United Nations

UN Agency Spotlights Use of Satellites for Environmental Goals

January 03, 2019

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has highlighted its growing reliance on satellite technology to track land use and other social and environmental conditions by launching, in partnership with US space agency NASA, an online portal permitting users to “systematically inspect” any part of the globe through satellite data.
UN Committee Chair Laments "Distractions" from SDG Agenda

January 02, 2019

A UN press release highlights the work of the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee on achieving the UN’s comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and records a lament from the Committee’s Chair that members are currently “distracted” from work on the ambitious SDG agenda.
Haley Warns of Ongoing Abuses Within UN System

December 26, 2018

In a recent interview, outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned that, despite some positive contributions of the international organization to global sanctions, “the verdict is still out” on UN bodies that are “politically unfair” to the US and that suffer continuing abuses within their decision-making processes.
Experts: US Should Not Agree to UN Refugee Compact

December 19, 2018

In the wake of the US’s refusal to sign the UN migration compact, Joshua Meservey and Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation call on the US government to make the same decision on a separate Global Compact on Refugees, arguing that the accord threatens US sovereign control over its immigration policies.
UN Agents Seek Revision of EU Terrorist Propaganda Proposal

December 19, 2018

A group of UN human rights mandate holders has called on EU leaders to revise the bloc’s proposal for legislation on preventing the online dissemination of terrorist content to ensure it does not require the removal of content protected by global standards on freedom of expression.
NGO: China Seeks to Make UN Rights Review Meaningless

December 19, 2018

Sophie Richardson of the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch reports on China’s work in the UN Human Rights Council and other UN organs toward hollowing out any meaningful review of the country’s performance on civil and political rights.
Haley Criticizes UN “Obsession” with Israel

December 19, 2018

At a recent UN Security Council meeting, outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley criticized the UN as “hopelessly biased,” citing the UN General Assembly’s failure to condemn Hamas as a terrorist group, and warned that the UN’s “obsession” with Israel has helped stall direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
UN Climate Talks Produce “Rulebook” on Climate Action

December 18, 2018

The New York Times reports that countries at a UN summit in Poland agreed a common rulebook on measuring and reporting their contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions but failed to find consensus on standardizing “carbon markets” and redistributing “climate aid” from wealthy to poor countries.
US Outlines “Balanced Approach” to Climate Action at UN Summit

December 18, 2018

The US State Department published a statement following the recent UN climate summit in Poland setting out the current Administration’s “balanced approach to economic growth, energy security, and environmental protection” and a pledge not to “allow climate agreements to be used as a vehicle to redistribute wealth.”
WHO Calculates Health Benefits of Climate Action

December 17, 2018

The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a press release concluding that the up-front costs of global “climate action” as set out in the UN’s Paris climate accord is only half the value of the health gains the WHO predicts as a result of these policies, claiming that the Paris deal is “potentially the strongest health agreement of this century.”