no time to renege on past pledges of aid and investment.”
The focus of this year’s forum is Asia, which “has a great stake in international efforts to combat climate change, reduce nuclear arsenals and overcome poverty,” said Ban.
UN officials call for action to protect hospitals from natural hazards
UN officials are using the International Day for Disaster Reduction to urge governments to take practical steps to make hospitals safe from natural hazards, a need underscored by the recent tragedies that struck Asia and the Pacific.
“Health facilities must be better prepared to respond to local hazards. They must be designed, built and maintained so they can better protect health workers and patients alike when disaster hits,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to mark the Day, observed annually on 14 October.
With weather-related disasters on the increase, it is critical to ensure that health facilities are prepared for emergencies and able to provide life-saving care in their wake, he said.
Ban noted that in Indonesia, hospital collapses during the recent earthquake in Sumatra caused additional loss of life. Earlier this year, in the Italian city of L’Aquila, the collapse of a newly built hospital provided a grim reminder that health systems in richer nations are also at risk.
The cost of making hospitals safe from disasters is relatively small, he said, noting that “the most expensive hospital is the one that fails.”
This year’s observance marks the culmination of a two-year Safe Hospitals campaign – a joint initiative of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank – aimed at ensuring people’s access to functioning health facilities during and after natural hazards.
“Since the beginning of the campaign, much has been achieved to make hospitals safer but more investments are still needed to improve the functionality of hospital when disasters occur,” said Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Hospitals and heath facilities are in the frontline when floods, hurricanes, cyclones, and earthquakes strike, according to a news release by the UNISDR. Many are adversely impacted because safety measures were not integrated in their design, construction and functionality.
There are at least 90,000 hospitals and other health facilities in the world’s 49 least developed countries, many of which are vulnerable to disasters, including those related to the harmful effects of climate change.
“No new hospital should be built unless it can withstand the impact of natural hazards,” Wahlström added. “Existing health facilities should also be assessed for their safety and action take to improve their safety and the level of their preparedness.”
The Safe Hospitals campaign involves practical steps to make facilities safer, including the Hospital Safety Index, a checklist for assessing hospital preparedness. It has already been applied to many facilities in Latin America, as well as in Oman, Sudan and Tajikistan.
“Preparedness and risk reduction is the way ahead in health and humanitarian action,” said Eric Laroche, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crises. “By working together, countries and communities can deal with these risks, particularly by reducing vulnerabilities and building capacities to mitigate and respond to all emergencies they may face.”
Also emphasising the importance of making hospitals safer is WHO Goodwill Ambassador and international film star Jet Li, who has seen first-hand the impact of the 2004 tsunami in the Maldives, last year’s Sichuan earthquake and Typhoon Morakot, which struck Beijing and Taipei in August.
“For the victims of these disasters, the struggle is great,” he said in a video message to mark the Day. “What is especially important is the safety of hospitals during these moments.
“Earthquakes, storms and flooding are becoming more and more common,” he added. “I am appealing to all governments and cities to build hospitals so safe they are able to withstand earthquakes, tsunamis and other types of environmental stress. This way we are able to protect and save more lives.”
“Health facilities must be better prepared to respond to local hazards. They must be designed, built and maintained so they can better protect health workers and patients alike when disaster hits,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to mark the Day, observed annually on 14 October.
With weather-related disasters on the increase, it is critical to ensure that health facilities are prepared for emergencies and able to provide life-saving care in their wake, he said.
Ban noted that in Indonesia, hospital collapses during the recent earthquake in Sumatra caused additional loss of life. Earlier this year, in the Italian city of L’Aquila, the collapse of a newly built hospital provided a grim reminder that health systems in richer nations are also at risk.
The cost of making hospitals safe from disasters is relatively small, he said, noting that “the most expensive hospital is the one that fails.”
This year’s observance marks the culmination of a two-year Safe Hospitals campaign – a joint initiative of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank – aimed at ensuring people’s access to functioning health facilities during and after natural hazards.
“Since the beginning of the campaign, much has been achieved to make hospitals safer but more investments are still needed to improve the functionality of hospital when disasters occur,” said Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Hospitals and heath facilities are in the frontline when floods, hurricanes, cyclones, and earthquakes strike, according to a news release by the UNISDR. Many are adversely impacted because safety measures were not integrated in their design, construction and functionality.
There are at least 90,000 hospitals and other health facilities in the world’s 49 least developed countries, many of which are vulnerable to disasters, including those related to the harmful effects of climate change.
“No new hospital should be built unless it can withstand the impact of natural hazards,” Wahlström added. “Existing health facilities should also be assessed for their safety and action take to improve their safety and the level of their preparedness.”
The Safe Hospitals campaign involves practical steps to make facilities safer, including the Hospital Safety Index, a checklist for assessing hospital preparedness. It has already been applied to many facilities in Latin America, as well as in Oman, Sudan and Tajikistan.
“Preparedness and risk reduction is the way ahead in health and humanitarian action,” said Eric Laroche, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crises. “By working together, countries and communities can deal with these risks, particularly by reducing vulnerabilities and building capacities to mitigate and respond to all emergencies they may face.”
