by Karin Pettersson on 15th October 2019 @AB_Karin Karin Pettersson argues that ‘free speech’ is not a licence for politicians relying on rage to lie, and for such lies to be amplified by ‘social media’.
Tag: Opinion
Rosatom Chief for maximizing nuclear technology for SDGs
Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation-ROSATOM emphasized on maximum harnessing the potential of nuclear technologies in order to implement the decisions of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and achieve sustainable development goals. He was addressing…
C’wealth model offers hope for easing multilateral trade tensions
By Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General 7 October 2019 – Global uncertainties and tensions are escalating and affecting trade in every region. We see rising protectionism, while multilateral cooperation – including through the World Trade Organisation – is increasingly under threat.…
The parliamentary election in Poland—the future at stake
by Maria Skóra on 7th October 2019 @MariaSkora Whether the coming election in Poland will consolidate the monopoly of the national-conservative PiS or favour a more pluralist balance of power, it will have a significant impact on Polish political culture.
Can cities save the world?
By Ramesh Bhushal By 2050 two thirds of the world’s population will live in cities, and that infrastructure could be the key to managing the climate crisis, if we act now.
How media technocrats manipulate public opinion
By Jan Lundius Stockholm / Rome, Oct 2 2019 (IPS) – In a 1974 article, Woody Allen poked fun at biblical stories presenting ludicrous paraphrases of The Book of Job, Abraham´s intended sacrifice of his son Isaac, as well as…
Wall Street can free world’s 40 million modern-day slaves
By James Reinl UN, Oct 2 2019 (IPS) – Financiers in Wall Street, the City of London and other banking centres should play a bigger role in freeing the millions of people who endure slave-like working conditions globally, according to…
Common ground
by Hans Dembowski In politics, there are two different ways to refer to religion. One is to pretend to be exerting God’s will; the other is to spell out the ethics of one’s faith.
What matters at the end is ingenuity
Sudhirendar Sharma Bad news holds currency, subsuming whatever little good that lies littered around. That has been the way of life, lately. Had I not read hugely popular Factfulness by noted statistician Hans Rosling who stressed that one must strive…
Long road to respecting workers’ rights in supply chains
by Justine Nolan and Martijn Boersma on 1st October 2019 @justine_nolan The US Business Roundtable statement in favour of stakeholder rather than shareholder capitalism has opened the question of corporate responsibility—crucially, it extends to global supply chains.
We have swung into Dark Ages: Nobel Laureate Jody Williams
By Anna Shen UN, Sep 26 2019 (IPS) – On Monday, United States President Donald Trump continued to float the idea that he should be awarded a Nobel Prize, but that it would never happen because the system was rigged.
Why radical right no longer exclusive domain of older, male voters
by Caroline Marie Lancaster on 26th September 2019 The typical radical-right voter is often assumed to be older and male, with conservative views on women’s and LGBT rights—an assumption which should now be reassessed. Today’s European radical right is rife…
Climate code red
By Rachel Kyte Washington, DC – When emergencies strike, special processes within governments and communities swing into gear. And everyone steps up to help.
World’s hard-fought battle against climate change
By Thalif Deen UN, Sep 23 2019 (IPS) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres describes the ongoing crisis as a “climate emergency”– as the world continues its hard-fought battle against devastating droughts, floods, hurricanes and rising sea levels that threaten the…
Rural BD families spend 2bn Dollars on climate change
By Andrew Norton London, Sep 20 2019 (IPS) – In an alarming imbalance struggling families in rural Bangladesh spend almost US$2 billion a year on preventing climate-related disasters or repairing damage caused by climate change ― far more than either…
Infrastructure + Technology = Resilience
John Kjorstad, September 18, 2019 No one understands the financial risks of climate change better than insurance companies. As I sit down to write this blog on what we need to accelerate and fund the convergence of infrastructure and technology,…
Time to act for climate justice
by Sébastien Duyck on 18th September 2019 A ‘people’s summit’ in New York ahead of the official UN climate summit brings environmental and human-rights campaigners together in pursuit of climate justice.
Thinking climate and social policies as one
by Susanne Wixforth and Reiner Hoffmann on 17th September 2019 A European approach to the politics of climate change must integrate social justice, as climate neutrality will be costly but growth without end is unsustainable. On June 20th 2019, the…
Turning ambition into action: High hopes for UN action week
By Cameron Diver New Caledonia, Sep 13 2019 (IPS) – In less than 10 days, countries from around the planet will come together in New York for the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit. I look forward to representing…
The clean-energy fast track
by Kingsmill Bond, Angus McCrone, Jules Kortenhorst London – The global transition from carbon-intensive fossil fuels to cleaner, more reliable renewables like wind and solar is already well underway. But the big question – for the 2020s and beyond –…
Warning of the brief kind
Sudhirendar Sharma Sultry weather made me realize that soaking dress in sweat alone should suffice, why either of the hapless inner wears face the same ordeal. It occurred to me later that I was being water wise, letting one apparel…
How ‘family-friendly’ are European countries?
by Yekaterina Chzhen, Anna Gromada and Gwyther Rees on 11th September 2019 The Nordic countries, with their strong public spheres, are more supportive than those which elevate the family as a private institution.
Is America defeated in Afghanistan?
By Saber Azam Geneva, Sep 5 2019 (IPS) – Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil, the United States and their allies went to Afghanistan to “smoke out” Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors. The most…
Triumph of the right is changing the world order
By Katharina Hofmann De Moura Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug 29 2019 (IPS) – The crisis of regional and multilateral institutions goes hand in hand with the international rise of right-wi ng populism. In the US, the UK, Russia, Italy, Poland,…
‘Prorogation’: Britain’s populist coup
by Kostas Botopoulos on 2nd September 2019 Proroguing Westminster is a transparent manoeuvre by Boris Johnson to set up a ‘people versus Parliament’ election, even with the UK on course to crash out of the EU.
Politics in the age of data
by Karin Pettersson on 2nd September 2019 @AB_Karin Karin Pettersson argues that progressive politics is floundering in the waves generated by Big Data—when it could be shaping the tide.
For Africa, going green is not a luxury
by Carlos Lopes Cape Town – Earlier this year, Tropical Cyclone Idai tore through southern Africa, killing hundreds, injuring thousands, and displacing even more. In Mozambique, as much as half of all annual crops and critical infrastructure were destroyed. In…
Managing the next gold rush
by Sharon E. Burke Washington, DC – The International Seabed Authority (ISA) sits perched above the concrete boardwalk of Jamaica’s Kingston Harbor, across the bay from the spot where “Calico Jack” Rackham was once gibbeted as a warning to other…
UNICEF’s Goodwill Envoy a messenger of ill-will, complain critics
By Thalif Deen UN, Aug 29 2019 (IPS) – When two-time Wimbledon tennis champion Boris Becker, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, refused to make a commitment not to play in South Africa, a country blacklisted for its apartheid policies, the UN…
Corporal punishment malaise continues in schools, madrasahs
Upon retiring, many ‘teachers’ will look back with remorse and weep with sorrow and shame when they think about the number of children they tortured, traumatized, and perhaps damaged for life through their use of corporal punishment, but by then…