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UN Climate Change Conference delivers balanced package of decisions The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, ended on 11 December with the adoption of a balanced package of decisions that set all governments more firmly on the path towards a low-emissions future and support enhanced action on climate change in the developing world. The package, dubbed the "Cancún Agreements" was welcomed to repeated loud and prolonged applause and acclaim by Parties in the final plenary. "Cancún has done its job. The beacon of hope has been reignited and faith in the multilateral climate change process to deliver results has been restored," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. The outcome is an "important success for a world much in need of it," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement following the conclusion of the two-week meeting. More... Watch the archived webcast of the Conference. en1 UN climate change chief urges nations to act on Cancún agreements The United Nations climate change chief called on countries to follow up on the recent conference in Cancún with higher global emissions cuts and the rapid launch of new institutions and funds. The agreements reached at the conference, which concluded in the Mexican city of Cancún on 11 December, include formalizing mitigation pledges and ensuring increased accountability for them, as well as taking concrete action to tackle deforestation, which accounts for nearly one-fifth of global carbon emissions. UN authorizes new body to stem loss of ecosystems vital to life A new international body aimed at reversing the unprecedented loss of species and ecosystems vital to life on Earth due to human activity has passed its final hurdle with approval by the United Nations General Assembly. In a resolution adopted by consensus, the Assembly yesterday called on the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to take the necessary steps to set up the Intergovernmental Science Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the final approval needed for the body for which the groundwork had been laid at UNEP-sponsored meetings earlier this year. Cancún agreement puts climate change negotiations ‘back on track’ The outcome of the United Nations climate change conference in Cancún, Mexico, has put the negotiation process back on track, a UN official said, outlining some of the key agreements reached at the meeting. Progress was made on “all fronts” that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had identified before the conference, Robert Orr, the Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning and Policy Coordination, told reporters at UN Headquarters. Images from space enhance UN efforts to promote sustainable development on Earth From shrinking glaciers and forests to the ravages of mining and urban sprawl, the United Nations is using satellites in space to help chart a course for sustainable development on Earth with an ecological map of the world’s most biologically diverse region, Latin America and the Caribbean. The map, “Latin America and the Caribbean – Atlas of our changing environment,” released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), combines over 200 precise and striking satellite images with analysis based on rigorous data in the first effort to examine changes taking place in the region's environment. |
