UN Panel On Global Sustainability Created
August 10, 2010 at 08:22PM UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on August 9, 2010 appointed a panel on global sustainability that is tasked with finding ways to lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change and ensuring that economic development is environmentally friendly.
The 21-member High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, to be co-chaired by Finland’s President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma, brings together representatives from government, the private sector and civil society in countries rich and poor.
The panel is charged with promoting low-carbon growth and enhancing resilience to climate change’s impacts, as well as to tackling the challenges posed by poverty, hunger, water and energy security.
The new body is expected to deliver its final report by the end of next year, ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for 2012 in Cancun, Mexico, as well as annual conferences of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Climate change, global warming, desertification and environmental degradation, and the attendant natural disasters such as flooding, and drought are the major challenges facing the world today. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is enlisting the cooperation of transnational corporations (TNCs) in efforts to achieve sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In its 2010 world investment report – ‘investing in a low-carbon economy’ – UNCTAD noted that while TNCs are major carbon emitters, they are also a source of ‘green’ investments and can play a crucial role in propelling the world towards a low-carbon future.
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