 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in December, 1979 and withdrew, exhausted and demoralized, 10 years later. In Moscow a joke had long circulated: “Why are we still in Afghanistan?” Answer: “We are still looking for the people who invited us.”
The same is true for the Americans and NATO who are now moving through the exit door. They came to obliterate Al Qaeda after 9/11, 2001.
By Ibrahim Thiaw
UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, responds to the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land.
BONN (IDN) — We have known for over 25 years that poor land use and management are major drivers of climate change, but have never mustered the political will to act. With the release of the IPCC special report on climate change and land, which makes the consequences of inaction crystal clear, we have no excuse for further delay.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — By any reasonable measure violence should have had its day. Throughout our long history violence and war have solved little. In most cases, if not all, war could have been pre-empted by deft diplomacy and non-violent action.
Take Afghanistan where after America’s longest ever war the US and its allies are finally withdrawing their troops.
By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
NEW YORK (IDN) — Today’s IPCC Working Group 1 Report is a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible.
The internationally agreed threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius is perilously close.
By MATSUI Kazumi, Mayor of the City of Hiroshima
Every year on August 6, the City of Hiroshima holds a Peace Memorial Ceremony to pray for the peaceful repose of the victims, for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and for lasting world peace. During that ceremony, the Mayor issues a Peace Declaration directed toward the world at large. This is part of Hiroshima's effort to build a world of genuine and lasting world peace where no population will ever again experience the cruel devastation suffered by Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*
This is the fourth in a series of four articles. Click here for the third in the series.
QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) — In my last piece, we touched on the third critical challenge regarding the climate crisis; creativity. In the first piece in this series we addressed the first challenge; cognition. In the third article, we explored the third obstacle to mounting a successful strategy to address the climate crisis; creativity. In this, the final piece in this series, we explore the intersection where all three crises (cognition, collaboration and creativity) collide with chronology—C-5.
Interview with Mr. Tetsuo Saito, Vice Representative, Komei Party
By Katsuhiro Asagiri
TOKYO (IDN) — Hiroshima and Nagasaki mark the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on August 6 and 9 for the first time since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force on January 22. The survivors of atomic-bomb (Hibakusha) and various civic groups made active contributions to this historic achievement.
Viewpoint by Yossef Ben-Meir and Ellen Hernandez
Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is President of the High Atlas Foundation in Morocco. Professor Ellen Hernandez teaches in English at Camden County College in the United States.
MARRAKECH (IDN) — When community meetings are held to determine priority development projects in villages, in neighborhoods, in schools, in agricultural fields—wherever they may take place—we want to speak the language that is spoken there, spoken every day. The idea of a person or a community of people exploring what they most want in their lives should be as real and as connected to their notion of “self” as possible.
Viewpoint By Sugeeswara Senadhira
With increasing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka, the Indian government is lately trying to use Sri Lanka's "non-implementation" of the 13th amendment to the constitution to provide more autonomy to Tamil areas of the island as agreed 34 years ago, in the infamous Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement, to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. But as Presidential international media advisor Sugeeswara Senadhira argues, since India could not deliver their side of the promises made in the agreement, it should be left for the historians to handle.
Africa Renewal's Managing Editor Kingsley Ighobor talks to Damilola Ogunbiyi
NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) — Damilola Ogunbiyi is the CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All. On the sidelines of the UN High-Level Political Forum from July 6 to 15 in New York, Ms. Ogunbiyi spoke to Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor on a range of issues, including how to tackle energy poverty in Africa. Here are the excerpts:
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.