Doubling Renewables by 2030 Can Save Trillions
By Rita Joshi | IDN-INPS News Analysis
BERLIN (IDN | INPS) - Doubling renewables in the global energy mix by 2030 is not only feasible, but cheaper than not doing so. It can save up to USD 4.2 trillion annually by 2030 – 15 times more than the costs, says a new report. Under existing national plans, the global renewables share would only reach 21 per cent by 2030. The report recommends options to boost the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix from just over 18 per cent today, to as much as 36 per cent by 2030.
High-level Talks in Brussels to Adopt ACP Climate Action Plan
By Reinhardt Jacobsen | IDN-InDepthNews Report
BRUSSELS (IDN) – In an unprecedented move, representatives from the 79 member states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group are meeting with top officials from the United Nations agencies as well as other influential international and regional groupings to accelerate work towards implementing the historic Paris Agreement on climate change.
High level participants in the gathering in Brussels on March 22-23 include: the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Cañete, who will deliver the keynote address; UN Environment Programme Director Achim Steiner; the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General José Graziano Da Silva; and Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Petteri Taalas.
Nuclear Weapons Challenge the World’s Highest Court
By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN | THE HAGUE (IDN) - After ten days of public hearings involving teams of eminent international lawyers – some backed by staunch proponents of ‘nuclear zero’ and others clinging to the doctrine of ‘nuclear deterrence’ – the world’s highest court is faced with a challenging task of far-reaching significance.
Not the least because this year marks the twentieth anniversaries of the 1996 'advisory opinion' by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the opening for signature of the CTBT, the treaty banning all nuclear tests everywhere – nuclear tests that are at the heart of nuclear proliferation.
Explaining the core subject for ICJ’s deliberation, a famous Dutch lawyer Phon van den Biesen said, “from a legal perspective”, the issues presented by the three legal cases “are ordinary ones, but a positive outcome will, spectacularly, change the world”.
Thai Youth Learn to Develop a ‘Mindful’ Economic Behaviour
By Kalinga Seneviratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Feature
This article is the fourth in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.
CHIANG MAI (IDN | Lotus News Features**) - The Mindfulness fad sweeping across the West today may be the new money-spinner for those “gurus” who charge hundreds of dollars for each session to teach its applications, often to improve one’s ability to navigate the global capitalist system to make more money for yourself. But, for the Thais it's a 2500-year old philosophy taught by Gautama the Buddha to encourage moderation, self-reliance and contentment in your daily life.
Biting on a Bitter Kernel of a Truth of Human Experience
By Jonathan Power | IDN-INPS Viewpoint
LUND, Sweden (IDN | INPS) - Was the cultured and sophisticated Italian writer, Oriani Fallaci, speaking for the large numbers of working class people who end up being the ones who usually play host to immigrants, when she wrote in a leading liberal newspaper, Corriere della Serra, of her experience of trying to get rid of Somali immigrants living in a tent, performing all their bodily functions next to Florence’s cathedral?
2016 Crucial for Promoting a Nuclear Weapons Free World
By Jamshed Baruah | IDN-INPS News Analysis
BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) - The 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the twentieth year of the opening for signature of the treaty to ban all kinds of nuclear tests and the unanimous advisory by the world’s highest court in 1996 are three significant hallmarks of the year 2016.
“These historical dates are an important occasion for pooling the efforts of all countries to promote a nuclear-free world," said Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on March 2 during a meeting in Astana with the heads of foreign diplomatic missions accredited in the republic.
World’s Highest Court Addresses Nuclear Disarmament
By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
THE HAGUE (IDN) - Aided by a team of eminent international lawyers and backed by staunch proponents of ‘nuclear zero’, the tiny but resolute Pacific Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) wants the International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, to hold the nine nuclear weapons states – U.S., Russia, UK, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea – accountable to their disarmament commitments.
These are the first contentious cases about nuclear disarmament to be brought before the world’s highest court, said Rick Wayman, Director of Programs at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Campaign for a Female UN Chief Gathers Momentum
By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
NEW YORK (IDN) - As the selection process for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s successor begins on April 12 and 14, with member countries’ and partly public participation, a new initiative is warning that if a woman is not elected to the post this year, the next opportunity may not come until 2026. A UN Chief can serve two consecutive five-year terms.
Food Situation Worsening in North Korea and Southern Africa
By Jutta Wolf | IDN-InDepthNews Report
ROME (IDN | INPS) - A new UN report warns that with a reduced harvest in 2015, the food security situation in North Korea is likely to deteriorate compared to the situation of previous years, when “most households were already estimated to have borderline or poor food consumption rates”.
The report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on March 9, explains that poor rains coupled with reduced supplies of irrigation water, sharply decreased the 2015 early and main season food crops production.
Dutch Govt. Supports Sustainable Garment Production & Textile Industry
By Reinhardt Jacobsen | IDN-InDepthNews Report
THE HAGUE (IDN) - A broad coalition of industry organizations, trade unions, civil society organizations and the Dutch government have tabled an agreement on international responsible business conduct in the garment and textile sector.
The parties to the agreement join forces in an effort to achieve practical improvements in and ensure the sustainability of the international garment and textile supply chain. For example, they want to address problems such as dangerous working conditions and environmental pollution.
ACP and EU Pave the Way for a Crucial Meeting in Senegal
By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) - The future of relations between the ACP Group of 79 countries and the 28-nation EU after 2020, when the current partnership agreement comes to a close, promises to be a critical issue for the Joint Council of Ministers gathering in Senegal’s capital Dakar on April 28-29.
Though, according to the draft agenda endorsed by representatives of member states of the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change will draw the focus of the upcoming meeting.
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