By Máximo Torero
SANTIAGO, Sep 3 2025 – In perspective, good news: world hunger is beginning to decline. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 (SOFI 2025) reported a drop in the proportion of people suffering from hunger, from 8.5% in 2023 to 8.2% in 2024. Latin America and the Caribbean has played a pivotal role in this progress.

In 2024, undernourishment in the region affected 5.1% of the population, down from 6.1% in 2020–2021. Moderate or severe food insecurity fell significantly, from 33.7% in 2020 to 25.2% in 2024, the largest reduction recorded worldwide.

Even after crises such as the pandemic, rising inflation, and extreme climate events, progress is possible through sustained public policies, cooperation, investment, and strengthening the resilience of agrifood systems

Five countries in the region—Chile, Costa Rica, Guyana, Uruguay and now Brazil— no longer appear on the hunger map, thanks to coordinated policies in the areas of economy, health, education, agriculture, and social protection, a viable formula to tackle the structural determinants of hunger.

These figures demonstrate that, even after crises such as the pandemic, rising inflation, and extreme climate events, progress is possible through sustained public policies, cooperation, investment, and strengthening the resilience of agrifood systems.

This positive development should not hide an uncomfortable truth: these advances are not reaching everyone equally. SOFI 2025 points out that while some countries are reducing hunger, others face challenges such as increasing child stunting, overweight, and obesity. In the region, 141 million adults are obese, and 4 million children under the age of five are overweight.

The analysis of specific cases highlights contrasts: Colombia reduced hunger to 3.9% with territorial policies and support for family farming, while the Dominican Republic cut the indicator by more than 17 percentage points in two decades with a multisectoral approach.

However, progress is not always uniform. Panama and Guatemala, although reducing hunger, continue to struggle with the challenge of malnutrition. Ecuador and El Salvador face a similar paradox: while hunger is decreasing, moderate and severe food insecurity is on the rise.

In Venezuela, hunger fell to 5.9%, but the pressure of food inflation persists. Mexico has reduced its figures to 2.7%, although adult overweight reached 36% in 2022, above the regional average. In Argentina, while hunger remains at low levels (3.4%), there has been an increase in child overweight and adult obesity.

Unfortunately, the Caribbean remains the greatest challenge. Some 17.5% of the population is undernourished, and the cost of a healthy diet reaches 5.48 PPP dollars per person per day. Haiti is facing one of the world’s most severe crises: 54.2% of its population suffers from hunger. This is not only an alarming statistic; it is an urgent call to strengthen greater cooperation and investment in the region’s most fragile context.

SOFI 2025 concludes that the countries that have reduced hunger under adverse circumstances in Latin America and the Caribbean share common approaches. These include strong and well-targeted social protection systems capable of cushioning crises; and integrated policies that strengthen local production, inclusive value chains, and market access, support family farming, and promote environmental sustainability.

Added to this are productive diversification, climate resilience measures to withstand extreme events, and open and stable trade to ensure supply and moderate price volatility; as well as coordination among institutions and levels of government to align investments, and data and monitoring systems that anticipate and respond quickly to crises.

These experiences show that a combination of political will, strategic investment, and evidence-based management can reverse hunger—even in an uncertain global environment.

Excerpt:

Máximo Torero Cullen is FAO Chief Economist and Regional Representative ad interim for Latin America and the Caribbean

By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, Sep 3 2025 – From Zimbabwe’s ‘The Smoke that thunders,’ Victoria Falls, to the awe-inspiring Pyramids in Egypt and the romantic Taj Mahal in India, these iconic sites are facing a growing threat – water risk.

Several World Heritage sites could be lost forever without urgent action to protect nature, for instance, through the restoration of vital landscapes like wetlands, warns a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) following an analysis indicating that droughts and flooding are threatening these sites.

World Heritage sites are places of outstanding universal cultural, historical, scientific, or natural significance, recognized and preserved for future generations through inscription on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

About 73 percent of the 1,172 non-marine World Heritage sites are exposed to at least one severe water risk, such as drought, flooding, or river or coastal flooding. About 21 percent of the sites face dual problems of too much and too little water, according to an analysis using WRI’s Aqueduct data.

