2008
Sustainable Development
Media Reports Archives:
2010;
2009;
2007;
2006;
2005;
2004;
2003;
2002
DECEMBER 2008
IFPRI CALLS FOR
NOMINATIONS FOR "MILLIONS FED" PROJECT
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), with
support from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is documenting
evidence on the policies, programs and investments in pro-poor
agricultural development that have had a proven impact on hunger and
food security. This "Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural
Development" initiative is welcoming nominations of interventions that
have had a significant impact on food security, including those that
have empowered women and vulnerable groups to improve their livelihoods.
Nominations should be submitted by 31 December 2008.
Link to further information
IFPRI Millions Fed initiative
FAO RELEASES
PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF CARBOAFRICA
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization
has issued preliminary findings of CarboAfrica, an international
research project gathering 15 institutions from Africa and Europe. The
project aims to quantify, understand and predict the carbon cycle and
other GHG gases in Africa. According to Riccardo Valentini, CarboAfrica
project coordinator, the evidence so far indicates that Africa seems to
be a relevant 'carbon sink,' meaning that it takes more carbon out of
the atmosphere than it releases. It is estimated that Africa's GHG
emissions from fossil fuels are less than 4% of the world's total. The
preliminary findings of the project were the subject of the Africa and
Carbon Cycle Conference held in Accra, Ghana, from 25-27 November 2008.
Links to further information
FAO Newsroom, 25 November 2008
CarboAfrica
OCTOBER 2008
NEW CONVENTION ON SHARED
TRANSBOUNDARY AQUIFERS SUBMITTED TO THE UNGA
On 27 October 2008, the UN Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) submitted to the UN
General Assembly (UNGA) the draft Convention on Transboundary Aquifers,
which applies to underground aquifers, most of which straddle national
boundaries, and that represent 96% of the planet's freshwater resources.
Many shared aquifers are under environmental threats caused by climate
change, increased population pressure, over-exploitation and
human-induced water pollution. The draft articles for an international
framework convention on transboundary aquifers were adopted by the
International Law Commission (ILC) in August 2008. These draft articles
represent six years of work by the ILC with the assistance of experts
from UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme, and are intended to
fill a gap in the law on the protection and management of groundwater
resources, which have been neglected as a subject of international law
despite the social, economic, environmental and strategic importance of
groundwater. The draft treaty requires that aquifer States cause no harm
to existing aquifers and cooperate to prevent and control their
pollution.
Link to further information
UNESCO Press Release, 22 October 2008
UN Global Compact and UNEP Convene First Meeting of
'Caring for Climate' Initiative
Representatives of over 150 corporations,
civil society organizations, governments and UN agencies gathered in
Geneva, Switzerland, on 21 October 2008, for the first meeting of
signatories to 'Caring for Climate,' a voluntary global action platform
jointly launched in 2007 by the UN Global Compact, the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD). The meeting aimed to produce business insights and
develop a shared path forward in support of an effective post-Kyoto
policy framework on climate change. A recent survey among Caring for
Climate signatories reveals that a majority of signatories are
optimistic about their ability to develop the internal capacity to set
targets and reduce climate impact, while expecting: similar leadership
from governments; long-term plans for emission reductions; and increased
investments in low-carbon technologies.
Link to further information
UN News Centre Story, 21 October 2008
UNWTO Summit: Responding to the Economic
Downturn and Staying on Course with the Climate and Poverty Reduction
Agenda
The UN World Trade Organization (UNWTO), in partnership with
the World Travel Market, will hold a Ministers' Summit at the World
Travel Market in London, UK, on 11 November 2008, under the theme
"Responding to the Economic Downturn and Staying on Course with the
Climate and Poverty Reduction Agenda." During the meeting, tourism
ministers will consider climate and poverty goals in the context of the
economic downturn. Items on the Summit's agenda include: tourism as a
driver of socio-economic progress and poverty alleviation; the UNWTO's
Davos Declaration Process on Climate Change; and TOURpact, the first UN
Global Compact Industry Sector Network, which calls on the tourism
sector to actively support UN objectives.
Link to further information
UNWTO Ministers' Summit website
FAO AND DUTCH
UNIVERSITY TO COLLABORATE TO ACHIEVE THE MDGs
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has signed a
Memorandum of Agreement with Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR),
the Netherlands, to promote education and research in developing
countries with the objective of contributing to reaching the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The agreement between the institutions will
foster the exchange of scientific staff and experts, identify
technology, and enhance farm production through the sustainable use of
natural resources.
