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New York - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched today a new climate change web site, www.undpcc.org.  The site is a knowledge database for information on key climate change issues, with a focus on analyses of international climate negotiations as well as the economic and policy implications of climate change. The need for such a website has become apparent with international climate change negotiations increasingly taking center stage as climate change effects become a policy priority for countries across the world.

UNDP created the website primarily to assist governments and other policy makers as they navigate the complicated world of addressing climate change. Among other features, the website gives periodic summaries of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations on adaptation, mitigation, technologies and financing. To ensure its wide use and global access, the site’s content is available in English, French, Spanish and Russian, with many key documents available in additional languages. 

Key features of the site include:

• Publications database, which contains over 600 documents on climate change in different languages, comprising books, bulletins, discussion papers, journal articles, official policy statements, policy briefs and working papers. The database is interactive and has an option where visitors can upload documents, ensuring its up-to date status.
• Periodic summaries of the UNFCCC negotiations leading to the 15th Conference of the Parties which will take place in Copenhagen in December 2009. The negotiations center around the four thematic building blocks of the Bali Action Plan: adaptation, mitigation, technology and financing. Users of the site can follow the latest news pertaining to negotiations and have access to a continuously updated calendar of climate change events. 
• Project materials, including national issues papers on key sectors, reports from national inter-ministerial dialogues on climate change (14 held to date) and a UNDP user guidebook for assessing investment and financial flows. This guidebook offers policy makers guidance in key issues like preparing national work plans and assessing country needs and programme results.
• Public and private thematic and country groups where members can participate in discussions as well as post documents, questions or comments to obtain feedback from other group members. Users of the site can choose to receive emails with the latest news and updates to the site and groups by signing up for RSS blogs.