Sanctioned by the United Nations in 1981, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21 and serves as a call to action that we all have an individual and collective responsibility to foster peace. This…
Tag: United Nations
Developing countries need greater recognition for research into UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Developing nations need greater visibility, acknowledgement and support for their research into the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the authors of a major analysis of the past 15 years of worldwide research into SDGs.
GW Expert Available: UN Committee Meets This Week on Treaty to End Global Plastic Pollution
Talks are underway this week to create a global treaty that would bring an end to plastic pollution. According to The Associated Press, a United Nations committee is meeting in Paris to work on what would be a landmark agreement that…
GW Expert Available: U.S. Evacuates More Americans From Sudan
The U.S. began evacuating more American citizens from Sudan over the weekend, one week after U.S. forces airlifted dozens of diplomats and other personnel out of Sudan’s capital city, according to The Washington Post. The fighting in Sudan erupted last month…
Ocean treaty calls for good science to support good decisions to further ocean protections says @CWRU professor
In the days and weeks following the historic United Nations treaty to protect ocean biodiversity in early March of this year, one thing has again resurfaced to become very clear: The need for clear and agreed-upon ocean science has never…
Biological Alternatives Offer Hope for Restoring Biodiversity
This week, the United Nations is meeting in Montreal for the UN Biodiversity Conference. The conference brings together leaders from around the world to discuss how to prevent loss of biodiversity and how to restore habitats that are already hurting.
GW Expert Available to Discuss Russia-Ukraine Grain Export Agreement
Russia and Ukraine have put pen to paper on a United Nations-brokered agreement to restart grain shipments from Ukrainian ports. Before the war, Ukraine was responsible for 10 percent of global wheat exports. The Russian blockade has stranded tens of…
WHOI-led projects receive UN endorsement as part of Decade of Ocean Science
Four projects led or co-led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists were named on World Ocean Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to receive Endorsed Action status as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have impact on textile wastewater pollution research
The world’s research effort into wastewater pollution caused by the textiles industry has increased threefold over the past five years, according to a new analysis released this week in the lead up to Earth Day (Friday 22 April).
Exploring, Monitoring and Modeling the Deep Ocean
The NSF is funding a team led by the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at UT Austin to implement a Deep-Ocean Observing Strategy (iDOOS), bringing together U.S. and international networks engaged in deep-ocean observing, mapping, exploration, modeling, research and sustainable management.
Desierto named chair-rapporteur of UN expert group finalizing first human rights treaty in nearly a decade
Diane Desierto, professor of law and global affairs in the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, was named chair-rapporteur of the United Nations’ Expert Group on the Right to Development, with her official mandate starting in January.
University of Oregon COP26 Experts
Adrian Parr Adrian Parr has served as a UNESCO Water Chair since 2013. Her 2016 documentary, “The Intimate Realities of Water,” won more than a dozen awards, including Best Documentary at the 2016 United International Independent Film Festival. Her Watershed Urbanism exhibition…
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution collaborates to bring video installation to United Nation Headquarters
Beginning Tuesday, September 21 and running evenings (8–11pm EST) through Friday, September 24, artist collective SUPERFLEX will project Vertical Migration onto the facade of the United Nations Secretariat Building, the UN’s signature 39-story tower. Coinciding with the 76th UN General Assembly, Vertical Migration is a dramatic, 505-foot (154-meter) video installation that draws attention to the role that the ocean—particularly the little explored region known as the ocean twilight zone—plays in global climate.
IPCC points to methane as key driver of warming
In a new climate change report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, scientists paint a dire picture of the future of atmospheric warming. The United Nations report predicts global temperatures will rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above…
Promoting physical activity is key to achieving U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
New evidence supports integrating strategies to promote increased physical activity as a key part of the action plan for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, finds a new study led by researchers at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Keeping the peace
New research from Washington University in St. Louis sheds light on how — and in what context — peacekeepers can contain the spread of violence in fragile post-conflict areas.
Catastrophic Sea-Level Rise from Antarctic Melting is Possible with Severe Global Warming
The Antarctic ice sheet is much less likely to become unstable and cause dramatic sea-level rise in upcoming centuries if the world follows policies that keep global warming below a key 2015 Paris climate agreement target, according to a Rutgers coauthored study. But if global warming exceeds the target – 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) – the risk of ice shelves around the ice sheet’s perimeter melting would increase significantly, and their collapse would trigger rapid Antarctic melting. That would result in at least 0.07 inches of global average sea-level rise a year in 2060 and beyond, according to the study in the journal Nature.
Reviewing the importance of International Year of Plant Health
Protecting plants helps the United Nations meet many of its sustainable development goals
Rutgers Legal Expert Available to Discuss Environmental, Climate Change Priorities
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 21, 2021) – Rutgers University Professor Cymie R. Payne, an expert on United States and international environmental laws, is available for interviews on how the administration of President Biden can strengthen laws and regulations and efforts to…
Rutgers Experts Available to Discuss U.S. Rejoining Paris Climate Agreement
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 20, 2021) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick professors Pamela McElwee and Robert E. Kopp are available for interviews on the announcement that President Biden’s administration will rejoin the Paris climate agreement. In 2017, President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw…
Survey finds pandemic had a major impact on children’s experiences and rights
A global survey of children’s views and experiences of life under COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has found that the pandemic had wide-ranging impacts on children’s experiences and rights.
