What are the key issues at the G20 summit in South Africa?
17/11/2025: As current president of the G20, South Africa has been successful in securing a high profile for issues of debt relief and inequality. But the US president has declined to attend, claiming that white people experience discrimination in South Africa.
Source: Devex
European banks ignore supply chain ethics in mining investment
17/11/2025: Between 2016 and 2024, EU banks provided €64 billion in loans and underwriting services for extracting raw materials for the green transition. Oxfam has exposed these investments as linked to land grabs, pollution and human rights violations. This disclosure coincides with EU proposals to dismantle its sustainability rules.
Source: Oxfam International
Greenpeace report finds G20 failing to uphold Paris Agreement
17/11/2025: A report at COP30 reveals that the climate plans of G20 countries will deliver less than half the cut in emissions necessary to meet commitments in the Paris Agreement. Given their historic responsibility for emissions and greater capacity to act, these richest countries should lead from the front.
Source: Greenpeace International
Myanmar’s election theatre of the democratic absurd
17/11/2025: After more than four years of civil war, Myanmar’s military junta plans to hold elections next month. Opposition parties are banned, leaders are imprisoned and the system has been redesigned to guarantee victory for those aligned with the military. Endorsing these elections would normalise military coups and legitimise war crimes.
Source: East Asia Forum
Think twice before copying Denmark’s asylum policies
14/11/2025: The British government has recently announced its plan to emulate Denmark’s asylum and immigration system. Denmark has become a pioneer in restrictive immigration policies but this has come with serious legal, ethical and moral challenges.
Source: The Conversation
Call to strengthen global rules to protect gig workers
14/11/2025: Human Rights Watch has called on governments negotiating a new global treaty on gig work to strengthen the draft text to protect workers from exploitative management. Too many digital platform workers are being denied their human rights, including pay below the minimum wage and the use of unaccountable algorithms to evade employer responsibilities.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Seven charts showing how the $100bn climate-finance goal was met
14/11/2025: A group of nations, including much of Europe, the US and Japan, is obliged under the 2015 Paris Agreement to provide international “climate finance” to developing countries, with a target of $100bn a year by 2020. The target was finally met in 2022 although analysis shows that donors have relied substantially on loans and private finance to meet their obligations.
Source: Carbon Brief
Global gains in tuberculosis response endangered by funding challenges
12/11/2025: Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers, claiming over 1.2 million lives and affecting an estimated 10.7 million people in 2024, despite being preventable and curable. Cuts to international donor funding could result in up to 2 million additional deaths and 10 million people falling ill with TB between 2025 and 2035.
Source: World Health Organization
Without truth, there can be no climate justice
12/11/2025: The Union of Concerned Scientists has warned that widespread dissemination of climate disinformation impacts public health, undermines democracy, and weakens the effectiveness of climate policies. Scientists have called out major platforms, including Meta, X, and TikTok, for actively spreading misinformation, disinformation, or false information.
Source: Inter Press Service
Novartis’ new malaria treatment shows promise against resistant parasites
12/11/2025: GanLum, a new malaria treatment developed by Novartis, has shown promise in blocking transmission. Experts have expressed excitement over the results, as there have been concerns about the lack of new drug treatments to overcome parasite resistance to artemisinin, introduced more than two decades ago.
Source: Devex