Tread Softly

24/10/2024: The 2024 UN Emissions Gap Report tells us that nations must show a massive increase in ambition in new Nationally Determined Contributions, the promises updated every five years. As things stand, current NDCs put the world on track for a global temperature rise of 2.6-2.8°C this century. Even worse, policies currently in place are insufficient to meet even these NDCs.

Source: UN Environment Programme

7/6/2024: Somalia was elected unopposed by the UN General Assembly after the African Union agreed in principle earlier this year. Being a member of the Council is a turnaround for Somalia’s stature on the international stage, having been under UN sanctions until last December. Somalia had last served on the Council in 1971-72 term, during the reign of the Siad Barre regime.

Source: The East African

5/6/2024: The UN Refugee Agency estimates that more than 2.9 million refugees worldwide will need resettlement next year, the rising number driven by mass displacement situations and the emergence of new conflicts. In 2023 96,311 refugees were resettled by states, an increase of 65 per cent compared with the year before.

Source: The UN Refugee Agency

3/6/2024: Signatories of the Paris Agreement pledged to come up with a new finance goal before 2025. And the pressure to up the target is growing. Negotiators are laying the groundwork for a new climate finance goal ahead of the COP 29 summit later this year. 

Source: DW

2/6/2024: In the aftermath of recent economic shocks, three African countries – Zambia, Ghana, and Ethiopia – have defaulted on their debt, and 10 others, including Kenya and Rwanda, have slid into a high risk of debt distress. At meetings of the African Development Bank, African leaders have laid out their demands for the new financial architecture.

Source: The East African