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ASEAN Refrains from Taking Sides as Trade Dominates Summit

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Addressing a media conference at the close of the three-day 33rd ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Summit on November 15, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed fears that “circumstances may come” where the regional organization would have to “choose one over the other”.

Though not naming them, he was referring to China and the United States (U.S.) two major trading partners of ASEAN that are currently having a fierce trade war that is impacting on the region.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 16 November 2018

Image credit: UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Conserving Biodiversity is Key to Mitigating Climate Change

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – An area almost the size of Australia – up to 724 million hectares in all – will be required by 2050 for cultivating bioenergy, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Platform on Climate Change (IPCC) on limiting climate warming to 1.5C.

Models foresee that demand for bioenergy to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuels could cause a 10- to 30-fold increase in green energy-related land use in years to come, adding crushing pressure on habitat for plants and animals and undermining the essential diversity of species on Earth.

: J C Suresh; UN INSIDER; 15 November 2018

Slum Dwellers in 79 ACP Countries Draw the Focus

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Transforming ACP cities, leaving no one behind engaging in large scale investments in slums is the central theme of the three-day 3rd ACP-EC-UN-Habitat International Tripartite Conference in Brussels, headquarters of the European Union and the capital of Belgium.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) is an organisation composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states: 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific. All of them, save Cuba, are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement, also known as the "ACP-EC Partnership Agreement" which binds them to the European Union.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 15 November 2018

Photo: Zahir Tanin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), briefs the Security Council. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Reconciliation Continues to Evade Serbia-Kosovo Relations

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – One hundred years after the end of the First World War, which was triggered by a crisis in the Balkans, peace in the region is nowhere within reach yet. This has been highlighted by a senior United Nations official in his regular briefing to the UN Security Council on November 14.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, told the Security Council that President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and President Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo have confirmed their "mutual intention" to continue working towards a negotiated settlement but the situation on the ground remains marred by "frequent adversarial actions," with real consequences for people on the ground.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 15 November 2018

Photo: Working from dusk until dawn, fishermen from around the town of Aral in Kazakhstan haul in a catch from the North Aral Sea, where the water level has risen and salinity has decreased – in stark contrast to the larger South Aral Sea, which has gone nearly dry. Credit: Aramco World

Aral Sea Promises to Rise Like Phoenix from the 'Ashes'

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK - The zone of destruction created as a consequence of what has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters" has long crossed the frontiers of Central Asia, demanding urgent measures from the international community.

Every year more than 150 million tons of toxic dust from the bottom of the dried up Aral Sea are carried long distances by the wind to the people in Asia, Europe and even the thinly populated Antarctica.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; CENTRAL ASIA; 14 November 2018

Photo: Cheetah © Jim Zuckerman; African Wild Dog © John Birch; Leopard and Lion © Jacques-Andre Dupont. Source: CMS

African States Commit to Conserve Largest Carnivores

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN | BONN (IDN) – More than 30 countries hosting African Wild Dog, Cheetah, Leopard and Lion have agreed on establishing a work programme to guide their conservation actions over the next coming years. The move known as the African Carnivore Initiative, emerged from a meeting from November 5 to 8, 2018 in Bonn, the capital of former West Germany.

The initiative constitutes the first Africa-wide commitment towards saving African Wild Dog, Cheetah, Leopard and Lion, says a media release by the Bonn-based Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or the “Bonn Convention”).

: Rita Joshi; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 November 2018

Photo: Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury (third from left), former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, who is the Chairman of the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) since 2008, delivered the opening address to the 13th GFHS Annual Session in Bangkok on 30 October 2018. Credit: GFHS.

Cities Have the Potential to Shape the Future of Humankind

Viewpoint by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury*

The following are extensive extracts from the opening address by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, who is the Chairman of the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) since 2008, at the 13th GFHS Annual Session in Bangkok on 30 October 2018. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – We live at a time of unprecedented, rapid, irreversible urbanization. Beginning in 2008, for the first time, half of humanity is now living in towns and cities … but this dramatic transition is far from over. In reality the beginning of a new urban era is being felt. It is projected that globally urbanization levels will rise dramatically in the next 35 years to reach 70 percent by 2050 when the world population is expected to hit 9 billion.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 14 November 2018

Photo: Nukufetau coastal damages by cyclone in Tuvalu. © EU GCCA+ LoCAL-UNCDF. Photo Hendrik Visser 2016.

79 ACP Countries Get Ready for UN Climate Change Conference

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The Intra-ACP GCCA Plus Programme, which has several success stories to tell, is supporting 79 members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) in preparing for the UN Climate Change conference in December in Katowice, Poland.

The ACP Secretariat and the Programme hosted a Joint Policy Dialogue (JPD) at the ACP House in Brussels on November 5, 2018. The JPD showcased the findings of a draft ACP report analysing the implementation status of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of ACP countries.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 13 November 2018

Photo: Beninoise music icon Angelique Kidjo made Africa proud on Sunday when she sang the “Blewu” track in front of world leaders who had gathered in the French capital, Paris. Source: AfricaNews.

At World War I Ceremony, the Songbird of Togo Reappears

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – At a gathering of world leaders in the French capital of Paris, singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo reprised an hypnotic work of ethereal beauty by a youthful West African singer. With a repertoire of just 17 songs, the diva, Bella Bellow, had won the hearts of presidents, accomplished artists and worldwide fans.

Kidjo’s choice of Blewu (“Patience”) “celebrated Peace and the memory of the fallen African soldiers of World War One in front of the leaders of this World under the Arc de Triomphe.” It was also the long-awaited encore for the “Togolese songbird” – Bella Bellow.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 November 2018

Photo: The Kofi Annan Foundation facilitated the process of consultation and dialogue between the opposition political parties of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 9 to 11 November 2018 in Geneva. Source: Kofi Annan Foundation

Plan to Pick a Single Candidate to Defeat Kabila Implodes

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KINSHASA (IDN) – As election day nears in the troubled Democratic Republic of the Congo, the seven leaders of the opposition seemed settled on one person to challenge the handpicked candidate of President Joseph Kabila – but differences unexpectedly arose.

The agreement to back Congolese lawmaker Martin Fayulu Madidi, facilitated by the Kofi Annan Foundation after three days of negotiations in Geneva, fell apart, with a major opposition leader going his own way. Felix Tshisekedi, head of the largest opposition party, said he was abandoning a day-old agreement to field a joint candidate in the December crucial presidential polls.