By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, May 23 2025 (IPS-Partners)

22 May 2025, New York – In the past two months alone, more than 950 children have reportedly been killed in strikes across the Gaza Strip. That’s 15 children every day who lose their lives in this horrific conflict. Those who survive face the risk of famine, illness, and the collapse of essential services, including education.

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) stands ready with our partners to support the delivery of mental health and psychosocial services as part of our education in emergency response to the children who have suffered so much over the past 19 months. Today, no child is safe in Gaza.

The education system is in ruins. Since the onset of hostilities, more than 95% of schools in Gaza have been partially or completely destroyed and 88% will require significant reconstruction before they can function, according to the Global Education Cluster.

More than 658,000 children are out of school – they are deeply traumatized, have lost their homes and their loved ones, and are living a daily life of extremely painful survival.

As UNICEF recently stated: “The daily suffering and killing of children must end immediately.”

For the well-being of children to be protected, safe access to education must urgently be restored. Even amidst the destruction, Gaza’s families, teachers and local organizations are doing what they can to mitigate the enormous impact on children, including limited learning activities where conditions allow. Through ECW’s support to partners on the ground, we must help these innocent children.

But this is far from being enough to meet the needs of the entire population of school-aged girls and boys. To scale up urgent education support, a ceasefire is crucially needed. We call for:

• An end to hostilities and respect for international humanitarian law by all parties
• Safe, unimpeded humanitarian access
• The immediate release of all hostages
• Protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools

As Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in his statement to the UN Security Council: “Our response as humanitarians is to make a single ask of the Council: let us work. The UN and our partners are desperate to resume humanitarian aid at scale across Gaza, in line with the fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.”

Where children suffer excruciating pain, nothing can wait. Yet, the children in Gaza are desperately waiting for a response to this single ask.

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Excerpt:

Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif on the need for life-saving education in Gaza

By Kirsten Stade and Alan Ware
SAINT PAUL, Minnesota, May 23 2025 – As the United States lurches toward isolationism and authoritarianism, its political problems are now bleeding into pocketbook anxieties that Trump’s policies will torpedo economic growth, both domestically and globally.

The UN forecasts a slowdown in global economic growth due to Trump’s destructive tariff and trade policies. Though stocks rallied as the US suspended some tariffs, and some analysts are spinning the numbers positively, economic growth signals have turned decidedly negative.

US GDP shrank 0.3% in the first quarter. Moody’s downgraded the United States’ credit rating citing burgeoning US debt and an unfavorable debt-to-GDP ratio.

In most countries, GDP is an indicator of a society’s success — even though it includes things like military expansion, oil spill cleanups, and prison construction. Growthism goes mostly unchallenged and passes for a rational guiding principle for governance and proxy for human well-being.

Yet it ignores important things like climate change, biodiversity collapse, and pollution which are the consequences of endless economic growth, and which threaten the survival of humanity and the millions of species with whom we share this planet.

Economic growth is not just failing as an indicator of human progress. It is failing as an indicator of economic health. The vast majority of economic growth in recent years has accrued to the top 1%. Meanwhile rates of growth in rich countries have been slowing for decades while global debt continues to rise more rapidly.

Understanding why requires understanding the central role of cheap energy in modern civilization. Roads, bridges, sewers, airports, and the electrical grid were all constructed on the back of cheap energy and materials.

With the discovery and extraction of fossil fuels 200 years ago began the modern industrial era, and a frenzy of human enterprise that would not have otherwise been possible.

Now maintenance of all this infrastructure has come due. Those roads, bridges, sewer and water systems are disintegrating and require expensive and ongoing maintenance, on top of new construction to provide for growing populations and economies. But the energy and materials required for all this are no longer as easy to come by.

Skyrocketing debt is a claim on future resources, as all economic activity is dependent on minerals, wood, clean water, and of course fossil fuels that are increasingly scarce and expensive.

Growing risks of climate catastrophes add further to escalating costs, as skyrocketing homeowners insurance adds to the cost of housing. Against this backdrop, prospects for continued economic growth look bleak indeed.

These realities are largely absent from mainstream discourse about economic growth, suffocated under endless proclamations of faith in human ingenuity. Growth proponents are fond of invoking a seamless “green energy transition” without acknowledging that electricity is only 20% of global energy demand, and essential building blocks of growth – steel, cement, fertilizer, and plastics – are manufactured using fossil fuels in processes that cannot be decarbonized at scale.

