Africa

As four African sides prepare for the Club World Cup, BBC Sport Africa looks at what impact the expanded 32-team tournament could have on the continent.

As four African sides prepare for the Club World Cup, BBC Sport Africa looks at what impact the expanded 32-team tournament could have on the continent.

Fishers at Magogoni fish market. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 12 2025 (IPS)

Just before dawn, the worn wooden dhows begin gliding toward the shore at Magogoni fish market in Tanzania’s port city of Dar es Salaam. Their tattered sails flutter against the orange sky. Exhausted fishers step out onto the muddy sand, hauling frayed nets and plastic crates, their sun-creased faces tight with fatigue.

The Magogoni scene — women wrapped in colourful khanga bargaining over a modest catch, children darting between upturned buckets, and the pungent smell of raw sewage pouring into the sea through a rusted pipe — doesn’t deter anyone.

It is a struggle for survival for thousands of small-scale fishers who rely on the Indian Ocean to put food on their families’ dinner tables.

Yet today, one certain thing emerges.

More than 7,000 kilometres away in the French Riviera, global leaders, marine scientists, and policymakers gathered this week for the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference. The conference saw the launch of the Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The report laid bare the crisis confronting the world’s oceans — and sounded a dire warning for fisher communities in Tanzania who rely on the sea to eke out a living.

According to the FAO, just 47.4 percent of fish stocks in the Eastern Central Atlantic are currently fished at sustainable levels. The rest are either overexploited or facing collapse, pushed to the brink by climate change, weak governance, and a lack of data.

“We now have the clearest picture ever of the state of marine fisheries,” FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu told delegates. “The next step is clear: governments must scale up what works and act with urgency.”

For fishers like Daudi Kileo (51), who has spent decades at sea, that urgency is overdue. “We don’t get enough catch these days, but we keep working hard,” he told IPS by phone all the way from Dar es Salaam; dragging a nearly empty net across the sand is disheartening, he said.

In Tanzania, most fishers operate informally. Their boats lack sensors or licences. Their harvests go unrecorded. There are no quotas, no conservation enforcement, and little training on sustainable practices. Each night, they sail into deep waters hoping to return with enough to make ends meet — increasingly, they don’t.

“Sometimes we come back with less than we need to feed our children,” Kileo says. “But we do not have a choice.”

While fishing  communities in Tanzania  are battling overfishing and declining catches, other parts of the world point to a different future. In Port Lympia, Nice’s harbour, the wafting air carries no pungent smell to disturb visiting dignitaries. Small boats bob idly; many seem to be ferrying tourists instead of chasing fish. It is a glimpse into what can be achieved when policies favour protection over exploitation and when economies evolve beyond extraction.

“There’s a future where the ocean can feed us sustainably,” said Professor Manuel Barange, Director of the FAO Fisheries Division. “But it requires deep, structural change — and fast.”

Leisure boats at Port Lympia, Nice, where the UNOC3 is being held. Credit: Cecilia Russell/IPS

Central to that change is the FAO’s Blue Transformation initiative, an ambitious strategy aimed at transforming aquatic food systems through sustainable practices, robust governance, and inclusion. The plan targets improved monitoring, ethical fishing practices, and expansion of responsible aquaculture while combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing — a major threat to fragile ecosystems and vulnerable communities.

However, turning that vision into reality in low-income countries like Tanzania remains a monumental challenge.

“We don’t have the tools or the support,” says Yahya Mgawe, a researcher at the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute. “The fishers are many, our data is patchy, and enforcement is weak. We are falling behind,” he told IPS in Nice.

The consequences are  dire. Tanzania’s fisheries sector employs more than 180,000 people, the vast majority in small-scale operations. Fish provide not only income but vital nutrition, especially in rural areas. Yet as climate change alters fish migration and breeding patterns, and as competition intensifies in overfished waters, traditional knowledge is no longer enough to sustain livelihoods.

“Everything is shifting,” says Nancy Iraba a  marine ecologist at the University of Dar es Salaam. “Species that were once common are disappearing. Fish are getting smaller. And the time and effort fishers must invest is increasing, with diminishing returns.”

The FAO report highlights that in regions with better regulation and investment in science — such as the Northeast Pacific — over 90 percent of fish stocks are harvested sustainably. These gains, experts say, come from stringent quotas, real-time data collection, and cooperation across borders.

But in Africa and other parts of the Global South, the disparity is widening.

“The fishers of Tanzania are not the cause of ocean depletion,” says Iraba. “But they are among the first to pay the price.”

Recognising this injustice, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu used the conference platform to champion small-scale fishers as “guardians of biodiversity” and crucial actors in global food security. He urged countries to include them in decision-making processes and policy implementation.

“Fishers are not just producers,” Dongyu said. “They are nutrition providers and economic anchors in coastal societies. Transformation must be environmental, social, and economic — all at once.”

He also made a call to invest in youth participation, noting that as the global population nears 10 billion, young people must be empowered to innovate within the marine sector. “They must be leaders, not just observers,” he emphasised.