Also emphasising the importance of making hospitals safer is WHO Goodwill Ambassador and international film star Jet Li, who has seen first-hand the impact of the 2004 tsunami in the Maldives, last year’s Sichuan earthquake and Typhoon Morakot, which struck Beijing and Taipei in August.
“For the victims of these disasters, the struggle is great,” he said in a video message to mark the Day. “What is especially important is the safety of hospitals during these moments.
“Earthquakes, storms and flooding are becoming more and more common,” he added. “I am appealing to all governments and cities to build hospitals so safe they are able to withstand earthquakes, tsunamis and other types of environmental stress. This way we are able to protect and save more lives.”
Economic crisis adds to the woes of the world's hungry
Street children in India. Photo: Thomas Schoch1.02 billion hungry people in 2009, says FAO hunger report The sharp spike in hunger triggered by the global economic crisis has hit the poorest people in developing countries hardest, revealing a fragile world food system in urgent need of reform, according to a report released today by FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The combination of food and economic crises has pushed the number of hungry people worldwide to historic levels, more than one billion people are undernourished, according to FAO estimates.
Nearly all the world's undernourished live in developing countries. In Asia and the Pacific, an estimated 642 million people are suffering from chronic hunger; in Sub-Saharan Africa 265 million; in Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million; in the Near East and North Africa 42 million; and in developed countries 15 million, according FAO's annual hunger report, The State of Food Insecurity, produced this year in collaboration with WFP. The report was published before World Food Day, to be celebrated on 16 October 2009.
Decade-long trend
Even before the recent crises, the number of undernourished people in the world had been increasing slowly but steadily for the past decade, the report says.
Good progress had been made in the 1980s and early 1990s in reducing chronic hunger, largely due to increased investment in agriculture following the global food crisis of the early 1970s.
But between 1995-97 and 2004-06, as official development assistance (ODA) devoted to agriculture declined substantially, the number of hungry people increased in all regions except Latin America and the Caribbean. Gains in hunger reduction were later reversed in this region as well, as a result of the food and economic crises
The rise in the number of hungry people during both periods of low prices and economic prosperity and the very sharp rises in periods of price spikes and economic downturns shows the weakness of the global food security governance system, FAO said.
"World leaders have reacted forcefully to the financial and economic crisis and succeeded in mobilising billions of dollars in a short time period. The same strong action is needed now to combat hunger and poverty," said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.
"The rising number of hungry people is intolerable. We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear, what is missing is a stronger political will to eradicate hunger forever. Investing in agriculture in developing countries is key as a healthy agricultural sector is essential not only to overcome hunger and poverty but also to ensure overall economic growth and peace and stability in the world," he said.
"We applaud the new commitment to tackle food security, but we must act quickly. It is unacceptable in the 21st century that almost one in six of the world's population is now going hungry," added Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of WFP.
"At a time when there are more hungry people in the world than ever before, there is less food aid than we have seen in living memory. We know what is needed to meet urgent hunger needs, we just need the resources and the international commitment to do the job."
Another blow for poor households
Several factors have conspired to make the current crisis particularly devastating for poor households in developing countries.
First, the crisis is affecting large parts of the world simultaneously, reducing the scope for traditional coping mechanisms such as currency devaluation, borrowing or increased use of official development assistance or migrant remittances.
Second, the economic crisis comes on top of a food crisis that has already strained the coping strategies of the poor, hitting those most vulnerable to food insecurity when they are down. Faced with high domestic food prices, reduced incomes and employment and having already sold off assets, reduced food consumption and cut spending on essential items such as health care and education, these families risk falling deeper into destitution and the hunger-poverty trap.
In for a penny, in for a pounding
The third factor that differentiates this crisis from those of the past is that developing countries have become more integrated, both financially and commercially, into the world economy than they were 20 years ago, making them more vulnerable to changes in international markets.
Many countries have experienced across-the-board drops in their trade and financial inflows, and have seen their export earnings, foreign investment, development aid and remittances falling. This not only reduces employment opportunities, but also reduces the money available to governments for programmes promoting growth and supporting those in need.
The 17 largest Latin American economies, for example, received USD184 billion in financial inflows in 2007, which was roughly halved in 2008 to USD89 billion and is expected to be halved again to USD43 billion in 2009, the report said. This means that consumption must be reduced, and for some low-income food-deficit countries, adjusting consumption may mean reducing badly needed food imports and other imported items such as health-care equipment and medicines.
The report includes case studies compiled by WFP in five countries - Armenia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Nicaragua and Zambia - showing how households are affected by the fall in remittances and other impacts of the economic downturn and how governments are responding to the crisis by investing in agriculture and infrastructure and expanding safety nets.
These interventions will help to save lives and families, the report says, but given the severity of the crisis, much more needs to be done.
FAO and WFP continue to advocate a twin-track approach to address both the short-term acute hunger spurred by sudden food shortages and the longer-term chronic hunger that is symptomatic of extreme poverty as a way for durable solutions.
