By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) – Australia’s worst summer in living memory has burnt over 18 million hectares. The UN Environments Programme (UNEP) estimates that more than 5,900 buildings including over 2,800 homes have been destroyed as of mid-January. In addition to a death toll of 33 people so far, about one billion animals, and […]
Trade Wars Threaten Food Security to the Detriment of the Poor
Viewpoint by Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General GENEVA (IDN) – International trade has proven to be a critical mechanism for growth and development. It helps build stronger value chains, mitigate conflict and provides access to higher quality and quantities of goods and services. It has also provided consumers with access to a more diversified and […]
Sino-EU Duo Is Crucial to Driving the Global Climate Ambition
Viewpoint by Adam Tooze* NEW YORK (IDN) – There are turning points in history. Moments that matter, that mark beginnings and ends. As Martin Luther King reminded us: “There is such a thing as being too late”. It is that which can give politics its fierce urgency. As far as global climate politics is concerned, […]
UN Court Censures Myanmar for Violating Genocide Convention
Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens GENEVA (IDN) – On January 23, 2020, a panel of 17 judges of the World Court (ICJ) voted unanimously calling on Myanmar (formerly Burma) to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide of the remaining 600,000 Rohingya that the Court stated were extremely vulnerable […]
Russia Exhorts US to Extend New START Without Preconditions
By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Russian officials repeated in late December and early January President Vladimir Putin’s call for extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) as soon as possible, though Washington continues to remain silent on the future of the accord, which is […]
World Powers Come to Woo Sri Lanka
By Kalinga Seneviratne COLOMBO (IDN) – Two months after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed office on November 18, 2019, the Indian ocean island republic of Sri Lanka has had the unique distinction of hosting top diplomats of three world powers – the United States, China and Russia. One of the president’s first significant announcements was that […]
High Levels of Inequality Can Escalate Political Instability
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – As the United Nations prepares to mark its 75th anniversary in September, the Organisation has yet to fulfil the obligation enshrined in the mandate of the Charter: “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom“ by employing “international machinery for the promotion of […]
Broad-based Deterioration of World Economy Threatening Sustainable Development
By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI | BANGKOK (IDN) – Prolonged trade disputes and wide-ranging policy uncertainties have catapulted the world economy into a significant and broad-based deterioration in 2019. This threatens to hamper efforts to reduce poverty, create decent jobs, broaden access to affordable and clean energy, and achieve many other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). […]
New Currency Stemmed as Six West African Countries Object
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – French-speaking countries will have to put the cork back in the champagne bottle after six member countries of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) comprising Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have rejected the adoption of ‘Eco’ as the name of the proposed […]
Morocco Fails to Mobilize Rural Communities to Advance SDGs
Viewpoint by Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir The writer is a sociologist and president of the High Atlas Foundation, a Moroccan-U.S. not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development in Morocco. MARRAKECH (IDN) – In recent years, Morocco has put in place the right frameworks for mobilizing rural communities to advance the nation’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs), yet it […]