A project of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group with IDN as the Flagship Agency in partnership with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK, 5 May 2023 (IDN) — The sustainable management of the world’s forests will take centre stage at the United Nations Headquarters in New York at the UN Forum on Forests on 8-12 May 2023. Officials from UN Member States, the UN system, international and regional organizations, will gather to discuss this critical planetary resource.
By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, 26 April 2023 (IDN) — The Caribbean, a popular tourist destination known for its sun-kissed beaches, tranquil waters, and vibrant culture, is facing a harsh reality due to the devastating impacts of climate change. (P02) JAPANESE
By Pattama Vilailert BANGKOK, 20 April 2023 (IDN) — With the kingdom’s population ageing and the debt-ridden farmers becoming restless, Thailand’s political parties are gearing up for the May 14 elections offering populist policies to woo the votes of both sectors of the population. (P01) HINDI | JAPANESE | THAI
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji, 12 April 2023 (IDN) — It is not only the poor island countries of the South Pacific that worry about the future in the midst of climate change. New Zealand—a comparatively rich country—is worried too after devastating floods and cyclonic storms brought destruction to the islands this year.
By UN Academic Impact (UNAI) NEW YORK, 12 April 2023 (IDN) — Covering more than 70% of the planet, the oceans are arguably Earth’s most powerful resource. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States, close to six hundred thousand kilometers of coastline edge them, and almost one-third of the world’s population—2.4 billion people—live within 160 kilometers of their shores. On that note, ocean degradation is one of humanity’s most compelling challenges, also addressed in the Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life below Water.
By Ngala Killian Chimtom YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon (IDN) — While African forest elephants have traditionally been thought of as playing a destructive, negative role in forests, the big munchers are now seen as critical to saving a climate in peril. Scientists now suggest that the perceived destructive nature of the African forest elephant through its feeding habits is good for the forests’ health and the global climate. (P32) FRENCH | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE | SPANISH
UNICEF Warns of Funding Shortfall in The Face of Drought By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI (IDN) — UN Children’s Agency UNICEF has urged the international community to “commit to responding now for what might hit the Horn of Africa” in 2023, “and in the years to come”. UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Lieke van de Weil said on December 22: “We need a global effort to mobilize resources urgently to reduce further devastating and irreversible damage to children in the Horn of Africa. We must act now to save children’s lives, preserve their dignity and protect their futures.”
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana The writer is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). BANGKOK (IDN) — The recent climate talks in Egypt have left us with a sobering reality: The window for maintaining global warming to 1.5 degrees is closing fast and what is on the table currently is insufficient to avert some of the worst potential effects of climate change.
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — When the two-weeklong COP27 climate summit began negotiations on November 6, the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were not far behind. At the conference centre in the Egyptian coastal town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is hosting an SDG Pavilion for interactive dialogues and discussions on key SDG thematic areas, particularly clean energy, water, forests, the ocean, and climate synergies—all of which will be on the forefront of the climate summit.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Water stress, withering droughts and devastating floods are hitting African communities, economies and ecosystems hard. Rainfall patterns are disrupted, glaciers are disappearing and key lakes are shrinking. In South Africa, the extreme rainfall that triggered one of the country’s deadliest disasters of this century was made more intense and more likely because of climate change.
