SUSTAINABILITY

Photo: Western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

COVID-19 A Threat to Great Apes, Closely Related to Humans

Ramesh Jaura Talks to Ian Redmond

A tropical field British biologist and conservationist Ian Redmond has served as Ambassador for the UN Year of the Gorilla in 2009 and for the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species since 2010.

BERLIN | LONDON (IDN) – The fact that ecosystems and human health intersect has been repeatedly emphasized by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "As we encroach on nature and deplete vital habitats, increasing numbers of species are at risk. That includes humanity and the future we want," he reiterated in a message on the International Day for Biological Diversity, observed on May 22, 2020.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 10 June 2020

Walk Miles and Miles to Halt Global Warming

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

Long before the Coronavirus and global warming, the great philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: "Unhappy men would increase their happiness more by walking 6 miles every day than by any conceivable change in philosophy."

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Shouldn't we be Panglossian when it comes to the progress now being made to defeat the Coronavirus? Pangloss in his youth was unreasonably optimistic. He was in Voltaire's novel "Candide" Candide's mentor, and coined the phrase, "All this is for the best in this best of all possible worlds."

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 09 June 2020

Image: Extinction Rebellion. Credit: openDemocracy

Out of the Belly of Hell: COVID-19 and the Humanisation of Globalisation – Part 4: Next

Viewpoint by Anthony Barnett*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News

LONDON (IDN) – In 1957-58, a flu pandemic killed around million people world-wide. In the UK estimates of the deaths it caused vary from 14,000 to 30,000. Before it arrived from Asia, a British Medical Journal report noted, “The public seems under the impression that nothing can be done to prevent the calamity”, and indeed nothing was done.

In 1968, the Hong Kong or H3N2 flu virus killed over 700,000 people worldwide, around 100,000 in the US. But there were no mass shutdowns of national economies.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 June 2020

Photo: Northern end of The Centre, Bristol, showing Cenotaph and statue of slave trader Edward Colston following MetroBus-fCC BY-SA 4.0 under public realm improvements, March 2018. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Capping Week of Protests, UK Activists Topple Slave Trader's Statue

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Years of inaction over the fate of an 18-foot statue of Edward Colston, a 17th century slave trader with the Royal African Company (RAC) was decided on June 7 with the toppling of Colston’s bronze statue in Bristol, England.

The statue was pulled down by a group of protestors at a demonstration in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and George Floyd. The figure was dragged to the Bristol harbour and flung into the River Avon.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 June 2020

79-Nation OACPS Grows into The Power of Change in The International Arena

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – The interregional ACP officially became the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) on April 5, when 79 leaders of the group endorsed the revised version of the 1975 Constitutive Act, known as the Georgetown Agreement, at the December 2019 Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

One month earlier, on March 2, Angola's Ambassador to the European Union, Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, took over from the Guyanese Ambassador, Dr P.I. Gomes, the office of the Secretary-General. A highlight of Dr Gomes' five-year term was the decision of the group to change its name, thus stressing its importance for organisations such as the United Nations.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; OACPS; 08 June 2020

Photo: Lorie Shaull/Flickr – Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander and Pablo Hernandez (artists)

Racism and Exceptionalism Are Backbones of Trump Doctrine

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – Elimination of excessive economic inequality makes societies happier and better, underlines the incontrovertible evidence that a new freely downloadable book presents.

Going back to history, the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas during the 17th to 19th centuries. Sir Isaac Newton's rational explanations for cosmic phenomena demonstrated that reason is better than superstition.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 June 2020

Photo: OCHA's Gema Cortés (right) interviews and photographs a woman in Bolivar, Venezuela prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Credit: UN OCHA/Marrero

How a UN Official Got Out the Right COVID-19 Information from Venezuela

Viewpoint by Gema Cortés

The writer is Public Information Officer, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Caracas. He contributed the following to UN OCHA on June 1.

CARACAS (IDN) – When I arrived in Venezuela ten months ago, access to basic services and products such as food and medicines was already challenging. Patience and good humour were the formula for overcoming the long queues to pay at the supermarket. In a country where local cash is not operational, credit cards, mobile payments and cryptocurrencies are the only ways to pay.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 05 June 2020

Photo source: Global Voices. Credit: Rajesh Balouria from Pixabay.

Nine Countries' UN Missions Concerned About Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants

A Joint Statement of Solidarity Initiated

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nine Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York have expressed concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants, and initiated a joint statement requesting endorsement by representatives of all other countries accredited to the UN Headquarters. Once finalized, they will transmit the statement to Secretary-General António Guterres and relevant UN agencies, as well as distribute it through social media.

The nine permanent missions accredited to the UN are: Bangladesh, Benin, El Salvador, Fiji, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines and Portugal.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 04 June 2020

Caribbean Leaders Urge Global Response to COVID Pandemic

Call for Addressing Inequality, Unsustainable Debt and Socio-Economic Disparities

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS | NAIROBI (IDN) – Caribbean leaders have joined the United Nations in calling for solidarity and increased funding, as some of the world’s most vulnerable countries scale up their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. At a virtual summit in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, they have highlighted the need for "a truly global response" to the pandemic which is devastating the economic systems around the world, particularly impacting 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states. They also are stressed the need to "strengthen the multilateralism for development", and engage "our institutions to consider innovative solutions".

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 04 June 2020

Photo: A mural of George Floyd by Jonathan Perry adorns the Art Wall in Manette on Monday June 1, 2020. Credit: MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

The Unravelling of America: You've Gotta Watch to Cry

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – I first watched the movie in the lockdown. At the beginning, it was funny when the pair was fiddling with their entrée in the restaurant and wondering why they had both avoided each other until now.

A few minutes after they left the restaurant, trouble started. The movie, entitled “Queen & Slim,” is the love story of two black Americans drawn to each other by tragedy even before their love story began.