1 UNITED NATIONS
Leaders defend record in tackling global inequality
Western leaders went on a charm offensive on the opening day of the UN general assembly as they were forced to defend their record in meeting the organisation’s sustainable development goals and insist that the war in Ukraine had not distracted them from this commitment to end global inequality.
At a special summit in New York to check on progress towards meeting the goals by 2030, all sides acknowledged there was little chance that the commitments set in 2015, including ending extreme poverty and safeguarding the environment, would be met on schedule.
The agenda was shaped to meet the concerns of the global south, and it was evident that western powers – in an effort to counter Russian and Chinese influence – were putting a heavy emphasis on the concerns of poorer countries in their meetings.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was due to meet the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in an effort to convince him that the war in Ukraine is not an obstacle to progress for the world’s poor, and that Ukraine’s fate is important for the world, not just Europe.
2 UNITED STATES
Ocasio-Cortez rallies crowd at fossil fuel demonstration
Tens of thousands of climate activists took to the streets of New York City last Sunday in a “march to end fossil fuels”, with
