The world is burning. We need a renewables revolution
12/7/2022: The only true path to energy security, stable power prices and a livable planet lies in abandoning fossil fuels and accelerating the renewables-based energy transition. The UN Secretary-General calls on G20 countries to kick their addiction to fossil fuels.
Source: Inter Press Service
50,000 wild species meet needs of billions worldwide
8/7/2022: Billions of people benefit daily from the use of wild species for food, energy, materials, medicine, recreation and inspiration. A new UN report finds that the accelerating global biodiversity crisis, with a million species of plants and animals facing extinction, threatens these contributions to well-being.
Source: IPBES
Could armed force mandate solve Mali’s insecurity?
7/7/2022: Despite the renewal of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, the UN Secretary-General has suggested a new force may be required to end the spiral of instability. He advised that such a mission would have to be led by the African Union.
Source: African Arguments
Global crises impede the Sustainable Development Goals
8/7/2022: This week marks the mid-way point between the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and their 2030 target date. Progress data shows that intersecting global crises are impacting food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace, undermining accomplishments towards the SDGs.
Source: Inter Press Service
Global cost-of-living crisis sending tens of millions into poverty
7/7/2022: 71 million people in the developing world have fallen into poverty in the last three months as a direct consequence of global food and energy price surges. A UN report finds that cash transfers targeted to poor households are more equitable and cost-effective than blanket subsidies.
Source: UN Development Programme
Victory for asylum seekers in US Supreme Court
6/7/2022: The US Supreme Court has ruled that President Joe Biden can end the Migrant Protection Protocols. These allowed US border officers to send non-Mexican asylum seekers to Mexico while their claims were adjudicated in US immigration courts.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Sanctions are a boomerang
7/7/2022: The most extensive current economic sanctions are deployed against Russia, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, Myanmar, and Cuba. Intended as a punishment, they have a track record of failure in their declared political objectives.
Source: Inter Press Service
World is moving backwards on eliminating hunger
6/7/2022: The UN's 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World reports that as many as 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021, 150 million more than in 2019. The Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030 is in trouble.
Source: UN News
Tshisekedi, Kagame to meet in Angola over Congo war
6/7/2022: Angolan President Joao Lourenço, who is also the chairman of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, will hold talks with the two leaders with the aim of brokering peace between Rwanda and DR Congo. The countries have been at loggerheads following counter accusations of support for rebel groups in eastern DRC.
Source: The East African
UN Ocean Conference ends with promises
1/7/2022: The UN Oceans Conference has concluded discussions focused on achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14. While participants made hundreds of conservation commitments, experts say that there is still a lot of work to be done to provide a legal framework for protecting 30% of international waters.
Source: Mongabay