While the global share of World Heritage Sites exposed to high-to-extremely high levels of water stress is projected to rise from 40 percent to 44 percent by 2050, impacts will be far more severe in regions like the Middle East and North Africa, parts of South Asia, and northern China, the report found.

The report highlighted that water risks were threatening many of the more than 1,200 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Taj Mahal, for example, faces water scarcity that is increasing pollution and depleting groundwater, both of which are damaging the mausoleum. In 2022, a massive flood closed down all of Yellowstone National Park and cost over USD 20 million in infrastructure repairs to reopen.

River Flooding is affecting the desert city of Chan Chan in Peru. According to WRI’s Aqueduct platform, the UNESCO site and its surrounding region in La Libertad face an extremely high risk of river flooding. By 2050, the population affected by floods each year in an average, non-El Niño year in La Libertad is expected to double from 16,000 to 34,000 due to a combination of human activity and climate change. In an El Niño year, that increase may be much higher.

In addition, the biodiversity-rich Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, the sacred city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico, and Morocco’s Medina of Fez are facing growing water risks that are not just endangering the sites but also the millions of people who depend on them for food, livelihoods, or a connection to their culture or who just enjoy traveling to these destinations, the report said.

Straddling the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls was inscribed on the World Heritage site in 1989 for its vital ecosystem and essential source of livelihoods for thousands of people, and a major tourism drawcard.

Despite its reputation for massive cascading water, Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls has faced recurring drought over the past decade and at times dried up to barely a trickle. The report stated that the rainforest surrounding Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls is home to a rich diversity of wildlife and plants.

According to WRI, Victoria Falls experienced droughts as recently as 2016, 2019, and 2024. Research on rainfall patterns near Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls shows that the onset of the rainy season, normally in October, is arriving later in the year. That means in a drought year, it takes longer for relief to arrive, and the longer the drought continues, the more it affects the people, crops, and economy around it.

An Aqueduct analysis found that Victoria Falls ranks as a medium drought risk, below the more than 430 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that rank as a high drought risk. This is primarily because relatively low population density and limited human development immediately surrounding the site reduce overall exposure.

“However, the site faces increasing pressure from tourism-related infrastructure development, and data shows the probability of drought occurrence ranks high—a finding reinforced by the many recent droughts that have plagued the region,” said the report. “Climate change is not only expected to make these droughts more frequent, but recovery is expected to last longer, especially in places that aren’t prepared.

“The time between droughts may not be long enough for the ecosystem to recover, which is particularly concerning for Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls.”

Restoring nature, a solution to plugging water risks

The report recommends swift action to restore vital landscapes locally that support healthy, stable water and investment in nature-based solutions like planting trees to restore headwater forests or revitalize wetlands to capture floodwaters and recharge aquifers. Political commitment is key to making this happen.

Besides, countries have been urged to enact national conservation policies to protect vital landscapes from unsustainable development globally, and water’s status as a global common good needs to be elevated while equitable transboundary agreements on sharing water across borders are established.

Zimbabwe hosted the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Ramsar Convention in Victoria Falls under the theme ‘Protecting Wetlands for our Common Future.’ The protection of global water resources is now more urgent.

“You will find the political will to invest in nature exists all over the world,” Samantha Kuzma, Aqueduct Data Lead at the World Resources Institute, told IPS. “Dedicated communities are finding ways to protect and restore vital landscapes like wetlands. The problem is that these efforts are piecemeal. Globally, we are not seeing the political will at the scale needed to achieve real, lasting change.”

The world needs to mobilize up to $7 trillion by 2030 for global water infrastructure to meet water-related SDG commitments and address decades of underinvestment, according to the World Bank. Currently, nearly 91 percent of annual spending on water comes from the public sector, including governments and state-owned enterprises, with less than 2 percent contributed by the private sector, the World Bank says, pointing out the importance of firm commitment to reforming the water sector through progressive policies, institutions, and regulations, and better planning and management of existing capital allocated to the sector.

“We are at the point where inaction is more costly than action,” Kuzma told IPS, emphasizing that the world must do a better job of understanding water’s fundamental role in sustaining economies because its value is everywhere and invisible until it’s at risk.