Link to further information
UN News Centre, 10 October 2008
FAO URGES REVIEW OF
BIOFUEL POLICIES TO ENSURE THE POOR CAN BENEFIT
On 7 October 2008, at the launch of its flagship publication, The
State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2008, FAO Director-General Jacques
Diouf noted both the risks and opportunities created by biofuels. Diouf
highlighted the need for an in-depth review them, aimed to ensure world
food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural
development and ensure environmental sustainability. Diouf emphasized
the need to invest on research and technology for the production of
second generation biofuels, which put less pressure on the natural
resource base.Diouf also emphasized the need to remove agricultural and
biofuel production subsidies, along with trade barriers, in order to
facilitate developing countries's ability to reap some benefits.
Links to further information
UN News Centre, 7 October 2008
The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2008
UNEP AND
UNWTO announce global sustainable tourism criteria
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with the UN Foundation
and the Rainforest Alliance, have established the Global Sustainable
Tourism Criteria. The criteria are targeted at establishing a framework
to aid tourists and the tourism industry in evaluating the benefits of
tourism to local communities, the impacts of tourism on cultural
heritage, the extent of harm to the local environment and
sustainability.
Links to further information
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article,
10 October 2008
GEF FUNDED PROJECT IN
HONDURAS WINS TOURISM INNOVATION AWARD
The La Ruta Moskitia (LARUMO) initiative, an ecotourism rainforest
project funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small
Grants Programme, and implemented by five indigenous communities in La
Moskitia region -- an area crossed by the Rio Plátano Biosphere Reserve
in Honduras – has won a national award through the World Travel and
Tourism Council for a locally-designed program that encourages visits to
the rainforests off the country's northeast coast. Local fisherman and
farmers learned new skills by becoming tour guides and service providers
for tourists, and the project team in the first three months made
US$25,000 in revenue from the ecotours, with over 25% of the revenue
going back to the community.
Link to further information
GEF Press Release, 6 October 2008
TOOLS FOR HARMONIZATION AND EQUIVALENCY IN ORGANIC
AGRICULTURE LAUNCHED
The International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalency in
Organic Agriculture (ITF) launched two practical tools intended to ease
trade in organic agricultural products. Supachai Pantichpakdi, Secretary
General of UNCTAD, Alexander Müller, Assistant Director General of the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Urs Niggli, Vice-President
of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM),
all urged that these measures and other task force recommendations be
employed worldwide. The tools comprise: a guide to help decision-makers
assess whether an organic production and processing standard applicable
in one region of the world is equivalent (equally valid) to another
organic standard (Equitool) and a minimum set of performance
requirements for organic certification bodies (IROCB).
Link
to further information
UNCTAD News
SEPTEMBER 2008
MDG SUMMIT ENDS
WITH US$16 BILLION IN NEW COMMITMENTS
On 25 September 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the
President of the UN General Assembly convened a High-Level Event (HLE)
on the Millennium Development Goals at UN headquarters in New York. The
HLE brought together Heads of State or Government, as well as leaders of
the private sector and civil society to reaffirm existing commitments
and announce new ones needed to achieve the MDGs by 2015. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that fresh contributions and
commitments to the MDGs could amount to around US$16 billion, which was
remarkable given the current financial crisis. Among the commitments,
some US$1.6 billion was pledged to enhance food security. Anew
initiative, "Purchase for Progress," to buy surplus crops directly from
poor farmers in Africa and Central America, was launched. US$3 billion
was committed to launch the Malaria Action Plan and new pledges of
almost half a billion dollars were committed for the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Commitments relating to child
mortality and maternal health reached almost US$2 billion next year,
rising to US$7 billion in 2015. The Global Campaign on Health has
committed to mobilize an extra US$30 billion by 2015, including the
training of more than 1 million health workers. Considering that MDG 5
on maternal health has the lowest record of achievement, an additional
US$12 billion was pledged to provide 21 million trained birth attendants
to prevent deaths in childbirth. Investments of US$2.2 billion were
committed to provide water and sanitation to 30 million people by 2015,
and US$4.5 billion was promised to launch the "Class of 2015: Education
for All" multi-stakeholder partnership, which aims to put children into
school by 2010. Attention was also given to the threat of climate change
in reversing the achievements made on the MDGs, and over US$750 million
was pledged by member States, along with renewed commitments to reduce
deforestation.