"Small-scale farmers need access to high-quality seeds, fertilisers, feed and technologies to be able to boost productivity and production," Diouf said. "And their governments need economic and policy tools to ensure that their countries' agriculture sectors are both more productive and more resilient in the face of crises."
Healthy oceans new key to combating climate change
Photo: UNAction needed to maintain and restore 'blue carbon sinks', warn three UN agenciesA 'Blue Carbon' fund able to invest in the maintenance and rehabilitation of key marine ecosystems should be considered by governments keen to combat climate change.
A new Rapid Response Report released today estimates that carbon emissions, equal to half the annual emissions of the global transport sector, are being captured and stored by marine ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses.
A combination of reducing deforestation on land, allied to restoring the coverage and health of these marine ecosystems could deliver up to 25 per cent of the emissions reductions needed to avoid ‘dangerous' climate change.
But the report, produced by three UN agencies and leading scientists and launched during National Marine Month in South Africa, warns that far from maintaining and enhancing these natural carbon sinks humanity is damaging and degrading them at an accelerating rate.
It estimates that up to seven per cent of these ‘blue carbon sinks' are being lost annually or seven times the rate of loss of 50 years ago.
Natural allies against climate change
"If more action is not taken to sustain these vital ecosystems, most may be lost within two decades," says the report, Blue Carbon: the Role of Healthy Oceans in Binding Carbon launched by the UN Environment Programe (UNEP), the ÚN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP executive director, said: "We already know that marine ecosystems are multi-trillion dollar assets linked to sectors such as tourism, coastal defense, fisheries and water purification services; now it is emerging that they are natural allies against climate change".
"Indeed this report estimates that halting losses and catalysing the recovery of marine ecosystems might contribute to offsetting up to seven per cent of current fossil fuel emissions and at a fraction of the costs of technologies to capture and store carbon at power stations," he added.
The new report comes less than 60 days before the crucial UN climate change convention meeting in Copenhagen where governments need to Seal the Deal on a comprehensive new agreement.
It is likely that nations will agree to pay developing economies to maintain the ‘green carbon' in forests under a partnership: Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD).
Steiner added: "The links between deforestation and climate change are firmly on the political radar and there is optimism that REDD will form part of a new global climate partnership, but the role and the opportunity presented by other ecosystems are still overlooked".
"If the world is to decisively deal with climate change, every source of emissions and every option for reducing these should be scientifically evaluated and brought to the international community's attention, that should include all the colours of carbon including now blue carbon linked with the seas and oceans".
Blue carbon sinks
Dr Carlos Duarte, one of the chief scientists of the report based at the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies in Spain, said:" We know that land use change is part of the climate change challenge. Perhaps less well known is that the global loss of what we could call our "Blue carbon sinks' such as mangroves and seagrasses are actually among the key components of the increase in greenhouse concentrations from all land use changes".
Christian Nellemann, editor of the Rapid Response report, said." There is an urgency to act now to maintain and enhance these carbon sinks-since the 1940s, over 30 per cent of mangroves; close to 25 per cent of salt marshes and over 30 per cent of seagrass meadows have been lost. We are losing these crucial ecosystems much faster than rainforests and at the very time we need them - on current trends they may be all largely lost within a couple of decades".
"Fishing and aquaculture communities will be heavily impacted by climate change and have a key role to play in maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems in the face of change," said Ichiro Nomura, assistant director-general for Fisheries and Aquaculture at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
"An ecosystem approach to the management of ocean and coastal ecosystems can not only enhance their natural carbon sink capacity, but also offers a way to safeguard and strengthen food and livelihood security for fisheries-dependent communities," he added.
Officials with UNESCO also underlined the important role the oceans are already playing in offsetting climate change and its impacts on humanity, but warn that this is having consequences too.
"Because the ocean has already absorbed 82 per cent of the total additional energy accumulated in the planet due to global warming, it is fair to say that the ocean has already spared us from dangerous climate change," says Patricio Bernal, assistant director-general of UNESCO, IOC executive secretary. "But each day we are essentially dumping 25 million tons of carbon into the ocean. As a consequence, the ocean is turning more acidic, posing a huge threat to organisms with calcareous structures."
Luciano Fonseca of UNESCO-IOC explains that the ocean's absorption of the planet's excess heat "is like a glass of whisky with ice. As long as the ice is there the whisky stays cool. The energy that is going into the glass, from your hand and room temperature, is working to convert the ice to liquid. As soon as the ice melts the whisky turns warm."
Key findings from the Rapid Assessment Report
Marine-living organisms range from plankton and bacteria to seagrasses, saltmarsh plants and mangrove forests.
The ocean's vegetative habitats, in particular, mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses, cover less than 1 per cent of the seabed.
These form the planet's blue carbon sinks and account for over half of all carbon storage in ocean sediment and perhaps as much as over 70 per cent.
They comprise only 0.05 per cent of the plant biomass on land, but store a comparable amount of carbon per year, and thus rank among the most intense carbon
sinks on the planet.
Blue carbon sinks and estuaries capture and store between 235-450 Teragrams (Tg C) or 870 to 1,650 million tons of CO2 every year or the equivalent of up to near half of the emissions from the entire global transport sector which is estimated annually at around 1,000 Tg C, or around 3,700 million tons of CO2, and rising.
