August: UNCCD: New official reports and documents for the ninth session of the COP have been uploaded onto the UNCCD Website in the last three weeks. They include the: Executive Secretary’s report on the implementation of the ten-year strategy; Programme and Budget for the biennium 2010-2011; the review of available information regarding the financing of the implementation of the Convention multilateral agencies, including the Global Environment Facility; Secretariat’s note on promotion and strengthening of relationships with other relevant institutions; and the background document for the panel discussions during the high-level segment. [View and download the reports]
August: UNCCD/CFC/FAO: African Drylands Commodity Atlas: The UNCCD secretariat, the Common Fund For Commodities (CFC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have launched the first African Drylands Commodity Atlas. The Atlas highlights the importance of commodities for primary agricultural production in African countries. It enhances the understanding of national policy makers in dryland Least Developed Countries (LDCs), development partners and other stakeholders on the possibilities and potential opportunities to achieve poverty reduction through environmentally sustainable and economically profitable commodity production drylands. [Download the atlas]

Africa Partnership Forum: Special Forum on Climate Change: Representatives of The African Union Commission, the NEPAD Secretariat, the Economic Commission for Africa and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation gathered today in Addis Ababa to finalize the preparations for the African Partnership Forum (APF) special session on climate change which is scheduled on 3 September 2009 in Addis Ababa. The APF is a AU/NEPAD Secretariat/OECD led initiative, aiming at strengthening partnership efforts towards Africa’s development. Its upcoming special session will focus on Africa’s concerns and expectations in the negotiations on a new post-Kyoto agreement on climate change. [More information]
UNEP: SASAKAWA PRIZE: The search is on for individuals or institutions engaged in creative, groundbreaking initiatives that demonstrate real and tangible differences to the communities they serve. In a year that will see global leaders meet in Copenhagen for the most important climate conference since 1997, the 2010 UNEP Sasakawa Prize is focused on the theme: Green Solutions to Combat Climate Change. UNEP is looking to recognize and reward projects that promote adaptation and mitigation through clean energy and clean technologies, including waste reduction, management and recycling; rural energy, including renewables and sustainable biomass; and ecosystem management to help build adaptive capacity and resilience to the inevitable impacts of climate change. The winner will receive US$ 200 000 prize at an Award Ceremony and Reception to be held in February 2010, in Bali, Indonesia. [More information] [Nominate an individual/institution]
CBD Secretariat Invites Comments on GBO-3: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is inviting comments by governments, non-governmental organizations, institutions, members of universities and scientific bodies, and individuals on the first draft of the third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3). Comments are invited until 1 October 2009. Among its main arguments, the Outlook calls for addressing with equal priority and in close coordination the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change, in order to avoid the most severe impacts of each. The draft GBO-3 recognizes that it comes at a time when “the world’s focus is fixed as never before on the great challenge of climate change” and suggests it is the appropriate time to evaluate and communicate the critical role of biodiversity in limiting both the scale and impacts of the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The authors also underline the opportunities to meet simultaneously these two linked challenges. GBO-3 argues for tackling biodiversity loss and climate change in tandem, bearing in mind the following four principal messages: climate change will drive biodiversity loss, and moderating climate change will, in the long term, safeguard ecosystem services; protecting biodiversity will also help to moderate climate change; protecting biodiversity will help us adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change; and climate change and biodiversity must be considered together to avoid perverse outcomes. GBO-3 aims to provide an assessment of the progress made in meeting the 2010 Biodiversity Target and will be an important tool in informing the policy process and international biodiversity commitments during the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010. [Draft GBO-3]
UNCCD Secretariat Invites Comments on Draft Water Policy Advocacy Framework: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has invited comments on a draft Water Policy Advocacy Framework, which seeks to provide a framework for the Secretariat to advocate for the development of water resource management policies at country level. The Framework was developed on the understanding that, although parties to the UNCCD have water policies in place, special attention needs to be paid to the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) on the availability, accessibility and management of water resources in light of: potential future global water crisis associated with climate change; current and emerging challenges, including poverty eradication and food insecurity, as they relate to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and the UNCCD Strategy’s strategic objective to improve the livelihoods of the populations of the drylands. Parties and stakeholders are invited to review the draft Framework and submit their views and comments to the Secretariat before 14 September 2009. [Draft water policy advocacy framework] [Draft framework webpage]
CBD Secretariat Calls for Comments on Draft Scientific Synthesis on the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is inviting participation in the peer review of the draft report “Scientific Synthesis on the Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity.” The report was prepared by the CBD Secretariat in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), with funding from the Government of Spain, by compiling and synthesizing available scientific information on ocean acidification and its impacts on marine biodiversity and habitats. Upon the completion of the peer-review and further revision, this report will be made available for consideration at the upcoming 14th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the CBD, scheduled to take place in May 2010. Comments and suggestions on the draft report are to be made to the CBD Secretariat by 15 September 2009. [The draft report] [The notification]