‘Africa Cannot Burn Its Way Out of Its Waste Crisis’, Zero-Waste Advocates Say at COP31

Plans to build waste incineration plants across Africa risk undermining efforts to curb methane emissions, zero-waste campaigners have warned, as world leaders and climate negotiators gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for the COP31 climate summit.

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: ‘A New World Order Is Going to Emerge, Whether We like It or Not’

 
CIVICUS discusses the case for United Nations (UN) reform with Heba Aly, director of the Article 109 Coalition, an international civil society network that calls on states to review and update the UN Charter.

Growing Movement Boycotts Krill Products as CCAMLR Fails to Protect Antarctic Ecosystems

On October 30, the 45th annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR-45) concluded in Hobart, Australia. After another year of negotiations without a consensus reached on Antarctic marine protection measures or krill fishing regulations, conservation groups are urging consumers and retailers to boycott all krill products.

Africa–Asia: Turning Demographic Change into Opportunity

Although Africa and Asia face different demographic challenges, they share a common imperative: ensuring that legislation, policies and budgets translate into tangible improvements in people's lives.

COP31: New Research Ties Extreme Weather and Mental Health Challenges in Africa

Floods. Extreme heat. Droughts. African communities have experienced it all and more.

‘The War Must Stop’: Nobel Peace Laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk on the Urgent Need to Protect Ukraine’s Women and Children

Four years after Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, the human cost of the war keeps rising. Even though the global public eye is primarily glued to the progress of the conflict itself, its geopolitical implications and territorial bargaining, the millions of Ukrainian women and children experience the burden of this war that changed their lives and future forever.

COP31: Why Africa Must Rethink Nuclear Energy

Gabriel Sheunopa Manyangadze holds a placard reading “No nuclear spin, let renewables win" as a campaigner leads protesters against nuclear energy in Africa at the United Nations climate summit in Antalya, Turkey.

FRANCE: ‘The Government Should Learn to Respect Its People, Listen to Them and Consult Them’

 
CIVICUS discusses France’s student protest movement with Aminata and Mariam Touré, two sisters involved in the protests. Aminata is a member of the Popular Youth Front (Front de la Jeunesse Populaire), a collective of young people from working-class neighbourhoods.

From Nuclear Weapons to Artificial Intelligence, a New Test of Humanity’s Restraint

Eight decades after atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world is confronting a new and potentially dangerous question: What happens when decisions involving human life increasingly pass from people to machines?

Before We Declare Gender Bias Dead, Read the Footnotes

The United Nations knows how to announce a milestone. What interests me, after a career that has included working inside UNICEF and UNDP and evaluating institutions from outside them, is what happens between the announcement and the working day.

Without Action, Climate Change Could Push Women Further Behind by 2050, CGIAR Warns

Fetching water was once a back-breaking daily reality – one that Nomuhle SibandaMpofu will never forget.

Regime Change Blowback

Trump and Netanyahu went all out for regime change in Tehran. This month, their electorates gave them regime changes, albeit not quite what they wanted. The wars continue, but the politics have changed.

Serbia’s Student Movement: From Protest to Power

On the night of 25 October, tens of thousands filled the streets of Belgrade and other cities, as they’d so often done in protest over the past two years. But this time they came out to celebrate. In that day’s National Assembly election, Student List, a slate of political newcomers, defeated Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in power since 2012. The student-led movement behind the protests, which rose up against corruption, has given Serbia the opportunity for a democratic reset.

Drought Cripples Dairy Farmers in Maharashtra in ‘Off the Charts’ Weather Year

Dairy farmer Sagar Pawar has to buy water and fodder at inflated rates to feed his brood of two buffaloes, three Guernsey cows and a calf. He lives in the Solapur district, which is already drought-prone, but now has to deal with the impacts of a strong El Niño as well.

COP31 Litmus Test for International Cooperation

As the world heads toward COP31 Türkiye starting this week, I’ve been reflecting on how I think COP31 could prove to be a more revealing "Transition COP”. Let us remember that the Paris Agreement came from a series of "institutional heartbeat” COPs – NOT from annual blockbuster headlines.

Kenya’s Civil Society Calls on COP31 Climate Negotiators To Draw From Grassroots

As the world prepares for the 31^st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, Kenya’s priorities for the negotiations are being shaped by lived experiences of communities who are on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Wealth Buys Protection in Climate Crisis – Oxfam

The world’s wealthiest people are driving a disproportionate share of climate pollution while poorer communities bear the heaviest costs of floods, heatwaves, food insecurity and other climate disasters, according to a new report by Oxfam International.

INDIA: ‘The Protest Movement Refuses to Die down, and the Government’s Legitimacy Is Now in Doubt’

 
CIVICUS discusses India’s Gen Z-led protest movement and civic space restrictions with Avinash Kumar, National Co-convenor of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, a network that works on government accountability. Avinash is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Equity Studies.

The UAE’s Great Leap: Building the City of the Future

I have stood on the corniche of Abu Dhabi at many moments over more than thirty years. Each time, I reflect on the distance this city has travelled: from a shoreline shaped by modest commercial buildings and dwellings to a capital whose architecture, institutions and ambitions look far beyond the horizon. Glass towers catch the Gulf light. The dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi scatters sunlight across the water. Yet the transformation that interests me most is not the skyline itself. It is the thinking behind it.

Pacific Scientists Build a Regional Picture of a Changing Ocean

The Pacific Ocean connects thousands of islands, and understanding how ocean acidification is unfolding across the region requires more than individual research projects or monitoring stations.