The planet would suffer irreversible damage if “business as usual” continued, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs warned today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) began its consideration of sustainable development.

The Security Council this afternoon condemned all acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea committed off the coast of the States of the Gulf of Guinea.

Now facing its third year with a “down to the wire at the last minute” funding gap for essential services, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was still $46 million short for its 2011 budget, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it began its annual consideration of that Agency’s work.

This is the text of remarks by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to General Assembly Members in New York today at a briefing on “Sustainable Energy for All”:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the members of his High-level Group for the “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The twenty-first century was “proving to be a century of people on the move”, and innovative approaches were needed to address new patterns of forced displacement, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) was told today by the head of the United Nations refugee agency.

In the wake of the near-meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant that had “changed the landscape” of nuclear safety, General Assembly delegates today said the incident was a grave reminder of the need to close existing safety gaps in the world’s nuclear programmes.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretariat’s request for more than 26 new posts and $8 million in new resources to maintain the overhaul of the Organization’s system of administering justice begun more than two years ago. If approved by the General Assembly, the additional resources would kick in on the first of January along with the upcoming 2012-2013 budget cycle.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) supported some of the most marginalized refugee communities in the world, the Fourth Committee (Special Committee and Decolonization) heard today during the conclusion of its debate on UNRWA, as attention remained focused on the Agency’s habitual, but no less troubling, budgetary constraints and the complex political and security setting in which it worked.