In the midst of a sweltering summer in the Northern Hemisphere the news that is coming in is definitely going to blow the fuses off: more heat waves, droughts, forest fires, crop failures, energy shortages, old and new diseases, and war. And all this is happening in the mighty North that brings together, geographically at…
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UCNFCC), the world’s first climate change treaty, is 30 years old. It was adopted on 9 May 1992 and opened for signature at the Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro on 4 June 1992. Should the world be celebrating? Looking back Personally, I take…
Historically speaking we, humans, are known for our ability to move, for our ability to migrate and adapt to new environments whatever those may be. Recent technological and economic advances have increased dramatically our ability to travel. These factors are valuable to us as they promote cultural, linguistic, and even economic exchanges. However, for years,…
Yoriko has worked for over 35 years in efforts to advance inclusive and sustainable development, human rights, and cultures of peace, within and outside the United Nations system. She has also participated in the facilitation of negotiations that led to a national agreement on a new Constitution in Bolivia, the development of a citizens’ movement…
This is a republished version of the original article published on the Global Challenges Foundation website, which you can access here. The climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic harshly highlight that there is a lack of an “all-of-government” and an “all-of-multilateralism” approach to addressing contemporary global threats of a non-military nature. But there is…
Last week, 24 world leaders published an open letter in leading publications around the world calling for a new global treaty. This would “foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics”, paving the way for a new approach to global health governance having learned the lessons…
by Richard Kinley, Georgios Kostakos and Harris Gleckman* On 21 September 2020 world leaders will observe the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, mainly through the delivery of pre-recorded speeches and not physical presence in New York because of Covid-19. Is the UN going hybrid/virtual and transitioning to the next phase of its existence, or…
The first signs are quite worrisome. The US Administration is talking about “Maduro regime” and using its dominance of the financial transaction system to orchestrate a change of government in Venezuela. President Trump and his team support the claims of National Assembly leader Juan Guiado, who has declared himself Interim President. Several Latin American countries…
Four years after its establishment, Katoikos is embarking on a new phase by joining the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS), a Brussels-based not-for-profit public utility foundation. The Foundation focuses on the development of a “Grand Narrative” for a fairer and more inclusive globalisation. According to the motto used by FOGGS, this Grand Narrative…
This year’s summit of the G20 took place from 4 to 5 September in Hangzhou, China. The agenda once again went beyond the classical economic issues of growth, trade and investment, and covered climate change, the 2030 Agenda or Sustainable Development, Brexit and even terrorism and health issues. These summits are gradually turning into sessions of some kind of a Global Economic Security Council, if not of a Global Directorate bringing together the most important established and emerging world powers. Should the G20 remain a stage for those preferring the freedom of ad hoc actions than global multilateral scrutiny, or should it be integrated into the more legitimate UN structures, revitalizing them at the same time?