“Take UNESCO World Heritage Sites, for example. Their ecological and cultural worth is priceless, and in purely pragmatic terms, they’re often the linchpin of local economies,” said Kuzma. “Any closure or damage will send immediate ripple effects through communities. It is safe to say that globally, we are falling short when it comes to protecting nature. But to change course, we must first understand why.”

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By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 3 2025 – Over the past decade, major strides have been made in expanding global access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, with billions of people around the world seeing improvements in overall health and well-being. Despite these gains, people largely from low-income countries and marginalized groups still lack access to clean water, leaving them vulnerable to disease and hindering social development and inclusion.

On August 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a joint report, Progress on Household Drinking Water and Sanitation 2000–2024: special focus on inequalities, to commemorate World Water Week 2025 and bring attention to the persisting gaps in access to instrumental WASH services.

Although notable progress has been made since the turn of the century, recent progress in achieving the goals outlined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has stagnated in recent years. To establish universal access to WASH services and end open defecation, there must be increased investment in WASH infrastructure, strengthened international cooperation, and community engagement that empowers marginalized communities.

“Water, sanitation, and hygiene are not privileges; they are basic human rights,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, the Director of Environment, Climate Change, and Health at WHO. “We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalized communities, if we are to keep our promise to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

The report notes that much of the recent progress has been in rural areas, where access to safe drinking water rose from 50 to 60 percent over the past decade and basic hygiene coverage rose from 52 to 71 percent. However, millions of people in these areas still lack adequate access to WASH services, with progress in urban regions having stalled significantly.

It is currently estimated that approximately 1 in 4 people globally, or 2.1 billion, lack access to clean drinking water, with 106 million relying on untreated surface water sources, such as ponds, lakes, and rivers. Figures from the United Nations (UN) show that inadequate access to WASH services contributes to roughly 3.5 million deaths per year.

The report also reveals that roughly 3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, with 354 million still practicing open defecation. Furthermore, about 1.7 million lack access to basic hygiene services in their homes, with 611 million lacking access to any hygiene facilities.

Additionally, the report highlights that people in the least developed countries are approximately twice as likely to lack adequate access to essential WASH services. This gap is most pronounced in regions affected by poverty, conflict, or climate vulnerability, where access to clean drinking water is on average 38 percent lower than in other areas.

Children are among the most disproportionately impacted by the lack of WASH services, facing heightened risks of disease, malnutrition, stunted growth, and developmental delays. Without access to safe running water, many children miss school due to waterborne illnesses or because of time spent collecting water from local sources. Long-term impacts include a disruption of schooling, reduced employment opportunities, and impeded social development.

“Every year, nearly 400,000 children under five die from diseases attributable to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services,” said Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF Director of WASH, in a statement to an IPS correspondent.

“In low-income and rural communities, children are especially vulnerable to diarrheal diseases, malnutrition, and stunted growth. These conditions not only threaten survival but also hinder cognitive development and long-term potential.”

According to the report, these risks are particularly defined for women and girls, as they are primarily responsible for water collection, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia. It is estimated that women and girls in these regions spend over 30 minutes per day collecting water, with water collection being linked to higher rates of school absenteeism and reduced productivity.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, only 16 percent of the rural population has water on premises. In countries like Malawi, women and girls are responsible for water collection in 76 percent of households,” added Scharp. “This daily task exposes them to physical strain, safety risks, and lost time. These consequences are long-term and systemic.”

Additionally, the lack of WASH services for women and girls significantly increases the risk of health complications, including higher rates of menstruation-related infections, waterborne diseases, and sepsis among mothers and newborns. According to figures from UN Women, at least 1 in 10 women and girls in rural areas across 12 countries lacked access to private areas where they could wash and change during their last period.

WHO and UNICEF also highlight the widespread lack of access to menstrual products and safe facilities for women and girls to change, with many unable to change as often as needed due to limited resources. It is also estimated that adolescent girls aged 15-19 are less likely than adult women to attend school, work, or participate in social activities during menstruation. “These disparities perpetuate cycles of poverty and limit social and economic development,” said Scharp.

With the world’s population continuing to grow and the climate crisis exacerbating water scarcity around the world, it is imperative that there is accelerated humanitarian action, increased investment, and community-driven approaches that prioritize women and low-income communities.

