Climate Action

Photo: There are 49 officially recognized ethnic groups in Lao PDR. Credit: UNDP Lao PDR/Harish Murthimore

UNDP Supporting Eco-friendly Development in Laos

By Devinder Kumar

VIENTIANE (IDN) – Laos is a landlinked country bordering Myanmar, Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. About 6.8 million people live in its 18 provinces, with most people – 68 percent – still living in rural areas. However, urbanisation is occurring at a rate of 4.9 percent each year. The country is largely mountainous, with the most fertile land found along the Mekong plains. The river flows from north to south, forming the border with Thailand for more than 60 percent of its length.

Despite still being a least developed country (LDC), Laos – officially known as the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) – has made significant progress in poverty alleviation over the past two decades with poverty rates declining from 46% in 1992 to 23% in 2015, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "The country achieved the Millennium Development Goal target of halving poverty, however the challenge now is to ensure that all Lao people benefit in the country's development."

: Devinder Kumar; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 September 2017

Two UN Agencies Hold First Ever Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment

By Shamshad Akhtar and Erik Solheim*

“Resource Efficient and Pollution Free Asia-Pacific” is the focus of the UN ESCAP- UNEP's First Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment from September 5-8 September 2017 in Bangkok, which is purported to motivate policy makers to embark on sustainable development pathways that will achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contributions under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

BANGKOK (IDN) - The high-level meeting is a unique opportunity for the region’s environment leaders to discuss how they can work together towards a resource efficient and pollution-free Asia-Pacific.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 September 2017

Image: The Marshall Islands and Ambassador de Brum were nominated for pursuing a formal legal case against the world's nuclear-armed states for failing to meet their obligations under the NPT. Credit: Arms Control Association

The World Loses a Hero in Tony de Brum

Courtesy Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF)

SANTA BARBARA (IDN-INPS) - Tony de Brum, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), passed away on August 22, 2017. He was a powerful and inspiring voice for the abolition of nuclear weapons as well as climate sanity. He was a visionary leader, respected and admired throughout the world for his strength, wisdom, warmth and unceasing optimism.

Born in 1945, de Brum was one of the first Marshall Islanders to graduate from college. He played a key role in the negotiations that led to the first compact of free association between the U.S. and the RMI, and participated in the development of the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 August 2017

Photo: Colombian Amazon. Credit: Indigenous organization OPIAC

Environmental Risks Behind Peace Accords in Colombia

By Fabíola Ortiz

CARTAGENA, Colombia (IDN) – The peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – signed in November 2016 and ratified early December by the Colombian Congress – ending five decades of conflict now poses enormous threats for the environment, according to scientists and experts at the International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2017) held in Cartagena July 23-27.

The global forum gathered almost 2,000 scientists to address ecological challenges and present new research in conservation science and sustainable practices.

Colombia, a country with 40 million people, is one of the 17 world’s megadiverse nations concentrating 10 percent of biodiversity with 59 national parks and other protected sites covering an area of 23 million hectares.

: Fabiola Ortiz; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 31 July 2017

Photo: A bird's eye view of EXPO 2017 Pavillons. Credit: expo2017astana.com

EXPO 2017 Shows the Way to Sustainable Energy Solutions

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the fourth in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) - Twenty-five years of independence marked by 25 major achievements leading up to EXPO 2017 that focuses on 'Future Energy' have catapulted Kazakhstan on to the world map, firmly challenging the prevailing view that this, the world's largest landlocked transcontinental country, is still part of the Eurasian steppes.

Touted by some as the 'Disneyland for Adults' and 'a virtual reality beyond science fiction' by others, EXPO 2017 shows the ways to access affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. It is seventh of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world by 2030, by way of ending "poverty in all its forms" as envisaged in Goal 1. - WATCH THE RELATED VIDEO -

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 21 June 2017

Leaders of the five largest Nordic countries announce support for sustainable development goals (SDGs). Credit: Nordic Cooperation

Nordic States Support Sustainable Development Goals

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – Leaders of the five largest Nordic countries recently announced support of the Nordic countries as a whole for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed under UN auspices.

The initiative, called Nordic Solutions to Global Challenges, was initially flouted in 2015 when the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were adopted. As part of the Agenda, 17 SDGs were outlined.

Since the UN climate change in Paris in 2015 (COP 21), the programme has been further developed and was launched at a meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers on May 30, attended by the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 18 June 2017

A river in Mozambique. Shortage of water is set to hit Maputo. Credit: Construction Review Online

Water Woes Rock Southern Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – Evelyn Mbiza struggles with a wheelbarrow laden with multiple five litre containers filled with water while her eight-year-old child follows behind carrying another container as the two head home after spending several hours queuing for the precious liquid at a local borehole in Malbereign, a medium-income suburb in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital.

For 26-year-old Mbiza, despite the heavy rains that have pounded this Southern African nation, tap water has become a scarce commodity as local authorities constantly cut water supplies in the capital claiming to be doing maintenance work.

“It’s sad; all dams are full of water while we have no water here. It’s humiliating to be queuing for water at boreholes when you are living in the city,” Mbiza told IDN.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 June 2017

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses audience at New York University Stern School of Business. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

UN Chief Urges World To Rally Behind Paris Agreement

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – “Climate action is not just a necessity but an opportunity to forge a peaceful and sustainable future on a healthy planet,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told a gathering of students, business leaders and academics at the New York University Stern School of Business on May 30.

Amidst reports that President Donald Trump was poised to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Guterres called for sustained action to meet the global challenge and to ensure a peaceful and sustainable future for all.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 31 May 2017

Photo: On 22 September 2014, Frank Bainimarama was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Fiji. Credit: Alchetron

Fijian 'Bula Spirit' To Ensure Consensus at UN Climate Summit

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) - The Fijian Prime Minister and incoming President of COP 23, Frank Bainimarama, has vowed to advance the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and "preserve the multilateral consensus for decisive action to address the underlying causes of climate change, respecting climate science."

Bainimarama made the pledge in an address to delegates at the start of the closing plenary of May 18 at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn held some six months ahead of the 23rd annual session of parties to the UNFCCC.

: Rita Joshi; UN INSIDER; 23 May 2017

Photo: A beach at Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu, on a sunny day. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.Photo: COP23 Venue. Credit: World Conference Center Bonn.

The World's Poorest and Most Vulnerable Want Climate Action

By Ramesh Jaura

BONN (IDN) – The world's 48 poorest countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change are profoundly concerned whether "substantive progress" will be made in the months ahead on implementing the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement in all its aspects.

This was emphasised by Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, Gebru Jember Endalew of Ethiopia, as delegates from 140 countries closed the two-week session of the United Nations climate change negotiations on May 18 in Bonn.

The LDCs are a group of countries that have been classified by the UN as "least developed" in terms of their low gross national income (GNI), their weak human assets and their high degree of economic vulnerability.