29 June 2009: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) met in New York, US, to continue the plenary debate of its Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development, which began on 24 June, and sought to identify emergency and long-term responses to mitigate the impact of the crisis.

Throughout the debate, representatives of governments and observer missions stressed that many open, export-dependent economies were still suffering the impacts of sustained high food and fuel prices, as well as of those of climate change, including drought, flooding and soil erosion.
Eritrea underlined that the current crisis had triggered a slowdown in global economic growth, which added to the ongoing global food and energy crises and climate change challenges. He called for immediate collective action, including a strong follow-up mechanism and the reform of the international financial institutions.
Belarus underscored that the crisis also provided an opportunity to move towards sustainable development, stressing the importance of access to modern energy sources. He called on the UN to develop an integrated energy agenda and suggested that, with the World Bank, the Organization should support countries with measures to boost energy efficiency, energy savings, and new and renewable sources of energy.
Montenegro urged using public-private partnerships to find innovative financing for development, and ensuring that policy measures promoted a green recovery. In that context, he reiterated the importance of reaching a post-2012 climate change agreement.
Mauritania outlined some of the impacts of climate change suffered by his country, especially increased drought. [UN Press Release]