Scharp noted that UNICEF is currently working with governments to “strengthen WASH systems and expand access for marginalized and underserved communities” through the development of climate-resilient infrastructure and early warning systems for extreme weather events. “UNICEF’s approach focuses on long-term sustainability, equity, and resilience – ensuring that no one is left behind. UNICEF also supports water resource assessments and groundwater monitoring, helping governments develop and sustain early warning systems and take preventative actions that benefit children and communities.”

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By Stacey Azores
AZORES, the Atlantic, Portugal, Sep 3 2025 – The international governance of environmental challenges has progressively evolved over the past decades, transitioning from isolated treaties addressing specific issues to a complex web of multilateral agreements that aim to foster sustainable development and environmental integrity.

Early efforts, such as the 1972 Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment, laid foundational principles emphasising the importance of environmental protection within a broader development agenda (UN, 1972).

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit stands out as the most significant UN gathering dedicated to global environmental governance. This landmark meeting culminated in the adoption of several key agreements, including Agenda 21 — a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable development — along with the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the Forest Principles, which established guiding principles for responsible forest management.

Crucially, the Summit also laid the groundwork for two major international treaties: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Additionally, the Summit initiated the negotiation process for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Collectively, these agreements and processes reflected a holistic approach to interconnected environmental challenges — biodiversity loss, climate change, and land degradation — aligning scientific insights with emerging political priorities.

These three conventions and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) have provided critical platforms for international cooperation. However, their sector-specific mandates have also resulted in fragmented governance.

This fragmentation, characterised by overlapping mandates, divergent institutional arrangements, and separate financial mechanisms, poses significant challenges to achieving holistic solutions to interconnected environmental crises. Meanwhile, scientific evidence increasingly underscores the complex interdependencies among MEAs.

The discussion of UN Reform around UN80 opens the opportunity for significant reform as outlined in Felix Dodds and Chris Spence (July 17, 2025). UN Reform: Is it Time to Renew the Idea of Clustering the Major Environmental Agreements? Inter Press Service.

How efficient is it to maintain separate related conventions as separate UN bodies?

UNEP has identified the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution (including chemicals and waste) as areas where we need to focus if we are to strengthen the environmental pillar of sustainable development.

This article explores the evolutionary progress of the UN Climate Convention and, in particular, the possibility of clustering the UNFCCC and the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the Montreal Protocol, and subsequent amendments.

Climate Change

The international community began to address serious concerns over climate change almost fifty years ago, beginning with the 1979 World Climate Conference organised by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was subsequently established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to assess scientific knowledge on climate change. Its creation aimed to provide policymakers with comprehensive, objective, and policy-relevant information on climate change impacts, adaptation, and mitigation, fostering international cooperation to address global warming.

This was followed by the 1990 Second World Climate Conference in Geneva, hosted jointly by UNEP and WMO, which emphasised the interconnectedness of environmental and climate issues. It reviewed the World Climate Programme (WCP), which had been established in 1979, and recommended the creation of to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), both of which were agreed in 1992. This laid the groundwork for a global climate treaty and a robust climate observation network.

These conferences underscored the importance of a coordinated global response, leading to the decision that the negotiations for a comprehensive climate framework would be conducted through a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decision, rather than under the auspices of UNEP alone, as was common with other environmental treaties like the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

This resulted in the establishment of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, which has since evolved through successive negotiations. Five years later, the Kyoto Protocol (1997) set binding emission reduction targets for developed countries, while the Paris Agreement (2015) introduced a more inclusive approach based on voluntary ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) involving all nations.

The UNFCCC’s governance includes the Conference of the Parties (COP), subsidiary bodies, and financial mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which supports climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Over time, the focus has shifted increasingly toward climate resilience, adaptation, and addressing loss and damage, acknowledging the differing capacities and responsibilities of countries, especially following the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

The UN80 suggestion that the UNFCCC should be placed under UNEP’s aegis as the World’s Environment Body re-opens the possibility of creating a cluster of climate-related conventions with the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol, and subsequent amendments, which are already under the auspices of UNEP.

Despite these differences, there are significant interconnections and synergies between climate change and ozone protection, especially given their common reliance on scientific assessments and policy frameworks.

