United Nations

World Bank Outlines Urban Climate Strategy

December 09, 2016

At the recent UN climate change summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, the World Bank touted its broad focus in funding urban projects whose aim is to reduce the impacts of global warming, including by fostering "climate resilience" in cities and pushing local officials to make "climate-smart investments."
World Bank Trains Slovakia on Climate Monitoring

December 09, 2016

The World Bank and the Slovakian government have signed a new "service agreement" through which the World Bank will provide training in economic and energy modeling to assist the country in meeting its goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as provided by the EU's 2030 energy and climate policy framework.
UN Business Gathering Promotes "Resource Efficiency"

December 09, 2016

A recent meeting hosted by the UN Environment Programme's International Resource Panel of businesses, governments, and scientists on "the economic potential of resource efficiency" highlights the UN's efforts to use industry representatives to push their business colleagues to advance the organization's climate and "sustainability" agenda.
UN Officials Praise Castro as "Inspirational Figure"

December 08, 2016

As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered condolences upon the death of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro praising his support for "social justice," President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson extolled Castro's "love for his homeland" and "dedication" to the advancement of education and health in developing countries.
UN Rights Office Prepares for Trump Criticism

December 08, 2016

A Foreign Policy article describes how UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, who criticized US President-elect Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, is preparing his office to call out the Trump Administration for rights violations, with one UN official pledging to condemn the implementation of any of Trump's "ghastly campaign pledges."
UN Illustrates Reach of SDGs on Traffic Accidents

December 08, 2016

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently highlighted the transformation of the international organization's development agenda from the poverty focus of the previous Millennium Development Goals to the comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a call for governments to ramp up action to prevent deaths from traffic accidents under SDG Target 3.6.
Abrams Criticizes UN Resolutions on Israel

December 07, 2016

Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations describes how six anti-Israel resolutions recently passed by the UN General Assembly, including a call for Israeli withdrawal from the "Syrian Golan" in favor of a likely Syrian takeover of the region, demonstrate that the UN has become a "theater of the absurd."
UN Launches Global Governance Initiative for Peatlands

December 07, 2016

At the recent climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, the UN Environment Programme launched a Global Peatlands Initiative to combat global warming by promoting the "conservation, restoration, and sustainable management" of peatlands in countries around the world.
UN Officials Push for "Climate Finance" at Summit

December 07, 2016

In statements to the UN climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called for a "rapid" ramp-up in contributions to "climate finance" aimed to combat global warming and reiterated plans to place pressure on the financial sector to make "climate smart investments."
MENA Countries Set out "Climate Finance" Project Plans

December 07, 2016

At the recent UN climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, representatives from Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries described their pledges to combat climate change by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, much of which they say they will accomplish through global "climate finance" programs supported by the World Bank.