By Satyarupa Shekhar and Om Prakash Singh* NEW DELHI | 14 December 2024 (IDN) — With the intergovernmental negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty now over, it is opportune to discuss India’s approach to plastic pollution. The single-use plastic ban (SUP ban) by the Indian government came into effect from 1 July 2022. What the country needed […]
World Trade Is on Track to Hit a Record USD33 Trillion In 2024
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 5 December 2024 (IDN) — Global trade is poised to hit an all-time high of nearly $33 trillion in 2024. This marks a growth of 3.3% or $1 trillion increase driven by a 7% rise in trade in services, according to the latest Global Trade Update by UN Trade and […]
Developing Countries Need 1.4 trillion US Dollar for Social Protection by 2030
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 28 October 2024 (IDN) — As the international community girds up its loins for next year’s Second World Summit for Social Development, the UN has warned that more than 4 billion people worldwide lack any social protection. Only 47 per cent of the global population is estimated […]
The Cost-of-Living Crisis Lingers on Despite Recent Declines in Inflation
By Shuvojit Banerjee* BANGKOK, Thailand | 12 August 2024 (IDN) — High prices of essential goods and services have become a pressing issue for the poor and vulnerable in Asia and the Pacific despite decent economic growth and declining inflationary trends so far in 2024. This cost-of-living crisis since the onset of the war in […]
Laos Could Become the New Southeast Asian Tourist Heaven
By Kalinga Seneviratne VIENTIANE, Laos | 15 July 2024 (IDN) — Laos, the land-locked country of 7.5 million people, with scenic mountainous terrain, traversed by the Mekong River that flows through both Vientiane and the UNESCO World Heritage Buddhist city of Luang Prabang, and home to many remote hill tribes is now in the crest […]
UN Report Cautiously Optimistic About Global Economic Outlook
By Rodney Reynolds NEW YORK | 16 May 2024 (IDN) — A United Nations report expects a sustained rebound in tourism to improve the economic prospects for small island developing States (SIDS), leading to GDP growth from 2.4 per cent in 2023 to 3.3 per cent in 2024. However, SIDS remain vulnerable to spikes in […]
When Nuclear Waste is an Asset, not a Burden
By Lucy Ashton This article was issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). VIENNA | 10 May 2024 (IDN) — What if the high-level nuclear waste generated by nuclear power plants could fuel a circular economy in the energy sector? Fast neutron reactors operating in a closed fuel cycle could make that happen. Fast […]
Sub-Saharan Africa’s Growth Requires Quality Education for Growing Population
By Michele Fornino and Andrew Tiffin WASHINGTON. DC | 1 May 2024 (IDN) — Demographic transition may be the biggest single opportunity for the economies of sub-Saharan Africa, but countries will only be able to enjoy the dividends if they make sufficient investment in education. The region’s population is poised to double to 2 billion […]
Young Africa —Could It Change the World?
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 31 October 2023 (IDN) — “By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African… Early tremors of this seismic change are already registering around the world…. The world is becoming more African.” So opens an in-depth look at our changing world by Irish […]
Respect Laws of Nature by Moving to a Circular Economy
By Sameepa Rajapakse* COLOMBO. 19 September 2023 (IDN) — Against the backdrop of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 18-19 September, it would be an appropriate time for us to focus on moving to a circular economy that respects laws of nature. While poverty and hunger […]