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‘Down under’ isn’t that far away from trouble.

"J’ai perdu les gens dont je voyais autrefois les visages souriants", déclare Abdu-Rabbu Ahmed après s’être échappé d’el-Fasher.

L'élection présidentielle aura bien lieu le 23 novembre en Republika Srpska, Siniša Karan servant de « doublure » à Milorad Dodik, qui vient de prononcer un nouveau discours raciste contre les Bosniaques. En coulisses, les États-Unis semblent en train d'écrire la partition.

- Articles / Bosnie-Herzégovine, Courrier des Balkans, Politique, USA Balkans, RS sécession

Willkommen bei Rapporteur! Jeden Tag liefern wir Ihnen die wichtigsten Nachrichten und Hintergründe aus der EU- und Europapolitik. Das Wichtigste: Omnibus: EVP kippt Pakt mit politischer Mitte – beschließt Abbau von Bürokratie mit Rechtsaußen Exklusiv: Berlin unterstützt Aufschub des EU-Entwaldungsgesetzes – Rückenwind für Reformkurs Brüssel: Zypern drängt auf Direktflüge vor Ratspräsidentschaft   Today’s edition is […]

L'avis non contraignant de l'avocat général de l'UE Dean Spielmann, contraste avec une décision du juge de la Cour suprême espagnole Pablo Llarena, qui avait refusé d'amnistier le chef indépendantiste Carles Puigdemont, du parti de droite Junts, accusé de détournement de fonds publics.

The post La poussée indépendantiste de la Catalogne ne nuit pas aux intérêts financiers européens, selon un avocat général de la CJUE appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Bienvenue dans Rapporteur. Je suis Nicoletta Ionta, à Bruxelles. Vous avez une info à nous communiquer ? Écrivez-moi. À savoir : Omnibus : le PPE démantèle le pacte centriste pour faire adopter les réductions des règles environnementales avec l’extrême droite Scoop : Berlin soutient le report de la loi européenne sur la déforestation, renforçant ainsi […]

The post Vers une nouvelle normalité appeared first on Euractiv FR.

"They're committing acts of sexual violence and atrocities," says the US secretary of state, "and it needs to end immediately".

Les scientifiques affirment que l'avenir du pays hôte de la COP30 est incertain, après des décennies de déforestation et désormais face aux impacts climatiques.

Spectacles annulés, expositions attaquées par des groupes d'hommes masqués hurlant des slogans oustachis. Jamais les Journées de la culture serbe, organisées chaque mois de novembre en Croatie, n'avaient provoqué tant de violences. Sans réaction conséquente des autorités.

- Articles / Courrier des Balkans, Croatie droitisation, Relations Croatie - Serbie, Croatie, Société

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Die SOEP Innovations-Stichprobe (SOEP-IS) verfolgt das Ziel, innovative Datenerhebung für die Wissenschafts-Community zu ermöglichen und eignet sich daher in besonderem Maße für die Etablierung neuer und zielgruppenspezifischer Messinstrumente in Langzeiterhebungen, für Kurz- und Langzeitexperimente ...

Die SOEP Innovations-Stichprobe (SOEP-IS) verfolgt das Ziel, innovative Datenerhebung für die Wissenschafts-Community zu ermöglichen und eignet sich daher in besonderem Maße für die Etablierung neuer und zielgruppenspezifischer Messinstrumente in Langzeiterhebungen, für Kurz- und Langzeitexperimente ...

Credit: UNICEF/Gema Espinoza Delgado

By Caroline Delgado
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov 14 2025 (IPS)

The urgency of linking climate action with social and wider environmental priorities is clear. Climate change, environmental degradation and violent conflict are often deeply connected and even mutually reinforcing. At the same time, climate action can either support or undermine efforts to improve social justice and halt environmental degradation.

These connections are nowhere more visible than in global food systems, where environmental pressures, social inequality and economic shocks converge. And Latin America, where COP30 is taking place, could be central to the solution.

