General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Global, concerted action was immediately needed to halt greenhouse gas emissions, put a price tag on carbon and catalyse green growth, the General Assembly heard today, concluding its High-level Event on Climate Change.

Welcoming what he called a “gratifying shift” in the climate change dialogue, the President of Kiribati today urged the international community to ponder ways to further contribute to that positive development, as the General Assembly held a high-level event to provide impetus towards reaching a universal and ambitious agreement in Paris in December.

Closing its resumed 2015 session today, the Special Committee on decolonization examined two Non-Self-Governing Territories, New Caledonia and French Polynesia, and approved resolutions reaffirming the right of the peoples of those Territories to determine their own future.

Approving the appropriation of almost $8.3 billion for 15 peacekeeping operations and a related text that took action on recent allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, the General Assembly today adopted 22 resolutions and one decision contained in reports from its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

The Special Committee on decolonization today approved a resolution calling for the peaceful settlement of the “Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), as delegates urged an end to the “festering” dispute that had long plagued the South Atlantic islands and surrounding territories.

Concluding its second resumed session, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today sent 22 draft resolutions and one decision to the General Assembly, asking the world body to authorize the allocation of $8.26 billion to finance 15 peacekeeping missions for the year beginning 1 July 2015 and to take action on a number of pressing issues, including responding to recent allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Peacebuilding Commission today underscored the importance of predictable sustained funding and the effectiveness of domestic resource mobilization at its second-ever annual session.

Swift action must be taken to end the “dangerous status quo” in Western Sahara and to finally grant independence to the “last African colony”, the Special Committee of 24 heard today, as it approved five draft resolutions on a range of items on its agenda.

Puerto Rico remained locked in a cycle of poverty, brain drain and sluggish economic development caused by the “imperialist” policies of the United States, the Special Committee of 24 was told today as it heard from more than 30 petitioners on the matter and approved a resolution urging the United States to allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.

Addressing a range of items on its agenda, the General Assembly today adopted five resolutions and one decision, including texts on the Law of Sea, on the establishment of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict and on achieving peace in Africa by 2020.