A formal summit on the MDGs to review
implementation in 2010 will convene and will monitor the commitments
made. The High-Level Event also sent a message to the Doha Review
Conference from the highest political level, on strengthening the global
partnership for development and building consensus on financing for
development. The Doha event will take place from 29 November to 2
December 2008, in Doha, Qatar.
Links to further information
High-Level Event on MDGs, 25 September 2008
UN News Centre, 16 September 2008
IISD RS
Coverage
Financing for Development Review Conference
HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON
AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT NEEDS ADOPTS POLITICAL DECLARATION
The High-Level Meeting on Africa's Development Needs took place at
UN headquarters on 22 September 2008, under the theme "Africa's
development needs: state of implementation of various commitments,
challenges and the way forward." The President of the UN General
Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, opened the plenary and noted that,
while official development assistance (ODA) has increased from 1.3 % of
GDP in 2005 to 1.8 % in 2007, levels of ODA should be further increased
to meet the commitments undertaken in Monterrey. He urged G8 members to
double ODA for Africa by 2010, as promised at the G8 Summit at
Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005. UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, pointed
out that no African country will achieve all of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, but that they remain achievable in
Africa. He emphasized that the MDG Steering Group assessed that US$72
million per year is necessary to achieve the goals by 2015. The
meeting ended with the adoption of a resolution entitled Political
Declaration on Africa's Development Needs (A/63/L.1). Leaders from
Africa expressed their determination to achieve the MDGs and reaffirmed
that NEPAD provides an agreed foundation. They noted that this framework
can only be implemented if the international community fulfills its
commitments to tackle the myriad challenges faced by Africa.
Links to further information
Africa's Development Needs, 22 September
IISDRS
Coverage
World
Tourism Day focuses on Climate Change
The World Tourism
Organization's (UNWTO) World Tourism Day, which focused on the response
of the tourism industry to climate change and was hosted in Peru, was
observed on 27 September 2008. World Tourism Day kicked-off a year-long
campaign during which the UNWTO aims to: raise awareness of the positive
role of tourism in sustainable development; advance tourism in the UN
global response to the challenges of climate change and poverty
alleviation; promote the Davos Declaration Framework for the Tourism
Sector and encourage its implementation by all stakeholders at a global
level; encourage tourism stakeholders to adapt, mitigate and use new
technology; and secure financing for the poorest countries.
Link to more information
World Tourism Day website
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECONSIDERS BIOFUELS TARGET
The European Parliament's industry committee has proposed reducing the
EU's existing 10% target for adopting traditional biofuels for road
transport by 2020. Instead, the committee had advocated a 6% target for
traditional biofuels, with the other 4% coming from electricity or
hydrogen from renewable sources, or from second-generation biofuels. The
proposal comes in the wake of concerns that biofuels have affected food
prices and deforestation. The biofuels target is part of a larger series
of goals that address climate change and energy issues.
Links to further
information
BBC news, 11 September 2008
Spiegel Online International, 11 September 2008
MDG BLOG
LAUNCHED PRIOR TO HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON MDGs
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UNDESA) have launched a blog discussion on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Blog is facilitated by the MDG
Network and the UN Development Group Policy Network for MDGs, and will
run from 26 August to 26 September 2008. The Blog seeks to provide a
space for stakeholders from government agencies, civil society and the
private sector to offer comments on five main themes related to the MDG
framework. The themes covered by this Blog are drawn from the
Secretary-General's
background note for the High-Level Event on MDGs, "Committing to Action:
Achieving the MDGs," which are: poverty and
hunger; health and education; environmental sustainability; gender
equality and empowerment of women; and global partnership for
development. Comments submitted through the Blog will be summarized and
considered by the Co-Chairs and Thematic Experts of the round-tables at
the High-Level Event on MDGs, which will convene in New York on 25
September 2008.
Link to
further information
High-Level Event on MDGs
MDG Blog
AUGUST 2008
MONTERREY REVIEW
PROCESS DRAFT OUTCOME DOCUMENT RECOGNIZES CLIMATE CHANGE-DEVELOPMENT
LINKAGES
The President of the UN General Assembly
issued a draft outcome document for the Monterrey Consensus Review
Conference to be held in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November-2 December 2008.
