The Human Consciousness Now...Our World in the Midst of Becoming...to What? Observe, contemplate Now.
SRINAGAR, India & BELÉM, Brazil, Nov 6 2025 (IPS) - A decade has passed since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and a United Nations synthesis report released ahead of COP30 in Belém shows that “Parties are bending their combined emission curve further downwards, but still not quickly enough.”
The report, compiled by the UNFCCC secretariat, assesses 64 new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by Parties between January 2024 and September 2025, covering about 30 percent of global emissions in 2019.
Bruce Douglas, an expert on renewable energy and electrification and CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), in an exclusive interview with IPS, said that it is encouraging to see the momentum in the latest NDCs and government targets, which are more ambitious and implementable than previous rounds.
“However, we’re seeing even greater acceleration in the real economy, where renewables hit a record 582 GW of new capacity last year, so governments need to catch up with private sector ambition. But let’s be clear: to have a chance of achieving the tripling renewable energy goal and 1.5°C pathway, the world needs to add roughly 1,100 GW every year to 2030. The direction is right, but the pace must double. We need particular focus in emerging economies, where finance still isn’t flowing at anywhere near the scale required.”
Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA). Credit: GRA
Douglas added that there is a real appetite in countries around the world to decarbonize at pace, but most developing country NDCs are conditional on financing, so this is the crucial challenge to address.
He said that renewable energy projects are also being held back by predictable bottlenecks—slow permitting, grid constraints, and the high cost of capital in emerging markets.
“These are fixable. We know the solutions: faster permitting, predictable auctions, and investment in grids and storage. But above all, we need access to affordable finance. Investors are ready—governments and MDBs must create the certainty to unlock it,” Douglas said.
A Decade of Progress—But Not Enough
Ten years after Paris, the report acknowledges “new indications of real and increasing progress on action to address climate change through national efforts underpinned by global cooperation.” According to the executive summary, Parties are setting out new national climate targets and plans to achieve them that differ in pace and scale from any that have come before. However, while “Parties are bending their combined emission curve further downwards, they are still not doing it quickly enough,” the report warns.
The urgency for accelerated action is clear.
“It remains evident that major acceleration is still needed in terms of delivering faster and deeper emission reductions and ensuring that the vast benefits of strong climate action reach all countries and peoples,” the summary states.
“We have seen extraordinary renewable growth over the past two decades, and markets are often moving faster than governments, but the gap between targets and deployment continues to grow. We no longer have time for pledges; now is the time for progress. What matters most is visibility: real project pipelines, clear timelines, and bankable frameworks that turn ambition into megawatts. That’s what COP30 should deliver—a clear signal that we are in the era of implementation,” Douglas said.
Economy-Wide Targets, Alignment with Global Stocktake
A notable improvement in the new NDCs is their increased comprehensiveness. The report highlights, “The new NDCs show a progression in terms of quality, credibility and economic coverage, with 89 percent of Parties communicating economy-wide targets (compared with 81 percent in their previous NDCs).”
The parties have also responded to the outcomes of the first global stocktake (GST).
“Eighty eight percent of Parties indicated that their NDCs were informed by the outcomes of the GST and 80 per cent specifying how.” This signals an increasing willingness to align national climate planning with global science and ambition.
Douglas said that the first Global Stocktake was a wake-up call—and it worked to catalyze the focus on the 3x renewables target.
“Now COP30 must translate that momentum into measurable delivery: reaffirming the goal to triple renewables, delivering major finance signals for grids and storage and setting ambitious short-term renewable goals in the next NDC round.”
Projected range of greenhouse gas emission levels for the Parties that have submitted 2035 targets according to their new nationally determined contributions, with or without Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULCF). Credit: UN Climate Change
Emissions on a Downward Trajectory—But Short of 1.5°C
The report analyzes the projected impact of these NDCs on greenhouse gas emissions. “Collectively, the new NDCs show a reduction in projected emissions of 17 (11–24) percent below the 2019 level,” it finds. Full implementation of all new NDCs, including conditional elements, “is estimated to bring the total GHG emission level of the relevant group of Parties down to 12.3 (12.0–12.7) Gt CO₂ eq by 2035, which would be 19–24 percent below the 2019 level.”
The report cautions, however, that “the scale of the total emission reduction expected to be achieved by the group of Parties… falls short of what is necessary according to the IPCC ranges.” According to the latest IPCC synthesis, “GHG emission reductions will have to be reduced by 60 (49–77) percent by 2035 relative to the 2019 level” to limit warming to 1.5°C.
Holistic Approaches and Sectoral Progress
The report identifies a “whole-of-economy, whole-of-society approach” as “an increasingly core pillar of ensuring economic stability and growth, jobs, health, and energy security and affordability, among many other policy imperatives, in countries.”
Mitigation and adaptation are increasingly integrated.
“All NDCs go beyond mitigation to include elements, inter alia, on adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity-building and addressing loss and damage, reflecting the comprehensive scope of the Paris Agreement.
Adaptation is more prominent than ever, with “73 percent of the new NDCs including an adaptation component.”
Douglas said that the power sector is leading the charge—solar is on track; what is needed is to rapidly accelerate wind, geothermal, hydropower, grids, and storage to keep up.
He said that electrifying transport, heating and harder-to-abate industry sectors are next in line.
“We’re seeing promising clean-industry pilots and early electrification, but they need clear policy frameworks to scale. Every sector must move faster: we need to electrify everything that can be electrified—with renewable energy as the foundation.”