Preventing the further loss and degradation of these ecosystems and catalysing their recovery can contribute to offsetting 3-7 per cent of current fossil fuel emissions (totaling 7,200 Tg C a year or around 27,000 million tons) of CO2 in two decades ? over half of that projected for reducing rainforest deforestation.
The effect would be equivalent to at least 10 per cent of the reductions needed to keep concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere below 450 ppm needed to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius.
Combined with action under REDD, halting the degradation and restoring lost marine ecosystems might deliver up to 25 per cent of emission reductions needed to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius.
Unlike carbon capture and storage on land, where the carbon may be locked away for decades or centuries, that stored in the oceans remains for millennia.
Currently, on average, between 2-7 per cent of our blue carbon sinks are lost annually, a seven-fold increase compared to only half a century ago.
In parts of southeast Asia losses of mangroves since the 1940s are as high as 90 per cent.
Large-scale restoration of mangroves has been successfully achieved in Vietnam's Mekong Delta and salt-marsh restoration in Europe and the United States.
Countries with extensive, shallow coastal areas that could consider enhancing marine carbon sinks include India; many countries in southeast Asia; those on the Black Sea; in West Africa, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, eastern United States and Russia.
Maintaining and recovering marine ecosystems: The wider benefits
Coastal waters account for just seven per cent of the total area of the ocean. However, the productivity of ecosystems such as coral reefs, and these blue carbon sinks mean that this small area forms the basis of the world's primary fishing grounds, supplying an estimated 50 per cent of the world's fisheries.
They provide vital nutrition for close to three billion people, as well as 50 per cent of animal protein and minerals to 400 million people of the least developed countries in the world.
The coastal zones, of which these blue carbon sinks are central for productivity, deliver a wide range of benefits to human society. These include filtering water, reducing effects of coastal pollution, nutrient loading, sedimentation, protecting the coast from erosion and buffering the effects of extreme weather events.
Coastal ecosystem services have been estimated to be worth over USD25,000 billion annually, ranking among the most economically valuable of all ecosystems.
Much of the degradation of these ecosystems not only comes from unsustainable natural resource use practices, but also from poor watershed management, poor coastal development practices and poor waste management.
The protection and restoration of coastal zones, through coordinated integrated management would also have significant and multiple benefits for health, labour productivity and food security of communities in these areas.
'Include gorilla, elephant protection in Copenhagen talks'
A UN conservation expert has called for the protection of gorillas and elephants to be included in global climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December as a major factor in sustaining healthy African forests, a central element in temperature control. “I would estimate that the apes and elephants of Africa disperse some 7 billion seeds every day,” UN Ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla Ian Redmond said, noting that it took more than 1,000 times that period for a project backed by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to plant 7 billion new trees.
UN agencies have repeatedly pointed to the vital role forests play in the health of Earth, since they absorb carbon dioxide, a key factor in global warming. UNEP reported last month that the project, launched in 2006 in a bid to push governments into reaching agreement in Copenhagen, had exceeded its goal, with China planting 2.6 billion trees, bringing the total to 7.3 billion trees planted in 167 countries.
“The gorillas and elephants of Africa are doing the world a service,” Redmond said following a fact-finding mission across eight African gorilla range States. “The full extent of the role they play in maintaining the health of their forest habitat – a central component of the Earth's climate regulation – is still poorly understood.”
Large mammals, such as elephants and gorillas, are keystone species in their relevant ecosystems. Gorillas act as ‘gardeners’ in the rainforests of the Congo Basin, and protecting them helps prevent loss of flora that are ecologically dependent on them. They are second only to elephants in the number of seeds they disperse. When eating fruit and seeds, the seeds pass through their system and are in this way prepared for germination.
Fifteen years of armed conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa, accompanied by illegal exploitation of minerals to finance militias, led to a sharp increase in demand for so-called bush meat. Rapid urbanisation has also accelerated deforestation through charcoal production, and gorillas and elephants have been poached in large numbers.
A dramatic decline in the diversity of vegetation can be observed in parts of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As gorillas declined and elephants vanished from the montane area, the flora changed into denser, less diverse vegetation, and weed-like plants, formerly held in check by elephants and gorillas, have become much more dominant, suffocating trees and thereby accelerating deforestation.
By building nests, gorillas break off branches and create gaps in the forest canopy, letting light through to the forest floor and enabling smaller plants to grow. Hence the survival of forests requires the protection of the animals in them as well as the trees.
In the long term, deforestation is as much a consequence of over-hunting as of cutting trees for charcoal or timber, UNEP reported.
Supporting existing national action plans to halt deforestation of gorilla habitat is one of the major objectives of Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) Agreement on the Conservation of Gorilla and their Habitat during the Year of the Gorilla campaign.
UNEP launched the Year, aimed at halting the slide towards extinction of one of humankind’s closest relatives, in January when a troupe of skaters disguised as apes took to the rink at London’s Natural History Museum, highlighting the theme ‘Gorillas on Thin Ice.’
