Owing to the smoke from nearby wildfires, Canberra this month has had the world’s worst air-quality index, with readings 20 times above the official hazardous threshold. The city also recently experienced its hottest day on record (111°F/44°C). Meanwhile, Delhi had its coldest December day on record. Both are evidence of growing climate volatility, confirming the reality of global warming. By Ramesh Thakur.
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Results for Opinion
Friday 10 January 2020
Canberra, Australia
Tuesday 7 January 2020
Melbourne, Australia
We can begin with the presumption that it is wrong to take human life. President Donald Trump won’t deny that. A year ago, for example, he said: “I will always defend the first right in our Declaration of Independence, the right to life.” Trump was addressing his remarks to anti-abortion campaigners, but a right to life that applies to fetuses must also apply to older humans. Is there an exception for “bad guys,” though? Was the double assassination at Baghdad International Airport ethically defensible? - Peter Singer
Monday 6 January 2020
Washington DC, USA
Before US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw his country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister and the nuclear agreement’s chief Iranian architect, was the most popular public figure in his country. A year after the withdrawal, a University of Maryland poll shows, Zarif’s popularity was far surpassed by that of General Qassem Suleimani, the hardline Revolutionary Guard commander who was just assassinated in Baghdad on Trump’s order. Trump says he authorized the drone strike that killed Suleimani to “stop a war.” It is far more likely that he has started one – or at least the march toward one. By Djavad Salehi-Isfahani.
Thursday 2 January 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
We all love the Tongan Rugby teams and Tongan sportsmen and sportswomen in teams all over the world or representing Tonga as individuals. Something to be extremely proud of! Now, let’s talk about pride in Tongan Heritage. Pride in your country comes from respect of your country. You can not show pride if you trash it.- Shane Egan
Tuesday 31 December 2019
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
As 2019 comes to a close, there is hope for a better year in 2020. There is also hope in the long term for a better future for the Kingdom of Tonga, a heavily indebted and aid dependent nation, struggling with an NCD crisis, poverty and an illicit drugs problem - not to mention the impending threat from climate change. Most of Tonga’s future workforce and leaders will be the output of the education system that exists now, an education system that appears to be flawed and broken. By Pesi Fonua.
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Thursday 26 December 2019
Oxford, United Kingdom
The United States and some of its allies have acted decisively to exclude the Chinese technology company Huawei from their national markets, yet they continue to ignore the similar threat posed by Facebook and other US digital giants. Democratic governments must now be equally decisive in dealing with this home-grown danger. By Ngaire Woods.
Friday 29 November 2019
Oxford, United Kingdom
Since its invention in ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago, democracy has depended on rules and institutions that strike a balance between participation and power. The objective is to create a system of governance in which elected leaders bring to bear their knowledge and experience, in order to advance the interests of the people. The rule of law and the separation of powers, guaranteed by a system of checks and balances, are vital. Democracies all over the world are enduring a stress test. If they are to pass, their institutional underpinnings must be reinforced. That requires, first and foremost, an understanding of what those underpinnings are, why they matter, and who is trying to dismantle them. By Alexandra Borchardt
Tuesday 26 November 2019
New York, USA
From a young age, children must be taught the importance of consent. It’s an integral part of comprehensive sexuality education to empower people with knowledge about their rights. One way to remove taboos around consent is to create safe and interactive spaces to discuss the topic.- By UN Women
Thursday 14 November 2019
New York, USA
The US president is abandoning America’s future by quitting the Paris climate accord, says Ban Ki-moon former Secretary General of the United Nations and Patrick Verkooijen chief executive of the Global Center on Adaptation. In an article in the New York Times this week, they said it is not too late for Mr Trump to reconsider his decision. Staying in the Paris Agreement is the right thing to do, for America’s sake and for the rest of the world.
Saturday 9 November 2019
Lisbon, Portugal
Identifying promising green projects and directing capital toward them is a major challenge. At the same time, we must not forget those who stand to be harmed the most by climate change, or those who could be left behind in the shift to a low-carbon economy. To ensure a just transition, we must increase support for vulnerable regions and communities. Support for innovation must also include backing for education and training, so that the next generation will have the skills needed to contribute to a low-carbon economy. We should be cultivating the talents and intelligence of our youth, because it is they who will be developing the technologies and creating the jobs needed for the future. - Ambroise Fayolle.
Wednesday 6 November 2019
Suva, Fiji
The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will act to undermine American influence and credibility in the Pacific, a disappointed Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Hon Kausea Natano, warned today, 6 November 2019.