Just Transition and Social Inclusion
The concept of just transition is gaining ground.
“A total of 70 percent of Parties considered just transition in preparing their new NDCs and the majority of those Parties plan to integrate consideration of just transition into NDC implementation,” the report notes. “Parties contextualized just transition as helping to ensure that the shift to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies does not exacerbate existing or create new inequalities in societies, thus enabling climate action that is socially inclusive and economically empowering.”
Forests, Oceans, and Nature-Based Solutions
Protecting natural sinks remains a major topic. “Parties have integrated forest measures into economy-wide mitigation targets and mentioned forest-specific contributions and indicators in their new NDCs.” The synthesis highlights “international collaboration and REDD+ results-based payments as keys to mitigation in the forest sector, while noting synergies with achieving adaptation and biodiversity objectives.”
Ocean-based climate action is also rising. “Parties reported a significant increase in ocean-based climate action compared with the previous NDCs, with 78 percent of Parties including in the new NDCs at least one explicit reference to the ocean—an increase of 39 percent.”
Finance, Technology, and Capacity-Building: The Implementation Challenge
Finance remains a central challenge to ambition.
“A total of 88 percent of Parties provided information on the finance required to implement activities in line with their NDCs, with 75 percent characterizing finance in terms of support needed,” the report notes. Parties reported “a total cost in the range of USD 1,970.8–1,975.0 billion in aggregate… comprising USD 1,073.88–1,074.00 billion identified as support needed from international sources.”
Technology and capacity-building are also highlighted as key enablers. “A total of 97 percent of Parties provided information on technology development and transfer… 84 percent of Parties referenced capacity-building in varying detail, with 31 percent of those Parties discussing it in sections on means of implementation or capacity-building.”
Inclusion of Gender, Youth, and Indigenous Peoples
The new NDCs reflect a growing focus on social inclusion and empowerment. “Gender integration into NDCs is advancing, with Parties increasingly considering gender to promote inclusive and effective climate action. In their new NDCs, 89 percent of Parties provided information related to gender and 80 percent affirmed that they will take gender into account in implementing the NDCs.”
The report further notes, “It is the first time that a section on children and youth has featured in the NDC synthesis report. A total of 88 percent of Parties in their new NDCs… included information, generally more clearly and in more detail than previously, reflecting a stronger commitment to meaningful inclusion, on how children and youth have been or will be considered in NDC development and implementation.”
Similarly, “A total of 72 percent of Parties reported an increased focus on the vital role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in climate adaptation and mitigation, compared with 66 percent previously.”
International Cooperation and Voluntary Efforts
The synthesis report highlights the indispensability of international cooperation. “International cooperation was emphasized as critical for mobilizing resources and bridging the gap between NDC ambition and implementation by 97 percent of Parties.” The report reads further, “Parties described their engagement with international partners to promote effective and inclusive climate action through voluntary cooperation initiatives, regional collaboration and sectoral activities such as energy transition.”
Despite progress, the report issues a warning.
“With their GHG emissions in 2035 on average estimated to be 17 (11–24) percent below their 2019 level… the scale of the total emission reduction expected to be achieved by the group of Parties… falls short of what is necessary according to the IPCC ranges.” “Major acceleration is still needed in terms of delivering faster and deeper emission reductions and ensuring that the vast benefits of strong climate action reach all countries and peoples.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.
Excerpt:
Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance, argues that there is a real appetite in countries around the world to decarbonize at pace, but most developing country NDCs are conditional on financing. This is the crucial challenge to address.
Just like every financial advisor teaches the same lesson: diversify to manage risk and improve returns. Climate strategy is no different. No single approach—technological or nature-based—can deliver the speed, scale, and durability we need, argues Gabriel Labbate, head of the Climate Mitigation Unit at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 6 2025 (IPS) - In late October, Hurricane Melissa, a powerful Category 5 storm, made landfall in the Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage to civilian infrastructure and a devastating loss of life. Humanitarian agencies have mobilized on the ground to deliver urgent assistance to affected communities facing widespread destruction of homes, mass displacement, fatalities, and severe shortages of essential services, including food, water, medicine, shelter, and electricity.
The United Nations (UN) estimates that roughly six million people across the Caribbean have been affected by Hurricane Melissa. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) projects that approximately 1.6 million children in the Caribbean are at risk of the impacts of flooding, landslides, and regional disruption.
As of November 4, at least 84 civilian deaths have been reported—43 in Haiti, largely due to flooding and landslides, and 35 in Jamaica. The coastal town of Black River in Jamaica suffered particularly severe damage, with an estimated 90 percent of homes losing their roofs. Other districts across the nation also reported extensive destruction to infrastructure, including building collapses and widespread flooding.
“All efforts to prepare for the arrival of the hurricane are vital to mitigate damage and loss of life in the most vulnerable communities, especially in regions like the Caribbean,” said Roberto Benes, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “UNICEF helps strengthen national capacities to anticipate and respond to climate-related emergencies, and to deliver essential services for children. This is fundamental to protecting those who need it most.”
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN and its partners are on the ground in Jamaica, leading a “robust national response”, in an effort to strengthen humanitarian cooperation, working to restore access to life-saving services and revitalize schools and hospitals in areas that have been hardest hit.
On November 3, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched an emergency response plan for the hardest hit communities in Jamaica. As of now, over 1,500 people have received food assistance with parcels containing food staples such as rice, lentils, meat, and vegetable oil. An additional 2,000 food kits were transported from Barbados.
