Economic sanctions as a modern tool: Cruel to the most vulnerable?
A study finds sanctions contribute to a rise in mortality, poverty and inequality, and a decline in income and rights.
Global Issues
Global issues are complex challenges that require international cooperation, from mitigating climate change to addressing global poverty and geopolitical conflicts. Of the U.N.'s 169 targets for sustainable development, only 35% are on track or making moderate progress toward their 2030 deadline.
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Odds are 2-1 of temporary breach to Paris treaty's lower limit in 5 years
The annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will likely be more than 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.
U.N. proposes global 'roadmap' to 80% cut in plastic pollution by 2040
The estimated annual social and environmental costs of plastic pollution range from $300 billion to $1.5 trillion.
Progress in reducing deaths during pregnancy and birth has 'flatlined'
More than 4.5 million pregnant women and babies die each year during pregnancy, childbirth or the first few weeks of life.
U.N. health agency declares COVID-19 no longer a global emergency
Though the emergency phase is over, the World Health Organization's pandemic designation still holds.
El Niño event could push global temps to new warming record
WMO says the warming effect on global temperatures usually plays out in the year after an El Niño event develops.
Faking content is getting easier. Digging for truth is getting harder.
There's a growing industry and more tools for producing and distributing disinformation. Meanwhile, authorities are getting more aggressive and hostile toward journalists.
UNICEF raises alert over lagging confidence in childhood vaccines
Public perception of the importance of vaccines for children fell during the pandemic in 52 of 55 countries studied.
The great Twitter cull looms for leaders and organizations
Hundreds of accounts of world leaders and their institutions, plus 40 organizations and their leaders, were to be demoted.
Cost of gender inequalities in food and agriculture put at 1% global GDP
Closing the gender gap in productivity and wages would boost GDP by nearly $1 trillion and cut hunger for 45 million people.
Developing nations forecast to lose $800B from debt and slowdown
UNCTAD expects global growth in 2023 to drop to 2.1%, but only if financial fallout from higher interest rates is contained.
At 75, U.N. health agency is lightning rod for equity and cooperation
As WHO celebrated its 75th anniversary – commemorating World Health Day and the day its constitution took effect – the COVID-19 pandemic's lessons were inescapable.
Slower trade growth projected in 2023 mainly due to war in Ukraine
Trade growth is expected to slow to 1.7% due to Russia's war in Ukraine, high inflation, tight monetary policy and uncertainty.
Red Cross finds around half of all armed groups are state-supported
New ICRC guidelines are meant to protect innocent civilians and detainees against violence by non-state armed groups.
Putin, charged with war crimes, takes over U.N.'s most powerful arm
Russia's status as U.N. Security Council president is bound up in a frozen-in-time power structure dating to World War II.
Stockpiles of nuclear weapons available for use increased in 2022
Nuclear warheads available to nations for deployment reached 9,576 at the start of 2023, up from 9,440 a year earlier.