UN Insider

Photo: National negotiators inked a deal to protect nature in the early hours of 19 December in Montreal. Credit: Julian Haber/UN Biodiversity (CC BY 2.0)

A Landmark UN Biodiversity Agreement Achieved

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) — Countries around the world have agreed on a historic package of measures aimed at addressing the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems. The agreement was achieved after a two-week-long 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity on December 19.

Convened under UN auspices, chaired by China, and hosted by Canada in Montreal, COP15 adopted the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), including four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 21 December 2022

Photo: Girls from the Arhuacos indigenous community of Colombia. UNODC/Laura Rodriguez Navarro

Alarm Bells Ringing for Endangered Indigenous Languages

UN Launches 10-year Survival Plan

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — Indigenous Peoples are guardians to almost 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, said Csaba Kőrösi, the incumbent President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), while launching on December 16 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 17 December 2022

Image: Screenshot of YouTube video 'Hundreds Could Launch Within Minutes'. Credit: UN

The G20 & Beyond: Nuclear Threats vs. a Growing Norm Against Nukes

By Alyn Ware

The writer is the Director of the Basel Peace Office, Global Coordinator of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Peace and Disarmament Program Director of the World Future Council.

PRAGUE | WELLINGTON (IDN) — In January 2022, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock to 100 Seconds to Midnight, indicating the high level of existential risk to humanity from climate change, nuclear policies, rising nationalism and international tensions that could erupt into armed conflict.

: Alyn Ware; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 15 December 2022

Image: How military spending affects the economy. Source: Investopedia

Why Not Use Money Power to Wind Back Military Spending?

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The U.S. is not the only well-built actor on the Western stage. Some argue, quite understandably after the missed opportunities and mistaken steps of recent decades, that there is a lot to be said for trying to ignore the U.S. as much as possible or, at least, go round it.

Just let the U.S. pay as little or as much as it wants to the UN and its affiliate institutions and rely on the rest of the rich countries to make up the difference. This will clear the air in the UN, take its mind off the perennial struggle with Washington over arrears, and allow its energies to be better concentrated on how best to make use of the UN without waiting for Godot.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 13 December 2022

City Mayors Urge Increased Investment to Halt Ecosystem Loss

UNEP and Other Organisations Support the Call

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) — Cities are on the front line of the socio-economic impacts of climate change and ecosystem loss. They play a significant role in view of the planet experiencing a decline in nature at rates unprecedented in human history—and the largest loss of animal and plant species since the dinosaurs.

Mayors from 15 cities around the world have therefore availed of the biodiversity conference in Montreal—the largest city in Canada's Québec province—to call for increased direct financing to enable them to implement greening and ecosystem restoration projects.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 13 December 2022

Photo: Women in Zambia work inside a greenhouse to increase the production of vegetables for sale at a local market. Credit: ILO/Marcel Crozet.

Three UN Agencies Call for Investments in Rural Employment

Nature-Based Solutions Could Generate 20 million New Jobs

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — A joint report by three UN organisations says that 20 million jobs could be created by further harnessing the power of nature to address the major challenges facing society, such as climate change, disaster risk and food and water insecurity.

According to the report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), investing in policies that support Nature-based Solutions (NbS), would generate significant employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 13 December 2022

Image: The revolution will not be televised. Source: Wuhan Art Museum.

China: From A Health Crisis to A Political Crisis?

By Jan Servaes*

BRUSSELS (IDN) — After nearly three years of fighting Covid-19 tooth and nail with a so-called 'zero-Covid' policy and denouncing Western countries for choosing to live with the virus at the cost of millions of lives, China's rhetoric seems to be moving in a more nuanced direction.

The current number of 5,235 Covid-related 'official' deaths in China is a small fraction of the population of 1.4 billion and, to global benchmarks, extremely low.

: UN Bureau; COVID-19; 12 December 2022

UNCTAD: This Time is Indifferent

Viewpoint by Alexander Kozul-Wright*

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) hosted its biennial debt management conference on December 5-7. The forum brought together governments, international organizations and academia to share views on the current debt landscape in developing countries.

LONDON (IDN) — Covid-19 shuddered the world economy to a halt, and the impact on developing countries was particularly severe. A combination of informal working conditions, underfunded healthcare systems and limited fiscal space constrained policy responses to the virus. By the end of 2020, sharp falls in export earnings and remittance inflows had pushed tens of low-income countries to the economic brink.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 10 December 2022

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres rings the Peace Bell during the ceremony held at UN headquarters in observance of the International Day of Peace. UN Photo/Mark Garten

The Ideals of the UN Charter

A Poem by Shihana Mohamed

Shihana Mohamed, a founding member and one of the coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity & Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a Sri Lankan national, is a Human Resources Policies Officer at the International Civil Service Commission.

: UN Bureau; ARTS & CULTURE; 09 December 2022

Recalling the Massacre in Namibia on Genocide Prevention Day

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Genocide Prevention Day falls on December 9 and marks the anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (also known as the UN Genocide Convention. On this day, the victims of genocide worldwide are remembered. People around the world are encouraged to learn from the past and take action to prevent future atrocities.