Topic: Global governance
Unchecked inequalities could threaten UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, according to social science report
Report / 7th November 2016The coexistence of deep and persistent inequalities as well as increasing prosperity is a paradox of our time, a paradox that calls into question global development and processes of modernization in today’s world. The latest World Social Science Report for 2016 includes a compendium of knowledge from relevant experts on this immense challenge of the 21st century, with a concluding section on transformative pathways to a just world.
Despite Paris climate pledge, planet on track to surpass 3°C temperature rise
Blog / 5th November 2016After 24 years of negotiations we are hurtling towards a 3.5 degree world, which will be catastrophic for millions. By Nika Knight, Common Dreams.
The struggle continues for a binding treaty to #StopCorporateAbuse
Article / 5th November 2016A binding treaty to regulate the activities of corporations could provide a vital counterpoint to controversial free trade and investment agreements, with potentially radical implications for a new international political, economic and legal order.
Wealthy countries doing ‘nowhere near enough’ to help poorest cope with climate change
Article / 31st October 2016Wealthy nations are doing “nowhere near enough” to help the world’s poorest people cope with the effects of climate change, Oxfam has warned after 38 developed countries claimed they were on track to meet their pledges to provide aid.
The long march against monsanto: A letter from the Hague
Article / 21st October 2016Following the Monsanto People’s Assembly in The Hague, activists converged around the need to 'globalise the struggle' for a new model of food and farming led by the grassroots, writes Ronnie Cummins.
Climate change could drive 122m more people into extreme poverty by 2030
Article / 18th October 2016The UN's 2016 State of Food and Agriculture report warns that without measures to halt and reverse climate change, food production could become impossible in large areas of the world. Consequently, millions more people could be living in extreme poverty by 2030, despite new government pledges in the sustainable development goals. Reported by Claire Provost for the Guardian.
The privilege of being privileged
Article / 18th October 2016The route to reducing inequality is not through generating more philanthropic endeavour, but rather through transformative solutions that rely on sacrifice and sharing—hence altering the production and distribution of wealth and power in fundamental ways, argues Michael Edwards in openDemocracy.
Convening world conference on tax evasion should be priority for next Secretary-General – UN expert
Blog / 18th October 2016The newly selected UN Secretary-General António Guterres should convene a world conference on tax avoidance and evasion, the abolition of tax havens and the protection of whistleblowers, urges the UN’s Independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas.
Human rights beyond borders: The Maastricht Principles turn five
Blog / 8th October 2016Five years ago, the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States was adopted in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and these Principles are increasingly being used by civil society organisations to hold States accountable for their extraterritorial conduct. Human rights obligations are now well recognized to extend beyond borders, as explained in the following news update published by the ETO Consortium.
The struggle for a UN Treaty: Towards global regulation on human rights and business
Article / 8th October 2016A global alliance of civil society organizations are demanding a binding treaty to regulate the activities of transnational corporations with respect to human rights. The Treaty process presents a unique opportunity for governments to prove that it is in their hands to put human rights above the interests of big business. Because profits can be shared—human rights cannot, write Jens Martens and Karolin Seitz.