Concerns Over Role of Corporates at Climate Talks

As deliberations continue in earnest at the 19th United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Warsaw, negotiators from the Global South welcome a focus on financing adaptation – but reject a new emphasis on a role for the private sector.

Developing World Pushes for Rescue of U.N. Carbon Credit Fund

Negotiators from Least Developed Countries are calling for the United Nations climate body to urgently establish a rescue fund to save Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism from collapse.

In Anti-Poaching Warning, U.S. Destroys Ivory Stockpiles

The United States has become the first developed country to destroy its stock of seized ivory, a move being widely lauded by conservation groups pushing for an outright ban on domestic ivory sales.

U.S. Labels Boko Haram, Ansaru as Terror Groups

The U.S. government has designated the Nigeria-based militant groups Boko Haram and Ansaru as terrorist organisations, prohibiting U.S. citizens from interacting or aiding the groups.

Las Pavas Extracts a Miracle from God

The rural community of Las Pavas in northern Colombia received this year’s National Peace Prize Wednesday in recognition of its peaceful struggle for land that is claimed by an oil palm company, in a case that became an international symbol of the conflict over land in this country.

Q&A: Indonesia Still at High Risk for Catastrophic Fires

In June, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were enveloped in haze as hundreds of forest fires burned across the island of Sumatra, in the worst pollution crisis to hit Southeast Asia in more than a decade.

U.S. Fights G77 on Most Counts at Climate Meet, Leaked Doc Shows

The U.S. delegation negotiating at the U.N. international climate change conference in Poland is pushing an agenda of minimising the role of “Loss and Damage” in the UNFCCC framework, prioritising private finance in the Green Climate Fund, and delaying the deadline for post-2020 emission reduction commitments, according to a State Department negotiating strategy which IPS has seen.

Rwandans Face Extradition over Genocide

A French appeals court has approved the extradition of two Rwandans wanted at home for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide that claimed about 800,000 lives.

The NSA and the End of the U.S. Empire

The linchpin of an empire is the link between two elites, one in the imperial centre, the others in the peripheries. Symmetric alliances exist, but not when there is a superpower at the centre.

Rwandans Face Extradition over Genocide

(Al Jazeera) - A French appeals court has approved the extradition of two Rwandans wanted at home for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide that claimed about 800,000 lives.

SIWI to Host First UNESCO Centre in Sweden

The Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has  decided to establish a research centre in Sweden focusing on international water issues. The centre will be run by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in collaboration with Uppsala University and the University of Gothenburg.

Protecting Tanzania’s Farmers from Weather Extremes

When Habiba Msoga from Kiroka village, in Tanzania’s Morogoro Region, first began applying a method of rice cultivation that was different from what her fellow farmers traditionally used, they laughed at her.

Cairo Women Bring Men Back on the Rails

Nihal Saad Zaghloul is an Egyptian woman in her late twenties. Like other young women, she faces the daily risk of sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo. But Egypt’s revolution made her realise that people can unite and that she can make a difference.

Scuppered Iran Deal Faces Scrutiny in U.S. Congress

The anticipated agreement over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme that seemed to slip away in the last stage of talks in Geneva last week is now being hotly debated on Capitol Hill.

U.N. Peacekeeping Goes on the Offensive

As U.N. peacekeeping operations assume a more agressive role in conflict zones, the first concrete results came last week when the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) defeated the M23 rebel group after a 20-month-long insurgency.

U.N. Climate Meet: “It’s About Survival”

For the small island developing states of the Caribbean, there is nothing more important than the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place here at the national stadium of Poland from Nov. 11-22.

Seeking Asylum Can Mean Living on the Streets

Asylum seekers who travel to the United States to escape persecution in their home countries receive no assistance from the U.S. government and are not allowed to work for months, which activists say lead many to live on the streets or work illegally.

Relief Slowly Makes Its Way to Typhoon-Battered Philippines

Relief operations in typhoon-devastated parts of the Philippines picked up pace Wednesday, but still only minimal amounts of water, food and medical supplies were making it to increasingly desperate survivors in the hardest-hit places.

Oil Palm Expands on Deforested Land in Brazil’s Rainforest

The green of the oil palm plantations is unbroken along kilometre after kilometre of red soil, devastated in the past by loggers and ranchers. The oil palm, a sign of alarm for some and of hope for others, is here to stay in the Amazon rainforest state of Pará in the extreme north of this country.

Citizen Insecurity Growing Problem in Latin America

– The new Regional Human Development Report produced by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) brings to light an issue that is considered a “thwart” to the development of Latin America.  Citizen insecurity is a growing problem in the region and according to the new report, “a challenge that must be overcome by means of democratic and inclusive policies that respect human rights.”

Idyllic Island Confronts Bloody Past

Anguish over the whereabouts of loved ones who went missing during a five-year civil conflict that ended a decade ago continues for countless families in the Solomon Islands. Searching for the remains of those who disappeared is vital to enduring peace in this culturally diverse south-west Pacific island nation of 550,000.