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Photo: Cover of The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018.

A Sense of Urgency Required For Meeting the 2030 Deadline

By António Guterres

Following is the text of the United Nations Secretary-General's Foreword to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 published on 20 June. With just 12 years left to the 2030 deadline, we must inject a sense of urgency, writes Guterres. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a global blueprint for dignity, peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future. Three years into the implementation of the Agenda, countries are translating this shared vision into national development plans and strategies.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 05 July 2018

Photo: India makes voluntary contribution for the second consecutive year to UN Tax Trust Fund. 03 July 2018. Credit: UN DESA

India Supports Sustainable Development Through UN Tax Fund

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – India has provided a voluntary contribution of US $100,000 to encourage the participation of developing countries in the work of a key UN committee on tax matters tasked with finding ways of mobilizing resources for sustainable development.

This is the second year India has contributed to the UN Tax Trust Fund and is still the only country that has funded so far. The Fund aims to support the work of the UN Tax Committee.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 July 2018

Photo: President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, shake hands as they meet for the first time, June 12, 2018, at the Capella Hotel in Singapore. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Diplomacy With North Korea Crucial To Denuclearization

By Daryl G. Kimball

Contrary to President Donald Trump’s claim that there is “no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea” following his June 12 summit meeting with Kim Jong Un, the mission of achieving denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula is clearly not yet accomplished, writes Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association in the July/August issue of Arms Control Today. The editorial appeared with the caption 'After the Singapore Summit'.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The historic if brief encounter on June 12, 2018 between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides a hopeful starting point for the lengthy and arduous process of negotiating the details of denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean peninsula.

: Daryl G. Kimball; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 04 July 2018

Photo: Europe needs key decisions to be made in the near future to give the people answers to the major questions of our time, agreed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in a press conference at the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace in April 2018. Credit: Bundesregierung/Steins

French President Macron Is Going To Get Things Done

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At the European summit on June 28-29 the leaders spent most of the time discussing immigration restrictions. Yet the Syrian rush through the Mediterranean is now a trickle. The African migration is down by 95 percent.

No wonder that Emmanuel Macron, the young (40) president of France, was frustrated. Although he spent hours trying to liberalize the consensus on immigration restrictions he really wanted to spend most of the summit on reforming how the Eurozone works. An inner group of 19 members use the Euro as their currency.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 03 July 2018

Image: Sculpture depicting St. George slaying the dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missiles. UN Photo/Milton Grant

NPT Proves To Be An Exercise In Bad Faith As It Turns 50

By Alice Slater

The writer is the New York representative for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and serves on the Coordinating Committee of World Beyond War.

NEW YORK (IDN) – On July 1, the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) turned 50. In that agreement, five nuclear weapons states – the U.S., Russia, UK, France, and China – pledged to make "good faith efforts" to give up their nuclear weapons, while non-nuclear weapons states vowed not to acquire them. Every country in the world agreed to join the treaty except for India, Pakistan, and Israel which then went on to develop their own nuclear arsenals.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 03 July 2018

Photo: South Island of Lake Turkana, Kenya © Doron CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

UN Sounds Alarm About Ethiopian Dam Threatening World Heritage Site

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Lake Turkana, the reputed birthplace of mankind, has been designated an endangered environmental hotspot by a UNESCO panel. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1997, Kenya’s Lake Turkana stands among such treasures as the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China.

It’s the world’s largest desert lake, a spectacular site whose fossil finds have contributed more to the understanding of human ancestry than any other site in the world. Turkana is an outstanding laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 July 2018

Photo: A weaver. Credit: Toung Eh Synuanchanh

Lao Women Village Weavers Pursue Moderate Livelihoods

By Toung Eh Synuanchanh

This article is the 24th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BUNGSANTHUENG, Laos (IDN) – The consciousness of finite resource and traditional wisdom are inspiring a group of women in the Southeast Asian country to pursue business practices based on the Buddhist concept of Right Livelihood, the art of responsible and sustainable living.

The women weavers of Ban Bungsanthueng, Nongbok District, Khammouane Province of Laos – about 400 km south of the capital Vientiane – have formed a women handicraft group that draws upon longstanding traditional and cultural knowledge of sard-phue (reed mat) weaving.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 July 2018

Image: Amazon forest landscape. Credit: Ecuador Government

Forests Comprise Large Part of Climate Solution But Receive Meagre Investment

By Fabiola Ortiz

OSLO (IDN) – It has been a decade now that the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – known as REDD+ – has been included in climate negotiations, however investments have not been sufficient for bringing them down.

“Even though science tells us that forests represent thirty percent of the solution to climate change in terms of the mitigation potential of greenhouse gas emission, we are only spending less than two percent of climate finance on forest,” according to senior fellow Frances Seymour of the World Resources Institute (WRI).

: Fabiola Ortiz; UN INSIDER; 02 July 2018

Photo: ACP Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes addressing the United Nations Summit for the adoption of Agenda 2030 for global development on 26 September 2015, United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Amanda Voisard.

79-Nation ACP Exercises Decisive Influence Globally

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

Following is the text of foreword by Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes, the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), to 'Striving for People, Planet and Peace – 2018 Report of the Joint Media Project of INPS-SG-IDN'. Prior to taking up the position of ACP SG, he served as Guyana’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Community and as Guyana’s representative to WTO and FAO. – The Editor.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The ACP Group of States, established by the Georgetown Agreement on 6 June 1975, consists of 79 developing countries composed of 48 from Sub-Sharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific/Oceania region, accounting for a population of more than one billion persons.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 01 July 2018

Photo: Flags of the Iran Deal Negotiating Partners. Source: Arms Control Association

UN Chief Favours Implementation of Iran Nuclear Deal

By Kelsey Davenport

The author is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). This article was part of the ACA's Newsletter of June 29, 2018.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the nuclear deal with Iran is at a “crossroads” and expressed his deep regret over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose sanctions.

Guterres also called upon all states to support the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying “it is important that the withdrawal of one country not impede the ability of others to fully implement their commitments under the [JCPOA] or to engage in activities consistent with resolution 2231.”