Renewable technologies themselves require vast amounts of these materials in their construction, along with trace minerals like lithium, cobalt, and other metals whose mining ravages ecosystems, pollutes water, exploits child labor, and requires massive inputs of fossil fuel energy.

Renewables boosters fail to acknowledge that with constant population growth there has never been an energy transition, only energy addition. Even as uptake of “renewable” technologies has expanded since 2000, global coal use went up by 80% over the same period.

Rather than deal with this, growth enthusiasts espouse boundless faith in human innovation. But innovation is slowing according to many measures, and has done little to change the cost of life’s essentials: food, housing, transportation, health care, and education have proven remarkably resistant to breakthroughs that would lower prices or improve quality. As one of Donald Trump’s favorite growth proponents, Peter Thiel, argues, we’re seeing innovation in bits, not atoms.

AI is perhaps the last bastion of hope for continued economic growth, with allegedly unlimited potential for finding new sources of energy and driving production while minimizing capital and labor costs. For all the hype, though, real breakthroughs in materials and energy remain to be seen from AI, which is simply a means to turbocharge extraction of finite materials that will still run out, only sooner.

Meanwhile, AI data centers guzzle fossil fuel energy and require billions of gallons of water to cool all that frenetic digital activity.

No doubt there are still some ways we can squeeze a bit more economic growth out of a system already in ecological overshoot and demanding more of the planet than it has to give or can regenerate. But further growth will require further ravaging nature and the world’s poor, already pushed to the brink.

Is that truly the best path to improve human well-being, especially for the most impoverished who are the most directly impacted by further exploiting and depleting the land, water, trees and minerals?

Ultimately, the question is not how we can tweak the growth system to prolong it indefinitely. It is whether we will face disaster brought on by economic and environmental collapse and all its consequent human suffering, and to make the choice to shrink our population and economy.

It’s whether we are wise enough to choose simplicity over excess and relationships over commodities. Continued economic growth benefits the few already at the top, but conscious, gradual contraction enables the basics of a good life for all. The choice should be clear.

Kirsten Stade is a conservation biologist and Lead Writer at the NGO Population Balance. Alan Ware is a researcher and writer who cohosts Population Balance’s OVERSHOOT podcast.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, May 23 2025 – Since 2000, the United Nations (UN) recognizes May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity, in hopes of promoting international cooperation and conversation surrounding biodiversity issues. Through the 2025 theme; Harmony With Nature and Sustainable Development, the UN seeks to increase public awareness around biodiversity loss and promote progress in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addition to the SDGs, this year’s event highlights the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a set of goals for 2050 that focus on the impacts of human activity on ecological health. Some of these goals include reversing ecosystem damage by 20 percent and reducing the introduction of invasive species by 50 percent.

Recognizing the key drivers of biodiversity loss and ecological issues are of the utmost importance for the preservation of human health. According to figures from the UN, the current practices that undermine ecological health are estimated to undermine progress toward 80 percent of the SDGs. Additionally, humanitarian organizations have expressed concern as the current rate of extinction is higher than ever before. It is estimated that approximately 1 million plant and animal species are currently at risk of extinction, which pose significant threats for human stability.

“Biodiversity is the bedrock of life and a cornerstone of sustainable development.Yet humanity is destroying biodiversity at lightning pace – the result of pollution, climate crisis, ecosystem destruction, and – ultimately – short-term interests fuelling the unsustainable use of our natural world,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “No one country, however rich or powerful, can address it alone. Nor can they live without the rich biodiversity that defines our planet.”

Currently, several vital ecosystems that are integral to human health, including lakes, forests, oceans, and farmlands, are under threat of extreme biodiversity loss. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), biodiversity is a “key environmental determinant of human health”. Figures from the Geneva Environment Network indicate that roughly 75 percent of terrestrial ecosystems and 66 percent of marine ecosystems have been significantly “altered” by human actions.

This poses a massive risk to human health as roughly 80 percent of the human diet is composed of plants that are cultivated in these threatened areas. It is also estimated that at least 80 percent of individuals in rural communities depend on traditional plant medicines for their healthcare. Additionally, a third of freshwater species are currently threatened by biodiversity loss. This puts 3 billion people who rely on fish for animal protein at risk of food insecurity.

High levels of biodiversity among crop species is essential in ensuring adequate food security. Degraded agricultural ecosystems are highly vulnerable to damage from pesticides, disease, and natural disasters. It is estimated that anywhere from 1.3 to 3.2 billion people are dependent on food that is supplied from areas affected by environmental degradation.

