Paris, Feb 18 (AFP) Yvo de Boer, head of the UN's climate change convention, will resign as of July 1, his office announced today.
De Boer, who is executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, will join the consultancy group KPMG as global advisor on climate and sustainability and work with a number of universities, the UNFCCC secretariat said.
The announcement came nearly two months after the Copenhagen summit on climate change, widely seen as either a disappointment or a chaotic failure.
The UNFCCC, an offshoot of the 1992 Rio summit, gathers 194 nations in the search for combating the causes of man-made climate change and easing its effects.
Its key achievement is the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty that requires curbs in heat-stoking greenhouse gases blamed for disrupting the climate system.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
UN climate chief quits
STAFF WRITER 18:31 HRS IST
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Russia unveils new nuclear doctrine
MOSCOW: Lowering the threshhold for the use of nuclear weapons, Russia has said it reserves the right to hit back with nukes in case of an aggression, in a new doctrine which may be a veiled warning to China and rising NATO powers.
"Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction against it and its allies, as well as an aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons jeopardising the very existence of the state," a military doctrine signed by President Dmitry Medvedev said.
Speaking on the conditions of anonymity some foreign diplomats believe that the lowering of threshold for the nuclear weapons could be a veiled warning to China, which has an overwhelming numerical advantage over Russia with the total population less than 147 million.
A retired three-star Soviet general, who wished not to be named, told PTI yesterday that after 1968 border conflict with China, the Soviet General Staff had virtually given up the concept of a conventional war with 'our great Asian neighbour', the new doctrine has publicly stated the stance.
Expansion of NATO closer to the boundaries of Russia, deployment of missile shield elements on the perimeter of its land and maritime borders, international terrorism, proliferation of WMD and growing number of nuclear powers have also been identified as the external threats for the security of the nation.
TOI
"Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction against it and its allies, as well as an aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons jeopardising the very existence of the state," a military doctrine signed by President Dmitry Medvedev said.
Speaking on the conditions of anonymity some foreign diplomats believe that the lowering of threshold for the nuclear weapons could be a veiled warning to China, which has an overwhelming numerical advantage over Russia with the total population less than 147 million.
A retired three-star Soviet general, who wished not to be named, told PTI yesterday that after 1968 border conflict with China, the Soviet General Staff had virtually given up the concept of a conventional war with 'our great Asian neighbour', the new doctrine has publicly stated the stance.
Expansion of NATO closer to the boundaries of Russia, deployment of missile shield elements on the perimeter of its land and maritime borders, international terrorism, proliferation of WMD and growing number of nuclear powers have also been identified as the external threats for the security of the nation.
TOI
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