United Nations System Publications on Climate Change

Leadership in environmental protection requires consensus among a wide variety of stakeholders, sometimes with widely diverging interests, on highly complex social, economic and technological issues. As the global forum for international civil aviation, ICAO has succeeded for more than forty years in bringing the world together around increasingly stringent regulations for noise at airports and aircraft engine emissions, yet more must be done.

The separation in practice of the climate change and development agendas has distorted the global debate on the two biggest policy challenges facing the international community. According to the World Economic and Social Survey 2009, an integrated approach based on the concept of sustainable development is urgently needed.

To understand better the potential impacts and associated dangers of global climate change, Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) offers this Third Assessment Report (TAR) on the state of knowledge concerning the sensitivity, adaptability, and vulnerability of physical, ecological, and social systems to climate change.

This report on Definitions and Methodological Options to Inventory Emissions from Direct Human-induced Degradation of Forests and Devegetation of Other Vegetation Types is the response from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to an invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) .

The fourth report in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) series from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides a comprehensive, scientifically credible, policy-relevant and up-to-date assessment of, and outlook for, the state of the global environment. GEO-4 is published 20 years after the landmark World Commission on Sustainable Developments Bruntland Report of 1987.

The fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific, held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 24 to 29 March 2005, concentrated on achieving environmentally sustainable economic growth, or “Green Growth”. I am very pleased to acknowledge that it was a landmark conference for the future of our region.

The most recent analysis of the UN's performance in implementing the UN's Climate Neutral Strategy. The report includes the details of the greenhouse gas emissions for 52 organizations in 2009, as well as a breakdown of emissions by activity. It also details progress in reducing emissions and plans for the future. The a Foreword by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and a Preface by the UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner, this report is the first and last word in the UN's sustainability performance to date.

This Synthesis Report with its Summary for Policymakers is the fourth and final part of the Third Assessment Report (TAR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It draws together and integrates for the benefit of policy makers, and others, and in response to questions identified by governments and subsequently agreed by the IPCC, information that has been approved and/ or accepted by the IPCC.

The Climate Change Science Compendium is a review of some 400 major scientific contributions to our understanding of Earth Systems and climate that have been released through peer-reviewed literature or from research institutions over the last three years, since the close of research for consideration by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report

A growing number of multilateral development organizations and international agencies are now using programmatic approaches to more effectively support developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Yet the programmatic approach is not a new modality for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). At its meeting in December 1999, the GEF Council supported the evolution of GEF support to emphasize synergistic programs that transcend national borders.

Only six years ago, in 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the world’s Governments reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding the environment for future generations. They did not anticipate just how soon the situation would deteriorate. We face a daily barrage of bad news: accelerated climate change, natural disasters, food shortages.

GEF projects have been a catalytic force for change, helping to deepen decision makers’ understanding of how to develop an adaptation project and integrate adaptation measures into development sectors. Thanks to the LDCF’s and SCCF’s pioneering work, we have financed projects that have balanced the GEF’s mandate on adaptation with the development mandate of our implementing agencies. Today we have early results to show for this successful collaboration.

This study makes use of the carbon footprint calculators developed by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). This includes both the UN Carbon Footprint Calculator as well as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Flight Calculator. This study covers carbon emissions that arise due to activities under the direct operational control of WHO. This includes emissions over which the organisation’s offices have influence as well as various, but not all, indirect carbon emissions that arise due to its activities:

Between now and 2030, world energy demand is projected to grow by 1.6 percent annually, adding up to a dramatic 45 percent increase. Meanwhile, energy demand in developing and transition countries is predicted to grow even faster than in developed countries. Such rapidly growing energy demand is particularly challenging given that most of the world’s population still relies on energy from limited fossil fuel sources and traditional biomass.

Climate change is now recognized as one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, and protecting health from its impacts is an emerging priority for the public health community. Further, the potential range and magnitude of associated health risks should be central to the rationale for actions to mitigate the occurrence of climate change. Research in this field is increasing, but it is still comparatively weak in relation to the complexity of the issue and the magnitude of the health risks that may arise from inadequate or inappropriate responses.

An Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This underlying report, adopted section by section at IPCC Plenary XXVII (Valencia, Spain, 12-17 November 2007),represents the formally agreed statement of the IPCC concerning key findings and uncertainties contained in the Working Group contributions to the Fourth Assessment Report.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) developed long-term emission scenarios in 1990 and 1992. These scenarios have been widely used in the analysis of possible climate change, its impacts, and options to mitigate climate change. In 1995, the IPCC 1992 scenarios were evaluated. The evaluation recommended that significant changes (since 1992) in the understanding of driving forces of emissions and methodologies should be addressed.

This handbook is designed to serve as a guide those engaged in the task of mainstreaming poverty-environment linkages into national development planning. it draws on a substantial body of experience at the country level and many lessons learned by UNDP and UNEP in working with governments - especially ministries of planning, finance and environment - to support efforts to integrate the complex interrelationship between poverty reduction and improved environmental management into national planning and decision-making

We live in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, in which economic, social, environmental, and cultural boundaries and impacts are difficult to define. In this global commons, forests represent a truly unique natural resource, covering nearly 30 per cent of our planet’s land area. They help counter climate change, protect biodiversity, and ensure the livelihoods of billions.

Migration not infrequently gets a bad press. Negative stereotypes portraying migrants as ‘stealing our jobs’ or ‘scrounging off the taxpayer’ abound in sections of the media and public opinion, especially in times of recession. For others, the word ‘migrant’ may evoke images of people at their most vulnerable. This year’s Human Development Report, Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development, challenges such stereotypes. It seeks to broaden and rebalance perceptions of migration to reflect a more complex and highly variable reality.

The Assessment is of current scientific understanding of the impacts of climate change on natural, managed and human systems, the capacity of these systems to adapt and their vulnerability. It builds upon past IPCC assessments and incorporates new knowledge gained since the Third Assessment.

This Special Report was prepared following a request from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The state of understanding of the relevant science of the atmosphere, aviation technology, and socio-economic issues associated with mitigation options is assessed and reported for both subsonic and supersonic fleets.

Challenge and opportunity characterize the award of the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing. China's rapid economic development, with GDP growing at more than 11 per cent per year, has generated widespread concern about the environmental implications for China and the world, both within China and throughout the international community. In response, the Government of China has instituted a growing number of environmental initiatives and legislation designed to promote environmental sustainability as part of the country's ambitious growth strategy.

Vulnerable countries, communities, and ecosystems are already feeling the effects of climate change, as sea levels and temperature rise, rainfall patterns change, and extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, storms, and other natural disasters, occur more frequently and intensively. These events not only adversely affect core development needs, such as access to drinking water, food security, irrigation, and health, but also entire ecosystems on which all life forms depend— and they exact the heaviest toll on poor people.

Under the leadership of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) has initiated a process of aligning its strengths to achieve a coordinated action-oriented approach to the global and multifaceted challenge of climate change.