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Riyadh/New York, February 20 – Wars, climate disasters and economic collapse are causing the largest food crisis in modern history, spreading famine that is affecting millions of people around the world, the chief U.N. humanitarian affairs and emergency coordinator said in an appeal to help those in needs.

“The world is facing the largest food crisis in modern history, and famine is knocking on many doors,” Martin Griffiths told a humanitarian forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on behalf of U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The forum was held under the theme “The Evolving Humanitarian landscape for 2023 and beyond” and attended by heads of state and government and donors to the U.N. emergency fund known as CERF.

“Our mandate and mantra is ‘We don’t give up.’ But to discharge this mandate, we need your help in practical and tangible ways,” Griffiths said.

Griffths described the current humanitarian landscape as “rough and rugged one” where needs are spiralling across the world and humanitarian crises are piling on top of each other, and “desperate people are looking to us in their hour of need.” He said women’s human rights specially are under “vicious attacks” in many places and injustice has festered for decades.

Griffiths said more than 350 million people around the world currently need humanitarian assistance and close to US$ 54 billion are needed to meet the basic needs of the worst affected among them.

“But experience shows that we can expect to raise barely half of that amount. Each year, our count of people in need, and dollars to raise, takes another jump. The trend is clear, and there are three main reasons for this,” he said.

He said more than 222 million people globally “don’t know when or even if they’ll eat another meal” and 45 million people are already on the brink of starvation with most of them women and children.

 The economic collapse fuelled first by the shock of Covid-19 pandemic, the year-old war in Ukraine and the recent earthquake in Turkeye and Syria are pushing millions of people to the brink, the U.N said. The U.N. has allocated up to $50 million to assist earthquake victims and $250 million from CERF to meet urgent humanitarian needs in score of countries.

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Joint statement by heads of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank Group (WBG); World Food Program (WFP) and World Trade Organization (WTO) calling for continued urgent action to address the global crisis on food and nutrition security.

 (Following is the original statement – February 8, 2023)

We offer our deepest sympathies to the people of Türkiye and the neighboring Syrian Arab Republic who have suffered the recent earthquakes. Our organizations are closely monitoring the situation, assessing the magnitude of the disaster, and working to mobilize necessary support in accordance with each organization’s mandates and procedures.

Globally, poverty and food insecurity are both on the rise after decades of development gains. Supply chain disruptions, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, financial tightening through rising interest rates and the Russia’s war in Ukraine have caused an unprecedented shock to the global food system, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest. Food inflation remains high in the world, with dozens of countries experiencing double digit inflation.

According to WFP, 349 million people across 79 countries are acutely food insecure. The prevalence of undernourishment is also on the rise, following three years of deterioration.

This situation is expected to worsen, with global food supplies projected to drop to a three-year low in 2022/2023.^[1] The need is especially dire in 24 countries that FAO and WFP have identified as hunger hotspots, of which 16 are in Africa.^[2] Fertilizer affordability as defined by the ratio between food prices and fertilizer prices^[3] is also the lowest since the 2007/2008 food crisis, which is leading to lower food production and impacting smallholder farmers the hardest, worsening the already high local food prices. For example, the reduction in 2022 of the production of rice, for which Africa is the largest importer in the world, coupled with prospects of lower stocks, is of grave concern.

In response to the inflation of food, fuel and fertilizer prices, countries have spent over US$710 billion for social protection measures covering 1 billion people, including approximately US$380 billion for subsidies. However, only US$4.3 billion has been spent in low-income countries for social protection measures, compared to US$507.6 billion in high-income countries.^[3]

To prevent a worsening of the food and nutrition security crisis, further urgent actions are required to (i) rescue hunger hotspots, (ii) facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector, and (iii) reform and repurpose harmful subsidies with careful targeting and efficiency. Countries should balance short-term urgent interventions with longer-term resilience efforts as they respond to the crisis. 

1.     Rescue hunger hotspots

We call on governments and donors to support country-level efforts to address the needs in hotspots, share information and strengthen crisis preparedness. The WFP and FAO need funds urgently to serve the most vulnerable immediately. In 2022, WFP and partners reached a record number of people – more than 140 million – with food and nutrition assistance, based on a record-breaking US$14 billion in contributions, of which US$7.3 billion came from the United States Government alone. WFP sent over US$3 billion in cash-based transfers to people in 72 countries and provided support to school feeding programs in 80 countries, including 15 million children through direct support and more than 90 million children through bolstering government national school feeding programs. FAO has invested US$1 billion to support more than 40 million people in rural areas with time sensitive agricultural interventions. These activities were primarily focused on the 53 countries listed in the Global Report on Food Crises.

The World Bank is providing a US$30 billion food and nutrition security package covering the 15 months from April 2022 to June 2023, including US$12 billion of new projects, which have all been committed ahead of schedule. This also includes US$3.5 billion in new financing for food and nutrition security in hotspots. In addition, the Bank has allocated US$748 million from its US$1 billion Early Response Financing modality of IDA’s Crisis Response Window (CRW) to mostly address needs in hotspots and is mobilizing additional funds for the CRW.