“More shipments are arriving this week and WFP is facilitating the transportation of this assistance in coordination with partners across the UN system,” said Brian Bogart, WFP’s Country Director for the Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean. “WFP plans to assist up 200,000 people across the country with food assistance and transition to cash as and when markets begin to recover. This is critical for transitioning from an immediate humanitarian response to a longer term recovery strategy, supporting markets and the economy of Jamaica.”
Bogart adds that the UN and its partners are working “hand-in-hand” with the Jamaican government to support relief efforts and strengthen emergency preparedness programs. In Cuba, UN agencies were able to mobilize critical support services prior to Hurricane Melissa’s landfall, positioning USD $4 million allocated from the OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Additionally, the Cuban Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) are currently working together to issue early-warning messages and provide psychosocial support. It is estimated that the delivery of over 3.5 million early warning messages saved thousands of lives.
In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, WFP was able to deliver food for 180,000 people in protection centers across Cuba. “We plan to assist 900,000 people for three months and half of those in need of assistance for an additional 3 months,” said Etienne Labande, WFP’s Country Director in Cuba.“The UN in Cuba finalized its response plan which has been approved by the government and will be launched officially tomorrow in La Habana, appealing for a total of USD $74 million, all sectors included, and aiming to assist over 1 million people affected for a total of 12 months.”
UNICEF was also able to assist with water-treatment kits and hygiene kits for thousands, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was able to assist with shelter resources to protect civilians who have had their houses destroyed or damaged, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has delivered health and dignity kits.
Despite these gains, humanitarian experts continue to stress the urgency of the situation, highlighting severe access constraints and urging for strengthened humanitarian cooperation and a steady flow of funding.
“In times like this, international solidarity isn’t just a principle – it’s a lifeline,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Local leadership, global solidarity, and early action are saving lives across the region. This is the humanitarian reset at work – acting together with greater impact.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
NAPO, Amazonia, Ecuador / NEW YORK, Nov 6 2025 (IPS) - As world leaders prepare to gather in Brazil for COP30 next week, they will convene in the heart of the Amazon — a fitting location for what must become a turning point in how the world addresses the intertwined crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Around the world, Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ leadership has long been and will continue to be a critical path forward.
A new report released by the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC) and Earth Insight exposes the staggering scale of industrial threats facing the 36 million Indigenous Peoples and local communities who steward more than 958 million hectares of vital tropical forests.
The findings underscore the need for immediate action from the governments, financial institutions, and international bodies gathering at COP30 to reinforce solutions led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities who have cared for these forests and multiple ecosystems for generations.
Aerial view of Indigenous participants at a demonstration for “The Answer Is Us” campaign. Credit: The Answer Is Us
Alarming Threats in the Pan-Tropics
The evidence is sobering. In the Amazon, 31 million hectares of Indigenous Peoples’ territories are overlapped by oil and gas blocks, with an additional 9.8 million hectares threatened by mining concessions. In the Congo Region, 38% of community forests face oil and gas threats, while peatlands critical to global carbon storage — holding roughly 30 billion tons of carbon — are threatened by new licensing.
In Indonesia, Indigenous Peoples’ territories confront massive overlaps with timber and mining concessions. In Mesoamerica, Indigenous Peoples and local communities face extensive mining threats across their lands.
These forests regulate the global climate, sustain biodiversity, and are essential for cultural and spiritual continuity for millions of people. These territories produce oxygen, regulate rainfall systems across continents, and store carbon essential to preventing runaway climate change.
When these forests are destroyed, the consequences reach far beyond their borders — destabilizing weather patterns, accelerating species extinction, and pushing the planet closer to irreversible tipping points.
These statistics represent the lived reality of communities like the Waorani in Ecuador, whose territories face a 64% overlap with oil blocks despite a historic court victory affirming their rights. They describe the plight of the O’Hongana Manyawa in Indonesia, one of the last Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation on Earth, now surrounded by nickel mining operations destroying their forest homeland in the name of the “green transition.”
The violence accompanying this destruction is equally stark. Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants, defending lands they have protected for generations, are being killed for standing in the way of corporate profits and national development schemes that ignore both human rights and planetary boundaries.
Solutions and Success Models That Need to be Scaled
Amid these threats, there are also stories of resilience, proven solutions, and a clear pathway forward. In Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, community forest concessions lost only 1.5% of their forests over ten years — seven times less than the national average. In Colombia, 25 Indigenous Peoples’ Territorial Entities maintain over 99% of their forests intact.
In Indonesia’s Wallacea Archipelago, Gendang Ngkiong communities reclaimed 892 hectares of customary land through participatory mapping and legal reforms. The pattern is consistent and undeniable: when Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights are secured, and communities lead, forests thrive.
This is the paradox world leaders must finally confront at COP30 and beyond. Despite representing less than 5% of the global population, Indigenous Peoples and local communities safeguard 54% of the world’s remaining intact forests and 43% of Key Biodiversity Areas.
While Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ governance systems, ancestral knowledge, and traditional ways of life have kept these multiple ecosystems in balance for generations, that balance is now threatened by the relentless advance of extractive industries. Mining operations, agribusiness expansion, oil extraction, illegal logging, and land invasions — often backed by policies that actively undermine Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights — are dismantling the very systems that have proven most effective at conservation.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities are not obstacles to progress or barriers of last resort; they are the foundation of viable climate solutions and the living embodiment of synergy between people and nature.
