Ban Ki-moon appoints Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania as Deputy Executive Director of UNEP

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Ibrahim Thiaw. Photo: UN Multimedia

2 August 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania to be the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations agency that is the Organization’s voice on environmental issues.

Mr. Thiaw will succeed Amina Mohamed of Kenya as Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

“His professional career spans the full spectrum of practical work at national and regional levels to leading global programmes and experience of United Nations inter-agency and intergovernmental processes,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson’s office said in a statement announcing the appointment.

New UN “atlas” links climate change, health

Click here for this in full @ Las Vegas Sun: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/nov/02/eu-un-health-and-climate/

The Associated Press

Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 | 12:01 a.m.

The two U.N. agencies for health and weather services have created a new "atlas" of scientific data that they say offers fresh evidence of the links between climate change to outbreaks of meningitis, malaria and other diseases.

The World Health Organization director-general says the manual, which includes maps, tables and graphs, provides a practical guide to "climate-sensitive diseases" that decision-makers and leaders can use as a tool for prevention.

Click here for this in full @ Las Vegas Sun: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/nov/02/eu-un-health-and-climate/

Is UNDP's uncontrolled production of Carbon Certificates - destroying UN' Certified Emmission Credits value?

Click here to read this at Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-02/un-cer-emission-credits-drop-as-supplies-advance.html

UN CER Emission Credits Drop as Supplies Advance

United Nations Certified Emission Reduction credits for December dropped to a four-day low as supplies will probably rise this month to a record.

CERs declined as much as 10 percent to 86 euro cents ($1.11) a metric ton and were at 93 cents at 10 a.m. in London on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

The credits fell to an all-time low of 71 euro cents a ton on Oct. 25, as demand in Europe remained muted by low levels of economic production. Supplies of new CERs may rise to a record 57 million tons this month, according to data from the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn.

European Union permits for December declined 0.6 percent today to 8 euros a ton. Emission Reduction Units for the same month lost 10 percent to 61 euro cents a ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lars Paulsson at lpaulsson@bloomberg.net

Click here to read this at Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-02/un-cer-emission-credits-drop-as-supplies-advance.html

 

WIPO says "we won't do it again" -- but no one knows what North Koreans and Iranians downloaded already ! Who was inside UNDP who approved all this and why? No one responsible ??

Information and Clarifications Concerning WIPO’s Technical Assistance Programs

Geneva, July 19, 2012
PR/2012/717

Following some recent media attention and requests for information from certain member states relating to WIPO’s technical assistance programs, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry provided the following information and clarifications concerning the actions that have been undertaken, or are being undertaken, by the Organization in relation to the provision of technical assistance to countries that are the subject of United Nations (UN) sanctions. 

The Director General reiterated that the Secretariat is treating concerns relating to the Organization’s technical assistance programs to countries that are the subject of UN sanctions with the utmost seriousness.

The actions undertaken include:

1. Following the expression of initial concerns over the provision of standard IT equipment to patent and trademark offices for the processing of intellectual property (IP) applications, new internal procedures were established and made operational on May 1, 2012. Under these procedures, all managers must refer any activity proposed in a country subject to UN sanctions to WIPO’s Legal Counsel for guidance and clearance. The Legal Counsel will, wherever necessary, consult the appropriate UN Sanctions Committee. Additionally, any work plan for a country subject to UN sanctions will be submitted at the commencement of each calendar year for guidance by the appropriate Sanctions Committee.
2. The provision of standard IT equipment to the IP offices of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Islamic Republic of Iran that occurred in the preceding years, within the context of the Organization’s business modernization program for IP Offices in developing countries, is being referred to the relevant UN Sanctions Committees for their information and guidance.
3. The initial steps are being undertaken for a full external and independent review of the technical assistance provided to countries subject to UN sanctions.
4. A new internal instruction has been issued ending any provision of IT hardware in any of WIPO’s technical assistance programs. 

The Director General reiterates his commitment to transparency and re-affirms the readiness of the Secretariat to continue to provide any information requested by any of the member states of the Organization.

While the legal advice received with respect to the technical assistance provided to DPRK and Iran was that the technical assistance was not in breach of UN Sanctions, it is hoped that the measures outlined above will provide assurance that the Organization is treating this matter with the seriousness that it warrants.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Section at WIPO:

• Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61
• Fax: (+41 22) - 338 81 40
• E-mail