United Nations

UNESCO Seeks "Sustainability" Education in South Africa

September 15, 2017

In June, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosted in South Africa the third of its series of four symposia on the future of the UN agency's global agenda on "education for sustainable development" and how it will help achieve the UN's ambitious Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Official Criticizes Trump over Press Comments

September 14, 2017

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein has claimed that the freedom of the press is “under attack” in the US because of President Donald Trump’s assertions that particular media companies are “fake news.”
UN Official: Foster Peace Through SDGs

September 14, 2017

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has argued that the UN should view peacekeeping missions more comprehensively by pursuing the international organization's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a way to foster an environment of “sustainable peace.”
UNESCO Pressures Vienna on Development Project

September 14, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee has added Vienna's historic center to its "List of World Heritage in Danger" due to a planned development project that the Committee says threatens the "outstanding universal value of the site."
UNESCO Hunts for Education Data for SDGs

September 14, 2017

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics has published an article pushing countries around the world to gather comprehensive data from their education systems and send it to UN agencies in support of the international organization's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to education on and promotion of sustainable development.
Analysis: US Will Still Exceed Climate Pledges

September 14, 2017

Raising the question of the value of the UN's Paris climate agreement in pushing action on "clean energy" investments, a report from Morgan Stanley predicts that the US will exceed pledges made by the Obama Administration on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris deal despite the Trump Administration's withdrawal from the agreement.
UN Agent Faults Trump over Media Criticism

September 06, 2017

Reuters reports that UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression David Kaye has warned that US President Donald Trump's criticism of media sources, along with his Administration's push against government leaks, is "reckless" and "part of a general trend of hostility to freedom of expression."
French President: UN Climate Deal Was Insufficient

September 01, 2017

Reflecting the frustration of environmental activists and some government officials that the UN's 2015 Paris accord did not go far enough in combating climate change, French President Emmanuel Macron recently called on governments to "go beyond" the terms of the deal in clamping down on fossil fuel emissions.
UN Agent Urges Adherence to Indigenous Standards

September 01, 2017

In a recent interview, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People Victoria Tauli-Corpuz asserted that governments must follow global standards requiring "free, prior, and informed consent" by indigenous peoples to economic projects both to protect human rights and to ensure "sustainable economic growth."
UN Agency Advocates Global Fishing Framework

August 31, 2017

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has encouraged national governments to implement its voluntary guidelines on small-scale fisheries as a way to further “policy coherence” that protects human rights and sustainability.