Thursday 31 October 2019
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
“To the Captain and Members of the Tonga Rugby League Invitational XIII, individually, and to the Coach, for their great victory and triumph over the Great Britain Lions last Saturday. May the fountain of the Omnipotent Divinities, who died for the people, including Tonga, to continue to bless and inspire you all, as you prepare for this week’s game.” - Dr. Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa Prime Minister (Media release).
Tuesday 22 October 2019
Washington D.C., U.S.A
Although multilateralism is in crisis, different fates await the multilateral institutions that were created under the Bretton Woods Agreement 75 years ago. While the International Monetary Fund has found renewed relevance in a world of crises, the World Bank has suffered under the poor leadership of a parade of American men.
Tuesday 22 October 2019
London, United Kingdom
By broadening the nexus between economic interest and national security, Trump is encouraging the decoupling of the world’s two largest economies and the emergence of a bipolar world order led by rival hegemons. Beyond fragmenting the trade and financial system that has underpinned the global economy for decades, the stage would be set for a devastating conflict. By Paola Subacchi.
Monday 14 October 2019
Princeton, USA
“This is all wrong!” These words begin the most powerful four-minute speech I have ever heard. They were spoken by Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate activist, at the United Nations Climate Action Summit last month, and followed a week of climate strikes and marches attended by an estimated six million people. Can young people really wake the world to the urgency of changing direction? By Peter Singer
Friday 4 October 2019
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Voice Recording. Na‘e ‘i ai ‘a e hoha‘a lahi ‘a e tangata‘eiki palemia, ‘Akilisi Pohiva (78) ki he fa‘unga ‘a hono pule‘anga ‘i ha‘ane mavahe atu mei he mamani ‘oku tau ‘i ai. Ko e liliu fakapolitikale na‘e faka‘amu ki ai ‘oku kehe ‘aupito ia mei he me‘a ‘oku hoko. Na’e ‘i ai ‘a ‘ene manavasi‘i ki ha ngaahi fepakipaki ‘e hoko. Na‘e faka‘eke‘eke ai ‘e Pesi Fonua, ‘Etita ‘o e Matangi Tonga Online ‘o fekau‘aki pea mo e tu‘unga ‘oku ‘i ai ‘a e fonua, ‘osi eni ‘a e ta‘u ‘e hiva pea mei he liliu faka politikale na‘e fai ‘oku kei fai pe ‘a e ta‘e femahino ‘aki fekau‘aki mo e fakalelei faka politikale na‘e tali ‘e he Fale Alea ‘i he 2009. ‘Oku mau tukuatu heni ‘a hono faka‘eke‘eke ‘e Pesi Fonua ‘a e Palemia kuo unga fonua, ‘Akilisi Pohiva, na‘e fai ‘i he ‘aho 26 ‘o ‘Akosi ‘i hono ‘ofisi ‘i Nuku’alofa, ‘i ha ngaahi uike si‘i pe pea ne si‘i to tau ‘i he ‘aho 12 ‘o Sepitema 2019.
Tuesday 1 October 2019
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Beijing, China
The celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1 will be an exuberant affair, involving glitzy cultural events, an extravagant state dinner attended by Chinese and foreign luminaries, and a grand military parade in Tiananmen Square. And, at a time of high tensions with US President Donald Trump’s administration, it will be imbued with an extra dose of patriotic enthusiasm. But while China has much to celebrate, it also has much work to do. By Keyu Jin.
Friday 27 September 2019
Suva, Fiji
Geoengineering will save us from the climate crisis, its champions insist. By using technology either to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or to deflect some solar radiation away from the Earth, they claim, we can undo the damage wrought by humanity’s failure to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. But while it certainly sounds like a convenient solution, there is no proof that it will work – and no telling what the side effects could be. In the view of Pacific islanders, it barely merits discussion. By François Martel.
Tuesday 24 September 2019
Paris, France
In a profoundly volatile world riddled with fractures, the temptation to embrace a seemingly reassuring path of withdrawal or isolation may be strong. In fact, avoidance of potential hazards seems only natural. For lack of a better alternative, we may be instinctively inclined to look inward in order to circumvent or at least mitigate the risks of a world that feels like end times, in which children are telling us the truth. By Rémy Rioux.
Tuesday 24 September 2019
New Delhi, India
On September 24-25, world leaders will attend a United Nations summit in New York to review progress toward the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This will be the first UN summit on the SDGs since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015. Since then, we have collectively made progress toward a more peaceful, safer, healthier, and more prosperous world. Sadly, however, we are currently on track to miss most of the SDGs and targets related to children – without which the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda can remain only a distant dream.
