International issues

Philippines. The University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) aims to preserve the country’s warm, colorful coral reefs by freezing its larvae in a cryobank very soon. This is a significant step in saving our vanishing coral reefs, and…

For African countries, more and more diverse economic opportunities have opened up primarily due to the changing geopolitical dynamics around the world today. These changes are obviously influencing Africa’s development landscape. While it has some negative connotations, it is simultaneously…

Donald Trump came into office promising to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Now, six months later, his high stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska may have put the United States and Russia on a new path…

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that media, commentators and many others seem to believe that peace might appear from such a bread and circus show… By Jan Oberg Here is CNN’s take-away from the “Pursuing Peace” Summit in Anchorage yesterday. “Peacemaking”…

Geneva – The Plastics Treaty INC-5.2 negotiations closed today without an agreement, despite the majority of nations calling for meaningful, global solutions to protect health and the environment. While the INC has called for negotiations to continue at a date…

Way Forward for Treaty Negotiations Left Unclear, Civil Society Stands with Countries Choosing People Over Politics    Geneva, Switzerland– At the close of the plastics treaty negotiations (INC-5.2), ambitious Member States held strong under immense pressure and a broken process, and…

Global Warming (“GW”) is winning, and it is gaining. Obstacles to hotter temperatures are falling to the wayside, allowing GW to go for more intense heatwaves along with much, much higher sea levels. Alas, the greenest of green countries are…

Watchdog Group Lists 48 Skin Lightening Products Adulterated With Mercury 15 August 2025, Quezon City.  As the eighth anniversary of the global entry into force of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is observed on August 16, the toxics watchdog group…

Geneva, Switzerland– Demonstrating strong unity, Global South Member States and Civil Society called for ambitious, legally binding global measures to curb plastic production, in a media briefing on the closing day of the second part of the fifth session of…

For a few seconds, my imagination staged a surreal scene: a gray, fortified building in the middle of the ice, with the flags of Russia and the United States flying side by side, as if the Cold War had ended…