The UN Conference on World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, organized under the coordination of the UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, took place from 24-26 June 2009, in New York, NY, at UN Headquarters.

The Summit aimed to identify emergency and long-term responses to mitigate the impact of the crisis, especially on vulnerable populations, and to initiate a dialogue on the transformation of the international financial architecture. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a multi-pronged approach that incorporates investment in access to education and green growth, and support to subsistence farmers.
Twenty-one UN agencies, including the UN Environment Programme, the UN Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and the World Bank, backed a common statement on the need for a world-wide transition to a low carbon, green economy that can stimulate job creation and reduces the threats from current crises related to food, water and climate change. The statement highlighted the need for fiscal reforms that can facilitate green investments, and phasing out subsidies that finance excessive use of fossil fuels in agriculture and fisheries, as well as the need to support affordable energy alternatives for the poor.
The Conference adopted a draft outcome document that emphasizes the opportunity presented by the crisis to promote green economy initiatives, and states that the crisis should not delay the necessary global response to climate change and environmental degradation, taking into account the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. The outcome document also emphasizes the need to reform the international financial and economic system and architecture, and to further strengthen the UN development system’s comprehensive crisis response in support of national development strategies.
Links to further information
Draft outcome document of the conference
UN Interagency statement on the green economy, 25 June 2009
UN News Centre, 26 June 2009
UN News Centre, 25 June 2009
UN Conference on World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development