Global Issues
News headlines for “Free Trade and Globalization”, page 19
Soaring Demand for Electric Vehicles, Lithium-Ion Batteries Creates Environmental Crisis in DRC
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, July 21 (IPS) - Electric vehicles contribute to an ongoing environmental and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mining operations cause deforestation, pollution, food insecurity and exploitative labor practices.
Salvaging SDGs still possible, but countries must act now: Guterres
- UN News
Citing new global agreements on pandemic preparedness, ocean protection and development financing, UN Secretary‑General António Guterres said on Monday that recent “signs of momentum” show multilateralism can still deliver.
From Ads to AI: How Big Tech Took Over Everything
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, July 18 (IPS) - “The power of AI carries immense responsibilities. Today, that power sits in the hands of a few,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the 2025 AI Action Summit, reflecting on a deepening reality as we inch closer to a world in complete digital domination. Today, seven of the world’s top ten most valuable companies are digital giants, focusing primarily on the output of communication, digital manufacturing, artificial intelligence and digital commerce, which is paving the way for a fully digitized life for all.
China is the Driving Force Behind More, Newer Renewable Energies in Latin America
- Inter Press Service
CARACAS, July 18 (IPS) - China, with its investments, products, technology, and innovation focused on solar and wind farms in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as on electricity networks and services, stands out as a driving force for the region’s shift toward energy less reliant on fossil fuels and increasingly cleaner and greener.
From Drylands to Dignity: How Solar Energy and Climate-Smart Farming Are Empowering Communities in Burkina Faso
- Inter Press Service
ZOUNGOU, Burkina Faso, July 18 (IPS) - In the heart of Burkina Faso’s drylands, in the village of Zoungou, a quiet transformation is underway. Alhaji Birba Issa, a smallholder onion farmer, bends over neat rows of lush green crops, the hum of solar-powered pumps audible in the background.
Intersectional Feminist Leadership Needed to Realise Global Goals
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, July 18 (IPS) - In its 80-year history the UN has never once been led by a woman. As the international community convenes for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress on gender equality and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this remains a fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of global governance. How can an institution that has systematically excluded women from its highest office credibly champion gender justice worldwide?
Human Rights in an Increasingly Digitizing World
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, July 17 (IPS) - Over the past several decades, digital technologies have transformed nearly every aspect of human life, revolutionizing developments across multiple sectors, including healthcare, education, and commerce, to name a few. However, these changes have also brought forth new concerns surrounding the preservation of human rights in an increasingly digitizing world.
3.4 Billion People Left Behind: Interest Payments Now Outpace Education Spending in Half the World
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, July 17 (IPS) - Today, 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt interest payments than on health or education. This marks a trembling indication that the United Nations’ promise for the 2030 Agenda could be slipping away.
The Emerging Quad 3.0: Prioritizing a Hard Security Agenda
- Inter Press Service
On 1 July, the foreign ministers of the Quad—Australia, India, Japan and the US—convened for the second time this year in Washington, DC. While the first meeting, held just hours after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States, signaled the Quad’s significance to the new US administration, the second meeting indicates that the Quad is entering a new phase with a renewed focus on a strategic and hard security agenda, weaning itself away from its non-traditional security priorities. This presents a departure from its previous versions: the first Quad, which collapsed in 2007, centred on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and Quad 2.0, which was reinstated in 2017, gradually developed a broad public goods agenda.
‘International Demand for Coltan Is Linked to Violence in the DRC’
- Inter Press Service
CIVICUS speaks with Claude Iguma, a mining governance expert with a PhD in Social Sciences, who is based in Bukavu, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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