The draft outcome document was based on input during the first semester
of 2008 from countries, businesses, NGOs and civil society on the
thematic areas of the Monterrey Consensus, as presented during several
informal review sessions. The draft document reaffirms the goals and
commitments of the Monterrey Consensus on issues such as mobilizing
financial resources for development and international trade as an engine
for development, and welcomes the targets announced by G8 countries in
Hokkaido, Japan, to increase their official development assistance (ODA)
to US$130 billion by 2010. The draft also presents proposals to improve
the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial
and trading systems in support of development. A section on "New
Challenges and Emerging Issues" recognizes "increased costs from damage
to the earth's environment and climate change" as key challenges the
world faces today, and reaffirms the need for concerted global action to
address these "while consistently furthering economic and human
development for all." In particular, the draft document recognizes
responses to the climate change problem have "major development
implications" and proposes that countries agree to "address such
implications in a timely and decisive way" by addressing the financing
needs for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in developing
countries in the context of sustainable development and within the
structure of the UNFCCC. Informal consultations and drafting sessions on
the outcome document will be held during the second semester of 2008,
leading to the Doha Review Conference in November.
Links to additional information
UN Financing for Development Office
Doha Outcome Document draft, 25 July 2008
JUNE 2008
UNWTO EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FUNDS ST-EP PROGRAMME
The UN World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Executive Council held its 83rd Session
from 13-14 June 2008, in Jeju, Republic of Korea, following the
Sustainable Tourism – Elimination of Poverty (ST-EP) Foundation's Board
of Directors meeting, which convened on 12 June 2008. At the Executive
Council meeting, the Council agreed to allocate US$500,000 to fund the
ST-EP programme, which seeks to promote poverty elimination through
sustainable tourism development.
In other ST-EP
news, the first ST-EP project in China was launched in Guizhou province.
The project seeks to support micro-credit financing for local
handicrafts in the province.
Links to further
information
Conference website
China ST-EP Programme Launch press release, 26 June 2008
UK ADOPTS IAASTD RECOMMENDATIONS
The UK has adopted the recommendations of the International
Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for
Development (IAASTD), calling for an end to input-intensive,
trade-driven agriculture and renewed support for sustainable, local,
smaller-scale agro-ecological farming. The UK became the 58th of 61
countries who participated in the final IAASTD report review to endorse
the call for "A New Era of Agriculture." The US, Canada and Australia
have not adopted the document.
Links to
more information
UK Parliament, 6 June 2008
IAASTD website
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY OBSERVED
In advance of World Environment Day, which is observed on 5 June, Ban Ki-moon,
UN Secretary-General, likened fossil fuel dependence to a "dangerous
addiction." World Environment Day 2008 was hosted by Wellington, New
Zealand, under the theme is "Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon
Economy."
Links to
further information
Text of Secretary-General's statement, 23 May 2008
Press Release on World Environment Day Event, 23 May 2008
World Environment Day 2008 website
APRIL 2008
UN AGENCIES ANNOUNCE PLANS TO ADDRESS FOOD CRISIS
The UN has announced its agencies' plans to address the food crisis.
Following the semi-annual meeting
of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
with the UN's agency heads on 28 and 29 April
2008, Ban announced plans to develop a comprehensive strategy to address
the global food crisis. A task force will be coordinated by
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes and UN
System Avian and Human Influenza Coordinator David Nabarro. The task
force will seek to develop an action plan by the beginning of June, when
UN agencies will discuss it at a meeting in Rome, Italy. Ban will chair
the task force, which will also include the heads of the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Food Programme (WFP), Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO). Additional
organizations will also be invited to join the group.
The UN
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced
that it will provide US$ 200 million for poor farmers during the
upcoming cropping season. Lennart Båge, IFAD President, highlighted that
"poor rural farmers are central to any solution to today's global food
crisis and the long-term problems of hunger and poverty." He called for
a three-pronged strategy: providing emergency food aid to feed the
hungry today; supporting, in the short term, smallholder farmers to plan
next season's crops; and longer-term investment in agriculture to ensure
food security, nutrition and rural development.
The World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced plans to provide
approximately 10,000 farmers in five African countries with low-cost
rain gauge equipment and seminars by agricultural experts. With the
Government of Spain, WMO will work with volunteer farmers in Burkina
Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, training them to use rainfall
data to plan sowing, fertilizer application and harvesting.