Climate change, violent conflict and economic crises are major drivers of food insecurity, while food production itself contributes to more than one-third of global emissions and accelerates biodiversity loss through land use change.

Despite steady growth in agricultural production over the past two decades, hunger persists: in 2024, around 8 per cent of the world’s population faced hunger, many of them small-scale farmers in crisis-affected regions.

Latin America’s paradox: ecological abundance amid social and environmental fragility

Latin America embodies the contradictions at the core of the global climate and development agenda: vast ecological resources and food production capacity coexist with significant inequality, environmental degradation, and social unrest.

Its ecosystems regulate carbon and water cycles essential to planetary stability and the region is the world’s largest provider of ecosystem services. Latin America also holds the greatest per capita availability of agricultural land and water, making it both the world’s largest net food exporter and a carbon sink.

Yet these assets face mounting pressure from deforestation, land-use change, and extractive industries. The degradation of forests, soils, and watersheds not only accelerates emissions and biodiversity loss but also deepens local grievances over land, livelihoods, and access to resources. This, in turn, heightens the risk of social tension and violence in a region marked by extreme inequality, widespread violence, and the world’s highest number of environmental conflicts.

Unequal land distribution and the expansion of extractive and agricultural frontiers perpetuate a cycle of degradation and displacement. Environmental decline erodes resilience to droughts, floods, and other climate impacts, undermines food security and increases competition over dwindling resources.

Climate change exacerbates these challenges: extreme weather events reduce crop yields and fuel migration, while the destruction of ecosystems diminishes the capacity of nature to buffer against future shocks.

Many of the region’s environmental conflicts stem from disputes over territory, water, and the impacts of large-scale projects that privilege short-term, growth over sustainable livelihoods. Criminal networks and weak governance exacerbate instability through illegal mining, logging, and land grabs, whereas violence against environmental defenders deepens distrust in state institutions.

Agriculture and governance at the crossroads

The agricultural sector lies at the centre of this nexus. It is a cornerstone of Latin America’s economy and a major source of global food supply. Agricultural exports grew 1.7 times between 2010 and 2023, generating a trade surplus of US$161 billion. Production and trade are projected to expand further by 2031.

Yet, if expansion continues to rely in deforestation and exclusion, it risks deepening insecurity, fuelling new conflict and ecological collapse. Without inclusive governance and environmental safeguards, economic growth will remain fragile and unsustainable.

Breaking these cycles requires an integrated approach that links governance, environmental justice, and sustainable land use. Strengthening land governance, protecting environmental defenders and supporting small-scale and Indigenous producers are essential to building resilience.

Secure land rights and respect for collective territories reinforce local autonomy and reduce pressures for extractive expansion. Protecting defenders safeguards those facing repression and violence in resource conflicts, while inclusive, locally rooted development pathways sustain livelihoods and reflect diverse worldviews for many rural populations, to which land is not only a resource but also a cultural identity.

Promising developments

The Escazú agreement provides a framework for embedding these principles in practice. Entering into force in 2021 and ratified so far by 18 Latin American countries, it is the region’s first legally binding treaty on environmental governance. Its three pillars – access to information, public participation, and justice for environmental defenders- make it not only an environmental agreement but also a democratic one.

By strengthening transparency and participation, Escazú promotes accountability and peaceful resource governance, helping to prevent the very conflicts that undermine climate resilience.

However, its transformative potential remains uneven. The majority of the region’s countries have yet to ratify it, whereas implementation in those that have is hampered by limited technical capacity, weak crisis response mechanisms, and, in some cases, a lack of political will. These obstacles, compounded by democratic backsliding in parts of the region and the declining global prioritisation of environmental issues, threatens to blunt its impact.

Yet, fully realising the promise of Escazú could provide the region with a solid foundation for more equitable resilient, and sustainable, food systems built rooted in transparency, inclusion, and accountability.

As COP 30 unfolds, Latin America’s experience offers a critical lesson to the world: climate action cannot succeed without social justice, transparency, and peace. The region’s experience shows that safeguarding ecosystems and empowering those who defend them are inseparable from ensuring food security and global stability.