Wide gap between reality and rhetoric on climate change negotiations
There is a large gap between the rhetoric of heads of State on commitments to reverse global warming and what their negotiators are putting on the table, a senior UN official said in the wake of recent climate change talks in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Bangkok negotiations took place shortly after the 22 September summit convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters, attended by 101 heads of State and 163 country representatives.
Last month’s summit, the largest ever on climate change, “signalled its desire to achieve an agreed outcome in Copenhagen,” Janos Pasztor, Director of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Change Support Team, told reporters in New York.
Pasztor also noted that during the 10-day talks in Bangkok, which wrapped up on Friday, headway was made on some of the elements of the climate change treaty, such as adaptation, technology transfer, capacity-building and deforestation.
“Developing countries clearly demonstrated they are moving forward in a spirit of pragmatic cooperation,” ahead of the Copenhagen conference in December when world leaders are slated to finalise a deal on carbon emissions to take effect when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
“However, there is still a disconnect between what national leaders say in summit meetings and what their negotiators offer on the negotiating floor,” said Pasztor of the Bangkok talks, held under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“Little progress was made on the core political issues, such as the mid-term emission reduction targets for industrialised countries,” he said.
Pasztor also underscored the lack of “clarity” over the finance needed by developing countries to curb their greenhouse gas emission growth and adapt to the effects of climate change.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that to stave off the worst effects of climate change, industrialised countries must slash emissions by 25 to 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020 and global emissions must be halved by 2050.
With only five more negotiating days left until Copenhagen, countries must maintain the positive momentum of the New York summit and “translate that into concrete proposals that can advance progress toward an agreement,” said Pasztor.
The last round of negotiations ahead of the Copenhagen conference will be held Barcelona, Spain from 7 to 18 December.
The Bangkok negotiations took place shortly after the 22 September summit convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters, attended by 101 heads of State and 163 country representatives.
Last month’s summit, the largest ever on climate change, “signalled its desire to achieve an agreed outcome in Copenhagen,” Janos Pasztor, Director of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Change Support Team, told reporters in New York.
Pasztor also noted that during the 10-day talks in Bangkok, which wrapped up on Friday, headway was made on some of the elements of the climate change treaty, such as adaptation, technology transfer, capacity-building and deforestation.
“Developing countries clearly demonstrated they are moving forward in a spirit of pragmatic cooperation,” ahead of the Copenhagen conference in December when world leaders are slated to finalise a deal on carbon emissions to take effect when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
“However, there is still a disconnect between what national leaders say in summit meetings and what their negotiators offer on the negotiating floor,” said Pasztor of the Bangkok talks, held under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“Little progress was made on the core political issues, such as the mid-term emission reduction targets for industrialised countries,” he said.
Pasztor also underscored the lack of “clarity” over the finance needed by developing countries to curb their greenhouse gas emission growth and adapt to the effects of climate change.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that to stave off the worst effects of climate change, industrialised countries must slash emissions by 25 to 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020 and global emissions must be halved by 2050.
With only five more negotiating days left until Copenhagen, countries must maintain the positive momentum of the New York summit and “translate that into concrete proposals that can advance progress toward an agreement,” said Pasztor.
The last round of negotiations ahead of the Copenhagen conference will be held Barcelona, Spain from 7 to 18 December.
On horizon 2050 - billions needed for agriculture
A farmer in MyanmarNet investments of USD83 billion a year must be made in agriculture in developing countries if there is to be enough food to feed 9.1 billion people in 2050, according to an FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN) discussion paper. Agricultural investment thus needs to increase by about 50 per cent, according to the paper prepared for the High Level Experts’ Forum on How to Feed the World in 2050, Rome 12-13 October 2009. Some 300 top international specialists will attend the meeting.
Required investments include crops and livestock production as well as downstream support services such as cold chains, storage facilities, market facilities and first-stage processing.
Private investment essential
The projected investment needs to 2050 include some USD20 billion going to crops production and USD13 billion going to livestock production, the paper said. Mechanization would account for the single biggest investment area followed by expansion and improvement of irrigation.
A further USD50 billion would be needed for downstream services to help achieve a global 70 per cent expansion in agricultural production by 2050.
Most of this investment, in both primary agriculture and downstream services, will come from private investors, including farmers purchasing implements and machinery and businesses investing in processing facilities.
Public investment also necessary
In addition, public funds will also be needed to achieve a better functioning of the agricultural system and food security, the paper said. Priority areas for such public investments include: i) agricultural research and development; ii) large-scale infrastructure such as roads, ports and power, and agricultural institutions and extension services; and iii) education, particularly of women, sanitation, clean water supply and healthcare.
But in 2000 total global public spending on agricultural research and development totalled only some USD23 billion and has been highly uneven. Official Development Assistance (ODA) to agriculture decreased by some 58 per cent in real terms between 1980 and 2005, dropping from a 17 per cent share of aid to 3.8 per cent over the period. Presently it stands at around five per cent.
Of the projected new net investments in agriculture, as much as USD29 billion would need to be spent in the two countries with the largest populations – India and China. As far as regions are concerned, sub-Saharan Africa would need about USD11 billion invested, Latin America and the Caribbean USD20 billion, the Near East and North Africa USD10 billion, South Asia USD20 billion and East Asia USD24 billion.