Rutgers Experts Available to Discuss Paris Climate Agreement Following 2020 Election
New Brunswick, N.J. (Nov. 4, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick professors Robert E. Kopp and Pamela McElwee are available for interviews on the Paris climate agreement following the 2020 election. In 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the agreement, and…
Most Nations Failing to Protect Nature in COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Plans
The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reset the global economy and reverse decades of ecosystem and species losses, but most countries are failing to invest in nature-related economic reforms or investments, according to a Rutgers-led paper.
NAU scientists contribute to critical global study showing ‘best of the last’ tropical forests urgently need protection to mitigate climate change, safeguard human well-being
Professor Scott Goetz, research professor Patrick Jantz and research associate Pat Burns of Northern Arizona University contributed to the study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, that found world’s “best of the last” tropical forests are at significant risk of being lost,
Geoengineering is Just a Partial Solution to Fight Climate Change
Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals, while reducing unintended impacts? Yes, in theory, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Earth System Dynamics. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block some solar radiation, could be adjusted every year to keep global warming at levels set in the Paris goals. Such technology is known as geoengineering or climate intervention.
A data visualization platform that tracks countries’ progress on meaningful access to information
The Technology & Social Change Group at the University of Washington Information School has released the Development and Access to Information Dashboards, a data visualization platform that tracks the progress of countries and regions on key indicators related to three dimensions of meaningful access to information: Connectivity, Freedom and Gender Equity.
How to Tackle Climate Change, Food Security and Land Degradation
How can some of world’s biggest problems – climate change, food security and land degradation – be tackled simultaneously? Some lesser-known options, such as integrated water management and increasing the organic content of soil, have fewer trade-offs than many well-known options, such as planting trees, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Global Change Biology.
Defunding and Departing from the WHO: A Threat to Global Security and Also the United States
In the midst of the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Trump’s announcement that the US will defund and depart from the World Health Organization (WHO) poses a clear and present danger to all Americans and the international community. Infectious diseases do not recognize national boundaries nor a person’s politics. Our responses to them cannot either.
ASSESSING FORESTS FROM AFAR
A new study led by the University of Delaware’s Pinki Mondal recommends that in addition to using large swaths of coarse satellite data to evaluate forests on a national scale, it is important for countries to prioritize areas such as national parks and wildlife refuges and use finer scale data in those protected areas to make sure that they are maintaining their health and are being reported on accurately.
UN GLOBAL COMPACT NETWORK USA SEEKS PROFESSIONALS COMMITTED TO ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The UN Global Compact Network USA is seeking applicants for this year’s SDG Pioneers program from businesses and other organizations worldwide. Nominate an SDG Pioneer from your organization today!
As Oceans Warm, Fish Flee
New research shows that nations in the tropics are especially vulnerable to the loss of fish species due to climate change. But none of the 127 international fisheries agreements have language that prepares countries for the exits of stock, climate change or range shifts.
Face-to-face contact with police builds trust in fledgling states
CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICEFOR RELEASE: Feb. 13, 2020 Rebecca Valli office: 607-255-6035 cell: 607-793-1025 [email protected] Face-to-face contact with police builds trust in fledgling states ITHACA, N.Y. – After times of major conflict, such as the civil wars…
Mobile protected areas needed to protect biodiversity in the high seas
In this week’s issue of Science, marine scientists make the case for the United Nations to include mobile marine protected areas in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, now being updated since its last signing in 1982.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Climate Change Impacts on Land, Wildfires and Solutions
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 15, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Pamela McElwee is available for interviews on climate change impacts on land, including increasing wildfires such as in Australia and California, and solutions. She is scheduled to testify before…
U.S. protections for constitutional rights falling behind global peers
New research from the WORLD Policy Analysis Center at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (WORLD) shows that the United States is falling behind its global peers when it comes to guarantees for key constitutional rights. Researchers identified key gaps in the U.S. including guarantees of the right to health, gender equality, and rights for persons with disabilities.
U.N. climate report shows governments, businesses lagging
A United Nations report released on Tuesday shows the world is on track to experience the worst consequences of climate change, with global temperatures rising and governments failing to adequately reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Glen Dowell is a corporate sustainability…
The End of Antibiotics?
Less than a century after the discovery of antibiotics, the world is at risk of entering an era in which the life-saving drugs no longer work.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Proposed High Seas Biodiversity Treaty
New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 16, 2019) – Rutgers University environmental law expert Cymie R. Payne is available to comment on a proposed international treaty aimed at conserving high seas biodiversity. The treaty, which is under negotiations at the United Nations,…
UN Climate Action Summit Opens Opportunities for Action on Infectious Disease Impact
As government, business, and community leaders from around the world gather in New York today for the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, attention to the immediate and international threats posed by climate change to human health will be critical to achieving the summit’s goals of advancing from words to urgent action.