Building resilient food systems and sustainable economies depends on empowering those who defend the land and ensuring that environmental governance benefits both people and the planet.

Dr Caroline Delgado is Director of the Food, Peace and Security Programme at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Deodat Maharaj
GEBZE, Türkiye, Nov 14 2025 (IPS)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing our world. It has helped a few companies in developed countries set record-breaking profits. Last month, Nvidia, a leading US AI company, hit a market value of USD 5 trillion.

Nvidia, together with the other six technology companies known as the Magnificent Seven, reached a market capitalisation of USD22 trillion. This value easily eclipses the combined GDP of the world’s 44 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States and Landlocked Developing Countries.

These businesses continue to make massive investments in this transformational technology. Not only are investments being made in AI for the future, but benefits are also already being reaped as it accelerates global commerce and rapidly transforms markets.

According to the World Economic Forum, AI is streamlining supply chains, optimising production, and enabling data-driven trade decisions, giving companies a big competitive edge in global markets.

Thus far, the beneficiaries have been those living in the developed world, and a few developing countries with high technological capacities, like India.

By and large, developing countries have lagged far behind this technological revolution. The world’s 44 LDCs and the Small Island Developing States are those that have been almost completely left out.

According to UNCTAD, LDCs risk being excluded from the economic benefits or the AI revolution. Many LDCs and Small Island Developing States struggle with limited access to digital tools, relying on traditional methods for trade documentation, market analysis, and logistics. This is happening as others race ahead.

This widening gap threatens to marginalize these countries in international trade and underscores the urgency of ensuring they can participate fully in the AI-driven global economy.

AI holds transformative potential for developing countries across sectors critical to economic growth and trade. The World Bank has noted that in agriculture, AI-driven tools can improve crop yields, forecast market demand, and enhance supply chain efficiency. It can also strengthen food security and export earnings. In trade and logistics, AI can optimize operations, reduce transaction costs, and help local producers access new markets.

Beyond commercial applications, AI can bolster disaster preparedness, enabling governments and businesses to allocate resources efficiently and minimize losses. The use of AI can be a game changer in responding to massive natural disasters such as the one caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica a few days ago.

Despite these opportunities, the poorest and most vulnerable countries face significant hurdles in accessing and benefiting from AI. The International Telecommunications Union has noted that many countries lack reliable electricity, broadband connectivity, and computing resources, impeding the deployment of AI technologies. This is compounded by human capacity constraints and limited fiscal space to make the requisite investments.

Given this, what is the best way forward for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries? Firstly, policy and governance frameworks for leveraging AI for development transformation are urgently, and we can learn from others.

For example, Rwanda, a leader in the field of using technology to drive transformation has developed a National Artificial Intelligence Policy. Another example is Trinidad and Tobago, which recently established a Ministry of Public Administration and Artificial Intelligence.

Secondly, capacity building, especially for policy leaders, is key. This must be augmented by making the requisite investments in universities and centers of excellence. Given the importance of low-cost and high-impact solutions, building partnerships with institutions in the global south is absolutely vital.

Finally, financing remains key. However, given the downward trends in overseas development assistance, accessing finance, especially grant and concessional resources from other sources will be important. Consequently, international financial institutions, especially the regional development banks, have a critical role to play.

Since the countries themselves are shareholders, every effort should be made to establish special purpose windows of grants and concessional financing to help accelerate adoption of relevant, low-cost, relevant and high-impact AI technological solutions.

In an adverse financing environment, achieving the above will be difficult. This is where Tech Diplomacy comes in and must be a central element of a country’s approach to foreign policy. This will be the subject of another piece.

In summary, AI is shaping and changing the world now. For the poorest and most vulnerable countries, all is not lost. With strategic investments, forward-looking and inclusive policies, and international cooperation via Tech Diplomacy, AI can become a powerful tool for their sustainable growth and development.

Deodat Maharaj, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, is presently the Managing Director of the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries. He can be contacted at: deodat.maharaj@un.org

IPS UN Bureau

 

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