Funding for the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) must also be mobilized to provide concessional financing to low-income countries facing balance of payment needs. The IMF’s new Food Shock Window has so far supported Ukraine, Malawi, Guinea and Haiti, while nine countries facing acute food insecurity benefited from IMF financial support through new programs or augmentation of existing ones, with a focus on strengthening social safety nets and policies to help address the impact of the food crisis. The Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) is supporting greater crisis preparedness through the development and operationalization of multi-sectoral Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plans across 26 counties, which should be supported by governments and donors. GAFS also continues to monitor the severity of the food crisis and the financing of the global response through the Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard. We also welcome efforts by all parties to mobilize more funding for Africa’s agricultural transformation, as noted in the Dakar Declaration^[4] and we want to acknowledge the great work done by David Beasley, Executive Director, WFP, during his tenure. 

2.     Facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector

Countries should minimize trade distortions, strengthen the provision of public goods, and enable the private sector to contribute meaningfully to improved food security outcomes. We repeat our urgent call for countries to (i) avoid policies such as export restrictions, which can impede access to food for poor consumers in low-income food-importing countries; (ii) support trade facilitation measures, to improve availability of food and fertilizer, (iii) support trade finance initiatives in a transparent and indiscriminatory manner; and (iv) adhere to the commitments made at the WTO’s 12^th Ministerial Conference.^[5] While countries have lifted some export bans on wheat and rice, new export restrictions and bans, particularly on vegetables, are hampering availability on global markets. Global food security can be strengthened if governments support both food producers and consumers in a smart and targeted manner, such as by strengthening the provision of public goods in ways that improve farm productivity sustainably. Countries can use e-voucher schemes for fertilizers and avoid large-scale public procurement and subsidized distribution schemes, either on farm inputs or farm products, that crowd out the private sector. The WBG’s US$6 billion IFC Global Food Security Platform supports farmers to access fertilizers and other critical supplies while helping private companies make longer-term investments, focusing on improving the resilience of agri-food systems and fertilizer use efficiency. Countries should follow FAO‘s International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers to sustainably manage nutrients for food security.^[6]

3.     Reform and repurpose harmful subsidies with careful targeting and efficiency

Countries should reform and repurpose general universal subsidies towards temporary, better targeted programs for global food security and sustainable food systems, considering the key aspects of (i) efficiency, (ii) cost and fiscal sustainability, (iii) flexibility, (iv) administrative complexity, (v) equity, and (vi) strengthened resilience and sustainability. Most of the global social protection response to inflation is in the form of subsidies, half of which are untargeted, inefficient, and costly to already constrained governments. Support should be scaled up for countries to strengthen and deploy comprehensive, actionable and shock responsive social protection strategies. Policies and reforms supported by financing from IMF and the World Bank have focused on the transition from broad-based measures to more targeted approaches. Countries need to re-examine and reform their support to agriculture, which amounted to about US$639 billion per year between 2016 and 2018, and has since been on the rise. Of every dollar spent, only 35 cents end up with farmers.^[7] Much of this support incentivizes inefficient use of resources, distorts global markets, or undermines environmental sustainability, public health, and agricultural productivity. Without ignoring the inherent trade-offs associated with large scale policy reforms ^[10], this funding should be reformed and repurposed in ways that strengthen the resilience and sustainability of the agri-food system, such as the adoption of good agricultural practices, research and innovation (including in fertilizer application efficiency and alternatives to synthetic fertilizers), extension and advisory services, improved infrastructure and logistics, and digital technologies that improve productivity sustainably. The FAO new science and innovation strategy and the agri-food systems technologies and innovations outlook, ^[11] together with the One CGIARInitiative, plays a pivotal role across these areas to deliver global benefits of individual country reforms.^[8]

Action is already under way to address underlying structural challenges in social protection and in the food and fertilizer markets, but more concerted action across these three key areas is needed to prevent a prolonged crisis. We are committed to working jointly and with impact to support the most vulnerable.

This is the third Joint Statement by the Heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Food Programme, and World Trade Organization on the Global Food and Nutrition Security Crisis. The previous Joint Statements can be accessed here (1) and here (2).

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New York, February 6 – Citing the inalienable right to peace under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, U.N. Secretary-GeneralAntoniocalled for a New Agenda for Peace through multilateral diplomacy to end conflicts, from the Russia-led Ukraine war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to violence in Myanmar and Haiti

Guterres said the Universal Declaration, proclaimed in 1948, provides a “roadmap out of the dead end” marked by conflicts without any prospects for peace.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, with profound global implications,” Guterres said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly to begin activities in the new year. “The prospects for peace keep diminishing. The chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing. I fear the world is now sleepwalking into a wider war. It is doing so with its eyes wide open.”

“The world needs peace. Peace in line with the United Nations Charter and international law.”

New Agenda for Peace

Guterres said the proposed plan will revitalize multilateral action for a “world in transition and a new era of geostrategic competition” and will seek to address all forms and domains of threats, old and new.

The U.N. peacekeeping operations, launched 75 years ago, are under-funded and under attacks “with no peace to keep,” the U.N. leader said, proposing a new initiative under Action for Peacekeeping.

“But the New Agenda for Peace must recognize the need for a new generation of peace enforcement missions and counter-terrorist operations, led by regional forces, with a Security Council mandate under Chapter VII, and with guaranteed, predictable funding. The African Union is an obvious partner in this regard.”

