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Sunday, June 28, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Climate Change
World Environment Day: UN Secretary-General Reckons with ‘A Moment of Truth’ on Climate Action
Coming at a time of record-breaking global temperatures over the last twelve months, the UN chief calls on world leaders, including the G20 and G7 members, to commit to their climate action goals as laid out in the Paris Agreement. Experts across multiple industries are also encouraged to do their part to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis.
Europe Can Reap Sizable Energy Security Rewards by Scaling Up Climate Action
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered Europe’s worst energy crisis since the 1970s and put energy security back at the top of the policy agenda. Policymakers reacted swiftly by securing alternative natural gas supplies, improving energy efficiency, and expanding renewables.
Explainer: How India’s Political Parties Neglect Climate Change
As India's 968.8 million voters were gripped by election fever, the worst-ever heat wave held the country in its clutches.
Bringing Drought and Floods, El Niño Hits the Most Fragile in Southern Africa
Kaponde Likando does not know how his family will survive until the next farming season. “We are not going to have anything (to harvest),” said the 60-year-old from Chingobe village in southern Zambia after his maize, sorghum, groundnut and sweet potato crops failed. “This has been the very opposite of what we expected.”
World Environment Day 2024
Ecosystems are being threatened all over the world.
From forests to drylands.
From farmlands to lakes.
Biodiversity Meetings in Nairobi End, All Eyes Are Now on COP16
Regions struggling to revise and update their National Biodiversity Plans aligning them with the Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at COP15, will now be given the technical and scientific support to develop and submit their plans on time. This was one of the key decisions of the 4th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI)—the crucial pre-COP meetings of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD)—to review the status and challenges of implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which started on May 22 and ended in Nairobi late in the evening of May 29, 2024.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Calls for Concrete Finance Commitments for Small Island Developing States
Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland is calling for concrete commitments to climate finance that will acknowledge the multi-dimensional vulnerability faced by the world’s small island developing states (SIDS).
Plastic Soup, Plastic Islands: How Small Island Developing States can end Plastic Pollution
Scattered over the vast area of our oceans, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are often pictured as blue, serene and beautiful paradises. However, we are risk losing the beauty of these islands, due to the triple threats of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution, especially marine plastic debris.
UN, International Partners Coordinate Aid to Papua New Guinea Landslide Disaster
As the communities of Enga province in Papua New Guinea contend with the landslide that has devastated the residents of Yambani, the United Nations and its partners have been active on the ground addressing the immediate humanitarian needs, according to agencies.Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, says “extraordinary rainfall” and weather pattern changes were responsible for multiple disasters in the Pacific Island nation this year, including the landslide last Friday.
Explainer: Why Is It Important for Venezuela to Adopt Escazú Agreement in the Coming Year?
Venezuela is one of the few countries outside the Escazú Agreement, a treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean ratified by 16 member countries that guarantees access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decisions, and environmental justice.
South Suffering Due to Powerful Nations’ Policies
The World Bank expects the international economic slowdown to be at its worst in over four decades in 2024. This is mainly due to powerful Western nations’ contractionary macroeconomic and geopolitical policies.
People at Risk Need Protection Before Another Hot Summer
Spring has traditionally brought a welcome new beginning: daylight increases, flowers bloom and temperatures are pleasantly warm. However, in recent years, it’s also brought justified fears about extreme heat with summers in Southern Europe getting increasingly hot because of climate change. Older people, children, people with disabilities, and people with mental health conditions are among those at higher risk.
Uniting for Climate Action: UN, World Bank and UNDRR Leaders Push for Climate Finance, Justice and Nature-Based Solutions for SIDS
As leaders of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) meet for the 4th International Conference on SIDS in Antigua this week, top United Nations and World Bank officials are calling for urgent action to help SIDS tackle their unique challenges and plan for the next decade.
To Tackle Climate Crisis, the World Bank Must Stop Financing Industrial Livestock
Last week, the World Bank Group released a new report that highlights the urgent need to drastically reduce GHG emissions to address the climate crisis and calls on countries to act. However, while the World Bank’s acknowledgment of the damaging climate impacts of industrial agriculture is a crucial step forward, it’s simply not enough.
Explainer: Why GLOFs Are Growing Concern in the Himalaya
Phu Chhettar Sherpa, who worked as an icefall doctor (a Sherpa who fixes ropes for climbers) for seven years from 2015 to 2021 on Mt. Everest, vividly recalls his fear of possible flash floods after the huge earthquake in Nepal in 2015.
Small Island Nations Demand Urgent Global Action at SIDS4 Conference
“This year has been the hottest in history in practically every corner of the globe, foretelling severe impacts on our ecosystems and starkly underscoring the urgency of our predicament. We are gathered here not merely to reiterate our challenges, but to demand and enact solutions,” declared Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Brown at the opening of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States on May 27.
Malawi Moves To Regulate Carbon Trading Amid Transparency Concerns in Global Market
Malawi is increasingly pitching carbon trading as a source of revenue it needs to bolster the economy, which is suffering from foreign exchange shortages caused by a large trade imbalance and being buffeted by several shocks, including the climate crisis.
Countdown to Critical Conference for Small Island Developing States
Delegates from small island developing states (SIDS) worldwide are meeting in Antigua and Barbuda to strategize for the next decade.
Lessons From Youth-Focused ‘Future Action Festival’ Ahead of UN Summit of the Future
The world has crossed the halfway point to the end of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era amid multiple, unprecedented, and significantly destructive global shocks. Two of the most pressing global challenges are the climate crisis and the threat of nuclear armament. Of serious concern is a severe lack of youth engagement on issues of critical global importance. Speaking to IPS during the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference, the outcome of which will inform high-level discussions when the UN hosts hundreds of world leaders, policymakers, experts, and advocates in September at the Summit of the Future in New York, Tadashi Nagai stressed the importance of coalition and movement building and youth engagement to escalate progress towards attainment of the SDGs.
Education Cannot Wait Interviews Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative to Haiti
Bruno Maes is the UNICEF Representative in Haiti. He officially took office in August 2020. A Belgian national, Mr. Maes previously served as UNICEF Representative in Madagascar from 2007 to 2012, in Chad from 2012 to 2015, and recently in Egypt from September 2015 to 2020.
Education Cannot Wait’s #ShareTheirVoices Global Advocacy Campaign Launched by ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif in Lead Up to United Nations Summit of the Future
In the lead up to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ Summit of the Future, taking place on 22-23 September 2024, Education Cannot Wait is supporting the global #ActNow Campaign with an urgent call to increase funding for the +226 million crisis-impacted children worldwide urgently in need of an education through ECW’s global #ShareTheirVoices campaign.« Previous Page — Next Page »
As unsustainable human consumption and production systems are driving changes in average temperatures and weather patterns, "abnormal" is increasingly becoming the norm. So far, a lack of financing has been standing in the way of a comprehensive global plan for climate adaptation, and a global financial crisis has contributed to an increasing reliance on public-private partnerships. Our Climate Change page provides you with the latest news about international and local efforts to address what's frequently been called "the challenge of our time", the forces behind the climate change and the impact it has on the world's most vulnerable populations. Along the way, we bring you stories on growing citizen awareness, new scientific data, and emerging climate policies towards sustainable development.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
