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The UN climate conference ended with a $300 billion a year pledge — disappointing many

Nov 25, 2024
It's the third straight year the COP conference has been held in an oil-exporting nation.
The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, an oil-exporting nation.
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Ground rules for carbon markets

Nov 15, 2024
In this week's "Make Me Smart" newsletter, we explain the latest moves to establish a credible global market for carbon credits. Plus, we do the numbers on open enrollment and the rising cost of health care.
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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture has been a COP28 priority

Dec 11, 2023
There’s been more than $3 billion pledged toward making global food systems more resilient in the face of climate change.
Food supply sustainability has been a focus at the U.N.'s climate conference, COP28.
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The United Nations has a new fundraising strategy: you

May 10, 2023
The intergovernmental group’s crowdfunding campaign aims to avert a potential environmental disaster in the Red Sea.
The United Nations logo. The organization hopes the public will provide part of the $129 million it needs to avert a potential environmental disaster in the Red Sea.
Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

A new UN treaty looks to govern maritime resources on the high seas

Mar 24, 2023
The newly-signed UN High Seas treaty seeks to regulate resource usage and environmental protection in international waters.
Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images

What's happened so far at the UN's COP27 climate summit?

Nov 15, 2022
The Economist's Vijay Vaitheeswaran says that delegates have discussed issues like reparations and other aid for developing countries.
This year's UN climate summit has brought attention to issues like climate reparations for developing countries, says Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist.
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Biden pledges an additional $2.9 billion in aid to help fight the global food crisis

Sep 21, 2022
The good news? The world's producing enough food to feed everyone. The bad news? Getting it to hungry people is more expensive.
President Joe Biden speaks to the United Nations General Assembly, pledging $2.9 billion to fight the global food crisis.
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UN forum set to focus on economic rights of Indigenous peoples

Apr 25, 2022
Tribal law experts say corporations working in Indigenous territories should seek consent rather than mere consultation.
Activists protest against the the Dakota Access Pipeline in Washington, D.C. in 2017. The pipeline, said University of Colorado professor Kristen Carpenter, is a prime example of the importance of affirmative consent by Indigenous people.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Need for climate finance front and center at U.N. General Assembly

Sep 22, 2021
Developed countries pledged $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer nations mitigate and adapt to climate change.
President Joe Biden addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. He pledged to increase the U.S. contribution to international climate funding.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

U.N. forecasts slower global growth this year. Thanks, trade war.

May 23, 2019
Analysts see the largest geopolitical risk coming from U.S.-China trade tensions.
Workers stand in line next to a container ship at a port in Qingdao in China's eastern Shandong province earlier this month.
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