Additionally, the UN underscores the importance of ecological health in relation to human life as environmental degradation increases the severity of natural disasters, conflict, and zoonotic disease. Vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, indigenous communities, the disabled, women, and people living in poverty, are disproportionately affected.

For example, damage to the coastal mangroves in South Asia has been known to exacerbate the severity of tropical cyclones. Deforestation has also been observed to contribute to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Wildfires, ocean acidification, and rising global temperatures are also linked to biodiversity loss.

Additionally, widespread biodiversity loss threatens to significantly damage the worldwide economy, totaling billions of dollars in potential losses if unaddressed. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that approximately 44 trillion USD, which is about half of the world’s gross domestic product, is dependent on natural resources.

Furthermore, it is projected that the world could experience an average economic decline of 2.7 trillion annually by 2030 if biodiversity loss continues at the current rate. Several building blocks of human society, such as social wellbeing, equality, and economic development, will be impacted around the world.

Biodiversity loss also threatens to exacerbate the climate crisis. Carbon sinks, which are known as ecosystems which store significant amounts of carbon and help to offset global greenhouse gas emissions, are essential in preventing the progression of climate change. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Amazon rainforest is one of the biggest carbon sinks in the world, storing approximately 123 billion tons of carbon above and below the ground. However, due to deforestation, the Amazon’s carbon storage capabilities have weakened and at times, emit more carbon than it stores.

In order to ensure the longevity of human life and planetary wellbeing, it is imperative that regulations are put in place to allow for sustainable consumption practices at a wide scale.

Cooperation between governments, scientists, policymakers, and citizens is the only way to reverse biodiversity loss and ensure the stability of global food systems. Governments should also consult with independent bodies such the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Independent Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), when drafting comprehensive policies and solutions.

Furthermore, solutions to biodiversity loss must frame the most vulnerable populations at the center as a sustainable future must include people from all walks of life.

“As we pursue sustainable development, we must transform how we produce and consume, and how we value nature, and deliver on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. We need policies, regulations, and other incentives to support sustainable livelihoods and build strong, green economies,” said Guterres.

“That means governments building on progress made at CBD COP16, including by delivering domestic and international finance, and shifting public subsidies and other financial flows away from activities that harm nature. And it means countries delivering National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans that put the Framework into effect, address inequality, advance sustainable development, respect traditional knowledge, and empower women, girls, Indigenous People and more”.

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By Himanshu Pathak
HYDERABAD, India, May 23 2025 – Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world’s drylands. Covering 41% of the Earth’s land surface, these regions are home to over two billion people and support 50% of the world’s livestock and 44% of its cultivated systems (UNCCD). Far from being marginal, drylands are central to global food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

As climate change intensifies and population growth amplifies resource demands, these critical ecosystems face escalating threats. About 20-35% of drylands are already degraded, and up to 45% of Africa’s drylands are affected by desertification—a crisis eroding biodiversity, weakening traditional agricultural systems, and undermining livelihoods.

Agricultural homogenization has also taken a heavy toll: the FAO estimates that 75% of crop diversity has been lost over the last century, as traditional varieties give way to genetically uniform crops.

Biodiversity in Drylands: A Foundation for Resilience

In dryland regions, biodiversity is not an abstract concept—it is survival. These lands, among the most severely affected by climate change, host a wealth of highly nutritious, underutilized crops, indigenous livestock breeds, traditional knowledge, and ecosystems honed by millennia of adaptation. Preserving this biological wealth is essential for dryland communities, but also for global sustainability.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), headquartered in India and operating across the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, has been working in close collaboration with national and international partners for over five decades to advance agricultural development in harmony with ecological stewardship. One of ICRISAT’s earliest and most enduring commitments has been to the conservation of crop diversity.

Since the 1970s, the ICRISAT Genebank in Hyderabad has served as a global sanctuary for the wild and cultivated relatives of dryland crops such as sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, and small millets. Today, as one of the 11 international Genebanks under the CGIAR, the ICRISAT Genebank is a multi-crop facility conserving six of the 25 major crops safeguarded by CGIAR Genebanks.

As a signatory to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, ICRISAT has distributed nearly 1.5 million seed samples to researchers across more than 150 countries. A critical function of the Genebank is the repatriation of lost germplasm to countries whose national collections have been compromised by natural disasters, conflict, or other disruptions.

To date, ICRISAT has restored over 55,000 accessions to 12 national programs across Asia and Africa, with South Korea being the most recent recipient.

Shared Heritage, Shared Responsibility

Preserving seeds in cold storage is only part of the picture, however.