At COP30 and moving forward, world leaders must move beyond symbolic recognition to concrete action. The Brazzaville Declaration provides the roadmap: securing Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ land rights, guaranteeing free, prior, and informed consent, ensuring direct financing, protecting defenders’ lives, and integrating traditional knowledge into global policies.
These demands should guide governments, funders, and institutions in how to shift from extraction to regeneration, demonstrating that without securing Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ rights and supporting community-led stewardship, international climate and biodiversity targets cannot be achieved. Yet by following the leadership of those who have protected these ecosystems for generations, the world has a viable roadmap toward regeneration.
As COP30 opens in Brazil, the symbolism is powerful. Will world leaders honor the wisdom of the land they gather upon? Will they listen to those whose ancestral knowledge has sustained the Amazon and countless other ecosystems for millennia? Or will they continue policies that treat forests and nature as expendable and Indigenous Peoples and local communities as obstacles to progress?
The future of the world’s tropical forests and vital ecosystems, and humanity’s shared climate, will be determined by whether governments, funders, and global institutions act on this knowledge. The answer is us — all of us, working together, with Indigenous Peoples and local communities leading the way.
Juan Carlos Jintiach is Executive Secretary, Global Alliance of Territorial Communities and M. Florencia Librizzi is Deputy Director, Earth Insight
IPS UN Bureau
ROME, Nov 5 2025 (IPS) - Ehmudi Lebsir was 17 when he trudged more than 50 kilometres across the desert to stay alive. Half a century on, the Sahrawi refugee still has not gone home to what was then Spanish province of Western Sahara.
On 6 November 1975, six days after Moroccan troops pushed into the territory, hundreds of thousands of Moroccan civilians streamed south under military escort. Branded the “Green March”, it was, in effect, an invasion and the start of a military occupation of Sahrawi land.
The UN has now set aside a principle it has long held sacrosanct: the right of peoples to self-determination. That was the framework that had guided its approach to the Sahrawis for more than three decades
Dubbed “Africa’s last colony,” Western Sahara is roughly the size of the United Kingdom and remains the continent’s only territory still awaiting decolonisation. Yet on 31 October this year, that goal slipped further from reach.
Marking the 50th anniversary of Morocco’s incursion, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that, by endorsing Rabat’s autonomy plan, lent weight to Morocco’s sovereignty claim over the territory.
The UN has now set aside a principle it has long held sacrosanct: the right of peoples to self-determination. That was the framework that had guided its approach to the Sahrawis for more than three decades.
Lebsir speaks to IPS by videoconference from the Tindouf camps in western Algeria. Nearly 2,000 kilometres southwest of Algiers, this harsh desert where summer temperatures can touch 60C has been the closest thing to home the Sahrawi people have known for 50 years.
“We faced a choice: remain in Algeria as refugees, or build the machinery of a state, with its ministries and a parliament,” recalls Lebsir, now a senior representative of the Polisario Front. Founded in 1973, it is recognised by the United Nations as the “legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people”.
A man walks past a mural in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, where the Polisario Front has managed life in exile while building state institutions. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
On arriving in Tindouf in 1975, Lebsir was tasked with setting up schools in the camps. He later oversaw cohorts of Sahrawi students in Cuba, spent a decade in the Sahrawi Parliament and served in the SADR’s Ministries of Justice and Culture.
It was in that parliament that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was proclaimed in February 1976.
“After a century of Spanish presence, we never imagined Madrid would leave and abandon us to our fate,” he says. “There’s no going back: either we have an independent state, or our people will be buried.”
After the Polisario declared independence in 1976, the UN reaffirmed the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination. But the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), created in 1991, has never delivered the vote it was set up to hold.
Tomás Bárbulo was also 17 when Moroccan forces moved in. The son of a Spanish soldier based in Laayoune —Western Sahara’s capital, 1,100 kilometres south of Rabat—, he had returned to Madrid three months before that 6 November.
“The Sahrawis have survived napalm and white phosphorus, persecution, exile, the systematic plunder of their natural resources, and attempts to erase their identity through the influx of hundreds of thousands of settlers,” the journalist and author tells IPS by phone from Madrid.
Bárbulo, whose La Historia Prohibida del Sahara Español (Destino, 2002) is a standard work on the conflict, lays the stalemate chiefly at the door of “Morocco’s unyielding position, often blessed by the Security Council’s major powers.” The UN, he says, “has capitulated to Rabat”.
Ironically, even the UN does not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The occupied territory has been on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963. In legal terms, the decolonisation of Western Sahara remains “unfinished.”
Mohamed Dadach in Laayoune, the capital of occupied Western Sahara. Released in 1999 after 24 years in prison, he is known as the “Sahrawi Nelson Mandela.” Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
The UNHCR estimates that between 170,000 and 200,000 Sahrawis live in Algeria’s desert camps. However, life inside the Moroccan-held territory itself is harder to gauge, since Rabat does not even acknowledge the Sahrawi people exist.
Understanding living conditions there is equally difficult. Senior observers such as Noam Chomsky have labelled the territory as a “vast open-air prison”.
In a report released last July, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that Morocco has blocked visits by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) since 2015.
“OHCHR continues to receive allegations of human rights violations, including intimidation, surveillance and discrimination against Sahrawi individuals, particularly those advocating for self-determination,” he wrote.
Despite restrictions, international rights groups continue to document abuses. Amnesty International’s 2024 report says Rabat curtails “dissent and the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly in Western Sahara” and “violently represses peaceful protests”.
Human Rights Watch denounced that courts hand down long sentences based “almost entirely” on activists’ confessions, without probing claims they were extracted under police torture.
