UN reports relatively strong though divergent growth performance on the continent in 2011

Johannesburg/Addis Ababa – Africa’s economy continues its strong march towards recovery, defying the global trend, says the United Nations economic report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 (WESP). The continent is forecast to see an increase in its overall growth from 2.7 per cent in 2011 to 5.0 per cent in 2012 and 5.1 per cent in 2013 (see table at the end of the release). This marks a pronounced recovery and a return to the solid growth trend that emerged after the peak of the 2008 global economic crisis. (more…)

New York – Three years ago, I had the great honour to meet Nelson Mandela. I tried to thank him for all he had done, but he interrupted me. The thanks, he said, should go to the millions of men and women in South Africa and around the world who stood up for freedom and justice and liberated South Africa from the bonds of apartheid. (more…)

A day before the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban (28 November to 9 December 2011), UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres will brief the media already on location about her expectations for the meeting. (more…)

New York – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed that the forthcoming United Nations conference on climate change in Durban, South Africa, should produce agreement on limiting emissions of greenhouse gases, and launch the green climate fund for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. (more…)

New Report Lays-out the Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development up to Rio+20 and beyond
Nairobi – The environmental changes that have swept the planet over the last twenty years are spotlighted in a new compilation of statistical data by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), released today in a report entitled “Keeping Track of our Changing Environment: From Rio to Rio+20”. (more…)