He said disarmament and arms control issues should return to the center of diplomacy to reduce strategic threats from nuclear arms and work for their ultimate elimination.

“Nuclear-armed countries must renounce the first use of these unconscionable weapons,” he said. “In fact, they must renounce any use, anytime, anywhere. The so-called ‘tactical’ use of nuclear weapons is absurd.”

“We are at the highest risk in decades of a nuclear war that could start by accident or design. We need to end the threat posed by 13,000 nuclear weapons held in arsenals around the world.”

“The New Agenda for Peace aims to maximize the convening power of the United Nations as a platform for broad-based coalitions and effective diplomacy.”

Csaba Kőrösi, president of the current 77^th General Assembly session, said: the body has embarked on 16 negotiation processes aiming at “transformation” across several of the priorities identified by the U.N. leader.

“As we embark on our efforts, let us view these processes holistically, with a full understanding of how the priority areas outlined by the Secretary-General are both interconnected and interrelated,” Korosi said.

“Failing to pave the way for economic growth and sustainable development – as we know – will have a direct bearing on prospects for international peace and security. To achieve the desired transformative change, we will have to refresh our thinking on evaluation of the development, going beyond GDP. We will also need the evidence and methodology science can offer us to shape our decisions.”

Sustainable Development Goals

Guterres urged government leaders to show up at the SDG Summit in September when the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly will hold its annual meetings, pointing out that the ambitious program has not met its deadlines at halfway to 2030. The General Assembly has scheduled a Summit of the Least Developed Countries in March to boost progress ahead of the SDG Summit in September. Topping the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are eliminating poverty and hunger and providing education for all.

Guterres urged developed countries to ensure that developing economies have the liquidity to fund investments in quality education, universal healthcare and pandemic preparedness, decent work and social protection. He called on the 20 richest countries (G20) to agree to stimulus programs to support countries in the Global South.

Commission on the Status of Women, March 6-17

Government representatives and non-governmental organizations accredited to ECOSOC from all regions in the world are called to attend and contribute to the session. This year’s priority theme: Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. The review theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls (agreed conclusions of the 62nd session)

Water Summit March 22-24

The U.N. will hold a Water Summit to develop a bold Water Action Agenda that would bring a clean, healthy and sustainable environment to all.

“Action on oceans means new partnerships and tougher efforts to tackle marine- pollution, end overfishing, safeguard marine biodiversity, and more,” Guterres said.

 With climate change profoundly affecting our economies, societies and environment, water is indeed the biggest deal breaker to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Climate Change

The U.N. will hold its climate summit (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates in December.

The U.N. leader urges focus on two urgent priorities: cutting emissions and achieving climate justice, which mean “far more ambitious action to cut carbon pollution by speeding up the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy – especially in G20 countries — and de-carbonizing highest emitting industrial sectors – steel, cement, shipping and aviation.”

“It means delivering on the Just Energy Transitions Partnerships with South Africa, Indonesia and Viet Nam. And expanding on this cooperation through a Climate Solidarity Pact.”

The plan said all businesses, cities, regions and financial institutions that took a 2050 net zero pledge should present their transition plans with credible and ambitious targets for 2025 and 2030 — aligned with the standards set by a High-Level Expert Group.

Guterres reminded developed countries to deliver on commitments to provide $100 billion to developing countries so they can adapt to new climate-related technology and deliver on the loss and damage fund agreed at last year’s COP in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Davos, Switzerland/New York, January 18 – While acknowledging that the United States and China are in conflict over various issues, the United Nations said it is “possible” for the two countries to engage on climate, trade and technology to avoid decoupling their economies.

 U.N. Secretary-General Antonio told the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps resort at Davos that the U.S.-China conflict can cause a “tectonic rift that would create two different sets of trade rules, two dominant currencies, two internets and two conflicting strategies on artificial intelligence.”

Referring to a study by the International Monetary Fund, Guterres said a decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies, the world’s two largest, could cut global GDP by a whopping $1.4 trillion.

“But it is possible – indeed essential – for the two countries to have meaningful engagement on climate, trade and technology to avoid the decoupling of economies or even the possibility of future confrontation,” the U.N. chief said.

He said the North-South divide is deepening at the same time while developed countries are unable to grasp the deep frustration of the global south.

Participants at the forum, the first in-person gathering since the pandemic erupted in early 2020, have voiced frustration at global economic slowdown, disrupted supply chains and the on-going Russia-Ukraine war. Guterres said the short-term global economic outlook is “bleak” while inequalities have deepened, costs of living have rapidly increased and the world is still unprepared for the next pandemic.

He called for reforming and building fairness into the global financial system to allow poor countries access to finance and to bridge the divide and restore trust so all countries can embark on meaningful climate action.

IMF: WEF faces Gordian Knot as it tries to prevent fragmented world

“As policymakers and business leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, they are facing a Gordian knot of challenges,” Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said in an IMF Blog aimed at the gathering.

“From the global economic slowdown and climate change to the cost-of-living crisis and high debt levels: there is no easy way to cut through it. Added to this are geopolitical tensions that have made it even more difficult to address vital global issues,” she said.

“Indeed, even as we need more international cooperation on multiple fronts, we are facing the specter of a new Cold War that could see the world fragment into rival economic blocs. This would be a collective policy mistake that would leave everyone poorer and less secure.”

