SUSTAINABILITY

Photo: António Guterres (right) takes the oath of office for his second five-year term as Secretary-General of the United Nations. The oath is administered by Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Guterres Calls for New Era Of ‘Solidarity and Equality’ After Re-appointment As UN Secretary-General

By Caroline Mwaga

NEW YORK (IDN) — “We are truly at a crossroads, with consequential choices before us. Paradigms are shifting. Old orthodoxies are being flipped,” António Guterres told ambassadors after being re-appointed on June 18 to a second term as UN Secretary-General. He was the sole candidate from the UN’s 193 Member States to vie for its top job. His first five-year term began in January 2017. He was nominated by his homeland, Portugal, and appointed by acclamation by the General Assembly, following prior endorsement by the UN Security Council, for a second term that runs from January 2022 to December 2026.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 21 June 2021

Nobel Laureate Offers Pathways to A Better Future After COVID-19 Crisis

By UNCTAD

GENEVA (IDN) — Coronavirus pandemic recovery efforts should provide comprehensive social protection, fight climate change, and ensure vaccines reach the poorest people quickly.

Nobel laureate Esther Duflo spelled out what an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 crisis should entail and outlined lessons learned from the pandemic, while delivering the 17th edition of UNCTAD’s prestigious Raúl Prebisch Lecture on June 15.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 20 June 2021

Photo: Nisar Keshvani (third from left) at the UCA campus in Naryn during its launch.

Dreams Have Come True As the University of Central Asia Graduates its Inaugural Cohort

By Nisar Keshvani

SINGAPORE (IDN) — Imagine. The most remote of mountains. Two thousand metres above sea level. On the Silk Road, and 240 km away from China. In secondary cities with populations going up to 150,000. Therein, majestically stands a fully-residential university, delivering a world-class education for the next generation of Central Asian learners—regardless of their financial position.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 20 June 2021

Photo: At the present time, mankind is losing the battle against the climate crisis. Wall Steet International.

Climate: The Creativity Crisis

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*

This is the second in a series of four articles. Click here for the first in the series.

QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) — If Covid-19 has taught us one lesson, it is that the creativity within the scientific community led to effective vaccine development in a timeframe nobody anticipated. Frankly, humanity got lucky. Imagine if science had not made the requisite advances to create effective COVID-19 vaccines in record time. Regarding the climate challenge, there are no effective vaccines available. There is no immunity from the deleterious effects of climate change. Like the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the climate challenge threatens the survival of humanity.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 19 June 2021

China's Three-Child Policy Is Unlikely to Better the Demographic Situation

Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — China’s announcement of May 31 to allow couples to have three children, instead of two as is the rule now, has not captured the attention it deserves for its ramifications because the country is so much in the news for the wrong reasons such as its military stand-off with India or glossing over the origin of Covid-19 virus. The ruling Communist Party Politburo’s decision shows that although China’s economy is doing better than any other major economy in the Covid-ravaged world, the country is caught in a demographic crisis that could begin eroding its economic strength.

: Shastri Ramachandaran; OPINION; 19 June 2021

Climate: The Cognition, Collaboration and Creativity Crisis

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*

This is the first in a series of four articles.

QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) — The climate crisis is the most daunting challenge ever confronted by humankind. At the present time, mankind is losing the battle. This article explores the first of three dimensions of our inept response; cognition. As a point of full disclosure, I am a climate crisis believer; one who remains deeply concerned about the current state of efforts of every type to deliver elements of a comprehensive solution…in time.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 18 June 2021

Photo: A ship in The Arctic Sea. Source: eurasiareview.vom

Russia, US and The Churning Arctic Geopolitics

Viewpoint by K.M. Seethi*

KOTTAYAM | India (IDN) — The Arctic geopolitics has become one of the strategic policy planks of big powers. This has been reflected in the separate statements issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden after the US-Russia summit in Geneva on June 16.

Putin told reporters that Moscow and Washington “should interact on issues related to the Arctic region.” He said: “Russia and the United States are among the eight members of the Arctic Council; Russia chairs the Arctic Council this year. Moreover…there is a strait between Alaska and Chukotka, the United States is on one side and Russia is on the other. All this together should push us to join efforts” (The TASS News 16 June 2021).

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 18 June 2021

Photo: US President Joe Biden with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Credit: David Lienemann | Official White House.

A Seismic Event in US-Russia Relations

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) — The President of the United States Joseph Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met on June 16 in Geneva at a time when the two countries are engrossed in an antagonistic confrontation over many issues—historically, the worst ever relations between the two countries.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 17 June 2021

Photo: A group of children. Credit: UNCTAD

Productive Capacities Key to Achieving Sustainable and Growth in LDCs

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has brought to light not only the systemic interdependence of countries, but also the socioeconomic fragility of the global economy. From a trade and development perspective, this has been felt most acutely in the most vulnerable developing countries—the least developed countries (LDCs), says the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

: Radwan Jakeem; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 16 June 2021

Photo: Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dinesh Gunawardena at the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 23.

Majority of UN Members Refuse to Fund UNHRC’s Sri Lanka Probe

But would the West Respect the Majority Will?

Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira

COLOMBO (IDN) — Majority of members of the UN, especially from the Global South, have refused to donate funds to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC’s) move to set up a separate secretariat to enforce matters relating to the Resolution it passed on Sri Lanka in March this year. The inability to raise sufficient funds is a major setback to UNHRC plans to implement the Resolution, but there are fears here that the West will not respect the will of the majority in the international community, and may chip in with funds to implement their project.