Meetings Coverage

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Poverty eradication, climate change, the international financial system and development were among key topics approved for consideration by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning as it approved its organization of work for the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly.

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.

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.

Noting with concern the threats to subregional stability, in particular posed by drug trafficking, organized crime and illicit arms, and reiterating the continuing need for support by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for the security of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Security Council today extended the Mission’s mandate until 30 September 2010.

The Security Council decided this morning to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) for one year, until 30 September 2010.