TNI in the news

The Public Eye on Davos has set up shop just outside the WEF's main meeting place

Business and government leaders at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos should be under no illusion – the rest of the planet is watching.

The message from non-governmental organisations Berne Declaration and Pro Natura (Friends of the Earth Switzerland) to the elite is clear – equitable globalisation requires more corporate responsibility.

The two NGOs have made the southeastern Swiss resort a venue to air their concerns about what they consider ir

Activists and environmentalists reacted coolly to the European Commission's new plans to cut climate warming carbon emissions by one-fifth and boost energy from renewables like wind, waves and sun by 2020.

The Commission's plans will implement renewable energy and emissions-cutting targets agreed by EU leaders last March, and require approval by member states and the European Parliament.

But the 20 per cent greenhouse gas emissions cuts are well below the 25-40 per cent target the European Union agreed at a meeting of UN environment ministers on the In

Economic logic should not be the sole determinant in EU decision-making, especially when it comes to fighting climate change.

Last weekend I visited a magnificently restored old customs depot in Brussels to see It's Our History!, an exhibition tracing the development of the European Union. A dull subject, you might think, but the curators deserve plaudits for encapsulating just how tumultuous the past 50 years were.

From the barrage of multimedia displays I saw, one video sticks most vividly in my mind.

"The Vienna Consensus" has a fairly benign ring to it. It only takes on a threatening aspect when linked to the Washington Consensus of 1989--the 10-point plan for economic reform imposed so disastrously by the International Monetary Fund--in a new report from the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute.

Subtitled "The EU's free trade agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean", the report outlines a cynical ploy by big business to lobby the trade summit here recently.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 10 (IPS) - As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon begins his second year in office, he has refused to claim any tangible successes during 2007, nor has he laid out any clear-cut strategy to meet the political and economic challenges facing the United Nations in 2008.

"So far his performance and what appears to be his future approach do not reflect anything close to the independence, strength of character, willingness to stand up to powerful governments and commitment to equality of nations and peoples," says Phyllis Bennis, director, New Inter

United Nations, 11 January, (IPS): - As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon begins his second year in office, he has refused to claim any tangible successes during 2007, nor has he laid out any clear-cut strategy to meet the political and economic challenges facing the United Nations in 2008.

"So far his performance and what appears to be his future approach do not reflect anything close to the independence, strength of character, willingness to stand up to powerful governments and commitment to equality of nations and peoples," says Phyllis Bennis, director, New

ABRUZZO.

Dans l’article ci-dessous, paru dans le quotidien français Libération le 19 décembre 2007, l’auteur explique le coup de colère d’Edouard Bard, climatologue et professeur au Collège de France (voir sur ce site un interview d’Édouard Bard en date du 2 février 2007).

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - Standing in the White House Rose Garden with the president of the Palestinian Authority and the prime minister of Israel by his side, President George W. Bush pronounced himself pleased with the outcome of three days of U.S.-sponsored diplomacy centered around an international Middle East peace conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in nearby Annapolis, Md., earlier in the week.

“No matter how important yesterday was, it’s not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond,” said Mr.