United Nations

World Bank Funds Urban Projects Under Climate Action Plan

May 19, 2016

The World Bank has outlined its financial support under its Climate Action Plan to projects in cities around the world to protect inhabitants, through policies ranging from protection against disasters to "social safety nets" for the urban poor, from the impacts of global warming.
UN Agent: Climate Funding Presents Human Rights Test

May 18, 2016

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment John Knox has warned that an ongoing UN meeting in Bonn, Germany, is the first test of human rights commitments made by governments in the UN climate deal signed in April as countries develop a mechanism that redistributes funds from wealthy to poor countries to help them adapt to climate change.
UN Agent Criticizes EU "Lack of Will" for Migrant Problems

May 18, 2016

Following a visit to Greece, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants François Crépeau has blamed the EU for its "lack of political will" in finding a long-term solution for migrants from the Middle East in the country and its "overreliance on securing borders."
UN Seeks Answers to Climate-Induced "Internal Displacement"

May 13, 2016

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Robert Glasser, has cited a UN-supported report asserting that climate change is increasingly responsible for displacement of people within countries to call for the development of new capabilities to manage risks of climate disasters and to provide housing to people displaced by global warming.
UN Proposes Global Governance of Migration Policy

May 11, 2016

AP reports that, ahead of a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September on migration issues, the UN has issued a document proposing a global governance system led by the UN that allocates responsibility for taking in refugees and migrants and calling on the UN to develop a campaign against xenophobia.
UN Scrutinizes Gender Provisions in National Constitutions

May 11, 2016

A symposium hosted by UN Women encouraged the use of the agency's Global Gender Equality Constitutional Database to evaluate whether there are sufficient provisions on women's rights in national constitutions and to promote the inclusion of provisions on affirmative action, "sexual and reproductive health rights," and other women-specific issues in these constitutions.
UNESCO Adopts Sustainability-Oriented Strategies

May 11, 2016

Remarks by a representative of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's on a panel at a Commission for Science and Development meeting in Geneva demonstrated the reorientation of UNESCO's objectives and assistance with various "action lines" to meet the demands of the UN's comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030.
UN Forms Coalition to Measure Global Education Data

May 11, 2016

As part of its efforts to implement the UN's comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals, which include targets on education, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics has formed a Global Alliance to Monitor Learning that will seek to support governments in measuring their progress on developing sustainable education.
Governments Join Global Initiative on Carbon Taxation

May 11, 2016

Representatives of 30 governments recently gathered in Lima, Peru, to discuss next steps in their cooperation with the World Bank-supported Partnership for Market Readiness, which provides assistance to countries in their development of taxation systems for carbon emissions in order to reduce global warming.
World Bank Seeks Global Sustainable Transportation Coalition

May 11, 2016

At the recent Climate Action 2016 Summit in Washington, DC, representatives from the World Bank, government, and business called for the development of a "sustainable mobility for all framework" that would pressure government and business leaders to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transportation systems and automobiles around the world.