GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Four Anti-Corruption Takeaways from the 2019 G20 Summit

The writer is Global Advocacy Coordinator at Transparency International. This article first appeared on Voices for Transparency – a collection of articles, stories, analyses and opinions from the anti-corruption movement curated by Transparency International. All views and statements represent those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of Transparency International.

BERLIN (IDN) – After 11th-hour negotiations at last week’s [June 28-29] G20 summit in Osaka, the assembled leaders reached consensus on a communiqué through which they sought to identify shared solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by the global community.

: Europe Editor; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of Twenty (G20); 05 July 2019

EU-Mercosur Trade Deal Worries 79-Nation ACP Group

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The 79-nation ACP Group of States and the Least Developed countries (LDCs) are concerned about the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the South American trade bloc Mercosur announced on June 28, 2019. The agreement has been concluded after 20 years of negotiations.

The agreement is perceived as a thorn in the flesh of the ACP Group and LDCs, which includes 180,000 metric tonnes of tariff-free access for sugar in the under the existing 334,054 tonnes CXL quota at 98 €/t for Brazil. In other words, the first 180,000 tonnes of access would be duty-free each year, and also an additional 10,000 tonnes duty-free quota for Paraguay.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 30 June 2019

Photo: Youth Group members with the CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo in the centre in the second row. Credit: CTBTO

How Youth Can Help Entry into Force of the CTBT

Viewpoint by Ilya Kursenko

VIENNA (IDN) – For the first time, the youth had a strong presence at the five-day CTBT: Science and Technology 2019 Conference (SnT2019, seventh in a series, in which scientists, industry leaders, policymakers, civil society and academia participated. They gathered in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, to exchange knowledge and share advances in the monitoring and verification technologies relevant to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in a state of limbo for 23 years.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; CTBTO; 29 June 2019

Photo: Trawler arrested in 2016 by the Norwegian Coast Guard for illegal fishing. Source: Wikimedia

ACP Urges G20 to End Menacing Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Ahead of the G20 Summit in Japan’s Osaka on June 28-29, the Brussels-based organisation of 79 developing countries, the ACP Group of States, called upon Heads of Government to take strong measures to end Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing – an issue at the core of marine ecosytems and ensuring food security.

This has a pride of place in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their entirety and SDG14 in particular, the international community pledged in September 2015 to achieve by 2030.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 28 June 2019

Map: Financial Action Task Force countries. Source: FATF

Ultimata to Iran and Pakistan Threaten to Cloud China’s FATF Presidency

Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey

James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – China’s chairmanship of an international anti-money laundering and terrorism finance watchdog could put to the test the cohesiveness of global efforts to counter political violence with Iran and Pakistan hoping that they will be able to avoid blacklisting with China at the helm.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 27 June 2019

BIOPAMA Launches the 1st Call for Proposals for Medium Grants

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) has launched on June 24 the first call for proposals for medium grants (up to € 400,000) in the frame of its "Action component". The Programme assists the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to address their priorities for improved management and governance of biodiversity and natural resources.

BIOPAMA provides a variety of tools, services and funding to conservation actors in ACP countries. It is an initiative of the ACP Group of States financed by the joint ACP-European Union (EU) 11th European Development Fund (EDF).

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 25 June 2019

NPT Review Conference Will Benefit from CTBT's Entry into Force

By Jamshed Baruah

VIENNA (IDN) – Strongly pleading for a legally binding universal prohibition of nuclear tests, CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo has said that an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in a state of limbo for 23 years will positively influence the outcome of the 2020 NPT Review Conference.

Zerbo was opening a five-day multidisciplinary conference on intended to further enhance the strong relationship between the scientific and technological community and policy-makers as well the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

: Jamshed Baruah; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; CTBTO; 24 June 2019

Photo: Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) addressing the High-Level Panel “CTBT: Science and Technology in a Changing World” on 24 June at Hofburg Palace, Vienna, as part of the Science and Technology Conference2019 (SnT2019) 24 June-28 June 2019. Credit: CTBTO

Science & Technology Can Contribute to Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu

The following are extensive excerpts from the statement by Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) at the High-Level Panel “CTBT: Science and Technology in a Changing World” on 24 June at Hofburg Palace, Vienna, in the opening session of the Science and Technology Conference2019 (SnT2019) 24 June-28 June 2019.

VIENNA (IDN-INPS) – The world is witnessing a technological revolution through which an unparalleled convergence in scientific and technological innovations are changing almost every aspect of people’s daily lives. Communications, logistics, manufacturing and, yes, war and peace-making have all been, and will continue to be, revolutionized in our lifetimes.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 24 June 2019

Photo: Karakul Lake, Tajikistan. Credit: UNCCD

Pressing Need to Put Degraded Lands Back to Life

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | ANKARA (IDN) – Profoundly concerned that "desertification and drought are problems of global dimension in that they affect all regions of the world," the international community adopted the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Paris on June 17,1994. Twenty-five years later, on the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) on June 17 celebrated this year in the Turkish capital Ankara, the 'Hama Arba Diallo Foundation for the Environment and Education' has been launched at a special event.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 18 June 2019

Photo: Mary Robinson and Deon Shekuza. Credit: GlobalGoalsUN

Former Irish President Joins a Namibian Youth in Conversation on Climate Justice

From GlobalGoalsUN

This article is part of reports by the UN SDG Media Compact of which IDN is a member. Watch video.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Science continues to show that as the impacts of climate change accelerate, extreme weather events are taking a major toll in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, home to some of the world’s largest youth populations.

Global warming of 2˚C would put over half of Africa’s population at risk of undernourishment, as as of today, we have already reached about 1°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900). Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.