The IMF estimates that the cost of fragmentation from recent studies “vary widely” with the longer-term cost of trade fragmentation alone could range from 0.2 percent to almost 7 percent in a severe scenario, which is roughly equivalent to the combined annual output of Germany and Japan. If technological decoupling is added to the mix, some countries could see losses of up to 12 percent of GDP.

Georgieva urged governments to strengthen the international trade system; help vulnerable countries deal with debt and step up climate action as measures against fragmentation.

2023 Davos meeting January 16-20

This year’s World Economic Forum under the theme ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’ is drawing 2,700 leaders from 130 countries including 52 heads of state/government.

“Multiple crises are deepening divisions and fragmenting the geopolitical landscape. Leaders must address people’s immediate, critical needs while also laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world by the end of the decade,” WEF said.

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF, said, “We see the manifold political, economic and social forces creating increased fragmentation on a global and national level. To address the root causes of this erosion of trust, we need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery. At the same time there must be the recognition that economic development needs to be made more resilient, more sustainable and nobody should be left behind.”

WEF said the 53rd annual meeting will focus on solutions and public-private cooperation to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. “It encourages world leaders to work together on the interconnected issues of energy, climate and nature; investment, trade and infrastructure; frontier technologies and industry resilience; jobs, skills, social mobility and health; and geopolitical cooperation in a multipolar world. Special emphasis is on gender and geographical diversity across all sessions.”

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Geneva/New York, January 11, 2023 – The Global Risks Report published by the World Economic Forum ahead of its annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland said climate change will remain the biggest and long-term challenge to the economy unless world leaders tackle it collectively and decisively.

The report said the current energy and food supply crises are likely to persist for the next two years and costs of living and debt servicing are expected to strongly increase. Those crises at the same time will undermine efforts to fight problems related to climate change, biodiversity and investment in human capital.

Read the Global Risks Report 2023 . The Marsh McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group produced the report, drawing on the views of over 1,200 global risk experts, policy-makers and industry leaders. Read WEF’s Global Risks Initiative which promotes greater common understanding of short-, mid- and long-term global risks to enable learning on risk preparedness and resilience.

“The short-term risk landscape is dominated by energy, food, debt and disasters,” said Saadia Zahidi, WEF Managing Director. “Those that are already the most vulnerable are suffering – and in the face of multiple crises, those who qualify as vulnerable are rapidly expanding, in rich and poor countries alike. In this already toxic mix of known and rising global risks, a new shock event, from a new military conflict to a new virus, could become unmanageable. Climate and human development therefore must be at the core of concerns of global leaders to boost resilience against future shocks.”

The report said failure by world leaders to start cooperating more effectively on climate mitigation and climate adaptation will lead to continued global warming and ecological breakdown over the next 10 years.

John Scott, Head of Sustainability Risk, Zurich Insurance Group, said: “The interplay between climate change impacts, biodiversity loss, food security and natural resource consumption is a dangerous cocktail. Without significant policy change or investments, this mix will accelerate ecosystem collapse, threaten food supplies, amplify the impacts of natural disasters and limit further climate mitigation progress. If we speed up action, there is still an opportunity by the end of the decade to achieve a 1.5ᵒC degree trajectory and address the nature emergency. Recent progress in the deployment of renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles gives us good reasons to be optimistic.”

Carolina Klint, Risk Management Leader, Continental Europe, Marsh, said: “2023 is set to be marked by increased risks related to food, energy, raw materials and cyber security, causing further disruption to global supply chains and impacting investment decisions. At a time when countries and organizations should be stepping up resilience efforts, economic headwinds will constrain their ability to do so. Faced with the most difficult geo-economic conditions in a generation, companies should focus not just on navigating near-term concerns but also on developing strategies that will position them well for longer-term risks and structural change.”

2023 Davos meeting January 16-20

This year’s World Economic Forum will be under the theme ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’. The forum will draw 2,700 leaders from 130 countries including 52 heads of state/government.

“Multiple crises are deepening divisions and fragmenting the geopolitical landscape. Leaders must address people’s immediate, critical needs while also laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world by the end of the decade,” WEF said.

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF, said, “We see the manifold political, economic and social forces creating increased fragmentation on a global and national level. To address the root causes of this erosion of trust, we need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery. At the same time there must be the recognition that economic development needs to be made more resilient, more sustainable and nobody should be left behind.”

WEF said the 53rd annual meeting will focus on solutions and public-private cooperation to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. “It encourages world leaders to work together on the interconnected issues of energy, climate and nature; investment, trade and infrastructure; frontier technologies and industry resilience; jobs, skills, social mobility and health; and geopolitical cooperation in a multipolar world. Special emphasis is on gender and geographical diversity across all sessions.”

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New York, December 28 – Heads of United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups denounced the Afghan Taliban government’s ban of women working with non-governmental organizations as a life-threatening measure against the Afghan people.

A joint statement issued by 20 Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Afghanistan demanded that women’s participation in aid delivery must continue.

“The decision by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to ban women from working in humanitarian non-governmental organizations is a major blow for vulnerable communities, for women, for children, and for the entire country,” the statement said.