At 36, Ahmed Ettanji is one of the most prominent Sahrawi activists in the occupied zone, something he has paid for with 18 arrests and repeated torture.
Speaking by phone from Laayoune, he says the visibility afforded by international NGOs is the only thing keeping him out of prison, or worse.
“We are marking fifty years of a harsh military blockade, extrajudicial killings and every kind of abuse,” he says. “There are thousands of disappeared and tens of thousands of arrests. The economic interests of world powers always trump human rights.”
After five decades, entire generations have been born in the Algerian desert, many families knowing each other only through video calls. Yet Ettanji insists not all is bleak.
“Born under occupation, people my age were expected to be the most assimilated, the most pro-Moroccan. That has not happened. The desire for self-determination is very much alive among the young.”
Sunset on a beach in occupied Western Sahara. In addition to a coastline rich in fishing resources, Sahrawis watch helplessly as Rabat exploits the rest of their natural wealth with the complicity of powers like the US, France, and Spain. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza / IPS
The autonomy plan that the UN has now effectively endorsed is Rabat’s sole political offer in five decades. First floated in 2007, it was backed by the Trump administration in 2020.
How this “Autonomous Region of the Sahara” would actually work is left largely undefined, beyond talk of local administrative, judicial and economic powers.
Polisario rejects the scheme, but rejection has not brought the Sahrawis any closer to deciding their own future.
For many Sahrawis, the timing of the Security Council’s move, on the very anniversary of Morocco’s 1975 incursion, felt less like coincidence than calculated cruelty.
People like Garazi Hach Embarek, daughter of a Basque nurse who treated the first displaced families half a century ago and a founding member of the Polisario Front. The 47-year-old has spent years taking the cause into classrooms, universities, town halls and any forum that will listen.
In an interview with IPS in Urretxu, 400 kilometres north of Madrid, Hach Embarek does not hide her dismay. “Active resistance is extremely difficult, and the Moroccan lobby remains highly influential,” laments the Sahrawi activist.
“We live in turbulent times, where anything seems to go, but this is neither just nor legal. Under the guise of peace, the real aim is simply to legitimise injustice,” she adds, before stressing the need “to forge new alliances.”
“Colonialism is far from over, and we’re merely the casualties of continued misgovernance in Africa’s last colony.”
BANGKOK, Nov 5 2025 (IPS) - The message is clear: today’s youth are not “wishy-washy.” They are not just the future—they are the present, full partners in shaping it, and “power-sharing” is the new mantra. The veterans of activism are being reminded not merely to listen but to hear and to leave their egos at the door.
These were among the many resonant takeaways from the five-day International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University.
Yet beneath the optimistic rhetoric, a different mood lingered. Many young participants seemed despondent, feeling short-changed by their elders—empowered in words, but excluded in practice.
At a session titled “Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia,” young voices from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and Nepal shared their frustrations and fears for the future.
Student activist Ammad Talpur at the Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia session at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS
In Pakistan, said student activist Ammad Talpur, nepotism runs deep, inequality is horrific and brutal, and the powerful break laws with impunity. “We long for change, but fear silences us, as those in power will not brook dissent.”
A similar sense of frustration echoes beyond Pakistan.
“Though sometimes its exercise may come at a cost, youth in India are free to say anything and freedom of speech does exist,” Adrian D’ruz, another panelist, told IPS after the session. And journalists, academics, students, and comedians who questioned those in power, he said, reportedly faced legal action, online harassment, or institutional pressure.
To curb dissent, legal provisions are misapplied, resulting in people “leaning towards self-censorship rather than risking consequences,” said D’Cruz, a member of a network of NGOs in India called Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, which promotes governance accountability and inclusion of marginalized communities.
While Pakistan and India illustrate the pressures youth face under entrenched power, in Nepal the response has taken a more visible, street-level form, riding a wave of unrest that began in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
In Kathmandu, “rising unemployment, corruption, nepotism, and broken promises” fueled the unrest, said Tikashwari Rai, a young Nepali mother of two daughters, worried for their future.
Tikashwari Rai, a Nepali mother of two daughters, at the Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia session at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS
“We don’t want to work as domestic help in the Middle East; we want opportunities here, in our own country. But because there are none, many young people are forced to leave,” she explained.
Yet, she admitted, the protests came at a heavy cost—lives lost and infrastructure destroyed. “Our youth need guidance and stronger organization to lead social movements effectively,” she added.
Beyond the immediate triggers of street protests, some activists argue that deeper systemic issues fuel youth disenchantment.
Melani Gunathilaka, a climate and political activist from Sri Lanka, at the Youth Movements and Democratic Futures in South Asia session at International Civil Society Week, held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS
Melani Gunathilaka, a young climate and political activist from Sri Lanka, who was also on the panel, believed the roots of disenchantment ran deeper. “While these protests are often labeled as anti-government, at their core, they demand systemic change and true accountability from those in power.”
The immediate triggers seem to spread across corruption, authoritarian governments, repression, lack of access to basic needs and more,” she said.
A closer look at the situation in countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kenya, however, exposed economic hardship, debt burdens, and deepening inequalities. And this trend is also observed globally, she pointed out.
Despite these frustrations, the conference also explored how young and older activists can work together, not just to protest, but to reshape movements constructively.
“Across civil society, there is growing recognition that youth must be meaningfully included in development and nation-building. While progress varies from group to group, the direction of change is unmistakably forward,” said D’cruz.