Regional differences
The projections point to wide regional differences in the impact of new investments when translated into per capita terms. Given different population growth rates, Latin America, for instance, is expected to almost halve its agricultural labour force while sub-Saharan Africa will double its own. This means that by 2050 an agricultural worker in Latin America would have 28 times the capital stock – or physical assets such as equipment, land and livestock – available as his or her colleague in sub-Saharan Africa.
Foreign direct investment in agriculture in developing countries could make a significant contribution to bridging the investment gap, the paper said.
But political and economic concerns have been raised about so-called “land grab” investments in poor, food-insecure countries. Such deals should be designed in such a way as to maximise benefits to host populations, effectively increasing their food security and reducing poverty.
Humans undermine nature's help to fight climate change: UN
A traditional Mozambique sailboat. Fishing-reliant communities in the developing world are extremely vulnerable to climate changeHumankind is undermining a crucial natural ally in the battle against climate change through its activities in the world’s oceans and marine ecosystems, such as seagrasses, salt marshes and coastal wetlands, according to the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP). These ecosystems absorb and remove large quantities of global warming carbon emissions from the atmosphere each day, yet “the ocean’s carbon capture and storage systems are being undermined by human activity, thereby harming their ability to ‘sequester’ greenhouse gas emissions,” the agency said in a statement ahead of the release next week in Cape Town, South Africa, of a report on the issue.
The Blue Carbon report, compiled in collaboration with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), puts some hard figures on the carbon-capturing potential of the marine environment and on the impact of marine degradation on climate change.
It also outlines the way markets might begin paying developing countries for conserving and enhancing the marine environment’s carbon capture and storage services (CCS) and the links between healthy oceans and adaptation to climate change.
Currently, several developed countries are considering spending billions of dollar on CCS at power stations while the CCS services of natural systems, such as the seas and oceans, are tested and probably more cost-effective.
The report is being launched some 60 days ahead of the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, where it is hoped States will adopt a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period expires in 2012, with even steeper reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Indian Ocean nations to test UN-backed tsunami warning system
Eighteen countries around the Indian Ocean Rim will participate in a UN-backed tsunami exercise on October 14 to coincide with World Disaster Reduction Day, the first time that the warning system set up following the devastating disaster that struck the region in 2004 will be tested.
The exercise takes place in the wake of the tsunami that killed more than 100 people in Samoa last month, “providing a sober reminder that coastal communities everywhere need to be aware and prepared for such events,” stated the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Following the 2004 tsunami, UNESCO – through its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) – helped countries in the region set up the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS).
The upcoming drill, known as “Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 09”, will test and evaluate the effectiveness of the system, identify weaknesses and areas of improvement, as well as aim to increase preparedness and improve coordination throughout the region.
The exercise will replicate the magnitude 9.2 earthquake that occurred off the northwest coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, in 2004, generating a destructive tsunami affecting countries from Australia to South Africa.
The simulated tsunami will spread in real time across the entire Indian Ocean, taking approximately 12 hours to travel from Indonesia to the coast of South Africa. Bulletins will be issued by the Japan Meteorogical Agency (JMA) in Tokyo and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii, US, which have served as the interim advisory services since 2005.
The recently established Regional Tsunami Watch Providers (RTWP) in Australia, India and Indonesia will also participate in the exercise and will share experimental real time bulletins between themselves only.
Countries participating in next week's drill are Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Timor-Leste.
A similar drill was held in October 2008 to test the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS). Such early warning systems have also been set up in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and Northeast Atlantic Ocean and connected seas.
Information technologies vital to tackling climate change: Ban
Information and communication technologies are vital to tackling climate change, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a global forum in Geneva, urging participants to think of creative ways to use the latest technology to usher in a green economy. Organised by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) every few years, Telecom World is a unique event for the information and communication technology (ICT) community which brings together the top names from across the industry and around the world.
“We all know that ICTs have revolutionised our world,” Ban said as the week-long event got under way. “My main interest is how these technologies are creating new possibilities for the UN to achieve its goals of peace, human rights and development. ICTs are also very vital to confronting the problems we face as a planet: the threat of climate change."
“Indeed, ICTs are part of the solution. Already, these technologies are being used to cut emissions and help countries adapt to the effects of climate change.”
Ban noted that earlier this year, the UN teamed up with mobile phone companies and other partners to install 5,000 new weather stations across Africa. The weather stations will monitor the impact of climate change, and when there is news, text messages will be sent immediately to farmers’ mobile phones.
In addition, information technologies are being used to raise awareness about climate change. The Secretary-General noted how the UN has mobilised young people to use Internet tools such as Facebook and Twitter in support of its campaign to seal a deal on climate change in December at the global conference in Copenhagen aimed at developing a new treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
UNEP also created a ‘Twitter for Trees’ project, in which one tree was planted for each of the more than 10,000 people who signed up.
“I am sure you in this room can think of even more creative ways to use ICTs to usher in a new green economy,” said Ban. “Let us work together to find new ways to cut waste, reduce emissions, create jobs, protect against disasters and promote better standards of living.”
