How has the Amazon rainforest changed under Bolsonaro?
2/10/2022: The Amazon rainforest is regarded as one of the tipping elements capable of destabilizing the global climate. Around 60% of the rainforest's total area lies within the territory of Brazil. After several years in which deforestation rates dropped significantly, they rose again sharply after the right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro took office as president of Brazil in 2019.
Source: DW
Secretary General signals support for UN tax convention
27/9/2022: UN Secretary General António Guterres has announced his support for the concept of a UN convention on tax. This would transfer control from the OECD to the UN, lifting the grip that richer countries exert over global tax rules.
Source: Tax Justice Network
AGRA abandons green revolution in African agriculture
28/9/2022: The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa is dropping the "Green Revolution" from its name, having failed in its ambition to double the productivity of 30 million small-scale farmers. The focus will now be on sustainable farming through resilience to climate shocks.
Source: Devex
Guinea 2009 stadium massacre trial begins
The UN Secretary-General has paid tribute to the 150 victims of the 2009 stadium massacre in Conakry. Guinea’s former military ruler, Moussa Dadis Camara, is in the dock, along with ten other officials, as proceedings of the International Criminal Court commence.
Source: UN News
Why Africa seeks a greater role on the global stage
28/9/2022: More African leaders are calling for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. The African Union argues that the UN Security Council, with its five permanent members — the US, Russia, China, France and the UK — does not offer the continent a voice in global affairs.
Source: DW
African leaders must own up to their failures
24/9/2022: In speeches at the 77th session of UN's General Assembly, Africa’s post-Independence leaders have raised a legitimate issue when they demand reparations from colonial masters. But their case is undermined by their own record of repression and chronic economic mismanagement.
Source: The East African
Calls by Zelensky and Biden for UN reform win support
22/9/2022: The Ukrainian president demands that Russia should be stripped of its veto in the UN security council. Academic research suggests there is widespread public support for maintaining the authority of the UN and making its structures more representative of the world population.
Source: The Conversation
Global food crisis tightens grip on 19 hunger hotspots
21/9/2022: The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide is expected to continue to rise precipitously, driven by rising conflict, weather extremes, and economic instability. Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen alone account for almost a million people facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization
World Bank sees global development in crisis
20/9/2022: World Bank President David Malpass has expressed concern about the reversal of progress in human development. Education and debt are particularly challenging for low income countries as climate change combined with the war in Ukraine continue to undermine the world economy.
Source: Devex
Myanmar human rights spiralling from bad to worse
21/9/2022: The independent human rights expert on Myanmar has appealed to UN Member States to change course in their collective response to the military coup. The death toll of innocent people is rising significantly and 130,000 Rohingya remain in de facto internment camps.
Source: UN News