“Female staff are key to every aspect of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. They are teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders, community health workers, vaccinators, nurses, doctors, and heads of organizations,” it said.

The statement said women have access to certain populations that male colleagues cannot have and their professional work is indispensable and can save lives.

“Banning women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans,” the statement said.

The statement said the ban is taking place at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan are struggling to survive while the country is grappling with “famine conditions, economic decline, entrenched poverty and a brutal winter.”

“While humanitarian organizations continue to engage the de facto authorities, we cannot ignore the operational constraints now facing us as a humanitarian community. “We will endeavor to continue lifesaving, time-critical activities unless impeded while we better assess the scope, parameters and consequences of this directive for the people we serve. But we foresee that many activities will need to be paused as we cannot deliver principled humanitarian assistance without female aid workers.

“We remain resolute in our commitment to deliver independent, principled, lifesaving assistance to all the women, men and children who need it.

“We urge the de facto authorities to reconsider and reverse this directive, and all directives banning women from schools, universities and public life. No country can afford to exclude half of its population from contributing to society.”

Signatories 

• Mr. Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

• Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 

• Ms. Shahin Ashraf, Chair, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) Board, (Islamic Relief) 

• Mr. Ignacio Packer, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) 

• Ms. Miriam Sapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer, InterAction 

• Ms. Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Chief Eexcutive Officer, Mercy Corps 

• Ms. Janti Soerpinto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children US 

• Mr. António Vitorino, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM) 

• Mr. Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 

• Mr. Andrew Morley, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Vision International 

• Ms. Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary-General, CARE International 

• Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (UN SR on HR of IDPs) 

• Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 

• Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 

• Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) 

• Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 

• Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 

• Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director (UN Women) 

• Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP) 

• Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) 

Four NGOs stop work in Afghanistan

The non-governmental organizations – Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE – have decided to stop humanitarian work after the Taliban banned women in their workforces.

U.N. Security Council denounces ban

The 15-nation Security Council issued a statement on December 27 warning that the ban would have a significant effect on humanitarian operations in country and calling for the full, equal and meaningful participation of Afghan women and girls in schools and universities in Afghanistan.

Such a ban “represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the council said.

The council “reiterated its deep concern of the suspension of schools beyond the sixth grade, and its call for the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan” in the statement.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, December 22 – A resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council demanding Myanmar’s military government to end violence and release political prisoners has no teeth and may provoke further carnage in the country, said Thomas Andrews, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.

“‘Demanding that certain actions be taken without any use of the Security Council’s Chapter VII authority, will not stop the illegal Myanmar junta from attacking and destroying the lives of the 54 million people being held hostage in Myanmar,” Andrews said in a statement, referring to the provision that allows U.N. peacekeepers to use force under dangerous situations.

“What is required is action,” said Andrews, as reported by U.N. News.

The 15-nation Security Council on December 21 voted 12-0, with three abstentions by Russia, China and India, to approve its first-ever resolution on Myanmar since the military overthrew the civilian government headed by Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021. But the adopted document specified no concrete action against the military government.

The resolution demanded the release all “arbitrarily detained” prisoners, including Suu Kyi, and to restore democratic institutions. The resolution also demanded that Myanmar’s opposing parties be allowed to pursue dialogue and reconciliation and urged all sides “to respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.”

Andrews admitted that it was “notable” that the council crafted and advanced a draft resolution that managed to avoid a veto by the council’s five permanent members. He said his objection of the weak resolution was made “with all due respect” to that body but the situation in Myanmar would worsen without, strong coordinated action.”

He called for “concrete and immediate actions” towards implementing a peace plan agreed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and for upholding “democratic institutions and processes.”

“The systematic gross human rights violations – amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity – being perpetrated daily on the people of Myanmar by an illegal military junta require strong, coordinated action by U.N. member states,” he said.

He said demands made by the council in the resolution, including an immediate end to all forms of violence, the release of political prisoners, unimpeded humanitarian access and respect for the rights of women and children – are “critically important.” But he said what was missing are “consequences for the failure to meet them and the imposition of sanctions and accountability for crimes the military has committed to date.”

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In landmark U.N. Biodiversity Agreement, nations decided to protect 30 per cent of Earth’s lands, oceans, coastal areas, inland waters; reduce by $500 billion annual harmful government subsidies and cut food waste in half by 2030.

Montreal, December 19 – Nearing the conclusion of a sometimes fractious two-week meeting, nations of the world have agreed on a historic package of measures deemed critical to addressing the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems.

Convened under UN auspices, chaired by China, and hosted by Canada, the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), including four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.

Among the global targets for 2030:

Effective conservation and management of at least 30% of the world’s lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans, with emphasis on areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services. The GBF prioritizes ecologically-representative, well-connected and equitably-governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation, recognizing indigenous and traditional territories and practices. Currently 17 per cent and 10 per cent of the world’s terrestrial and marine areas respectively are under protection.

Have restoration completed or underway on at least 30% of degraded terrestrial, inland waters, and coastal and marine ecosystems; Reduce to near zero the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance, including ecosystems of high ecological integrity; Cut global food waste in half and significantly reduce overconsumption and waste generation; Reduce by half both excess nutrients and the overall risk posed by pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals.

Progressively phase out or reform by 2030 subsidies that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year, while scaling up positive incentives for biodiversity’s conservation and sustainable use; Mobilize by 2030 at least $200 billion per year in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from all sources – public and private.