Talpur further fine-tuned D’Cruz’s sentiment. “It’s not about taking over; it’s about working together through collaboration.” He also found it “unfair for the boomers to create a mess and leave it to the millennials and Gen Z to fix it.”
Interestingly, the sentiment found an echo among the older generation itself. Founder of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, Debbie Stothard, said it was unfair to leave the mess her generation had created to the young and then expect them to “fix it.”
Speaking at the closing plenary titled “Futures We’re Building: Youth, Climate and Intergenerational Justice, she noted that she had been talking about “intergenerational equity” for 40 years, yet many in her generation of activists still fail to “walk the talk” in how they live and lead. Still, she added, it is not too late: “We can still make space.”
That space, she explained, begins with a change in mindset. “It’s not our job to empower the youth; it’s recognizing that they have power,” she said—a reminder that true equity lies not in giving power away, but in acknowledging it already exists.
This shift in perspective is already reshaping how movements operate. Youth no longer need to “look up to” traditional authority figures for inspiration, said D’cruz. Many within their generation are already leading change.
Mihajlo Matkovic, a member of the Youth Action Team at CIVICUS, from Serbia, also at the closing, demonstrated how real change required innovation and persistence. “Because our generation did not have any great example of what a direct democracy looks like,” he said, adding, “We had to basically reinvent it.”
But success depends on civil society letting go of their ego and letting the youth enter the arena, he pointed out.
Matkovic’s example showed the potential of youth-led innovation—but for such change to succeed, civil society must genuinely make space and resist old hierarchies it claims to challenge, because these patterns have also fueled a climate of mistrust. “It’s hard to trust civil society,” said Rai. “They’re not sincere to the causes of ordinary people.”
Gunathilaka echoed this sentiment, noting that civil society has often been co-opted by the very systems the youth seek to change. “Ignoring the influence of private capital and international financial structures that prioritize the needs of global trade while sidelining the needs of communities has only deepened the mistrust among youth,” she added.
This climate of mistrust, while not explicitly mentioned in the final declaration of the ICSW—which urged governments to protect democracy, human rights, the rights of minorities and excluded groups, and to ensure environmental protection and climate justice—nonetheless underscored a broader challenge: civil society itself must look inward, confront its shortcomings, and reimagine how it engages meaningfully with the next generation.
IPS UN Bureau Report
SRINAGAR, India, Nov 5 2025 (IPS) - The world is falling dangerously short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals, with global greenhouse gas emissions rising to record levels and current national pledges still far off the mark, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in its Emissions Gap Report 2025: Off Target.
The report, marking ten years since the Paris Agreement’s adoption, concludes that even with full implementation of all existing pledges, global temperatures are projected to rise between 2.3°C and 2.5°C this century. Should current policies persist, global warming could potentially reach 2.8°C.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his video message posted after the report launch on November 4, said that the new Emissions Gap Report, issued by the United Nations Environment Programme, is clear and uncompromising. If nationally determined contributions, the national action plans on climate, are fully implemented by 2035, global warming would reach 2.3 degrees Celsius, down from 2.6 degrees in last year’s projections. That is progress, but nowhere near enough.
He said that the current commitments still point to climate breakdown. Scientists tell us that a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees is now inevitable, starting at the latest in the early 2030s. And the path to a livable future gets steeper by the day. “But this is no reason to surrender. It is a reason to step up and speed up. 1.5 degrees by the end of the century remains our North Star. And the science is clear: the goal is still within reach. But only if we meaningfully increase our ambition. Our mission is simple, but not easy,” he said.
Only about one-third of countries have submitted new or updated climate pledges (NDCs) by the September 2025 deadline. The report warns that despite some progress in renewable energy deployment, overall global emissions reached 57.7 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent (GtCO₂e) in 2024—a 2.3 percent increase from 2023, the steepest annual rise in over a decade.
According to UNEP, deforestation and land-use change accounted for more than half of the increase in 2024’s emissions, with fossil fuels contributing 36 percent. The G20 nations remain responsible for 77 percent of total global emissions, and only the European Union recorded a decline last year. India and China saw the largest absolute increases, while Indonesia registered the fastest relative growth.
Despite the Paris Agreement’s requirement that all parties submit new or revised NDCs by early 2025, only 60 parties, covering 63 percent of global emissions, have done so. Of these, just 13 updated their 2030 targets. Most new NDCs offer little improvement in ambition, with many missing commitments to double energy efficiency or triple renewable energy capacity by 2030. “Costs are falling, investments are rising, innovation is surging, and clean power is now the cheapest source of electricity in most markets and the fastest to deploy. It strengthens energy security, cuts pollution, and creates millions of decent jobs. Leaders must seize this moment and waste no time,” Guterres said.
He added that tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, building modern grids and large-scale storage, and ending all new coal, oil and gas expansion in a just and equitable manner. “The clean energy revolution must reach everyone, everywhere. But developing countries face crippling capital costs and a fraction of global investment,” he added.
UNEP’s analysis indicates that the new NDCs narrow the emissions gap for 2035 only marginally. The world would still emit 12 GtCO2e more than what is consistent with a 2°C pathway and 23 GtCO2e above the level required for 1.5°C. The gap widens further by 2050 unless countries drastically change course.
Overshoot of 1.5°C Now Inevitable
The report warns that global temperatures are set to exceed the 1.5°C limit within the next decade, with 2024 already marking the hottest year on record at 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. The remaining carbon budget for a 1.5°C future without overshoot is just 130 GtCO₂, which is enough for barely three more years of current emissions.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, said the findings show governments have “missed the target for a third time.” She called the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement a major setback that would add roughly 0.1°C to projected warming.
