The focus of the 2008 UN Day celebrations, in Tokyo on 24 October, was on the range of activities by which the United Nations is addressing the many problems of climate change.

A new coordinated international set of rules to govern commercial and research activities in both polar regions is urgently needed to reflect new environmental realities and to temper pressure building on these highly fragile ecosystems, according to experts attending a UN University-affiliated conference in Iceland marking the International Polar Year. At the conference, leading scholars detailed fast-emerging issues in international law and policy in the polar regions, identified priorities for law-making and research and offered advice to decision makers.

Evaporation and ongoing destruction of world wetlands, which hold a volume of carbon similar to that in the atmosphere today, could cause them to exhale billows of greenhouse gases, according to scientists attending the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference in the Brazilian city of Cuiaba on the edge of South America’s vast Pantanal wetland region.

They called…

UN University Rector Konrad Osterwalder has announced the appointment of Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi, of Japan, and Prof. Govindan Parayil, of India, as UNU Vice Rectors. The appointees bring considerable expertise to their new positions and will help to strengthen the strategic management and operation of the global UNU system of of UNU Centre in Tokyo, where…

The new UN University website – Our World 2.0 – is devoted to examining the most critical problems of our time: climate change, peak oil, and the food crisis. It asks the question: What can we do when faced with these complex, inter-connected and pressing problems?

Electricity and international travel make up most of the carbon dioxide emissions from UNU Centre in Tokyo, according to the first emissions report from the Centre’s ISO Working Group. Total emissions from UNU Centre in 2007 was 1,474 tons, down slightly from 2006.

UN University mounted a major effort to support the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), a three-day summit in Yokohama designed to establish a framework for a century of African growth.

Representatives from 51 African countries, including 40 heads of state, joined Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in signing the “Yokohama Declaration”, outlining principles for…

At the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder served as moderator and lead speaker during the Adaptation and Disaster Prevention segment of a breakout session on Addressing Environmental Issues/Climate Change.

The vision of a nuclear weapon-free world was most famously dismissed by the former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, as a “pie in the sky.” Such was the derision which greeted the disarmament scenario championed by governments, especially from the Non-aligned Movement, as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Pugwash.

* No Entry Without Strategy: Building the Rule of Law under UN Transitional Administration;
* Developing Countries and the WTO; Making Choices about Hydrogen:
* Transport Issues for Developing Countries; and
* The WTO and Global Governance: Future Directions.

At TICAD IV, UN University convened an official side event to introduce the “Innovative Centre on Education Support in Africa” project, a joint initiative by UNU and the Japanese Government, seeks to contribute to African development by helping higher education institutions.

At the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), UN University convened an official side event on “Capacity Development and Policy Needs for Environment Management Technology Development in Africa” that focused on the critical need to improve local capacities.

At the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) convened the official side event “Education for Sustainable Development: Focus on Regional Centres of Expertise in Africa”.

At the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, UNU-IAS convened a seminar on “Critical Intersection: Climate Change and Security” to examine the impact of various aspects of climate change on human security, with a particular focus on the challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa.

UN University convened an official high-level panel on “Science and Technology for Africa’s Sustainable Development” at the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV). The focus was on areas where Japanese and international expertise can be applied to African efforts to establish policies and programmes that support sustainable development.