The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) has
emphasized the role that drought and unsustainable water management have
played in the current problem, and will play in resolving the food
crisis. Director of the UN/ISDR Secretariat Sálvano Briceño, highlighted
the need for "a genuine mindset and policy shift towards the ethos that
prevention is better than cure, and serious political and economic
commitment to saving harvests and lives on a global economic level."
Meanwhile,
World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran has warned
that soaring food prices across the globe are threatening WFP's efforts
to feed the world's hungry.
Links to
further information
UN News Center, 25 April 2008 (IFAD story)
UN News Center, 25 April 2008 (UN/ISDR)
UN News Center, 28 April 2008 (WMO)
UN News Center, 30 April 2008 (Task Force)
PESTICIDE BANS DO NOT REDUCE AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT –
STUDY
A Sri Lankan study on the impacts of banning insecticides monocrotophos,
methamidophos, and endosulfan found no reduction in agricultural
productivity. The chemicals were banned in the 1990s in an effort to
reduce fatal poisonings and suicides. The study, which was published in
the April 2008 issue of the journal, Environmental Health
Perspectives,
concluded, that where
affordable substitutes exist for pest control, there is no significant
impact on agricultural output.
Link to
more information
Article, April 2008
WFP CALLS FOR US$ 750 MILLION TO FEED WORLD'S HUNGRY
On 18 April 2008,
the World Food Programme (WFP) indicated it would need an additional US$
756 million to meet its commitment to feed 73 million hungry people this
year. The dollar figure represents an increase of over US$ 250 million
since a WFP announcement in February, which was itself on top of an
initial 2008 appeal for US$2.9 billion to carry out its efforts. The
appeal for additional funds is in response to increasing food prices.
Link to further
information
UN News Centre, 18 April 2008
IAASTD REPORT SAYS
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES MUST BE REVISED TO BENEFIT THE WORLD'S POOR
Modern agricultural practices must change
to better serve the poor if the world is to cope with a growing
population and climate change, according to the Synthesis Report of the
International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for
Development (IAASTD), released on 15 April 2008. The report is the
result of three years of cooperation between nearly 400 scientists.
Global and sub-Global "Summaries for Decision Makers" and an "Executive
Summary of the Synthesis Report" were approved at an Intergovernmental
Plenary that met from 7-12 April 2008, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Synthesis Report integrates the key findings from the Global and
five sub-Global assessments, and focuses on eight topics: bioenergy;
biotechnology; climate change; human health; natural resource
management; traditional knowledge and community based innovation; trade
and markets; and women in agriculture. The report primarily addresses
how agricultural knowledge, science and technology can be used to reduce
hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and facilitate equitable
environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development. The
report suggests that the way to meet this challenge is to put in place
institutional, economic and legal frameworks that combine productivity
with the protection and conservation of natural resources, while meeting
production needs. The IAASTD was sponsored by several UN agencies,
including the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Environment
Programme and World Bank.
Links to further information
The
IAASTD reports
UN news release, 15 April 2008
ISO TO DEVELOP AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT STANDARD
The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) has launched a project to develop an international
standard for energy management, following the successful examples of the
ISO 9000 series on quality management and the ISO 14000 series on
environmental management. The creation of a project committee (referred
to as ISO/PC 242) signals the first step in the development of the
standard, which is expected to provide a practical and widely recognized
approach to increasing energy efficiency, reducing costs and improving
environmental performance by addressing both the technical and
management aspects of rational energy use. It will also offer
organizations with operations in more than one country a single,
harmonized standard for implementation across the organization, and
provide a logical and consistent methodology for identifying and
implementing improvements that may contribute to a continual increase in
energy efficiency across facilities. The standard is intended to be
broadly applicable to various sectors of national economies, including
utility, manufacturing, commercial building, general commerce and
transportation sectors, and therefore could have influence on as much as
60 percent of the world's energy demand. A working group meeting
co-organized by UNIDO and the China Standard Certification Service
convened in Beijing, China, on 9-11 April 2008, and the secretariat of
ISO/PC 242 will be held jointly by the ISO members for the United States
and Brazil: ANSI (American National Standardization Institute) and ABNT
(Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas).
Links to
further information
ISO press release, 27 March 2008
Working
Group Meeting: Towards an International Energy Management System
Standard, Beijing, China, on 9-11 April 2008
NEGLECTING AGRICULTURE MAY DRIVE 218 MILLION TO
POVERTY – UNESCAP REPORT
On 27 March, Noeleen Heyzer,
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and
Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and
India's
Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath launched the Economic and
Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008 in New Delhi, India. The
Report emphasizes that continued neglect of agriculture in Asia and
Pacific is estimated to be driving 218 million people to exacerbated
poverty, while increasing the gap between the rich and the poor.
