By Jaya Ramachandran PARIS (IDN) – The global health crisis of the COVID 19 came as a dramatic reminder of the importance of Nature for our daily lives and economies: biodiversity is our life insurance. Yet, the damage to ecosystems is unprecedented and will have major consequences on our lifestyles in the decades to come. […]
UN Chief Warns Against ‘vaccinationalism’ As 2 Million Die of COVID-19 Pandemic
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) – “Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: #COVID19 has now claimed two million lives. Sadly, the impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of global coordination. In the memory of those two million souls, the world must act with far greater solidarity,” tweeted UN […]
Landmark World Social Forum Meets Virtually
By Jaya Ramachandran ROME (IDN) – Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the international edition of the World Social Forum (WSF) will take place virtually this year from January 23 to 31, marking the 20th anniversary of an extraordinary global gathering. The forthcoming WSF will be the longest ever held since the first World Social Forum […]
A New UN Report Calls for Living in Balance with The Planet
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly pointed out, humanity is faced with a “defining moment”, a warning that is highlighted in the 30th-anniversary edition of the Human Development Report (HDR), The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene. Though humankind has achieved incredible progress, we have […]
UN Chief Points to Fragility and Conflict as Major Obstacles to Sustainable Development Goals
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – “Challenges of Maintaining Peace and Security in Fragile Contexts” were the focus of Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the Security Council virtual open debate on January 6. The debate was organized by Mr Kais Saied, the Security Council’s Presidency for the month of January. He called for […]
Clean Energy Set to Grow in 2021
By Marcel Alers The author is Head of Energy of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) NEW YORK (IDN) – The energy sector, still dominated by fossil fuels, is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. We know people and nations need reliable sources of energy to power hospitals and light schools, and to safely cook, […]
Make 2021 A Fairer, Safer, Healthier World for Children
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – More than 371,500 children would be born on the first day of 2021, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The agency’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore said on the eve of the New Year day: “The children born today enter a world far different than even a year […]
The Rich-Poor Gulf Widens 5 Years After Adoption of Sustainable Development Goals
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – 2020 will be remembered as a year in which a contagious virus shut down the world, widened the gulf between the rich and the poor, triggered a spike in poverty for the first time in decades, and pushed back the United Nations efforts to create more equitable societies […]
Sufficient Uranium Resources Exist to Support the Sustainable Use of Nuclear Energy
By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) – A new report by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that sufficient uranium resources exist to support the long-term, sustainable use of nuclear energy for low-carbon electricity generation as well as for other uses such as industrial heat applications and hydrogen production.
Desert Locust Upsurge Continues to Threaten Food Security in the Horn of Africa
FAO Needs Funds To Safeguard Agricultural Production and Livelihoods By FAO ROME (IDN) – A new generation of Desert Locust swarms is threatening Agricultural and pastoral livelihoods and the food security of millions of people in the Horn of Africa and Yemen, despite intense efforts to control the pest throughout 2020, according to the Food […]