“The task now is to make this overshoot as brief and shallow as possible,” Andersen said. “Every fraction of a degree matters. Each 0.1°C increase brings more droughts, floods, and losses, especially for the poorest.”
What Needs to Happen
To have a 66 percent chance of returning global warming to 1.5°C by 2100, the world must cut 2030 emissions by 26 percent and 2035 emissions by 46 percent compared with 2019 levels. This would require reducing global greenhouse gas output to about 32 GtCO₂e by 2035.
The “rapid mitigation from 2025” scenario explored in the report shows that immediate and deep reductions starting next year could still limit peak warming to around 1.7–1.9°C before gradually returning to 1.5°C by the end of the century. But UNEP warns that each year of delay makes the path “steeper, costlier, and more disruptive.”
The report emphasizes two imperatives: implementing aggressive near-term mitigation to minimize temperature overshoot and scaling up carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies to reach net-zero and eventually net-negative emissions.
Unequal Progress and Missed Opportunities
Seven G20 members are on track to meet their current NDC targets, but most are far from achieving their net-zero pledges. Many developing countries still lack financing and technical support to implement their climate commitments. The report urges developed nations to provide “unparalleled increases in climate finance” and to reform international financial systems to make green investments accessible.
Despite setbacks, UNEP highlights that 70 percent of global emissions are now covered by net-zero pledges, a sharp increase from zero in 2015. Falling costs of wind and solar energy, along with advancements in battery storage, have made clean energy transition more viable than ever.
“Climate action is not charity,” Andersen said. “It is self-interest. It delivers jobs, energy security, and economic resilience.”
Science and Legal Mandates
The report also references the July 2025 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which ruled that states have legal obligations to protect the climate system under human rights law. It reaffirmed that limiting warming to 1.5°C remains the primary goal of the Paris Agreement, despite temporary exceedance.
UNEP scientists caution that even brief overshoots of 1.5°C could trigger irreversible tipping points, including the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet and thawing of permafrost releasing methane. Each 0.1°C rise beyond current levels increases risks of extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and health impacts, particularly in vulnerable regions.
Path Ahead to COP30
The findings come ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where nations are expected to present enhanced NDCs. UNEP urges governments to treat the conference as a turning point.
“The Paris Agreement has driven progress, but ambition and delivery have lagged,” the report states. “Each missed opportunity now adds to future costs, instability, and suffering.”
Guterres said that COP30 in Belém must be the turning point, where the world delivers a bold and credible response plan to close the ambition and implementation gaps, to mobilize USD 1.3 trillion a year by 2035 in climate finance for developing countries, and to advance climate justice for all. “The path to 1.5 degrees is narrow but open. Let us accelerate to keep that path alive for people, for the planet, and for our common future,” he said.
The 2025 report was prepared by 39 scientists from 21 institutions in 16 countries, coordinated by UNEP’s Copenhagen Climate Centre. It states that while 1.5°C is still technically achievable, the window is “narrow and closing fast.”
“Global warming will exceed 1.5°C, very likely within the next decade,” it says. “The challenge now is to ensure that this overshoot is brief and reversible. Every year, every policy, every ton of CO2 counts.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
Excerpt:
United Nations Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2025: Off Target concludes that even with full implementation of all existing pledges, global temperatures are projected to rise between 2.3°C and 2.5°C this century. Should current policies persist, global warming could potentially reach 2.8°C.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Nov 5 2025 (IPS) - At dawn in Manzese, a dusty township on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, silence hangs where the sounds of commerce once roared. The township, usually crowded with street cooks, vegetable vendors, mechanics, and motorcycle taxis snaking through the morning rush, stood eerily empty. Shutters are pulled down, wooden stalls abandoned, and the air is heavy with the smell of burnt rubber. For five days, the township’s bustling economic life has been paralyzed—leaving residents unable to buy food or access basic services.
“I still can’t believe what I saw,” says Abel Nteena, a 36-year-old tricycle rider, his voice trembling as he recalls the horror that unfolded on October 31. “Masked men in black with red armbands came out of nowhere. They started shooting at us as we queued for fuel. They spoke Swahili, but their accent was strange—and their skin was unusually dark. They shouted at everyone to run and opened fire.”
Nteena says three of his colleagues were hit by bullets and are now fighting for their lives in a local hospital. “One was shot in the chest, another in the leg. I don’t even know if they will make it,” he says.
A City Under Siege
The attack was one of several that rocked Dar es Salaam following the disputed presidential elections, which many observers described as deeply flawed. The unrest has claimed hundreds of lives nationwide, with the government imposing a 12-hour curfew to quell the violence. But in doing so, it has paralyzed the country’s economic heart.
For the millions who rely on informal trade to survive, the curfew has been a nightmare. Shops and markets close by mid-afternoon, public transport halts, and banks and mobile money agents are often shuttered long before sunset.
“I was just buying milk when I heard gunshots,” recalls Neema Nkulu, a 31-year-old mother of three from the Bunju neighborhood. “People screamed and fell to the ground. I saw a man bleeding near the shop. I dropped everything and ran.” She says. “A sniper’s bullet hit the shop’s glass right where I had been standing. I thank God I’m alive.”
With financial services disrupted, Neema and many others cannot access money stored in mobile wallets. “I have cash in my phone, but the agents are closed, and I can’t withdraw it,” she says. “My children have gone without proper food for two days.”
