Over the past few years, climate change has become a lighting rod issue in many countries of the Global North. Populist right-wing figures like Donald Trump (USA), Nigel Farage (UK), Alice Weidel (Germany) and Santiago Abascal (Spain) have either denied climate change, sought to undermine its...
In recent years, a lot has been said about the “extractivist” nature of today’s digital information ecosystem. While there has been some focus on the environmental impact of digital devices, the extractivism accusation has been directed primarily at the economic model of Big Tech, which...
The Internet is the world’s digital lifeline. For the approximately 5.6 billion people connected to the Internet (some 70% of the global population), access is essential. The entire Internet cannot be switched off, but governments and other actors can temporarily disrupt or restrict access by shutting...
A Beijing+30 reflection Exactly 30 years ago today, hope for a new dawn for women and girls was palpable. Governments and civil society that had gathered in Beijing for the Fourth UN World Conference on Women were united on a roadmap to end gender-based discrimination and achieve...
Have you ever read through the agenda of a United Nations General Assembly? The 80th regular session of the General Assembly opens tomorrow, 9 September. Under the theme, “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” the provisional agenda has 174 main...
Visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is harrowing. It records, in photos, artifacts, quotes, and stories, the days and months following the dropping of the first atomic bomb on 6 August 1945. Intellectually, we all know the death and destruction was horrific. Coming face-to-face with eyewitness...