True biodiversity conservation is dynamic—it lives in the hands of farmers and on the plates of consumers.

It thrives when local communities in fragile environments are empowered to adapt to climate change. It flourishes with revived soils, and it nurtures life when sustainable water management ensures year-round availability to support both livelihoods and ecosystems.

The International Day for Biological Diversity, observed annually on May 22nd, is a UN-designated day to raise awareness and understanding of biodiversity issues and the importance of conserving the planet’s diverse life forms. It serves as a platform to educate the public, highlight the threats to biodiversity, and promote action to protect and restore ecosystems.

This is why, at ICRISAT—with over five decades of experience in fragile ecosystems—our focus continues to be on smallholder farmers in the drylands. We champion resilient agriculture by reviving traditional crop varieties, reintroducing neglected and underutilized crops like small millets, and restoring degraded landscapes through sustainable practices in water conservation and soil management.

Reviving Traditional Crop Varieties

Dryland cereals such as sorghum and millets, once overlooked, are now gaining global attention. The Government of India’s declaration of 2021 as the National Year of Millets and the United Nations’ observance of 2023 as the International Year of Millets have helped spotlight their benefits.

Recognized as Smart Food—food that is good for the consumer, the cultivator (farmer), and the climate (planet)—these cereals are not only rich in nutrients but also highly resilient to drought and heat.

Their resurgence is timely. According to the FAO, more than three billion people globally cannot afford a healthy diet, and micronutrient deficiencies remain widespread. Promoting these hardy crops through our Smart Food Initiative supports dietary diversity while building food systems that are more resilient to climate variability—a triple win for nutrition, climate adaptation, and biodiversity.

Reviving Degraded Landscapes

Restoring degraded landscapes is essential for ecosystem regeneration and biodiversity conservation. ICRISAT has demonstrated success across dryland regions of Asia and Africa by integrating landscape-level restoration with water conservation, sustainable soil management, and agroecosystem regeneration.

Notable examples include our work in Bundelkhand and Latur, India; and the Yewol Watershed, Ethiopia—serving as compelling models of transformation.

Before and after images of ICRISAT’s intervention in Matephal village in Latur, India

These initiatives show that protecting biodiversity does not mean halting development—it means guiding it in a way that is regenerative, inclusive, and enduring. It means recognizing that healthy ecosystems underpin not only agriculture, but also human well-being and economic opportunity. These are not competing priorities—they are interdependent outcomes.

Looking Ahead: A Biodiverse Future

As the global community looks toward the future, the threats to biodiversity—climate change, habitat loss, soil degradation, and agricultural uniformity—continue to grow. But there is also cause for hope. The tools to halt biodiversity loss and restore ecosystems already exist—in science, in partnerships, and in the lived knowledge of communities that have long cultivated harmony with nature.

Conservation is not without challenges. It requires sustained investment, enabling policies, and often tough trade-offs. As we accelerate efforts to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the moment for decisive action is now—by investing in nature-based solutions, supporting community-led conservation, and championing policies that place biodiversity at the heart of sustainable development.

On this International Day for Biological Diversity, let us remember that the path to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable future begins with the choices we make every day—about what we cultivate, what we consume, and what we choose to conserve.

At ICRISAT, through our continued commitment to crop diversity, resilient food systems, and landscape restoration, we remain proud to walk alongside our partners in making choices that honor both people and the planet—especially the 2.1 billion who call the drylands home.

Harmony with nature is more than a theme. It is a responsibility we must embrace with urgency, purpose, and deep respect for the natural systems that sustain us all.

IPS UN Bureau

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Excerpt:

Dr Himanshu Pathak is Director General of The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 23 2025 – When US President Donald Trump offered to declare neighboring Canada as America’s 51st state, the Canadians vehemently rejected the proposal.

“We don’t want to be part of America,” was the rallying cry. And the short-lived offer was shot down in flames.

The next target was Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark which retains control over foreign policy, defense, national security, and the judicial and legal system.

Trump said he wants to purchase Greenland. But the Danes were not impressed. “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland,” said Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

One of Trump’s enduring political slogans “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) is embedded in thousands of baseball caps, posters and tee shirts. In one of several political demonstrations in Greenland, directed against the US, one placard flipped the MAGA slogan: “Make America Go Away” (MAGA).

Perhaps Trump may be successful in campaigning for a more highly prosperous relationship with Saudi Arabia as a trusted ally and possibly America’s 51st state, according to a joke circulating in the delegate’s lounge, the UN’s watering hole.

