Belem City Limits: How to Host a Successful Climate COP

There is no question that most climate activists and governments were delighted when Brazil offered to host the 2025 UN Climate Conference taking place this November.

The Constitution Isn’t Optional: Why USA Belongs on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist

Successive United States governments have prided themselves on being governed by the Constitution of 1788. The First Amendment introduced in 1791 lays the foundations for secularism, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the right to seek redress of grievances.

Climate Reparations are Necessary but Not Sufficient: World Needs Less Growth & More Justice

While recent heat waves were causing thousands of deaths, the Trump administration was busy dismantling policies that regulate greenhouse gases on the theory they don’t harm human health.

Survey by Staff Federation Expresses Disappointment over UN’s Reform Process

The Coordinating Committee for International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System (CCISUA)* staff federation has conducted a quick survey of staff in its member unions of their thoughts on the UN80 initiative.

Why Locally Led Development Works and How Funders Can Get It Right

In Uganda, local communities are routinely sidelined in development processes, despite knowing most about their own needs. When a Moroto District officer remarked, ‘This is the first time local leaders were truly heard’, it offered a powerful reminder of what so often goes wrong: development fails when communities are excluded.

An Ageing World on a Heating Planet: Why Older People Must Be Central to Climate Policy

I've just returned from the east coast of India, where I saw for myself the harsh challenges that older people in artisanal fishing communities confront daily. I saw how the community elders — the keepers of marine traditions and the coastal environment — are being forsaken by climate policy and their governments.

Historic Inter-American Court Ruling: A Game-Changer for Environmental Defenders?

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued one of the most progressive climate justice decisions of our time. Its historic Advisory Opinion on the climate emergency and human rights, released on July 3, 2025, was unequivocal: States have legal obligations under international human rights law to reduce, prevent, and address climate damage, including reining in big polluters.

As Heatwaves and Floods Surge, U.S. Agriculture Faces a Growing Crisis

Recent weeks have seen an increase in extreme weather events. From heat waves occurring across the Midwest states to flash flooding in Texas, Maryland, and New York.

American Inhumanity on Full Display to the World

Why is a grinning Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, wildly cheered by both Democrats and Republicans whenever he addresses the US Congress, while at the same time in Gaza countless innocent civilians are being killed by American bombs and bullets—and now babies are starving?

Bullying Southeast Asia with Tariff Threats

US President Trump has successfully used tariff threats to achieve economic, political and even personal goals. These threats, reminiscent of colonialism, have secured submission and concessions.

When the System Protects Itself, Not People

In Geneva, nearly 600 UN staff based at the UN Office there held an Extraordinary Staff Union meeting on July 24, 2025, passing a unanimous motion of no confidence in the UN80 reform initiative, the Secretary General António Guterres, and Under Secretary General Guy Ryder—with no abstentions and no dissenting voices (source).

COMMENTARY: Trump National Monument at Mount Rushmore

President Donald Trump reportedly wants to add his own head to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. But the National Park Service says there’s no room next to the four current presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. [Branch & White 6/27/2025] Here’s an innovative proposal for how to immortalize him right there in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

How Clustering Multilateral Environmental Agreements Can Bring Multiple Benefits to the Environment

The UN80 Initiative, unveiled in March by Secretary-General António Guterres, is a system-wide effort to reaffirm the UN’s relevance for a rapidly changing world.

Western Powers Are Complicit in Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza

The West, led by the Trump administration, has enabled the Netanyahu government to commit crimes against humanity and became complicit in the unfathomably horrific disaster that is being inflicted on the Palestinians in Gaza

To Tackle Microplastic Pollution from Synthetic Textiles, Rebuild Natural Fibre Markets

Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Since the mid-20th century, over 8 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced globally (UNEP, 2021). Shockingly, more than 90% of this plastic waste has not been recycled. Instead, it has been incinerated, buried in landfills, or leaked into the environment where it can persist for hundreds of years, fragmenting into microplastics.

Climate Pressures are Redefining Macroeconomic Resilience in Asia & the Pacific

In the past year, Asia and the Pacific has faced intensifying climate pressures, from extreme heat in Bangladesh and India to devastating floods in northern Thailand and rising food insecurity across the Pacific.

Funding Cuts by Traditional Donors and the Future of Localization: Power, Paradox, and the Politics of Aid

In recent years, major international donors such as the European Union (EU), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), USAID, and other bilaterals (such as BMZ, Sida, the Netherlands among others) have significantly reduced development funding to global majority countries.

How Israel Lost its Soul

The dramatic story of Israel’s birth in 1948 following the Nazi Holocaust captured the wonder and admiration of the world. Its founders claimed that Israel would be a light to the nations, but now the Jewish State’s identity has gone from being the victim of genocide to perpetrator in less than two generations.

US Republican Lawmakers Don’t Care About Mortality in the Country

The recent legislation passed by the US Congress, oddly named the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), and signed by the US President, reveals that Republican lawmakers in the nation’s capital do not care about excessive and premature mortality in the United States.

End Impunity for Israeli Crimes Against Palestinians: Demand Targeted Sanctions & Arms Embargo –at High-Level UN Conference

United Nations member countries should use the ministerial-level conference on Palestine on July 28-29, 2025, to publicly commit to concrete actions aimed at ending decades of impunity for Israeli authorities’ violations of international humanitarian and human rights law against Palestinians, Human Rights Watch said today.

Advancing Circular Solutions for EV Battery Waste in Asia and the Pacific

The Asia-Pacific region is becoming a showcase for regional solutions. As electric vehicles (EVs) rapidly gain traction, the region must confront a dual challenge: managing the environmental and health risks of end-of-life EV batteries, while actively pursuing the economic and technological opportunities of a circular economy.