Meetings Coverage

At a historic summit meeting presided over by President Barack Obama of the United States and addressed by 13 other Heads of State and Government, the Security Council pledged its backing this morning for broad progress on long-stalled efforts to staunch the proliferation of nuclear weapons and ensure reductions in existing weapons stockpiles, as well as control of fissile material.

A high-level commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) today highlighted not only the stabilizing presence of an Agency created in 1949 to carry out direct relief for Palestine refugees, but the ongoing hardships endured by more than 4.5 million people.

To effectively tackle terrorism, entrenched poverty and the threat of weapons proliferation, a more equitable multilateral system that valued diversity and fostered a “climate of dialogue” was urgently needed, world leaders attending the General Assembly’s annual debate stressed today, as they pushed for a more democratic United Nations.

Amid signs that countries were slowly pulling back from the brink of recession, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today cautioned world leaders attending the General Assembly’s annual debate that serious challenges remained, and that tackling the fallout from ongoing crises in food, energy and climate would require nothing less than rising to the call of an exceptional moment in history.

Emphasizing the pivotal role of the world’s forests in preventing runaway environmental catastrophe, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this afternoon that immediate action on reducing deforestation was a critical part of the solution to climate change, as he opened his High-level Event on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

Climate change, the pre-eminent geopolitical and economic issue of the twenty-first century, threatened to rewrite the global equation for development, peace and prosperity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, as he pressed world leaders to cooperate on a just and scientifically sound solution that strengthened sustainable development and powered green growth for every country.

Heads of State and Government attending the United Nations Leadership Forum heard today how business would be part of the solution on climate change from officers of some of the world’s largest corporations, as well as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Nobel Laureate Al Gore and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Denmark.

Acting on the recommendations of its General Committee, the United Nations General Assembly this morning adopted the work programme and agenda for its sixty-fourth session, which contained more than 160 items.

Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council this morning that the upcoming meeting of the Middle East Diplomatic Quartet on 24 September presented an “important opportunity to lay the basis for progress” towards a durable peace.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, meeting back to back with the Security Council briefing this morning by the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, heard briefings on the latest developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and progress in the political process, and reviewed its activities since its last meeting in May.