Analogy of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions

The agreement by member states to create a cluster of chemicals and waste conventions was taken in 2009, and the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions had their first ‘Super Cop’ in 2013. This offers a proof of concept for clustering as explained in Michael Stanley Jones’ article, How Clustering Multilateral Environmental Agreements Can Bring Multiple Benefits to the Environment, published by IPS on July 28th, 2025

UNEP has identified the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution (chemicals and waste) as a vision to strengthen the environmental pillar of sustainable development. The next step would be to look at clustering the climate conventions, followed logically by the biodiversity conventions.

These conventions share a similarity in their supporting subsidiary bodies and increasing inclusivity for regional organisations and scientific panels, yet these are often limited to ‘execution’ mechanisms for formal coordination.

This dispersion has resulted in operational inefficiencies, duplicative efforts, and missed opportunities over many years. Despite overarching concerns about planetary health, their implementation mechanisms have often created stumbling blocks when it comes to implementation actions.

In short, clustering offers the chance to facilitate greater integration among these interconnected challenges, leading to a more effective regime.

Overlapping Mandates

The mandates of the ozone and climate conventions significantly overlap in areas related to atmospheric composition, emissions, and the protection of the Earth’s climate and ozone layer.

Both frameworks and their subsequent protocols, agreements, and amendments address issues stemming from human activities that release greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances into the atmosphere, which have direct implications for climate change and stratospheric ozone recovery. Scientific bodies such as the IPCC provide critical climate science, while the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol supplies insights on ozone-depleting substances.

Despite this overlap, the conventions often operate in silos, with climate policies emphasising greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation, while ozone policies focus on phasing out ozone-depleting substances. This separation can lead to conflicting priorities or missed opportunities for co-benefits, thereby limiting the overall effectiveness of international efforts.

Currently, there are limited formal mechanisms for these bodies to exchange data and coordinate strategies, which hampers the development of integrated policies that address both climate change and ozone layer recovery. Efforts like the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which targets ozone-depleting HFCs, which are also potent greenhouse gases, highlight the potential for greater synergy.

However, institutional barriers and siloed approaches continue to restrict comprehensive action. Both conventions are now trying to address the issue of nitrogen pollution, a major environmental challenge.

Funding Fragmentation

Financial support is channelled through various mechanisms, including the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund (GCF). While these mechanisms have increased overall funding levels, there remains significant fragmentation in financing multi-dimensional initiatives.

Despite increased commitments to mobilise financing for climate change and atmospheric protection, substantial funding gaps persist, particularly in developing countries where ozone depletion and climate vulnerabilities are most severe.

For example, climate adaptation projects financed by the GCF may not fully incorporate ozone layer protection measures, limiting the potential for integrated benefits and comprehensive approaches.

The absence of coordinated funding streams complicates the implementation of integrated strategies, such as those that combine climate resilience with ozone layer recovery efforts, requiring investments across multiple sectors and conventions.

Policy Challenges

Addressing policy challenges within UNEP, particularly through the lens of the triple planetary boundaries — the climate change, biosphere integrity, and biogeochemical flows — requires a more integrated and holistic approach.

Currently, sectoral priorities often dominate negotiations, resulting in trade-offs that hinder sustainable development. Infrastructure projects aligned with climate policies can sometimes conflict with biodiversity conservation and resource usage boundaries, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive planning frameworks that account for these interconnected limits.

Could it be time to reestablish the Global Environment Management Forum (GEMF) as a dedicated mechanism within the United Nations Environment Assembly to address the triple planetary crisis?

Such a platform would facilitate dialogue among stakeholders, promote coordination of actions across sectors, and help build consensus on policies that respect planetary boundaries. This integrated mechanism has the potential to improve policy coherence, resolve conflicts, and ensure that climate, biodiversity, and pollution considerations are jointly addressed in global environmental governance.

They should be informed by the three science bodies the IPCC, IPBAS and the newly established Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP)

Other Potential Integrations

Air pollution directly affects ecosystems, human health, and climate systems, so it would make sense to create formal institutional linkages aimed at addressing shared challenges. While it may seem far-fetched to propose that the UN re-structures its bodies, the potential long-term benefits for implementation do warrant the effort.

