Rich countries ‘confident’ $100bn climate finance delivered in 2023
19/9/2023: Ministers from richer countries believe that their $100 billion a year climate finance promise will be met in 2023, but not confirmed until 2025 at the earliest. The delay means governments will go into Cop28 and Cop29 without assurance that the goal has been met, doing nothing to ease tensions between developed and developing countries.
Source: Climate Home News
“Consensus” emerges ahead of vote on global tax cooperation
21/9/2023: A debate at the UN General Assembly has taken a step towards a vote on establishing a UN tax convention, heralded as the best chance to avert losing nearly $5 trillion to tax havens over the next decade. Notably silent on the matter were the US, EU and the UK.
Source: Tax Justice Network
Rice export bans are a food crisis risk for Asia
19/9/2023: Global rice prices have risen to a 12-year high since India, the world’s largest rice exporter, embarked on a policy of reducing exports. Across Asia, nations are attempting to control the cereal grain’s prices, sowing the seeds of a potential food crisis
Source: CNA
Over 4 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants need support
12/9/2023: Vast numbers of migrants and refugees from Venezuela continue to face difficulties accessing food, shelter, health care, education and formal employment across Latin America and the Caribbean. Many are at risk of human trafficking, forced recruitment and gender-based violence.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Multiple shocks push world further away from SDGs
15/9/2023: Halfway into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress towards its food and agriculture targets has stagnated or reversed, compounding the challenges in eradicating poverty and hunger, according to a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of armed conflicts around the world, and the escalating effects of the climate crisis are largely to blame.
Source: UN Food And Agriculture Organization
Six of nine planetary boundaries have been crossed
13/9/2023: Six of nine planetary boundaries are being crossed, while simultaneously pressure in all boundary processes is increasing, new research published in the journal Science Advances shows. The new study is the third major assessment of the planetary boundaries framework, first introduced in 2009.
Source: Stockholm Resilience Centre
Small islands open case at landmark maritime court hearing
11/9/2023: The heads of small island states most vulnerable to climate change have criticised “endless” climate change negotiations. At the start of an unprecedented maritime court hearing, they have called for legally binding obligations, rather than empty promises that go unfulfilled.
Source: Climate Home News
Stop calling people ‘climate refugees’
11/9/2023: Despite the rejection of the term “climate refugee” by the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization on Migration, it persists in popular media. “Climate refugee” implies that populations displaced by climate change are protected by the 1951 Refugee Convention. They are not.
Source: Climate Home News
Global survey of democracy uncovers mixed feelings
14/9/2023: An annual global survey from the Open Society Foundation reflects both positive and negative aspects of the state of democracy worldwide. A disconcertingly large minority of young people surveyed (42%) feel that military rule is a good way of running a country. A similar number (35%) feel that having a strong leader who does not bother with elections or consulting parliament/congress is also acceptable.
Source: Inter Press Service
The future of global governance is collective, not top-down
14/9/2023: A vice-president of the Ford Foundation says that we need to establish a new global governance paradigm driven by new players, governed by new rules, and responsive to our new reality. Our outdated 20th-century model enables a handful of major powers to unilaterally dictate resolutions to global challenges.
Source: Devex