Trade and development

Exceptional and prolonged heat in Siberia has fuelled devastating Arctic fires, the World Meteorological Organization said today, noting that temperatures in Siberia again topped 30°C this week.  The heat will influence weather and climate in lower latitudes, where hundreds of millions of people live, it warned.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Pamela Coke-Hamilton of Jamaica as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade and international business development.

A new report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) shows that ongoing efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions are expected to spur further investments in green energy production. These investments have been steady, standing at $600 billion per year on average.

More than 119,000 people hit by Tropical Cyclone Amanda in El Salvador need assistance, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, which estimates that $2.2 million will be needed for critical sanitation, shelter and child‑protection support to over 35,000 people in shelters and impacted communities.

The Secretary-General launched a new report highlighting the centrality of human rights to COVID-19 response and recovery alongside recommendations, saying the pandemic is fast becoming a human rights crisis exposing deep weaknesses in public service delivery that must be addressed.

Following the recommendation of the Secretary-General, after consultation with Member States, the General Assembly confirmed Mukhisa Kituyi of Kenya as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for a further four years, beginning on 1 September 2017 and ending on 31 August 2021.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in consultation with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has decided to appoint Isabelle Durant of Belgium as Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD at the Assistant Secretary-General level.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the opening of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in Nairobi today:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in consultation with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has decided to appoint Joakim Reiter of Sweden as Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD at the Assistant Secretary-General level.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the World Investment Forum today: