Nairobi — Every US$1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together could generate about US$15 in economic benefits, a new United Nations assessment has found, strengthening the case for governments and investors to treat environmental action as an economic investment rather than a cost. The report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and…
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the weekend adopted a resolution promoting the wider use of equal-area world maps, including the Equal Earth projection, in a move aimed at addressing long-standing distortions in the representation of Africa and other equatorial regions. The resolution, titled: “Correct the Map: Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable…
A looming super El Niño makes Africa’s leap from fossil fuels to a renewables-dominated energy mix urgent. The heatwave that swept Europe this summer claimed at least 35 000 lives. Other parts of the world were also affected, with heatwaves in India, wildfires in Indonesia and a glacial melt-related flood disaster in Nepal, all of…
New York / Addis Ababa — Tonight, thousands of women across Africa will give birth. Whether they survive to see daylight will largely depend on where they live, how quickly they reach care, and whether the health system around them is ready to respond. Maternal deaths in Africa have dropped 40 percent since 2000, but…
Egyptian TV Presenter Sentenced to Death Over Drug Charges Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other people have been sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of drug charges. According to state-owned media, the group was found guilty of operating a criminal gang that imported ingredients used to manufacture narcotics for sale. They also…
As criminal networks increasingly exploit weak institutions and operate across borders, the UN says no police force can tackle them alone. Each 7 September, the UN marks the International Day of Police Cooperation, recognising the importance of international cooperation in supporting national law enforcement agencies. Organised crime is responsible for about 95,000 homicides each year,…
South Africa is set to gain another Indian Ocean subsea cable landing. Orange has announced a new submarine cable, ReuNION, that will run from La Réunion to the South African coast, with the French island’s operators moving to replace ageing infrastructure before it runs out of life. The system will carry 16 fibre pairs at…
The United Nations General Assembly will on Friday, September 4, vote on an African-led initiative calling for wider use of world maps that represent the size of continents particularly Africa more accurately. The draft resolution, led by Togo and backed by the African Union (AU), encourages governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies to use…
New York / Amsterdam — An African-led campaign against the dominance and ‘cartographic colonialism’ of the Mercator projection of the world map has won overwhelming backing at the United Nations after centuries of maps that visually diminished the continent In a historic vote, the United Nations has backed an African-led campaign to move the world…
The United Nations voted on Saturday for a shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting the true size of countries. The resolution was sponsored by African states to counter perceptions that the continent is peripheral. It passed with the support of 164 nations, including France. The United States was…
