United Nations

UNESCO, Italy Establish Research Center on "Cultural Heritage"

February 26, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") has signed an agreement with the Government of Italy to create an International Training and Research Centre on the Economics of Culture and World Heritage, which will study the economics of "cultural heritage" with an eye to "environmental sustainability" and "cultural diversity."
UN Uses Health, Security Policies to Pursue Climate Agenda

February 25, 2016

The UN Environment Programme has announced pledges made by governments to "set the table" for the agency's upcoming Environment Assembly in Nairobi, including promises related to the reduction of health and security risks by advancing the UN's environmental agenda and "to the development of a new sustainable and equitable economic model" that eliminates poverty.
UNOHCHR Faces Criticism over Zika Virus Comments

February 25, 2016

C-Fam reports that diplomats from countries including Nicaragua and the Holy See have objected to statements from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ("UNOHCHR") that they have interpreted as encouraging Latin American countries in which the Zika virus is spreading to permit access of women infected by the virus to abortions.
UN Rights Chief Seeks "Due Process" for Guantanamo Detainees

February 24, 2016

Applauding US President Barack Obama's proposal to close the terror detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and to transfer some occupants to US prisons, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called on the US to try detainees before civilian courts and to provide them "due process guarantees" in line with international standards.
NYT Highlights UN Lapses in Sex-Abuse Cases

February 23, 2016

An editorial in The New York Times documents the gap between the UN's "zero-tolerance" policy on sex abuse of minors by its peacekeepers since 2003 and its enforcement of this policy, as allegations of sex abuse relating to the organization's peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic continue to surface.
UN Blames 2015 Natural Disasters on Climate Change

February 22, 2016

A report from the UN Office of Disaster Risk Reduction seeks to demonstrate that climate-related disasters, including droughts and floods, "dominated disaster trends" in 2015 and that countries must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit natural disaster risks "now and in the future."
UN, Italy Launch "Task Force" on Cultural Preservation

February 22, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") has announced that it has agreed with Italy to form an emergency task force of experts that UNESCO can call on Italy to deploy in case of crises threatening to destroy "cultural heritage" in various parts of the world.
UNESCO Pushes for "Sustainable" Ocean Governance

February 19, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission recently announced meetings on national and regional management of coastal areas with Flemish and EU officials to promote the UN's agenda on ocean "sustainability" and governance.
UN Deal Seeks Climate "Resilience" in Mediterranean

February 19, 2016

At a conference in Athens organized by the UN Environment Programme, countries agreed to a declaration pledging, in part, the protection of biodiversity in the Mediterranean and an increase in "the region's resilience to the impacts of climate change."
Despite Ruling, US Presses Forward with Climate Goals

February 19, 2016

Reuters reports that, despite the unusual order from the US Supreme Court to delay the implementation of President Obama's executive action seeking to lower US carbon emissions, the President remains committed to implementing the UN climate deal agreed in Paris in December.