The Secretary-General also pointed to some progress, thanks in part to information technologies, in efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while stressing that much more needs to be done to improve the lives of millions of people by the target date of 2015.
The ITU pointed out that while ICTs provide unprecedented opportunities to accelerate social and economic development, communities that currently lack access and know-how are being further marginalised. It is, therefore, encouraging its member States to adopt school-based community broadband plans to bring ICT access to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
The agency’s Connect a School, Connect a Community initiative aims to facilitate public-private partnerships that will help countries establish school-based ICT centres.
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré welcomed the initiative as an important milestone in improving broadband access globally.
“Designed not only for students but also for the communities in which they live, smart policies and innovative public-private partnerships promoting school-based community ICT centres represent an attractive, affordable and scalable step forward in addressing the digital divide.”
Ban also welcomed the initiative, noting that connected schools can become connected community ICT centres, which can provide a vital link to marginalised and vulnerable groups. “They can become an information lifeline for women, indigenous people, persons with disabilities and those living in rural, remote and underserved areas,” he stated.
He also stressed the need for teamwork in turning this goal into reality, and emphasised the importance of political will. “I urge world leaders to support this effort and take the needed steps to meet the agreed targets of connecting all schools by 2015.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said the explosion of mobile technology presents a great opportunity to scale up the AIDS response in poor countries.
“Harnessing technology in creative ways will help us reach people in need. I want universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services to be as ubiquitous as mobile phone coverage,” said Michel Sidibé.
According to UNAIDS, the millions of people in developing countries who had been left behind by the digital divide are now able to access health information and healthcare services at their fingertips through mobile technology. Mobile phones are being used as low-cost tools for HIV testing, data collection, epidemic tracking, and training of health workers, HIV prevention and treatment support.
While in Geneva, the Secretary-General also introduced former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the guest speaker at a lecture series focusing on “Resetting the Nuclear Disarmament Agenda.”
He noted that after many years of lying dormant, the goal of a world without nuclear weapons is “back where it belongs: at the top of the global agenda.”
Ban paid tribute to the leadership of Gorbachev, describing him as a “giant in the global effort to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.
“He has made his mark through his pioneering efforts at the helm of his country… through his own nuclear disarmament proposals… through his tireless advocacy… and through the work of his foundation and with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) around the world.
'Developed countries scuttling UN climate obligations'
In a week coinciding with massive loss of life in the Asia Pacific region as a result of extreme weather, Friends of the Earth International decried attempts by developed countries to undermine their obligations under the UN climate convention.
Friends of the Earth International urged developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and provide public finance for developing countries in line with science and climate justice at UN climate talks in Bangkok, Thailand.
Karen Orenstein of Friends of the Earth US said: “The US administration should not bully its way into gutting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. If the world’s richest country wants to claim itself as a leader, it needs to lead a race to the top and not a race to the bottom. US Senate legislation introduced this week, with incredibly weak targets and 2 billion tons of offsets, does not give us reason to believe that President Obama intends to deliver on his message of change.”
Linda Ijmker of Friends of the Earth Netherlands said: “The recent climate finance proposal from the EU Commission pushes the bulk of costs for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries back
to the developing countries themselves, and to theoretical financial flows from the carbon market.”
“We urge all European member states to correct this inadequate financing proposal and to truly meet the obligations under the international climate convention to provide financing for the adaptation, technology
sharing and mitigation needs of the developing countries, in addition to reducing their own emissions.”
Stephanie Long of Friends of the Earth International said: “Developed countries have been accumulating a climate debt for the past 200 years, based on their fossil fuel-intensive development. This climate debt must be repaid if we are to have any chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. This means that those that are historically responsible for climate change must reduce their emissions to give more resources to developing countries so they can develop sustainable economies.”
“The proposals from the EU Commission and US administration are completely inadequate, with almost complete reliance on the private sector to provide funds to fight climate change. The wealthy industrialised countries must start providing funds to clean up the mess they have caused,” she added.
According to sources close to developing countries delegations, the patience of developing countries is wearing thin at the UN negotiations on climate change.
Friends of the Earth International urged developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and provide public finance for developing countries in line with science and climate justice at UN climate talks in Bangkok, Thailand.
Karen Orenstein of Friends of the Earth US said: “The US administration should not bully its way into gutting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. If the world’s richest country wants to claim itself as a leader, it needs to lead a race to the top and not a race to the bottom. US Senate legislation introduced this week, with incredibly weak targets and 2 billion tons of offsets, does not give us reason to believe that President Obama intends to deliver on his message of change.”
Linda Ijmker of Friends of the Earth Netherlands said: “The recent climate finance proposal from the EU Commission pushes the bulk of costs for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries back
to the developing countries themselves, and to theoretical financial flows from the carbon market.”
“We urge all European member states to correct this inadequate financing proposal and to truly meet the obligations under the international climate convention to provide financing for the adaptation, technology
sharing and mitigation needs of the developing countries, in addition to reducing their own emissions.”
