So much information about climate change now abounds that it is hard to differentiate fact from fiction. Scientific reports appear alongside conspiracy theories, data is interspersed with drastic predictions about the future, and everywhere one turns, the bad news just seems to be getting worse.
In the run up to Zero Discrimination Day on 1 March, footballer David Luiz, UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador, created this video to show solidarity against racism and discrimination. Open up, reach out and join the transformation.
There are still seven months of international negotiations to go before we know exactly what form the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will take. The current debate on framing the SDGs is important. But, as we ‘re already well into this spring’s New York negotiation schedule, this should not stop us thinking about what implementing the SDGs will mean in practice, in each country—developed as well as developing—and how we need to prepare. After all, this is ultimately how the SDG vision will be realized, and what the general public and many other stakeholders will care about: how the SDGs might actually affect their daily lives through new or altered policies or private initiatives.
21 February is International Mother Language Day. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage.
20 February is World Day of Social Justice, with the theme for 2015 of ending human trafficking and forced labour. Read more
Growth in emerging economies has slowed over the past three years, something being discussed with urgency at the G20 meetings in Istanbul, Turkey. Part of the slowdown is cyclical, but a significant part reflects sluggish potential growth.
The importance of land rights for women and men is rightly called out in the new draft sustainable development goals relating to ending poverty, achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls, increasing food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture.