2.6 Billion People: That's a lot

Today we urge you to read this posting on the New York Times blog which talks about the UN Water team's efforts to deal with the 2.6 BILLION people who don't have access to sanitation.

UNDP and Fortis Team Up

The United Nations Development Program is partnering up with the private sector to encourage increasing use of green technology, thus echoing the carbon-trading strategies specified under the Kyoto Protocol.

UNDP is working with Fortis, a Dutch-Belgian finance group, to promote Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) practices in nations that previously did not embark on such environmentally friendly actions. These efforts support the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to reduce poverty and promote practices that support human development such as acting in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Seb Walhain, leading representative of Fortis Bank, expressed his excitement concerning the reduction of greenhouse gases and the efforts of United Nation member states to promote clean development. In a press release concerning the efforts, he stated that “Fortis is proud to be working with UNDP to spread the benefits of the carbon market to new parts of the developing world.”

To learn more about the UNDP and the private sector are doing to mitigate some of the problems caused by climate change, visit http://undp-usa.org. At that site, you can also get more information concerning an UNDP-USA sponsored event entitled “Fighting Climate Change.”