- The Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR)—Established in 1971, CGIAR
is an informal association of 58 public and private sector members
that supports a network of 16 international agricultural research
centers. CGIAR's mission is to contribute to food security and
poverty eradication in developing countries through research,
partnership, capacity building, and policy support.
- The Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO)—The largest autonomous agency
within the United Nations system, founded in October 1945 with
a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living,
to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition
of rural populations.
- The Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS)—Research at the Goddard
Institute for Space Studies emphasizes a broad study of global
change, an interdisciplinary research initiative addressing natural
and man-made changes in our environment which occur on various
time scales from decades to millenia and which affect the habitability
of our planet. GISS is among the world leaders in the use of three-dimensional
general circulation models to study Earth's climate, both in the
development of accurate numerical modeling methods and in analyzing
human-climate interaction.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)—Recognizing the problem of potential
global climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.
The role of the IPCC is to assess the scientific, technical and
socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of the
risk of human-induced climate change.
- The International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)—Established as part
of the CGIAR in 1975 to help developing countries devise appropriate
food policies and the policies needed to ensure the optimum use
of new agricultural technologies. While the other CGIAR centers
focus mainly on agricultural science and technology, IFPRI aims
at fostering sustainable economic growth and combating poverty
through better government policies.
- NOAA Geophysical
Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)—The goal of GFDL's research
is to understand and predict the earth's climate and weather,
including the impact of human activities. GFDL conducts leading-edge
research on many topics of great practical value, including weather
and hurricane forecasts, El Niño prediction, stratospheric
ozone depletion, and global warming.
- The United States Agency
for International Development (USAID)—Established in
1961 by President John F. Kennedy, USAID is the independent government
agency that provides economic development and humanitarian assistance
to advance U.S. economic and political interests overseas.
- The United States Global Change
Research Program—USGCRP was created as a Presidential
Initiative in 1989 and formalized in 1990 by the Global Change
Research Act of 1990. The USGCRP, working with research institutions
in the U.S. and beyond our borders, provides the foundation for
increasing the skill of predictions of seasonal-to-interannual
climate fluctuations and long-term climate change.
- The United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)—Established
in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal
organ of the United Nations General Assembly in the field of trade
and development.
- The United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)—As one of the productive consequences
of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, UNEP
provides an integrative and interactive mechanism through which
a large number of separate efforts by intergovernmental, nongovernmental,
national and regional bodies in the service of the environment
are reinforced and interrelated.
- The World Bank—Consisting
of the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development, the
International Development Association, the International Finance
Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and
the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes,
the World Bank's purpose is to reduce poverty and improve living
standards through sustainable growth and investment in people.
- The World Trade Organization (WTO)—The
only international organization dealing with the global rules
of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that
trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible.
|
|
