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Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
The writer is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
BANGKOK (IDN) – The past five years have been the hottest on record in Asia and the Pacific. Unprecedented heatwaves have swept across our region, cascading into slow onset disasters such as drought. Yet heat is only part of the picture.
Viewpoint by António Guterres
The UN Secretary-General met with the Group of Seven (G7) leaders during the 3-day summit to mobilize action ahead of the Climate Action Summit taking place in New York on September 23. Following are extensive excerpts from the transcript of his Press Encounter at the G7 Summit which ended in Biarritz on August 26.
BIARRITZ, France (IDN-INPS) – We are now facing a dramatic climate emergency. Last month was the hottest month on record. We are on track for 2015 to 2019 to be the five hottest years on record.
UN Messenger of Peace @JaneGoodallInst introduces @IRIforests, a new global effort uniting people of all faiths to end tropical deforestation.
Watch the video and share this important message: InterfaithRainforest.org/video #FaithsForForests
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – Issues such as highlighting how governments, civil society and individuals can take action on climate, sharing updates on the Sustainable Development Goals, and celebrating outstanding figures whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment will take centre stage when world leaders gather in New York City for the high-level week of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly from September 21 to 26.
Viewpoint by Tim Christophersen
The growing enthusiasm for forests and trees is a good thing. But we need to be mindful of some pitfalls lurking along the way. With the right approach, we can make the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, including the planting of billions of new trees, a major step in building the sustainable future we all want, says Tim Christophersen, Branch Coordinator, Freshwater, Land and Climate at UN Environment as well as the Chair of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration in a blogpost.
UN Chief Urges Young People Worldwide to Join Online and in Local Communities
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – In an obvious expression of support for the ‘FridaysforFuture’ movement, whose initiator Greta Thunberg is sailing to New York, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is keen to mobilize youth for what he has termed “the defining issue of our time”. One hundred outstanding young climate champions chosen from around the world will receive support to participate in the first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit on September 21 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
By Delia Paul, IISD
FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (IDN) – Pacific leaders sounded an urgent call to world leaders to maintain security in the Pacific region by seeking to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels and meeting their global climate finance commitment of USD 100 billion per year by 2020.
The ‘Kainaki II Declaration,’ a document accompanying the formal communiqué from the meeting, puts forward a range of actions whereby the international community can step up actions to mitigate climate change and increase support for Pacific-led initiatives on resilience.
By UN Environment
NAIROBI (IDN) – If human society is to stay within the bounds of critical ecological thresholds, it is imperative that environmental laws are widely understood, respected and enforced. This is the environmental rule of law.
Since the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992, the world has converged on protecting our ecosystems; to illustrate, environmental laws and agencies have expanded 38-fold in the last few decades.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23, twenty-eight leading companies have responded to a call-to-action campaign and committed themselves to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels with a view to reaching net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. In doing so, they are contributing to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), endorsed by the international community in September 2015.
By Justus Wanzala
NAIROBI (IDN) – The civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) supported by local communities can play a critical role in addressing climate change and growing inequalities, and contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, according to participants of the recent High-level Political Forum (HPLPF) at the UN headquarters in New York.
