The Secretary-General has wrapped up his visit to Norway after ending a boat trip this morning that took him to the polar ice of the Arctic Circle yesterday, where he stood on the ice and urged world leaders to take action against climate change.
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Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General today is on his way to visit the polar ice rim, while onboard a Norwegian boat, the Svalbard. Earlier, the he and Mrs. Ban visited a Norwegian Zeppelin Station, a research centre where the air in the Arctic region is being monitored, in part to determine the effect of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
The Secretary-General this morning held meetings in Oslo with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Norway, in which he discussed multilateralism and Norway’s role in the international community.
The Secretary-General arrived in Vienna, Austria, today and gave a keynote speech at a ceremony organized by the Austrian Government to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations headquarters in Vienna, known as the Vienna International Centre.
“I mark with sadness the passing of US Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, who stood so firmly for so many of the principles of the United Nations," the Secretary-General said in a statement issued today.
The Secretary-General will travel this Thursday to Austria. He will then go to Norway and Switzerland.
The Secretary-General congratulated the Afghan people on the holding of the presidential and Provincial Council elections, in a statement issued yesterday.
Today is the UN’s first observance of World Humanitarian Day. The General Assembly established the Day last December to highlight humanitarian work worldwide, including the dangers that aid workers face while carrying out their missions in conflict zones.
On Sunday, that’s last night, at around midnight, the UN-World Food Programme (WFP) compound in Wajid, southern Somalia, was attacked by armed militia. This is the fourth UN compound deliberately targeted in Somalia within two months. The United Nations strongly condemns the attack.
In Bonn today, the climate change talks -– the United Nations negotiating session towards a new global response to climate change -– concluded in Germany.