Raise international financial flows from developed to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and countries with economies in transition, to at least US$ 20 billion per year by 2025, and to at least US$ 30 billion per year by 2030; Prevent the introduction of priority invasive alien species, and reduce by at least half the introduction and establishment of other known or potential invasive alien species, and eradicate or control invasive alien species on islands and other priority sites; Require large and transnational companies and financial institutions to monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity through their operations, supply and value chains and portfolios

Warns the GBF: “Without such action, there will be a further acceleration in the global rate of species extinction, which is already at least tens to hundreds of times higher than it has averaged over the past 10 million years.”

The framework’s four overarching global goals:

GOAL A – The integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems are maintained, enhanced, or restored, substantially increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 2050;

Human induced extinction of known threatened species is halted, and, by 2050, extinction rate and risk of all species are reduced tenfold, and the abundance of native wild species is increased to healthy and resilient levels; The genetic diversity within populations of wild and domesticated species, is maintained, safeguarding their adaptive potential.

GOAL B – Biodiversity is sustainably used and managed and nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services, are valued, maintained and enhanced, with those currently in decline being restored, supporting the achievement of sustainable development, for the benefit of present and future generations by 2050.

GOAL C – The monetary and non-monetary benefits from the utilization of genetic resources, and digital sequence information on genetic resources, and of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, as applicable, are shared fairly and equitably, including, as appropriate with indigenous peoples and local communities, and substantially increased by 2050, while ensuring traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources is appropriately protected, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, in accordance with internationally agreed access and benefit-sharing instruments.

GOAL D – Adequate means of implementation, including financial resources, capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, and access to and transfer of technology to fully implement the Kunmin-Montreal global biodiversity framework are secured and equitably accessible to all Parties, especially developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, progressively closing the biodiversity finance gap of $700 billion per year, and aligning financial flows with the Kunmin-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.

Held at Montreal’s Palais des Congrès Dec. 7-19, representatives of 188 governments on site (95% of all 196 Parties to the UN CBD, as well as two non-Parties – the United States and The Vatican), finalized and approved measures to arrest the ongoing​​ loss of ​terrestrial and marine ​biodiversity and set humanity in the direction of a sustainable relationship with nature, with clear indicators to measure progress.

In addition to the GBF, the meeting approved a series of related agreements on its implementation, including planning, monitoring, reporting and review; resource mobilization; helping nations to build their capacity to meet the obligations; and digital sequence information on genetic resources.

Digital sequence information on genetic resources – a dominant topic at COP15 – has many commercial and non-commercial applications, including pharmaceutical product development, improved crop breeding, taxonomy, and the monitoring of invasive species.

COP15 delegates agreed to establish within the GBF a multilateral fund for the equitable sharing of benefits between providers and users of DSI, to be finalized at COP16 in Türkiye in 2024.

The agreement also obligates countries to monitor and report every five years or less on a large set of “headline” and other indicators related to progress against the GBF’s goals and targets. Headline indicators include the percent of land and seas effective conserved, the number of companies disclosing their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, and many others.  The CBD will combine national information submitted by late February 2026 and late June 2029 into global trend and progress reports.

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Emphasized throughout the approved documents are the needs to foster the full and effective contributions of women, persons of diverse gender identities, youth, indigenous peoples and local communities, civil society organizations, the private and financial sectors, and stakeholders from all other sectors. Also emphasized: the need for a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach” to implementing the GBF.

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: 23 targets

TARGET 1 – Ensure that all areas are under participatory integrated biodiversity inclusive spatial planning and/or effective management processes addressing land and sea use change, to bring the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance, including ecosystems of high ecological integrity, close to zero by 2030, while respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities,

TARGET 2 – Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.

TARGET 3 – Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, recognizing indigenous and traditional territories, where applicable, and integrated into wider landscapes, seascapes and the ocean, while ensuring that any sustainable use, where appropriate in such areas, is fully consistent with conservation outcomes, recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities including over their traditional territories,

TARGET 4 – Ensure urgent management actions, to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species, to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimize human-wildlife conflict for coexistence.

TARGET 5 – Ensure that the use, harvesting and trade of wild species is sustainable, safe and legal, preventing overexploitation, minimizing impacts on non-target species and ecosystems, and reducing the risk of pathogen spill-over, applying the ecosystem approach, while respecting and protecting customary sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local communities.

TARGET 6 – Eliminate, minimize, reduce and or mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services by identifying and managing pathways of the introduction of alien species, preventing the introduction and establishment of priority invasive alien species, reducing the rates of introduction and establishment of other known or potential invasive alien species by at least 50 per cent, by 2030, eradicating or controlling invasive alien species especially in priority sites, such as islands .

TARGET 7 – Reduce pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources, by 2030, to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, considering cumulative effects, including: reducing excess nutrients lost to the environment by at least half including through more efficient nutrient cycling and use; reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half including through integrated pest management, based on science, taking into account food security and livelihoods; and also preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution.

TARGET 8 – Minimize the impact of climate change and ocean acidification on biodiversity and increase its resilience through mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction actions, including through nature-based solution and/or ecosystem-based approaches, while minimizing negative and fostering positive impacts of climate action on biodiversity.