Daily Struggles Amid Curfew
In Dar es Salaam, where nearly six million people depend on daily earnings, the curfew has created cascading hardships. Food prices have soared as trucks bringing supplies from upcountry regions remain stranded due to insecurity and fuel shortages. The cost of maize flour, a staple food, has doubled in a week. Fuel scarcity has sent public transport fares skyrocketing—with commuters paying twice the normal price to reach work.
“I used to sell fried fish every evening,” says Rashid Pilo, 39, who runs a roadside stall in Bunju. “My customers are mostly office workers who buy food on their way home. But now, because of the curfew, everyone rushes home early. I have lost almost everything. One night’s curfew means no income and no food for my family.”
At Mwananyamala and Mabwepande hospitals, morgues are reportedly overwhelmed by bodies of those killed in the violence. Health workers, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, say they have run out of space and body bags. The government has released no official casualty figures, but human rights groups estimate that hundreds have died since election day.
“The bodies keep coming,” says one morgue attendant, visibly shaken. “Some have bullet wounds; others were beaten. Families are scared to claim them.”
Fear and Silence
Across the city, the presence of heavily armed soldiers on the streets has instilled deep fear among residents. Armored vehicles patrol major intersections, and random house searches have become routine. Most city dwellers have chosen to remain indoors, venturing out only when necessary.
“I went to three ATMs, but none were working,” says Richard Masawe, a 46-year-old computer specialist at InfoTech company. “The internet was down, and even mobile banking was offline. I couldn’t buy anything or send money to my family. It felt like we were cut off from the world.”
The government says the internet shutdown was a “temporary security measure,” but rights groups argue it was an attempt to silence dissent and block the flow of information about the violence.
Transport in Dar es Salaam has also been crippled. Long queues of vehicles snake around petrol stations, while most buses remain grounded.
“We have fuel for only half a day,” says Walid Masato a Yas station manager. “Deliveries have stopped coming. The roads are unsafe.”
An Economy on the Brink
According to economist Jerome Mchau, the post-election crisis has exposed Tanzania’s economic fragility. “The informal sector, which employs more than 80 percent of Tanzanians, is the hardest hit,” he explains. “When people can’t move, can’t trade, and can’t access cash, the entire economic system grinds to a halt.”
Mchau estimates that the economy could lose up to USD 150 million per week if the unrest continues. “Inflationary pressure is already visible,” he adds. “Food and fuel prices are climbing fast, and consumer confidence is collapsing.”
The curfew has also paralyzed logistics networks. Trucks carrying essential goods from the central regions of Dodoma, Morogoro, and Mbeya have been unable to reach the coast, creating artificial shortages in urban centers. “We are seeing panic buying,” Mchau notes. “People are stockpiling rice, pasta, and flour because they don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
Shattered Trust, Deep Divisions
Beyond the economic toll, the violence has eroded trust between citizens and the government. Many Tanzanians feel betrayed by a system they once considered a model of stability.
“Tanzania was long regarded as a beacon of peace and democracy in Africa,” says Michael Bante, a political commentator based in Dar es Salaam. “But what we’re seeing now is unprecedented—people losing faith in state institutions, opposition voices being silenced, and communities turning against each other.”
Bante says the government faces a monumental challenge in restoring public confidence. “President Samia’s administration must act decisively to unite the nation,” he says. “This means not only investigating human rights abuses but also engaging in genuine dialogue with opposition leaders and civil society.”
The opposition has accused the ruling party of manipulating the vote and using excessive force to suppress protests. The government, in turn, blames “foreign-funded elements” for inciting violence. The truth, analysts say, likely lies somewhere in between—in the deep mistrust that has been festering for years.
A Nation in Mourning
In many parts of Dar es Salaam, grief and uncertainty define daily life. At the Manzese Market, women gather quietly in small groups, whispering about missing relatives. The charred remains of kiosks and motorcycles litter the streets. A faint smell of smoke still hangs in the air.
“Life will never be the same,” says Nkulu, the young mother who narrowly escaped sniper fire. “We used to feel safe here. Now, every sound of a motorbike makes me jump. I can’t even send my children to school.”
Schools across the city remain closed indefinitely. Hospitals report rising cases of trauma and anxiety. Religious leaders have called for calm and reconciliation.
Searching for Stability
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has publicly condemned the violence, faces her toughest political test yet. In a televised address, she called for unity and promised to investigate the attacks. Yet, critics argue that the government’s heavy-handed security response risks inflaming tensions further.
“Tanzania is at a crossroads,” says Bante. “The leadership must choose between repression and reform. The world is watching.”
International partners, including the African Union and the United Nations, have called for restraint and dialogue. However, diplomatic sources say mediation efforts have stalled as both sides harden their positions.
For ordinary Tanzanians like Rashid, the fish vendor, politics has become a matter of survival. “I don’t care who wins or loses,” he says, frying a handful of tilapia over a small charcoal stove. “I just want peace so that I can work and feed my family.”
A Fragile Hope
As dusk settles over Dar es Salaam, the city remains cloaked in tension. The once-bustling bus stands and food stalls are deserted, the only movement coming from military patrols sweeping through dimly lit streets.
Yet, amid the fear and uncertainty, some still cling to hope. “We’ve seen hard times before,” says Masawe, the computer specialist. “If we can rebuild trust, maybe we can rebuild our country too.”
For now, that hope feels distant. Tanzania’s post-election crisis has left deep scars in a nation once hailed for its calm. Whether President Samia’s government can heal those wounds remains to be seen.
IPS UN Bureau Report