Global Issues
End of Year Video 2025
Multiple shocks defined 2025: conflict, climate breakdown and shrinking democracy. Multilateral institutions were tested as never before.
At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, governments argued over words while the planet heated.
Yet amid the pressure, countries agreed on steps that kept global climate cooperation alive.
A new Just Transition Mechanism promised a fairer shift to a green economy.
It pledged to protect workers, women and Indigenous peoples as fossil fuels are phased out.
Island nations warned that promises without finance mean rising seas and vanishing homelands.
Pacific voices called for stronger funding for Loss and Damage.
Across the system, humanitarian budgets were cut just as needs exploded.
Conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan and Myanmar pushed millions toward famine.
In many crises, lifesaving food support was reduced or halted for lack of funds.
Global alliances like CIVICUS warned that conflict, climate chaos and democratic backsliding are converging.
They cautioned that institutions built for cooperation are struggling as powerful states turn inward.
Civil society responded with proposals to put people—not geopolitics—at the centre of the UN.
At COP30, Global South leaders elevated Indigenous and Afro-descendant voices in climate talks.
They argued that dignity, fairness and planetary protection must guide a new world order.
Gen Z movements demanded those values on the streets of South Asia and Africa.
Young protesters challenged corruption, dynastic power and widening wealth gaps.
In several countries they were met with bullets, repression and mass arrests.
Researchers noted a common story: frustration with entrenched elites and “business as usual”.
When conflict and climate disasters collide, children’s education often disappears first.
Initiatives such as Education Cannot Wait and the Safe Schools Declaration fought to keep classrooms open.
Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean showed how storms can erase decades of progress in a night.
Billions of dollars in damage underscored how vulnerable economies are to climate extremes.
UN agencies warned that without urgent action, millions of children could be pushed into poverty by 2030.
Science bodies like IPBES stressed that climate change, nature loss and food insecurity are inseparable.
Global research networks worked to equip small-scale farmers for climate resilience and stable incomes.
Spiritual leaders also used their platforms to call for peace, climate action and an end to war.
From Gaza to Ukraine and beyond, moral voices insisted that civilians must never be targets.
Marking 80 years since the end of the Second World War, survivors renewed the vow: “never again”.
The message from 2025 was stark but clear.
The old order is straining—but new visions are emerging from communities on the frontlines.
Civil society, young people and Global South leadership are sketching a different future.
One rooted in justice, shared prosperity and protection of the planet.
The coming year will test whether the world is ready to listen.
© Inter Press Service (20251222113805) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service