According to Heyzer, the rising prices of food commodities reinforce the
message of the report on the need to revitalize the agriculture sector,
making it economically and socially viable, while contributing to
poverty reduction efforts. The report further notes the need to
implement land reforms, create opportunities for the poor or small
producers to access markets and diversify their skills, and facilitate
access to loans and insurance mechanisms.
Links to further
information
UN News Centre, 27 March
ESCAP Press Release, Press Release No. G/11/2008
MARCH 2008
WSSCC LAUNCHES
GLOBAL SANITATION FUND
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) has
announced the 14 March 2008 launch of a Global Sanitation Fund. This
Fund will seek to help poor people to attain safe and sustainable
sanitation services and adopt good hygiene practices, and thus
contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal
sanitation target by 2015. WSSCC reports that the Global Sanitation Fund
is the first "global mechanism for financing sanitation."
Link to further information
WSSCC website
FIVE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS DEVELOP NEW
AGRICULTURAL WATER STRATEGY
Five international organizations (the World Bank, the African
Development Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the
International Fund for Agricultural Development and the International
Water Management Institute) have launched a new agricultural water
initiative. The "Initiative for Agricultural Water in Africa" was
prepared for the New Partnership for Africa (NEPAD), and launched during
the First African Water Week, held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 26-28 March
2008. The Initiative aims to provide a platform to support agricultural
water in the region and will bring together financing instruments
including loans, grants and other multilateral and bilateral funding in
order to aid governments in improving water management.
Link to further
information
World Bank press release, 28 March 2008
UNDP-SUPPORTED WIND
ENERGY FACILITY OPENS IN ECUADOR
Ecuador officially opened a US$ 10.8
million wind energy facility on the island of San Cristóbal on 10 March
2008, as part of an effort to end the oil dependence of its Galápagos
Islands. The San Cristóbal Wind Project is a partnership between Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the US, as well as the Government
of Ecuador, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and nine of the world's
largest electric companies. The Project is the first stage of a
programme called 'Renewable electrification of the Galapagos' (ERGAL),
which seeks to lower Ecuador's energy-related CO2 emissions by
introducing photovoltaic and wind energy. ERGAL also seeks to
substantially reduce the volume of diesel fuel shipped to the Galápagos
for electricity generation, to decrease the risk of an oil spill that
could damage the biodiversity in and around the coastal ecosystem of the
islands.
Links to further information
People and Planet.net, 10 March 2008
UNDP Ecuador website
UNCCD DEVELOPS
PARTNERSHIPS ON AFRICA AND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
has recently entered into two new partnership agreements. On 7 March
2008, Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD Executive Secretary, and Abdoulie Janneh,
Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA),
signed a Memorandum of Understanding between their two organizations,
through which they will address a number of issues, including science,
technology, knowledge management, capacity building, financing and
technology transfer, advocacy, awareness raising and education. They
will also work with African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic
Development in mainstreaming issues of land degradation, desertification
and drought in national sustainable development strategies, poverty
reduction strategy papers and other sectoral and crosssectoral policies
and programmes.
On 12-14 March 2008, the Secretariat hosted
a meeting jointly organized by CGIAR (Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research) Centers ICARDA (International
Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) and ICRISAT
(International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) to
finalize a global proposal for a science program to combat
agriculturally-caused dryland degradation and desertification. This
program is called the "Oasis Challenge Program," and will be submitted
to the CGIAR Science Council and Executive Council for consideration.
The programme will focus on integrating bio-physical with socio-economic
science through alliances with stakeholders to build their capacities
while ensuring that the outputs meet their needs and can be scaled-up
for global impact.
Links to further information
ECA press release, 7 March 2008
UNCCD website on Oasis Challenge Program
FEBRUARY 2008
SWISS RE INVITES ReSOURCE AWARD 2009 APPLICATIONS
Swiss Re, the world's leading reinsurer, has invited applications for
its "ReSource Award 2009." The award was established in 2002 as an
annual competition for innovative watershed management projects and is
worth US$150,000, which will be granted to one or several projects
selected by an international jury. NGOs, private, scientific or public
institutions and similar bodies are invited to apply by 31 May 2008.