TARGET 9 – Ensure that the management and use of wild species are sustainable, thereby providing social, economic and environmental benefits for people, especially those in vulnerable situations and those most dependent on biodiversity, including through sustainable biodiversity-based activities, products and services that enhance biodiversity, and protecting and encouraging customary sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local communities.

TARGET 10 – Ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably, in particular through the sustainable use of biodiversity, including through a substantial increase of the application of biodiversity friendly practices, such as sustainable intensification, agroecological and other innovative approaches contributing to the resilience and long-term efficiency and productivity of these production systems and to food security, conserving and restoring biodiversity and maintaining nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services.

TARGET 11 – Restore, maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services, such as regulation of air, water, and climate, soil health, pollination and reduction of disease risk, as well as protection from natural hazards and disasters, through nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches for the benefit of all people and nature.

TARGET 12 – Significantly increase the area and quality and connectivity of, access to, and benefits from green and blue spaces in urban and densely populated areas sustainably, by mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and ensure biodiversity-inclusive urban planning, enhancing native biodiversity, ecological connectivity and integrity, and improving human health and well-being and connection to nature and contributing to inclusive and sustainable urbanization and the provision of ecosystem functions and services.

TARGET 13 – Take effective legal, policy, administrative and capacity-building measures at all levels, as appropriate, to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from the utilization of genetic resources and from digital sequence information on genetic resources, as well as traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, and facilitating appropriate access to genetic resources, and by 2030 facilitating a significant increase of the benefits shared, in accordance with applicable international access and benefit-sharing instruments.

TARGET 14 – Ensure the full integration of biodiversity and its multiple values into policies, regulations, planning and development processes, poverty eradication strategies, strategic environmental assessments, environmental impact assessments and, as appropriate, national accounting, within and across all levels of government and across all sectors, in particular those with significant impacts on biodiversity, progressively aligning all relevant public and private activities, fiscal and financial flows with the goals and targets of this framework.

TARGET 15 – Take legal, administrative or policy measures to encourage and enable business, and in particular to ensure that large and transnational companies and financial institutions:

(a) Regularly monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity including with requirements for all large as well as transnational companies and financial institutions along their operations, supply and value chains and portfolios; (b) Provide information needed to consumers to promote sustainable consumption patterns; (c) Report on compliance with access and benefit-sharing regulations and measures, as applicable; in order to progressively reduce negative impacts on biodiversity, increase positive impacts, reduce biodiversity-related risks to business and financial institutions, and promote actions to ensure sustainable patterns of production.

TARGET 16 – Ensure that people are encouraged and enabled to make sustainable consumption choices including by establishing supportive policy, legislative or regulatory frameworks, improving education and access to relevant and accurate information and alternatives, and by 2030, reduce the global footprint of consumption in an equitable manner, halve global food waste, significantly reduce overconsumption and substantially reduce waste generation, in order for all people to live well in harmony with Mother Earth.

TARGET 17 – Establish, strengthen capacity for, and implement in all countries in biosafety measures as set out in Article 8(g) of the Convention on Biological Diversity and measures for the handling of biotechnology and distribution of its benefits as set out in Article 19 of the Convention.

TARGET 18 – Identify by 2025, and eliminate, phase out or reform incentives, including subsidies harmful for biodiversity, in a proportionate, just, fair, effective and equitable way, while substantially and progressively reducing them by at least 500 billion United States dollars per year by 2030, starting with the most harmful incentives, and scale up positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

TARGET 19 – Substantially and progressively increase the level of financial resources from all sources, in an effective, timely and easily accessible manner, including domestic, international, public and private resources, in accordance with Article 20 of the Convention, to implement national biodiversity strategies and action plans, by 2030 mobilizing at least 200 billion United States dollars per year, including by:

(a) Increasing total biodiversity related international financial resources from developed countries, including official development assistance, and from countries that voluntarily assume obligations of developed country Parties, to developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, to at least US$ 20 billion per year by 2025, and to at least US$ 30 billion per year by 2030;

(b) Significantly increasing domestic resource mobilization, facilitated by the preparation and implementation of national biodiversity finance plans or similar instruments according to national needs, priorities and circumstances

(c) Leveraging private finance, promoting blended finance, implementing strategies for raising new and additional resources, and encouraging the private sector to invest in biodiversity, including through impact funds and other instruments;

(d) Stimulating innovative schemes such as payment for ecosystem services, green bonds, biodiversity offsets and credits, benefit-sharing mechanisms, with environmental and social safeguards

(e) Optimizing co-benefits and synergies of finance targeting the biodiversity and climate crises,

(f) Enhancing the role of collective actions, including by indigenous peoples and local communities, Mother Earth centric actions and non-market-based approaches including community based natural resource management and civil society cooperation and solidarity aimed at the conservation of biodiversity

(g) Enhancing the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of resource provision and use;

TARGET 20 – Strengthen capacity-building and development, access to and transfer of technology, and promote development of and access to innovation and technical and scientific cooperation, including through South- South, North-South and triangular cooperation, to meet the needs for effective implementation, particularly in developing countries, fostering joint technology development and joint scientific research programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and strengthening scientific research and monitoring capacities, commensurate with the ambition of the goals and targets of the framework.

