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By Ronald Joshua
JOHANNESEBURG | MADRID (IDN) – Fewer lives were being lost as a result of natural disasters, because of advanced early warning systems. However, many cash-strapped African countries – including the small island states, bearing the brunt of climate change – are not benefiting from new technologies to develop early warning systems, said the climate expert John Harding at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – A young environmentalist in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invented robots to help protect nature, reports the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Asked about the role of children in creating a positive impact on the environment in the UAE, 11-year-old Sainath Manikandan said: “The backbone of a nation is its youth.”
By Robert Kibet
NAIROBI (IDN) – Threats of terrorism to global peace as an evolving transnational menace, coupled with the growing threat of climate change and the disruption it continues to cause among member states of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) requires them to lead from the front in providing recommendations on how the global community can counter terrorism and extremism as well as impact of climate change.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – A young environmentalist in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invented robots to help protect nature, reports the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Asked about the role of children in creating a positive impact on the environment in the UAE, 11-year-old Sainath Manikandan said: “The backbone of a nation is its youth.”
By Reinhard Jacobsen
BRUSSELS | MADRID (IDN) – The 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union, which together make up more than half of the signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change, have called for increased ambition at global level to close the gap between the commitments made so far and what would be necessary to meet the long-term global temperature goal of the Agreement.
By Fabíola Ortiz
MADRID (IDN) – As the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 moved toward an end, the African Group of Negotiators criticized the “very limited progress” of the climate talks and said “no deal is better than bad deal”.
“We are very very very worried about the balance of the outcome. We are concerned that what we are seeing now is regressing on implementing all the commitments we have under the Paris Agreement,” announced Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Head of Environmental Affairs at Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who led the African Group of Negotiators (AGN).
By Fabíola Ortiz
MADRID (IDN) – The youth and human rights activists have been emphasizing since the start of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) on December 2 the pressing need of placing people in the centre of climate action. Spearheaded by the social movement ‘Fridays for Future’ initiated by the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, the youth been calling for social participation in the decision-making process and the re-shaping of national climate commitments to align with youth’s aspirations.
Viewpoint by Kaveh Zahedi* and Van Nguyen**
BANGKOK (IDN) – “The 2030 Agenda is coming to life”, declared the Secretary-General at the opening of the first SDG Summit [September 24-25], a quadrennial event for the follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As leaders from Asia-Pacific took the floor, they highlighted country progress of SDG implementation and reaffirmed commitment to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Statements reflected different approaches across the region. Yet all converged on one priority: accelerated actions and transformative pathways.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | MADRID (IDN) – As the 25th United Nations climate conference COP25 moved into its second week, environmental activists from around the world denounced the influence of corporate power plainly visible at the Madrid summit and took to the streets in a massive climate protest led by indigenous leaders and youth.
The summit has so far focused on meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise. But climate scientists say the talks are failing to produce the drastic measures necessary to address the climate crisis.
Viewpoint by Jorge Chediek
The author is Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. At stake are recent gains in the fights against poverty, hunger and disease, and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the global South.
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.