Link to
further information
Swiss Re ReSource Award webpage
MARCH 2008
TWO GROUPS
BACK INDUSTRY WITHDRAWAL FROM IAASTD
Two groups, The Scientific Alliance and the Public Research & Regulation
Initiative (PRRI), have posted responses backing the decision by
industry representatives to end their participation in the International
Assessment of Agricultural Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD)
and the subsequent editorial in Nature urging them to continue
participating. In its "Open letter to the organisations and governments
involved" in IAASTD, PRRI suggests that IAASTD "rewrite the chapter on
biotechnology by a group of experts
and with the objective to actively
and critically explore how agricultural knowledge, science, and
technology can contribute to meeting goals such as reducing hunger and
poverty, improving health and livelihoods, and facilitating
sustainability with the active of biotechnology, especially from the
public sector."
Links to
further information
PRRI Open Letter, January 2008
The
Scientific Alliance Newsletter, 1 February 2008
IAASTD website
The
East African Standard news story, 3 February 2008
UNDESA AND UNDP ORGANIZE e-DISCUSSION ON ACHIEVING
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and UN
Development Programme (UNDP) are organizing a moderated e-discussion on
Achieving Sustainable Development. The discussion, which will
take place from 4 February to 14 March 2008, is part of a larger global
consultation process for the 2008 Annual Ministerial Review, which will
take place in July 2008.
Link to further
information
e-Discussion website
JANUARY 2008
UNDP and Cadbury team up for sustainable cocoa farming
Cadbury has announced the establishment of
the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, together with the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Ghanaian Government, which will seek to secure
the sustainable livelihoods of a million farmers in cocoa-growing
communities across Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean. Cadbury is
expected to invest US$ 2 million in 2008 to establish the Partnership,
with annual funding levels rising to US$ 10 million by 2010. The
majority of the funds will be invested in Ghana, where the Partnership
is designed to help cocoa farmers increase their cocoa yields, as well
as introducing new sources of rural income through microfinance and
investing in community-led development ranging from schools to
biodiversity protection projects. This public-private partnership will
take on a bottom-up model, with farmers, non-governmental organizations,
governments and UNDP working together to determine how best to turn
plans into sustainable action.
Link to further information
UNDP News release, 28 January 2008
MicroCapital Press Release, 29 January 2008
Cadbury Press Release, 28 January 2008
TWO AGRI-BIOTECH FIRMS
PULL OUT OF INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Monsanto and Syngenta, two agri-biotech firms, have indicated that they
will no longer participate in the International Assessment of
Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which is
due to be completed this year. IAASTD is a multi-year project that is
seeking to evaluate the relevance, quality and effectiveness of
agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST), along with the
effectiveness of public and private sector policies as well as
institutional arrangements in relation to AKST. The Assessment has
emerged from an international consultative process set in place
following a proposal by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the
World Bank, in August 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, to develop an international assessment of the role of
agricultural science and technology. Some 4,000 experts have been
engaged in the development of a Global Assessment and five Sub-global
Assessments. According to CropLife International, an industry
association to which Monsanto and Syngenta belong, their decision was
based on their inability to get industry perspectives reflected in the
draft reports.
Links to further information
Nature, 17 January 2008
International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for
Development website
EU TO
SET ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA FOR BIOFUELS
Environment Commissioner
Stavros Dimas said the EU will be setting sustainability criteria for
biofuels, including environmental and social criteria, despite the EU
target to cover at least 10% of transport fuel from biofuels by 2020.
According to Dimas, the EU had initially underestimated the danger to
rainforests and the risk of forcing up food prices. The announcement
came following a letter from a group of NGOs called on Energy
Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to introduce tougher standards for biofuel
production or give up mandatory transport biofuels targets altogether.
Links to further
information
EurActiv.com News, 11 January 2008
Reuters News Service, 15 January 2008
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SANITATION COMMENCES
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the start of International Year
of Sanitation 2008 on 2 January 2008. The year will seek to draw
attention to the conditions for over 40 percent of the world's
population who live without proper sanitation. The International Year
was established by the UN General Assembly in December 2006 to speed
progress towards achieving the seventh Millennium Development Goal,
which sets the objective of halving the proportion of people without
sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Among
the events to be organized will be those that commemorate Sanitation and
Hygiene Week from 15-21 March and World Water day on 22 March.
Link to further information
UN News Centre, 2 January 2008
up to top
