Accountability on Trial: UN’s Unabated SEA Crisis Erodes Trust in World Body’s Leadership

After taking oath of office in December 2016 as Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres described the eradication of sexual offenses by UN peacekeeping and all other UN personnel as the first item on his reform agenda.

Plastic Talks Held Hostage by Petrochemical Lobby

On August 7, a tar-like slurry glistened on the roads leading up to the gate of the Palais Des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. For fear of sticky substances sticking to tires, no vehicles were allowed to go inside for a while, forcing officials arriving from different parts of the world to disembark and walk through a side entrance.

Will the US Blacklist Bar Political Leaders & Delegates from UN’s 80th Anniversary Summit?

When the 193-member General Assembly commemorates the UN’s 80th anniversary during a high-level meeting in mid-September, how many political leaders and delegates will be barred from entering the United States --despite the 1947 US-UN Host Country Agreement?

Plastics Treaty Talks End in ‘Abject Failure’ as US, Other Big Oil Allies Sabotage Progress

Negotiators in Geneva adjourned what was expected to be the final round of plastics treaty negotiations on Friday without reaching an agreement, a failure that environmentalists blamed on the Trump-led United States, Saudi Arabia, and other powerful nations that opposed any effort to curb plastic production—the primary driver of a worsening global pollution crisis.

Visualizing a Sustainable Future: The Intersection of Art and Climate Justice

In the 1900s, global discussions around climate change and fossil fuel usage reached new heights, leading to the emergence of climate change art. Since then, it has remained a key theme in contemporary art, with artists and corporations alike continuing to push messages of climate reform to instill a sense of urgency, fear, and shared responsibility in viewers.

Peacebuilding: The Missing Peace in COP30 Climate Ambition

Peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and crime prevention are no longer niche security concerns—they are global imperatives for sustainable climate action. From the migration crisis in Venezuela to the deforestation-driven conflicts in the Amazon, to organised crime in Central America, the ripple effects of instability and environmental degradation are felt far beyond national borders. In 2025, nearly 80% of countries experiencing risks to peace remain off-track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Addressing these challenges isn’t just about safeguarding peace, stability and development. It’s also about ensuring sustainable climate action.

Four Years Later, Still No Clarity: WHO Report Highlights Gaps in Global Cooperation

More than four years since Covid-19 upended the world, the question of how it began remains unanswered. Did SARS-CoV-2 originate from animals to humans naturally, or did it accidentally escape from a laboratory? The World Health Organization’s latest report offers little new clarity and raises serious concerns about international cooperation and scientific transparency.

How the UN Can Prevent AI from Automating Discrimination

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the world at a speed we've never seen before. From helping doctors detect diseases faster to customizing education for every student, AI holds the promise of solving many real-world problems. But along with its benefits, AI carries a serious risk: discrimination.

Bending the Curve: Overhaul Global Food Systems to Avert Worsening Land Crisis

Current rates of land degradation pose a major environmental and socioeconomic threat, driving climate change, biodiversity loss, and social crises. Food production to feed more than 8 billion people is the dominant land use on Earth. Yet, this industrial-scale enterprise comes with a heavy environmental toll.

Four Ways Asia Can Strengthen Regional Health Security Before the Next Pandemic

In an interconnected world when infections can circle the globe in hours, cooperation in preparing for pandemics is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how vulnerable countries are when surveillance is fragmented, laboratory networks are underfunded and underequipped, and vaccines are not dispersed equitably.

Bridging the Digital Divide: How AI Risks Marginalizing Indigenous Peoples

Although the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) yields numerous opportunities for progress—such as improved efficiency, enhanced decision-making, and innovative tools for climate reform—it also poses new risks for Indigenous peoples. With AI rapidly transforming the world, it is imperative that there are ethical and equitable frameworks that prioritize inclusivity and work to narrow the gaps in the digital divide.

Are Negotiators Turning the Plastics Treaty into a Death Treaty?

The future plastics treaty is being sold as potentially an environmental breakthrough. But in its current form during this week’s negotiations, it contains a dangerous flaw that must be addressed before the final text is agreed — or it could undercut the world’s most widely ratified health treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and hand the tobacco industry the tools to expand its market under the banner of environmental action.

UN Staffers, Threatened with Lay-Offs, are Offered Early Retirement

The United Nations, facing a liquidity crisis, has been threatening to lay-off about 20 percent of its estimated 37,000 employees world-wide: a proposed move that has triggered widespread protests from staff unions both in New York and Geneva.

Inequality Worsens Planetary Heating

The accumulation of still growing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in an increasingly unequal world is accelerating planetary heating. It is also worsening disparities, especially between the rich and others, both nationally and internationally.

UN80: From “Less-with-Less” to “More-with-Less”

With the ink hardly dry on the Pact for the Future outcome for modernizing global governance from last September’s Summit of the Future, the United Nations’ long-standing financial crisis has morphed into an extreme liquidity crisis.

Landlocked Developing Countries to Start ‘New Decade of Delivery’

As the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3) concludes today (Friday, August 8) in Awaza, Turkmenistan, with the adoption of the Awaza Political Declaration and the formal endorsement of the Awaza Programme of Action (2024–2034), there is optimism that LLDCs are finally at the dawn of a new era.

Beyond Lives Saved: Why Early Warning Systems Are a Smart Investment

Significant progress has been made globally in implementing national and local disaster risk reduction strategies. Yet, the impact of disasters on lives and economies persists and disaster resilience is one of the most regressed areas in Sustainable Development Goal implementation.

Women From Landlocked Developing Countries Set Sights on Open Horizons

“Progress towards gender equality and equity remains uneven and far too slow. One in four women in landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) live in extreme poverty, and this is nearly 75 million women,” said Rabab Fatima, Secretary-General of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries or LLDC3 ongoing in Awaza, Turkmenistan.

Africa’s ‘Land-Linked’ Nations Chart a New Trade Route to Prosperity

Once relegated to the periphery of Africa’s economic map due to their lack of coastline, the continent’s landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) are now reframing their geographic constraints as gateways to opportunity.

Why Should We Ask for Angela When You Don’t Have to Ask for Alex?

It’s a quiet code with a loud message: “Ask for Angela.”

From Semei to Hiroshima: Astana Times Editor on Bringing Global Solidarity Through Journalism

Eighty years ago, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left a lasting reminder to humanity of the inhuman nature of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan, too, is a nation deeply scarred by nuclear tests conducted during the Soviet era. Having covered the activities of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) in Kazakhstan—including its support for exhibitions and documentary productions on nuclear abolition in Astana—, INPS Japan recently interviewed Zhanna Shayakhmetova, editor-in-chief of The Astana Times, a leading English-language newspaper in the country that continues to convey messages of disarmament and peace to the world. In the interview, Shayakhmetova spoke about the role of religious leaders who will gather in Astana from around the world this September, the importance of passing on memories to younger generations, and the responsibility journalism holds in this endeavor.