Integrated policies could promote clean energy transitions that cut air pollution, lower greenhouse gases, and improve land health by reducing fossil fuel dependence. A multi-sectoral framework would enable joint action plans, data sharing, and financing—similar to the chemicals conventions—ensuring coordinated efforts for air quality, ecosystems, and climate resilience.

This approach would strengthen sustainable development by recognising the interconnectedness of pollution control, biodiversity, climate mitigation, and land restoration (UNEP, 2020).

Beyond Clustering Ozone and the Climate Treaties

The first step in the approach to clustering is to shift the relevant treaties under the aegis of UNEP. This has been applied to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Minamata treaties on chemical and waste. It should also apply to the biodiversity conventions under UNEP and, if the UNFCCC comes UNEP, to the ozone and climate agreements.

Beyond those that are under UNEP, there are other conventions globally and regionally that are relevant to the triple planetary crisis. A second step in clustering for climate change would mean addressing the UN Convention on Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), established under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

This convention represents a regional framework focused on addressing air pollution across European and Eurasian countries. If CLRTAP were to be integrated more closely with the UNFCCC, its role could become a vital part of a comprehensive, multi-layered environmental governance system that aligns air quality and climate efforts. Ultimately, all these agreements would benefit from being under a unified umbrella.

Conclusion

Addressing the interconnected nature of global environmental challenges requires a strategic shift towards greater institutional integration and coordination among existing treaties and frameworks.

Currently, key scientific assessment platforms such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the proposed Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution (ISP-CWP) often operate in silos, limited by their distinct mandates and institutional frameworks.

This fragmentation hampers the development of integrated scientific advice that could better inform policy and action across sectors.

Lessons learned from successful clustering of conventions, such as the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm agreements, demonstrate that formalised arrangements can enhance operational efficiencies, scientific coherence, and policy alignment.

To address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity and pollution – in addition to arguing here for clustering the climate conventions we have looked at the proof of concept with the BRS conventions and Hugo-Maria Schally in his recent article Toward Enhanced Synergies among Biodiversity-related MEAs:

Addressing Fragmentation with Strategic Coordination also makes a strong and coherent argument for the clustering of the biodiversity conventions.

Integrating the scientific platforms under UNEP’s umbrella would foster synergies between scientific assessments and policy implementation, and this could significantly enhance more efficient responses by helping to bridge existing gaps, reduce duplication of efforts, and maximise the impact of international environmental action on a global scale.

Proposals have emerged for the reinstatement of GMEF as a high-level mechanism designed to foster higher-level dialogue, streamline decision-making, and bridge sectoral divides for integrated approaches to environmental governance. Expanding platforms like the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) or UNEA could serve as pivotal mechanisms to better coordinate efforts across these conventions

Such a change may be hard. It may raise objections from those working under the current arrangements, who may feel uncomfortable with such a change. However, more integrated governance is essential to effectively tackling the triple planetary crisis.

Stacey Azores participated in UN climate negotiations in various capacities, playing a crucial role in addressing one key adaptation issue. Her work included science, business and government projects, academia programs, rural expeditions, and raising awareness of implementation and sustainability.

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By External Source
KABUL, Sep 3 2025 – This year marks the fourth anniversary of the Taliban retaking power in Afghanistan. All these years have been one long nightmare for  the women of Afghanistan, the ones who have borne the brunt of oppression – arguably the worst of its kind anywhere in the world.

To mark the occasion we find it appropriate to take a short trip in history back into the last four years to recollect how it all unfolded and how Afghan women have endured it this far.

On August 15, 2021, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. The event marked the end of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, led by Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, and the return of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” under Taliban rule. This political change started a new chapter of suffering, systemic bans, and harsh restrictions reserved mainly for women and girls.

Within a very short time, the Taliban introduced strict rules affecting education, work, public life, and even travel. Girls were banned from school; women were ejected from government work and the public sector; they were compelled to wear full covering and not allowed to travel without a male guardian.

The year 2021 was painful, suffocating, and deeply traumatizing for Afghan women and girls. In late August 2021, schools remained open up to grade 12 only in a few provinces of Balkh, Kunduz, Jawzjan, Sar-e Pol, Faryab, and Daikund – where local officials ignored the Taliban leadership’s orders. In most other provinces, girls were stopped from going to school.

