By Michael von der Schulenburg* This article is based on a speech at the “Never Again War — lay down your arms” rally in front of Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate on 25 November 2023. BERLIN | 8 December 2023 (IDN) — Today, we live in a world that is increasingly caught in the stranglehold of […]
COP28’s Delinquent Emitter: The US Military-Industrial Complex
By Mirabai Venkatesh* OAKLAND, California | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — As the world watches COP28 in Dubai amidst an accelerating climate crisis, a critical blind spot in global climate agreements remains. Despite being the world’s largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases, the US military is completely exempt from international reporting obligations, significantly undermining global […]
Israel-Hamas War: A Two-State Solution Is Indispensable
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — Unless Israel establishes an endgame strategy that will lead to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war against Hamas will only be another brutal violent episode that will prepare the ground for the next conflagration engulfing the West Bank and potentially set […]
The End of An Era?
The Case for a New UN General Assembly Special Session on Disarmament By Sergio Duarte The writer is an Ambassador, a former High Representative of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs., and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil | 7 December 2023 (IDN) — Seventy-eight years ago, when […]
Loss and Damage Fund Is Signed for Climate-Damaged Countries
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 5 December 2023 (IDN) — Diplomats from nearly 200 countries celebrated with cheers and applause at the opening of the UN Climate Conference in Dubai, where a disaster fund to help vulnerable nations cope with the impact of drought, floods and rising seawater was announced. The […]
Tuvalu Confronts Multiple Challenges on the Frontline of Climate Change
By Kalinga Seneviratne* FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu | 4 Dec 2023 (IDN) — While COP28 in UAE debates about how to distribute money from the new climatic change reparation fund, the small Pacific Island state of Tuvalu is grappling with a multitude of climate change-induced problems that could take millions of dollars to fix, if at all. […]
COP28 and the Unaccounted Loss and Damage for Pacific Youth
By Ria Shibata* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. WELLINGTON, New Zealand | 4 December 2023 (IDN) — As the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) […], the global community braces for tough negotiations over climate finance, emission reductions, adaptation strategies and funding for climate-induced loss and […]
Nuclear Deterrence: An Unproven Gamble that Risks Humanity
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 3 December 2023 (IDN) — Is it justifiable for a country to go nuclear—on the grounds that it is doing so to protect itself from nuclear attacks? The argument is based on the concept of “nuclear deterrence”: a widely-challenged theory that nuclear weapons are intended to deter nuclear attacks prompting […]
The Future of Nuclear Disarmament Lies with the Younger Generation
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 1 December 2023 (IDN) — With little or no progress on nuclear disarmament worldwide or the abolition of nuclear weapons, there is a widespread belief that the responsibility for the continued global campaign should now be passed onto the young generation of anti-nuclear activists. A joint statement by a […]
Faith-based Organizations Warn Nuclear Arms as Worst of all Evils
By Razeena Raheem UNITED NATIONS | 1 December 2023 (IDN) — As the weeklong Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons concluded on December 1, a joint statement by a coalition of 115 faith-based and civil society organizations warned of the double violence of climate catastrophe and rampant […]