TARGET 21 – Ensure that the best available data, information and knowledge, are accessible to decision makers, practitioners and the public to guide effective and equitable governance, integrated and participatory management of biodiversity, and to strengthen communication, awareness-raising, education, monitoring, research and knowledge management and, also in this context, traditional knowledge, innovations, practices and technologies of indigenous peoples and local communities should only be accessed with their free, prior and informed consent20, in accordance with national legislation.

TARGET 22 – Ensure the full, equitable, inclusive, effective and gender-responsive representation and participation in decision-making, and access to justice and information related to biodiversity by indigenous peoples and local communities, respecting their cultures and their rights over lands, territories, resources, and traditional knowledge, as well as by women and girls, children and youth, and persons with disabilities and ensure the full protection of environmental human rights defenders.

TARGET 23 – Ensure gender equality in the implementation of the framework through a gender-responsive approach where all women and girls have equal opportunity and capacity to contribute to the three objectives of the Convention, including by recognizing their equal rights and access to land and natural resources and their full, equitable, meaningful and informed participation and leadership at all levels of action, engagement, policy and decision-making related to biodiversity.

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CONTACT: Terry Collins & Assoc. | www.tca.tc | @TerryCollinsTC | LinkedIn.com/in/terrycollins | In the News 2021: https://adobe.ly/3FRijQA, Toronto, M6R1L8 Canada

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Montreal/New York, December 7 – The United Nations called on governments attending the international conference on biodiversity to adopt an ambitious “true peace pact with nature” that can deliver a green planet earth.

Representatives from 192 governments that are parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity opened a two-week meeting with the intention to negotiate a new, 10-year agreement that will guide humans how to use nature and biodiversity in more sustainable ways.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said humans are “waging war against nature” as the conference began its work. “Ecosystems have become playthings of profit. Human activities are laying waste to once-thriving forests, jungles, farmland, oceans, rivers, seas and lakes. Our land, water and air are poisoned by chemicals and pesticides, and choked with plastics.”

“It’s time for the world to adopt an ambitious biodiversity framework — a true peace pact with nature — to deliver a green, healthy future for all,“ he said.

Organizers of the summit said negotiations are expected to be difficult as they cover some two dozen targets ranging from land and water, fisheries and rainforests which are affected by climate change as well as degradation caused by humans.

The Montreal summit starting on December 7 is the 15^th Conference of the Parties to the convention, which was first signed in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 by 150 governments. More than 15,000 people have registered to attend, with the majority of them representatives of governments, non-governmental organizations and the media.

Guterres said deforestation and desertification, among a multitude of activities, are creating wastelands of once-thriving ecosystems.

“Our land, water and air are poisoned by chemicals and pesticides, and choked with plastics. Our addiction to fossil fuels has thrown our climate into chaos — from heat waves and forest fires to communities parched by heat and drought, or inundated and destroyed by terrifying floods,” he said.       

“Unsustainable production and consumption are sending emissions skyrocketing, and degrading our land, sea and air. Today, one-third of all land is degraded, making it harder to feed growing populations. Plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates — all are at risk. A million species teeter on the brink.”

He called on government leaders to develop “bold national action plans” that “re-purpose subsidies and tax breaks away from nature-destroying activities towards green solutions like renewable energy, plastic reduction, nature-friendly food production and sustainable resource extraction.” He also supports the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities because they have always been the most effective guardians of biodiversity.

He called on the private sector to “recognize that profit and protection must go hand-in-hand. In our globalized economies, businesses and investors count on nature’s gifts from all corners of the world. It’s in their best interests to put protection first. That means the food and agricultural industry moving towards sustainable production and natural means of pollination, pest control and fertilization.”

New agreement for 2020-30 under negotiations

The COP15 summit was originally scheduled to take place in Kunming, in China’s Yunnan province, in 2020. But it was postponed because of Covid-19 and was moved to Montreal. If governments are to agree on the new, 10-year plan it would replace the previous one adopted in Aichi, Japan, in 2010.

Under discussion in Montreal is a draft agreement for the Global Biodiversity Framework Structure which comprises fourmajor Goals: 1. Ecosystems, species, genetic diversity; 2. Nature’s contributions to people; 3. Access and benefit sharing and 4. Means of implementation; and 23 targets.

Targets: 1. Land and sea use planning; 2. Ecosystem restoration, connectivity, priority ecosystems; 3. Land, seas protection and conservation; 4. Active management of species, genetic diversity; 5. Harvest, trade and use of wild species; 6. Invasive alien species; 7. Pollution; 8. Minimizing the impact of climate change; 9. Sustainable use of biodiversity and benefit sharing; 10. Sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, forestry; 11. Regulation of air quality, water quality and quantity, and protection from hazards and extreme events; 12. Access to green and blue spaces; 13. Genetic resources and equitable benefit sharing; 14. Mainstreaming biodiversity; 15. Sustainable production and supply chains; 16. Unsustainable consumption; 17. Impacts of biotechnology; 18. Harmful incentives / subsidies; 19. Financial resources, capacity-building; 20. Traditional knowledge, awareness, education and research; 21. Equitable, effective participation in decision-making; 22. Gender equality;  23. Adopting a human / animal / ecosystem “One Health” approach.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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