Vol 66 No 17 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONSCLIMATE CHANGE ICJ climate ruling opens floodgates for billions in pollution payouts 22nd August 2025 The UN court’s opinion defining greenhouse gas emissions as ‘internationally wrongful acts’ argues for climate finance to become a legal obligation for the main polluting countries The ruling by the UN’s top court that countries may be held legally accountable for their greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental damage they cause could help reshape...
Vol 66 No 15 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONSDEBT High hopes, little change 25th July 2025 After yet another UN summit, African governments see sparse progress on debt relief or global financial reform The familiar sound of empty promises rang around Seville at the close of the latest UN summit on international financial reforms. Few delegates from developing nations trusted commitments...
Vol 66 No 14 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONSCLIMATE CHANGE Bonn summit exposes rifts and inertia on climate action 8th July 2025 Geopolitical rivalries are sinking the UN treaty to cut carbon emissions and protect developing economies ahead of the Brazil summit in November The UN’s preparatory climate summit in Bonn from 16-26 June offered a grim portent of what may happen in the main event – the UN COP30 climate summit...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 14 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONSHEALTH Summit delivers vaccine cash but US sits out 30th June 2025 US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr has criticised a key Gavi vaccine Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, secured most of the funding it needs for its next five years of operations at a pledging summit in Brussels on 25 June,... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 13 | EUROPEAN UNIONUNITED NATIONSAFRICAN UNION Development finance implodes with rich countries shifting to military budgets 24th June 2025 Ahead of the UN summit in Seville, delegates are preparing to battle over radical reforms to aid as western states cut funds and cooperation plans The civic activists, businesspeople, former and serving top UN and government officials agreed on one headline at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation conference in Marrakech at the beginning of...
Vol 66 No 13 | UNITED NATIONSAFRICAN UNIONHEALTH Gavi vaccine summit seeks a shot in the arm 20th June 2025 A pledging conference in Brussels will test rich countries’ willingness to plug the gaps left after the USAID shut down Public health systems in Africa and Asia could face more pressure on their budgets on 25 June when Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, holds its five-year donor pledging...
Vol 66 No 12 | AFRICAUNITED NATIONS As Trump turns off the tap, Guterres wields the knife 13th June 2025 The UN Secretary-General hopes radical restructuring and austerity can rescue the organisation as multilateralism starts to split at the seams Instead of celebrating its 80th birthday, there is a serious chance that the UN headquarters will have to declare a form of institutional bankruptcy at its General Assembly... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 12 | UNITED NATIONS Amid the turmoil, some room at the top 13th June 2025 Questions about the UN Secretary-General’s future are intensifying as debate rages over his reform and restructuring plans For over two years, the UN Secretariat in New York has been buzzing with rumours about the mooted early departure of Secretary-General António Guterres. Part of the reason...
Vol 66 No 2 | UNITED STATESAFRICAUNITED NATIONSFINANCE New front opens in global tax war as Trump moves in 13th January 2025 Washington may penalise states applying OECD tax rules on multinationals Fights over new rules to cut corporate tax avoidance and illicit financial flows are intensifying weeks ahead of the first meeting of a new UN convention to set...
Vol 65 No 24 | UNITED NATIONSCLIMATE CHANGE Cosplay at the COP29 – a climate finance summit without numbers 22nd November 2024 By failing to agree on a new cash target, the Baku delegates are acting in character but could break up the UN climate bargaining process The failure by delegates to agree on the core climate finance target at the Baku summit would risk a breakdown as serious as the collapse of the UN...