Stephanie Long of Friends of the Earth International said: “Developed countries have been accumulating a climate debt for the past 200 years, based on their fossil fuel-intensive development. This climate debt must be repaid if we are to have any chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. This means that those that are historically responsible for climate change must reduce their emissions to give more resources to developing countries so they can develop sustainable economies.”
“The proposals from the EU Commission and US administration are completely inadequate, with almost complete reliance on the private sector to provide funds to fight climate change. The wealthy industrialised countries must start providing funds to clean up the mess they have caused,” she added.
According to sources close to developing countries delegations, the patience of developing countries is wearing thin at the UN negotiations on climate change.
UN meeting reaches agreement on measuring desertification
The world's countries have agreed to a minimum set of indicators for monitoring and assessing the extent of desertification, drought and land degradation in what a UN official has called a “groundbreaking achievement” in the battle against a problem afflicting nations on every continent.
After two weeks of negotiations involving hundreds of scientists, government ministers and officials, the Ninth Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) wrapped up in Buenos Aires with consensus on the measurement indicators.
Luc Gnacadja, the executive secretary of the UNCCD, described the agreement as “good news and a groundbreaking achievement” for the treaty, which entered into force in 1996.
“To describe an elephant, you have to agree on what an elephant looks like,” he said. “It is the same with desertification, land degradation and drought. Countries have to agree what these are before they can monitor trends in any one of them.”
As well as the indicators, Gnacadja said the ministers in attendance in Buenos Aires had sent “a strong message” to the talks in Copenhagen this December aimed at striking a long-term deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“A high level of convergence emerged at the ministerial segment on the need for a comprehensive new regime that includes the potential for soil in carbon sequestration, and serious attention to adaptation so that the poor are given their fair share of support.”
The executive secretary said the ministers called for a review of the costs of action versus the costs of inaction regarding combating land degradation.
After two weeks of negotiations involving hundreds of scientists, government ministers and officials, the Ninth Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) wrapped up in Buenos Aires with consensus on the measurement indicators.
Luc Gnacadja, the executive secretary of the UNCCD, described the agreement as “good news and a groundbreaking achievement” for the treaty, which entered into force in 1996.
“To describe an elephant, you have to agree on what an elephant looks like,” he said. “It is the same with desertification, land degradation and drought. Countries have to agree what these are before they can monitor trends in any one of them.”
As well as the indicators, Gnacadja said the ministers in attendance in Buenos Aires had sent “a strong message” to the talks in Copenhagen this December aimed at striking a long-term deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“A high level of convergence emerged at the ministerial segment on the need for a comprehensive new regime that includes the potential for soil in carbon sequestration, and serious attention to adaptation so that the poor are given their fair share of support.”
The executive secretary said the ministers called for a review of the costs of action versus the costs of inaction regarding combating land degradation.
UN experts plan West African biodiversity corridor
A plan to develop a biodiversity corridor across the border between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia will be the focus of discussions to be held in Abidjan next week in cooperation the UN and other organisations.
Hosted by the Ivorian Minister of Environment, Water and Forests, the meeting on 5-6 October is part of a transnational initiative launched by the UN-led Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF). Among other objectives, the meeting aims to advance the idea of a biodiversity corridor between two large blocks of forest in the Upper Guinean Forest Region: the Sapo National Park in Liberia and the Taï National Park in Côte d'Ivoire.
The area is home to the largest block of a relatively intact tropical rainforest in West Africa, and to more than a quarter of Africa's mammals, including 12 species of primates, important chimpanzee populations, as well as endemic species such as pygmy hippos and forest elephants.
The meeting will bring together representatives of various stakeholder groups from both countries, including senior government officials, forestry and environment ministries, major international donors, development agencies, private sector and research institutions, indigenous populations, and NGOs.
They will discuss environmental conservation goals that simultaneously enhance stability, human security, sustainable development and long-term economic benefits in a conflict-prone region.
The initiative is financed and supported by the European Union (EU), the French Fund for World Environment (FFEM), STEWARD (Thriving & Sustainable Environments for West African Regional Development), and the WCF.
Hosted by the Ivorian Minister of Environment, Water and Forests, the meeting on 5-6 October is part of a transnational initiative launched by the UN-led Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF). Among other objectives, the meeting aims to advance the idea of a biodiversity corridor between two large blocks of forest in the Upper Guinean Forest Region: the Sapo National Park in Liberia and the Taï National Park in Côte d'Ivoire.
The area is home to the largest block of a relatively intact tropical rainforest in West Africa, and to more than a quarter of Africa's mammals, including 12 species of primates, important chimpanzee populations, as well as endemic species such as pygmy hippos and forest elephants.
The meeting will bring together representatives of various stakeholder groups from both countries, including senior government officials, forestry and environment ministries, major international donors, development agencies, private sector and research institutions, indigenous populations, and NGOs.
They will discuss environmental conservation goals that simultaneously enhance stability, human security, sustainable development and long-term economic benefits in a conflict-prone region.
The initiative is financed and supported by the European Union (EU), the French Fund for World Environment (FFEM), STEWARD (Thriving & Sustainable Environments for West African Regional Development), and the WCF.
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