A “Temporary” Suspension That Still Stands

The Taliban’s Ministry of Education officially announced that only primary schools – up to grade 6 – would stay open for girls. Secondary and high schools were, however, suspended “until further notice”. They would only reopen if “Islamic rules were followed, such as wearing the proper religious clothing.” Four years on, the so-called temporary suspension in still place.

In September 2021, the Taliban shut down the Ministry of women’s Affairs and handed over its building to the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Thus, a ministry notorious for its harsh and oppressive treatment of women and girls, was preferred to the one meant to raise awareness, promote gender equality and support women’s participation in national development.

By December 2021, the Taliban moved to make a black full-body covering that shows only the eyes or a burqa, mandatory for women. At universities, female and male classes were completely separated.

Women Protest—Despite Crackdowns

But Afghan women did not take these oppressive rules on the chin. On the contrary, they took to the streets of Kabul and protested vigorously, with slogans such as, “Work, education, freedom, and political participation are our rights.”

The Taliban predictably responded with brutal force, including even firing live rounds into crowds to break up the protests, but the women remained undeterred. The protests inspired similar actions in other provinces such as Herat, Balkh, Badakhshan, Daikundi, Bamyan, and Nangarhar.

Amidst the protests and brutalities, the women still held onto hope. “Brighter days will come”, they used to say, but in 2022, the Taliban escalated the bans on women’s social life, once again, beginning with education. That year, Afghan girls were officially banned from entering universities and barred from registering for the national university entrance exams.

Media restrictions and mandatory dress codes, which started in November 2021, intensified in 2022. The sight of women was banished from television and cinema screens, and female journalists were compelled to cover their entire faces. In May 2022, wearing the full-body abaya with a niqab became mandatory. Failure to comply was punished by fines, job loss, and even imprisonment.

In April 2022, restrictions began with new rules assigning specific days for women to visit public parks. By November of the same year, women were entirely forbidden to visit public parks, gyms, and bathhouses. Severe travel restrictions were also placed on women. They were forbidden to travel more than 72 kilometres without a male guardian. This rule was enforced regardless of whether the woman had a husband at home or not, or whether the guardian was able to accompany her. Transportation companies and airlines were ordered to enforce this rule, violators would have their vehicles seized or imprisoned.

Eventually, women were pushed out of government jobs altogether. The largest wave of dismissals happened in September 2022. By December, women’s participation in NGOs, international organizations, and UN offices was completely banned. This also affected thousands of women, many of them nurses and midwives working in the health sector, severely jeopardizing an already creaky health services of people in a war-torn country.

As the years progressed, the banning decrees kept flying out like snowflakes, with increasing violence. In Logar, Kabul, Herat, Faryab, Jawzjan, and Ghor provinces, public floggings, stoning and executions were carried out against women accused of moral crimes.

In spite of that, brave Afghan women in Kabul and several other provinces rose up in protest. They chanted slogans like “Bread, Work, Education It’s Our Right,” “We Will Not Back Down”.

Undeterred by serious threats and dangers, these courageous women raised their voices louder than ever before. They showed unprecedented resilience against oppression, hoping their protests would become a symbol of civil resistance for Afghan women everywhere.

We spent the last three years like the living dead, silent, breathless, merely surviving hoping each day that the next decree would not bring more loss. As we stepped into 2025, we carried with us a fragile hope that the injustice, oppression, and inequality would end. But this year, too, has mirrored the years before.

The voices of young girls have been replaced by locked doors, forced silence, and tired, defeated gazes.

The very women who are meant to save lives in the future are now imprisoned behind the walls of their own homes. Beauty salons have been shut down as if femininity itself were a crime. Learning centers are silent, universities are forgotten and even dreams once bold and vibrant have been exorcised from the mind.

The year 2025 continues to mark a series of systematic and oppressive steps by the Taliban aimed at gradually erasing women from public life. Afghan women remain trapped under oppression, yet with an unbreakable spirit, we hold onto hope for a day when freedom, education, and justice will return to our land.

A Call to the International Community

This hope, however, would only become reality when the international community and the European Union listen to the demands of Afghan women and respond with tangible and effective actions.

We are not just asking for sympathy or words of condemnation, we are calling for real action. We are standing firm and we will not surrender. Now it is the turn of the international community to stand with us.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons