Co-Chair Johann Dengg
gaveled the joint meeting to a close at 1:58 p.m.
On the last day of the
European Forest Week, Friday, 24 October 2008, the joint meeting of the
Sixty-sixth session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Timber
Committee and Thirty-fourth session of the FAO European Forestry Commission met
in plenary to consider their collaborative work, and conclude the meeting.
Concurrently, the UNECE Water Convention Working Group on Integrated Water
Resources Management met and concluded its work. Plenary reconvened briefly in
the afternoon to adopt the report of the joint meeting and the joint market
statement.
Joint FAO and UNECE European Forest Week Organizing Team.
The joint meeting of the
Sixty-sixth session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Timber
Committee and Thirty-fourth session of the FAO European Forestry Commission met
for its third day on Thursday, 23 October 2008. In the morning, participants
met in plenary to consider “Forests and Water.” In the afternoon, plenary
reconvened to approve the strategic plan 2008-2013 of the joint UNECE Timber
Committee and FAO European Forest Commission program of work, and the Working
Group on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) resumed its work.
Chair Johann Georg Dengg (Germany) gaveled the joint UNECE Timber Committee and FAO European Forestry Commission Market Discussions to a close.
The joint
meeting of the Sixty-sixth session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE) Timber Council and Thirty-fourth session of the FAO European Forestry
Commission met for its second day on Wednesday, 22 October 2008. During the
morning, participants met in plenary and in a parallel meeting of the UNECE
Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management that also met in the
afternoon.
L-R: Christer Segersteen, CEPF; Teresa Presas, Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI); and Carole Saint-Laurent, IUCN
The first European Forest Week opened on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, in Rome, Italy, during the joint meeting of the Sixty-sixth session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Timber Committee and the Thirty-fourth session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) European Forestry Commission. During the morning, plenary heard opening statements, addressed organizational matters, and considered the topic of Forests and Climate Change. In the afternoon, participants met in parallel policy dialogues, and the Timber Committee’s Market Discussions.
Events to mark the European Forest Week, which was mandated by the 2007 Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe, kicked-off across Europe on Monday 20 October 2008. A day-long workshop hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on the “Roles of Wood in Green Building and Green Building Effects on the Forest Sector in the UNECE Region,” constituted the first of several events scheduled to take place in Rome, Italy.
Moderator John Drexhage (right), Director of
the Climate and Energy Program at IISD, stated that the real contribution of
the Kyoto Protocol will be that it was the first international agreement to
send a price signal on carbon.
The aim of the discussion was to help focus attention on market-based mechanisms, carbon taxes and other policies and measures being considered by policy makers and negotiators working to establish a framework to address climate change. The deadline for a new international agreement has been set for December 2009, when delegates will gather for a major UN conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.The aim of the discussion was to help focus attention on market-based mechanisms, carbon taxes and other policies and measures being considered by policy makers and negotiators working to establish a framework to address climate change. The deadline for a new international agreement has been set for December 2009, when delegates will gather for a major UN conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The event at Columbia University was organized by the Earth Institute and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Nearly one hundred and fifty people were in attendance, and others viewed and participated in the event via live webcast, with the speakers fielding questions from web participants in Canada, Kenya and Rwanda. The webcast is available online at: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1775
Jeffrey Sachs argued that simple approaches, such as carbon taxes, should replace
attempts to design complex financial instruments.
A high-level discussion on the role of the Kyoto
Protocol’s flexible mechanisms was held at Columbia University in New York, US,
on Thursday, 9 October 2008. The event took as its theme, “The Kyoto
Mechanisms: Key to Combating Climate Change?”
Much of the two-hour event involved a discussion between Yvo de Boer, Executive
Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and
Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. These
two key speakers and other experts debated whether the Kyoto mechanisms or
carbon taxes are the best approach to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
During
the “Class of 2015: Education for All” launch, Bono, rock musician, pledged to “continue to be a pain
in the ass to those who make commitments and don't keep them.”
Two High-Level meetings and over 50 partnership events took place on 22-25 October 2008, at UN Headquarters in New York, during the general debate of the sixty-third session of the UN General Assembly. A High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on Africa’s Development Needs took place on 22 September 2008, under the theme “Africa’s development needs: state of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward.” On 25 September 2008, the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly convened a High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which evaluated progress towards achieving the goals at the halfway point towards the 2015 target. Parthership events were held from 22-25 September on issues related to Africa’s development and the MDGs with the participation of heads of state, directors of key inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and various celebrities committed to development.
UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
(centre), flanked by Bono (left) and
Jeffrey Sachs (right), during the
launch of the Irish Hunger Commission Report.
The High-Level Event on the Millennium
Development Goals took place at the United Nations headquarters on Thursday. In
the morning, heads of state and government gathered in the General Assembly for
the opening session, followed by parallel roundtables on poverty, health and
the environment. The roundtables resumed in the afternoon, followed by the
closing plenary session. Participants attended high-level partnership events
throughout the day to discuss related issues, including: the eradication of
malaria; education; gender equality; maternal and child health; and the launch
of the Irish Hunger Commission Report.
UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon (centre) with Lech Kaczyński (left), President of
Poland, and Anders Fogh Rasmussen
(right), Prime Minister of Denmark, in a climate change press conference.
The second day of partnership events took place at United Nations headquarters and nearby venues in New York, Wednesday, in conjunction with the High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals, which is to take place on 25 September 2008. Participants included heads of state, ministers, and the heads of major international development-related organizations.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development – Reporting Services Division – provides a variety of multimedia informational resources for environment and sustainable development policymakers, including daily coverage of international negotiations, analyses and photos. Learn more: http://www.iisd.ca/
