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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
Yeosu World Expo
U.N. Launches New Oceans Compact Following Expo 2012
As the three-month-long international exhibition Expo 2012 came to a close in the South Korean coastal town of Yeosu last week, the United Nations announced the launch of an "Oceans Compact" aimed at the preservation of marine resources worldwide.
Amid Rise in Piracy, U.N. Backs Summit on Maritime Security
When the United Nations advocates the protection of the world's oceans, its political agenda transcends the battle against marine pollution, global warming, overfishing, greenhouse gases and sea-level rise.OP-ED: U.S. Adrift on Law of the Sea
A little overshadowed by the Olympics, the Yeosu 2012 Expo is, in its own way, doing more than the London Games to promote global harmony - and without stirring up the waters the way the British did when they posted the ROK flag for the DPRK women’s soccer team.
Q&A: U.N. Spotlights Pirates in the Malacca Strait at Expo 2012
At the Yeosu World Expo 2012, the U.N. commemorated the thirtieth anniversary of the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), highlighting efforts to quell the global scourge of piracy.South Korea Showcases Role as Donor at Expo 2012
When South Korea took the initiative to integrate a development cooperation programme into this year’s World Expo, it stepped up its efforts to gain credibility as a donor on the international stage.
Q&A: South Korea Steps Up as Marine Conservation Champion
When South Korea picked an oceans theme for the 2012 Yeosu World Expo, it became host to the largest marine-themed event in history, with the potential to make a concrete contribution to sustainable development and simultaneously buoy the Korean global image.
U.N. Chief Recounts Poverty and Plenty in South Korea
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former foreign minister of South Korea, is visibly emotional whenever he speaks about the striking political and economic achievements in his home country.
Expo 2012 Moves from World’s Oceans to Law of the Sea
As part of its overall theme to educate the public about the state of the world's oceans, the international exhibition Expo 2012 will shift its focus next month to what has been described as "possibly the most significant legal instrument" of the 21st century: the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
South Korea Offers Marine Technology to Developing Nations
When South Korea inaugurated a U.N. Office for Sustainable Development last October, the new research and training facility was designed to help the world's poorer nations "accelerate economic growth, improve quality of life and protect the environment".
OP-ED: World’s Ailing Oceans Find a New Dawn at Expo 2012
Gazing over the ocean somehow puts a human being at peace with the world. To build a home with a view of the sea is the dream of many. The expanse of water, the beach, and tide magically draw us to them.
“No Future We Want Without the Ocean We Need”
When South Korea, one of Asia's rising economic powerhouses, decided to host the international exhibition Expo 2012 in the coastal town of Yeosu, it picked a theme high on the agenda of the just-concluded Rio+20 summit on sustainable development: the living ocean.
‘It Should be Named Planet Ocean, Not Planet Earth’
Oceans, seas and coasts provide over 200 million jobs globally, while 4.3 billion people get 15 percent of their intake of animal protein from the seas. Travel and tourism, ports and energy production use oceans and seas to create jobs and economic and social benefits for millions of people.
Expo 2012 Shadows Rio+20 on Sustainable Oceans
When the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) takes place in Brazil next week, it will be closely shadowed by another event thousands of kilometres away in the South Korean coastal town of Yeosu: Expo 2012.Korea Takes the Spotlight with Yeosu Expo
The Yeosu Expo 2012 exemplifies how the Republic of Korea (ROK) has made its debut on the world stage.
Q&A: A Green Economy Without a Pricetag on Nature?
As thousands gear up for the 2012 Earth Summit, Rio+20, scheduled to kick off in Brazil on Jun. 20, questions on the viability and adequacy of a ‘green economy’ abound.
Can ‘Blue Forests’ Mitigate Climate Change?
Fifty-five percent of global atmospheric carbon captured by living organisms happens in the ocean.Private Sector and Conservationists Meet on a Big Date
As schools of whales move to music undersea at image definitions of 6.54 million pixels on the giant ceiling mounted LED screen, 218 X 30 metres in length and width, expectations run high from the International Exposition Yeosu Korea 2012 at harbour town. The expo showcases 104 participating countries’ visions and achievements on the Expo theme: ‘The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities’.
Q&A: Protecting Oceans Equals Protecting Our Planet
The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), whose mandate includes the preservation and protection of the world's fast-degrading oceans, will play a pivotal role in Expo 2012, an international exhibition to be formally opened later this week in the coastal town of Yeosu in South Korea.
Expo 2012 Aims to Protect World’s Endangered Oceans
Come May 12, South Korea will host its largest single landmark event for the year - an achitecturally-glittering Expo 2012 - continuing a 161-year-old tradition going back to the first Great Exhibition in England in 1851 showcasing the steam engine.
Q&A: Expo 2012 to Focus on Protecting World’s Marine Resources
The United Nations, which is hosting a major international summit on the global environment in Brazil in late June, points out that while the world's oceans account for 70 percent of the earth's surface, only one percent of this area is protected.
While the world's oceans account for 70 percent of the earth's surface, only one percent of this area is protected. According to the U.N., 60 percent of major marine ecosystems are either damaged or overexploited. The 2012 World Expo, hosted by South Korea in the coastal town of Yeosu, aims to shed light on the need to protect maritime resources around the globe. Titled "The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Development", Expo 2012 will also feature advances in technology concerning the ocean and coastlines and explore ways to resolve the challenges facing these great resources. IPS is covering World Expo 2012, which runs from May 21 through August 21, with news stories, analyses, feature articles, interviews and op-ed pieces relating to the international exhibition and its theme, from Yeosu and beyond.
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