The Saudis, who gave him a right royal welcome last week, promised a staggering $600 billion dollar investment in the United States.

Trump praised Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman calling him “an incredible man” and a “great guy,” but made no mention of human rights concerns in the country.

The history-making deal was focused primarily on US arms sales and military assistance to the Saudis, along with investments by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two other countries Trump visited.

An oil-blessed Middle Eastern nation, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest single purchasers of American arms—including fighter planes, combat helicopters, missiles, battle tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Following Trump’s heavily-publicized visit to Riyadh last week, the White House was emphatic in declaring that Saudi Arabia remains “our largest Foreign Military Sales (FMS) partner” with active cases valued at more than $142 billion–nearly double Saudi Arabia’s 2025 defense budget of $78 billion.

“Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump’s leadership, and the package signed (May 13), the largest defense cooperation deal in U.S. history, is a clear demonstration of our commitment to strengthening our partnership”, the White House said.

“The agreement opens the door for expanded U.S. defense industry participation and long-term sustainment partnerships with Saudi entities.”

Zain Hussain, Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) told IPS Saudi Arabia is heavily reliant on arms imports from the USA.

In 2020-2024, the USA supplied 74% of all Saudi imports of major arms, and in the last decade (between 2015 and 2024), the USA supplied 72% of Saudi imports of major arms, he pointed out.

Looking further at different armament categories reveals the extent of Saudi reliance on arms imports from the USA.

For example, between 2015 and 2024, the USA supplied around 80% of Saudi imports of aircraft, 84% of Saudi imports of missiles, 65% of Saudi imports of armoured vehicles, and 89% of Saudi imports of air defense systems.

Of course, despite the strong reliance of Saudi Arabia on the USA for arms imports, Saudi Arabia also imports arms from other states. For example, Saudi Arabia’s imports of ships between 2015 and 2024 were from Spain (67%), France (21%) and Germany (12%), declared Hussain.

Today in Saudi Arabia, President Donald J. Trump announced Saudi Arabia’s $600-billion commitment to invest in the United States, building economic ties that will endure for generations to come.

“The first deals under the announcement strengthen our energy security, defense industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals.”

• The deals celebrated are historic and transformative for both countries and represent a new golden era of partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
• From day one, President Trump’s America First Trade and Investment Policy has put the American economy, the American worker, and our national security first, said the White House.

Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, who represents the Acronym Institute at the United Nations, focusing on conventional weapons and arms trade issues, told IPS: ““We’ve seen this movie before”.

In 2017, President Trump said that US companies would sell $110 billion of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Roughly a year and a half later, Glenn Kessler, fact checker for The Washington Post, concluded that there had been little progress toward implementing the agreement.

He gave the administration’s claim four Pinocchios, the maximum the paper normally gives for a false claim. There’s little if any evidence that the current agreements have any greater basis in fact.”

“As with any number of other issues, President Trump tends to make grandiose claims that frequently are not supported in reality,” said Dr Goldring.

In this case, the press release touts his role as ‘the dealmaker in chief,’ even though it includes virtually no details about the proposed sales of military equipment and services. That makes it impossible to discern what proportion of these proposed sales originated in the Biden administration – or the first Trump administration, for that matter.”

“The Trump Administration’s approach puts the focus squarely on the hypothetical economic benefits of these agreements, rather than foreign policy and international security risks. The Trump administration needs to recognize that weapons aren’t toasters, and shouldn’t be sold as if they are. Yet the proposed deals don’t appear to reflect consideration of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, for example,” she pointed out.

“Based on US law, Saudi Arabia’s human rights offences should disqualify them from receiving military equipment and services from the United States. And Saudi Arabia is by no means alone in this regard; for example, Israel should be ineligible on similar grounds,” declared Dr Goldring.

A White House Fact Sheet released last week says: Saudi Arabia is one of the United States’ largest trading partners in the Middle East.

Saudi direct investment in the United States totaled $9.5 billion in 2023, focused on the transportation, real estate, and automotive sectors.

In 2024, U.S.-Saudi Arabia goods trade totaled $25.9 billion, with U.S. exports at $13.2 billion, imports at $12.7 billion, and a trade surplus in goods of $443 million

Thalif Deen is a former Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services (DMS) and one-time UN correspondent for Jane’s Defence Weekly, London. A Fulbright scholar with a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Journalism from Columbia University, New York, he is Senior Editor at IPS and author of the 2021 book on the United Nations titled “No Comment – and Don’t Quote me on That”. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

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