Category: UN INSIDER

Analysis by Catherine Baumann

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – “The security of the world demands that nations — including the United States – ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and conclude a new treaty to end the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons once and for all,” wrote U.S. President Barack Obama in his opinion article for the Washington Post on March 30 on the eve of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

Responding to Obama’s call, Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), tweeted: “(We) need a #CTBT summit to cast test-ban into law & stop countries like #DPRK developing #nuclear weapons.”

Obama’s clarion call for ratification of the CTBT, banning all nuclear tests everywhere and anywhere – in run-up to the end of his presidency nine months from now – is of crucial importance.

Analysis by J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – The Arctic Partnership announced in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been welcomed by Executive Secretary Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Although focused on climate action, the partnership agreed on March 10 has far-reaching consequences for biodiversity in the Arctic, including the role of indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge, he said.

Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and entering into force in December 1993, the CBD is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.

By Jaya Ramachandran

FRANKFURT | NAIROBI (IDN) – Impressive strides were made on renewable energy investments amounting to $266 billion in 2015 – more than double the estimated $130 billion invested in coal and gas power stations, according to a new United Nations backed report. But UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued a cautious note.

In his foreword to the report titled Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016, Ban said: “In spite of these positive findings, to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees, we must immediately shift away from fossil fuels. Sustainable, renewable energy is growing, but not quickly enough to meet expected energy demand.”

Ban added: “For power sector development to be consistent with the goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century, it will be necessary to reduce or leave idle fossil-fuel power plant capacity, unless carbon capture technologies become widely available and are rapidly and fully utilised.”

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations envoy for the peace process in the Middle East has questioned the political will of both Israel and Palestine to address the main challenges blocking peace efforts.

today warned the Security Council that the prospects for an independent Palestinian state are disappearing, and questioned

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, has made an impassioned plea for both Israel and Palestine to “actively take steps that would demonstrate their commitment to, and create the conditions for, an eventual return to negotiations so as to achieve a viable Palestinian State and ensure Israel’s long-term security”.

The international community must send a clear message to both Israel and Palestine that a two-State solution is the best road to peace, Mladenov, told the Security Council on March 24. He was reacting to the current bloody wave of escalating violence, including stabbings and shootings in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

By Guy Berger, Director, IPDC Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

PARIS (IDN) – Media development matters moved ahead at the 60th anniversary meeting of the Bureau of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

The two-day (March 17-18) meeting of eight Member States, chaired by the Netherlands, focused attention on contemporary media issues, including the Sustainable Development Goals, security of journalists, gender equality, and the refugee crisis.

An evaluation report about IPDC’s contribution to the safety of journalism, discussed at the meeting, noted: “Never has the UN advanced so much on the issue of journalistic safety in so little time as in recent years.”

Almost $900 000 in funding was allocated to 51 media development projects worldwide, and six other initiatives focused on ending impunity for attacks on journalists.

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | NEW YORK (IDN) – UN member states committed themselves to the gender-responsive implementation of Agenda 2030 as the 60th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60) concluded on March 24 agreeing on a set conclusions, calling for stronger laws, policies and institutions, better data and scaled-up financing.

The Commission recognized women’s vital role as agents of development. It acknowledged that progress on the Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of Agenda 2030 will not be possible without gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

The conclusions agreed at CSW60 urge a comprehensive approach to implementing all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets through thorough integration of gender perspectives across all government policies and programmes. Eliminating all forms of gender-based discrimination depends on effective laws and policies and the removal of any statutes still permitting discrimination. Temporary special measures may be required to guarantee that women and girls can obtain justice for human rights violations.