Life Below Water – the UN Calls for Action on Ocean Protection

President of the United Nations General Assembly Volkan Bozkir has told a high-level debate on oceans that the world cannot afford to delay action on ocean protection. “There is simply no scenario wherein we live on a planet without an ocean,” he said.

Bridging the Gaps Between Climate Action & Biodiversity Preservation

With the climate negotiations getting more and more intense in the light of ensuring meaningful achievements in the upcoming COP- 26 summit in Edinburgh, an event that is key to move forward the pathway towards a net zero future started in Paris, this year World Environment Day on June 5 assumes an even more emblematic meaning.

2021: The Year that Matters for the Poorest People on the Planet

This year is being described as pivotal for climate change. That’s not only because we’re reaching a point of no return when it comes to the rise in global temperature, it’s because the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties – commonly known as COP26 – is due to take place in November in Glasgow.

Pandemic Relief Policies Need More Resources, Better Design

Pandemic relief measures in developing countries have been limited by modest resources, fear of financial market discipline and policy mimicry. COVID-19 has triggered not only an international public health emergency, but also a global economic crisis, setting back decades of uneven progress, especially in developing countries.

Slower Population Growth: The Goods and the Bads

Results from the 2020 population censuses in the United States and China recently made headlines. But rather than recognizing the social, economic and environmental benefits of slower rates of population growth for the U.S., China and the planet, much of the media stressed the downsides of slower growth and wrote about population collapse, baby bust and demographic decline.

It’s Time to Reimagine Our Relationship with Nature

Our natural earth is dying. It is on the brink of collapse. Due to human impacts the planet is losing species – its biodiversity – at a rate so alarming it’s said to be comparable to the 5th mass extinction 65 million years ago, bringing the era of the dinosaurs to an end. Just 15% of the world’s forests remain intact, and only 3% of the world’s oceans are free from human pressures.

– Why Experts are Saying It’s a ‘Make or Break’ Moment for Forests –

On the occasion of World Environment Day, 5 June 2021, drawing from IPS’s bank of features and opinion editorials published this year, we are re-publishing one article a day, for the next two weeks. The original article was published on April 28 2021

Are There Clinically Meaningful Differences Between anti-COVID-19 Vaccines?

Despite claims by the industry and some politicians, there are no clinically meaningful differences among the variety of vaccines approved under emergency use authorisation (EUA).

– Youth Demand Action on Nature, Following IUCN’s First-Ever Global Youth Summit –

On the occasion of World Environment Day, 5 June 2021, drawing from IPS’s bank of features and opinion editorials published this year, we are re-publishing one article a day, for the next two weeks. The original article was published on April 23 2021

To Beat Covid, Beat HIV, & Beat Inequality, Find the Money

In this time of intersecting crises – the Covid crisis, the HIV crisis, the inequality crisis, and more – progress on all these crises is being blocked by another crisis: finance.

People Power: Why Mobilisations Matter Even in a Pandemic

It has been one year since the police murder of George Floyd, an outrage that resonated around the world. The killing forced people to the streets, in the USA and on every inhabited continent, to demand respect for Black lives and Black rights, proving that protest was essential even during the pandemic.

Not Without My Hijab: Why Representation in Sports Matter

In 2016, when Bosnian-American professional basketball player, Indira Kaljo got in touch with Asma Elbadawi because she had been forced to give up playing basketball after she started wearing the hijab, they decided to take it up with the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), the sports governing body to change its rules on headgear.

Wards Without Water

Malawian healthcare workers are facing challenges from all sides. More than half of healthcare facilities in Malawi are without handwashing facilities, almost two thirds have no decent toilets and almost one fifth do not have clean water on site.

Developing Countries Desperately Need COVID-19 Financing

Failure to sufficiently accelerate comprehensive efforts to contain COVID-19 contagion has greatly worsened the catastrophe in developing countries. Grossly inadequate financing of relief, recovery and reform efforts has also further set back progress, including sustainable development.

Why Our Best Defence Against Future Pandemics is Data

Although the World Health Organization’s (WHO) mission to discover its origins has proven inconclusive, the Covid-19 pandemic has nonetheless clearly highlighted the need for better care, attention, and investment in animal health systems.

Q&A: Reflecting on Five Years of Educating Children in the Throes of Crises, Emergencies and Displacement

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund that brings teaching and learning to children in emergencies and protracted crises, is observing five years of reaching boys and girls in some of the world’s hardest-hit conflict and disaster zones.

Tired with Tokenism, Youth Launch ‘Stronger Campaign’ for UN Biodiversity Day

The Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) has put leaders and policymakers on notice that they are not willing to listen to the same conversations, suggestions and unmet promises, as the world faces a biodiversity crisis.

– The Global Insecurity of Climate Change –

On the occasion of World Environment Day, 5 June 2021, drawing from IPS’s bank of features and opinion editorials published this year, we are re-publishing one article a day, for the next two weeks. The original article was published on February 24 2021

Wanted: Transparency & Accountability in Pandemic-Related Spending

Governments around the world are playing a crucial role in providing lifelines to people and firms to help combat the pandemic and its economic fallout. To support the effectiveness of these efforts, it is important that such spending be subject to adequate transparency and accountability.

Exclusive: Mauritius’ First Female President on Why We Need Science Diplomacy to Address Major Challenges

If we want to address the great challenges this world is facing, we have to factor in science into all our narratives, according to Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the first woman president of Mauritius and renowned biodiversity scientist.

– UN Blueprint that Could Urgently Solve Earth’s Triple Climate Emergencies –

On the occasion of World Environment Day, 5 June 2021, drawing from IPS’s bank of features and opinion editorials published this year, we are re-publishing one article a day, for the next two weeks. The original article was published on February 19 2021