By Neena Bhandari
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
SYDNEY (IDN) – Australia and New Zealand have entered into a scientific and technical cooperation agreement to strengthen detection of nuclear explosions under the framework of the international Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and work together to promote a permanent and effective ban on nuclear weapon tests.
By Devinder Kumar
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
NEW DELHI (IDN) – While official statements about the outcome of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, read rather upbeat, a global environment organisation, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), has criticized negotiators for focusing on false solutions to biodiversity loss and favouring corporate polluters over people and the planet.
By Richard Johnson
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
LONDON (IDN) – Though it is still too early to assess the full impact of the Fukushima atomic power plant accident in March 2011, the World Nuclear Association (WNA) believes that it will have “very little impact” on global nuclear fuel markets.
In the latest edition of its biennial report, Global Nuclear Fuel Market: Supply and Demand 2011-2030, the WNA believes that it is possible to make some “reasonable deductions”. Despite the closure of reactors in Japan and Germany – and slowdowns in some programs in response to Fukushima – the report notes that the global situation for energy supply and demand remains “effectively unchanged”.
By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
BONN (IDN) – The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat has forged a first-of-its-kind partnership to assist development of emission-reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol in countries that would appear to have been ignored until now.
By Martin Khor*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
GENEVA (IDN) – There were sobering messages on global economic prospects emerging from the 2012 meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on October 14 in Tokyo.
Developing countries’ Finance Ministers and Central Bank officials voiced their concerns on the failure of developed countries to deal with their economic situation and on the policy and political paralysis preventing solutions.
By Eric Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
TORNTO (IDN) – After 10 years in Guantanamo, former child soldier Omar Khadr, the last Western national being held there, was finally repatriated September 29, 2012 after years of mistreatment. The illegality of the procedures used against Khadr from day one mean that the Canadian government faces a multi-million dollar law suit for damages.
Various court cases against the government failed to convince it to expedite his return, until the U.S. government finally pulled the plug, forcing the Canadian government to take him after his plea of guilty to various charges, clearly made as the only way to end his ordeal and give him hope of eventual release.
By Devinder Kumar
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
NEW DELHI (IDN) – What is in store for the natural world? Are governments implementing their commitments on preserving biodiversity? These and related issues are on the agenda of the UN biodiversity summit in the Indian city of Hyderabad.
It will not only review progress so far but is also expected to come up with decisions that will provide further momentum for implementation of the targets, according to conference sources.
By J C Suresh
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
TORONTO (IDN) – A group of non-nuclear weapon states has expressed its resolve to move ahead with practical steps to advance the implementation of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference Action Plan (‘Action Plan’) and to pursue the goal of a nuke-free world.
At a meeting in New York on September 26, 2012 on the margins of the UN General Assembly, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates reaffirmed their “commitment to contribute to the realisation of a robust regime across the three pillars of the NPT”. As agreed at the meeting in Istanbul in June, they identified future prospects.
By Martin Khor*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
GENEVA (IDN) – The latest round of weeklong UNFCCC climate negotiations in Bangkok in September has revealed a major problem. The Bali Road Map launched in December 2007 had two tracks. The Kyoto Protocol track seems to be ending in a very weakened outcome, while the Bali Action Plan track is in danger of being killed without a proper closure or a transfer of its unsettled issues.
By Jamshed Baruah
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalyis
VIENNA (IDN) – Since the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called for a “standstill agreement” on nuclear testing on April 2, 1954, 183 out of 196 states around the world have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that bans atomic explosions by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground.
157 countries including three of the nuclear weapon States – France, Russia and Britain – have ratified the treaty. But before the CTBT can enter into force, 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries must sign and ratify it. Of these, eight are still missing: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the USA. In fact, India, North Korea and Pakistan have yet to sign the treaty.
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