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by Jose Miguel Insulza Salinas, Secretary General of the Organization of American States
The_world’s leaders will reconvene in Rio in June 2012 for the 20th anniversary of the original UN Conference on Environment and Development (i.e. Earth Summit). As we look ahead to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), the Organization of American States (OAS) recently held a Dialogue among energy and climate change experts and representatives from countries of the Americas. The moderator of that session posed the question: what can we expect out of Rio+20 and how might that impact the energy sector and the environment in the Western Hemisphere? continued... |
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2_April_2012: Convened by the Government of Bhutan and held at UN Headquarters in New York, the meeting “Happiness and Well-being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm” brought together hundreds of representatives from governments, religious organizations, academia and civil society. continued... |
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2_April_2012: The International Energy Agency (IEA), in partnership with EMBARQ, a division of the World Resources Institute (WRI), has launched the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Database, a database of bus transport systems from over 130 cities worldwide. continued... |
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1_April_2012: The latest issue of “DESA News,” the newsletter of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), presents an overview of developments in March related to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), including the intensifying negotiations on the "zero draft" of the Rio+20 outcome document. continued... |
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23_March_2012: The NGO Branch of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has announced an open call for written and oral statements for the 2012 High Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). continued... |
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15_March_2012: The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women opened at UN Headquarters in New York on 27 February 2012 and was scheduled to have concluded on 9 March. Protracted negotiations on the agreed conclusions extend its work by one week, but the session closed without a final document. continued... |
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March_2012: The the ninth issue of the quarterly magazine of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), titled “Making It: Industry for Development,” focuses on the theme “Our low-carbon future.” continued... |
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2_April_2012: In a high-level meeting on “Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm,” organized by the Government of Bhutan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the importance of integrating human happiness into a new framework for sustainable development. continued... |
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2_April_2012: According to a new UN-backed report, the use of broadband in information and communication technology (ICT) can support a global transition to a low carbon-economy by mitigating, and adapting to, the effects of climate change. continued... |
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30_March_2012: In a lecture on the green economy, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner argued that a transformational outcome at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) could begin to counter the “persistent, evolving and emerging crises.” continued... |
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29_March_2012: The World Bank has approved two Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants totaling US$19.8 million to support reduction of dioxins from the pulp and paper industry and promote eco-transport development in city clusters in China. continued... |
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21_March_2012: The Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Marlene Moses, has highlighted the Alliance’s three main objectives for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), including achievement of the recognition of the special challenges of small island developing states (SIDS) in development and environmental degradation. continued... |
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March_2012: The Rio+20 Issues Cluster on Innovation has published the March 2012 Informal Rio+20 Issues Brief on Innovation, titled “Innovation for Sustainable Development,” which highlights innovation as a horizontal thematic priority for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). continued... |
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March_2012: The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) has published a compilation of the proposals on technology transfer presented by parties within the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) negotiations. continued... |
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2_April_2012: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a series of user guides to support the design of pro-poor programmes and policies in ways that consider social diversity. continued... |
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30_March_2012: In her address to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Arab States Regional Meeting of Resident Representatives in Rabat, Morocco, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark highlighted that, despite achievements and progress made on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a lot of work still remains to be done before 2015, including reduction of extreme and absolute poverty, food insecurity and poor nutrition. continued... |
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29_March_2012: The biannual meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) convened a high-level panel on how to leverage the outcomes of the 2012 Planet Under Pressure Conference to inform the GEF process. continued... |
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24_March_2012: At its eighth meeting, the Chemical Review Committee (CRC) of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for certain hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in international trade (Rotterdam Convention) considered final regulatory notifications for two new chemicals, namely trichlorfon and dicofol, and recommended that the Conference of the Parties (COP) list penta- and octa brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs), as well as PFOS and paraquat in its PIC Procedure. continued... |
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21_March_2012: The second meeting of the Environment Ministers of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) adopted a "Lima Declaration" agreeing on joint actions on environmental policy, including annual Environmental Ministerials and closer coordination in implementing multilateral environment agreements (MEAs). They also recommended that ACTO form a special working group to draft a common strategy to combat illegal mining in the Amazon Basin. continued... |
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