Yet progress remains slow. While sustainable fishery landings now represent 82.5 percent of global totals — a modest improvement — the share of overfished stocks globally still stands at 35.4 percent. And despite ambitious global targets to protect 30% of marine areas by 2030, only 2.7% of oceans are currently effectively protected.

The financial gap is just as wide. Experts estimate that up to USD 175 billion a year is needed to achieve sustainable fisheries transformation, but pledges remain far short of that figure.

As the conference concludes on Friday, FAO marked its 80th anniversary and 30 years of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries with a renewed push for innovation, including a new recognition programme for responsible aquaculture.

“Effective management is the best conservation,” Dongyu reminded delegates. “Our oceans, rivers, and lakes can help feed the world — but only if we use their resources responsibly, sustainably, and equitably.”

Back in Dar es Salaam, the boats of Magogoni are already being readied for another night. The sun rises higher, casting long shadows across the fish-streaked sand.

“We hear empty talk of big meetings and policies all the time,” says Kileo. “But nobody comes here to ask us how we survive. Nobody helps us when the fish disappear.”

His words hang in the salty air, a quiet reminder that unless the voices of small-scale fishers are included in the global vision for sustainable seas, the transformation may leave the most vulnerable behind.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

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• Waves of Change: From the Glittering Shores of Nice to Struggling Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar
• Chumbe Island: How Tanzania is Leading the Charge to Save Our Oceans

The scene of a destruction caused by the war in Ukraine. Credit: UNOCHA/Dmytro Filipskyy

By the Peace Research Institute Oslo
OSLO, Norway, Jun 12 2025 (IPS)

The world is experiencing a surge in violence not seen since the post-World War II era. 2024 marked a grim new record: the highest number of state-based armed conflicts in over seven decades.

A staggering 61 conflicts were recorded across 36 countries last year, according to PRIO’s Conflict Trends: A Global Overview report. “This is not just a spike – it’s a structural shift. The world today is far more violent, and far more fragmented, than it was a decade ago,” warned Siri Aas Rustad, Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and lead author of the report.

“Now is not the time for the United States – or any global power – to retreat from international engagement. Isolationism in the face of rising global violence would be a profound mistake with long-term human life consequences.”

The report is based on data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. It shows that while the number of battle-related deaths in 2024 held steady at approximately 129,000 – matching the devastating toll of 2023 – this level of violence was far above the average for the past three decades. 2024 was the fourth most deadly year since the Cold War ended in 1989.

Two major wars dominated the battlefield: Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine claimed an estimated 76,000 lives, while the war in Gaza killed 26,000. But these headline conflicts are only part of the picture. What is increasingly alarming is the multiplication of conflicts within individual countries.

More than half of all conflict-affected states now face two or more separate state-based conflicts, which are internal conflicts where the government is one of the warring parties. In nine countries, there were three or more state-based conflicts.

This reflects a deepening complexity in global conflict dynamics – where state fragility, transnational actors and local grievances feed into overlapping crises that are harder to contain, let alone resolve.

“Conflicts are no longer isolated. They’re layered, transnational and increasingly difficult to end,” said Rustad. “It is a mistake to assume the world can look away. Whether under President Trump or any future administration, abandoning global solidarity now would mean walking away from the very stability the U.S. helped build after 1945.”

The data also identified a rise in militant group activity as a key driver of new and sustained violence. While the Islamic State (IS) remained active in at least 12 countries, other groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) expanded its footprint. JNIM operated in five West African countries in 2024.

Africa remained the most conflict-affected region last year, with 28 state-based conflicts recorded, nearly double the number from a decade earlier. Asia followed with 17, the Middle East with 10, Europe with 3 and the Americas with 2.

“Our analysis shows that the global security landscape is not improving, it’s fracturing. And without sustained international engagement, the risks to civilians, regional stability and international order will only deepen,” warned Rustad.

• Click here to download the whole PRIO report, Conflict Trends: A Global Overview, 1946-2024.

IPS UN Bureau

 

A UN official warns that hundreds of thousands in the sprawling camp are "slowly starving".

A UN official warns that hundreds of thousands in the sprawling camp are "slowly starving".

A UN official warns that hundreds of thousands in the sprawling camp are "slowly starving".

South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada joins an elite Lord's club to increase the number of members to two, thanks to a five-wicket haul in the World Test Championship final.

South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada joins an elite Lord's club to increase the number of members to two, thanks to a five-wicket haul in the World Test Championship final.

Panelists engaged in a discussion with reporters about plastic pollution. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

As the sun peeked through the French Riviera clouds and a dozen reporters sipped orange juice aboard the WWF Panda Boat docked at Port Lympia, Frankie Orona, a Native American rights advocate from the Society of Native Nations in San Antonio, Texas, stunned the room into a moment of absolute stillness.

“Imagine a baby in the womb, completely reliant on its mother for air, water, and nutrients—and yet, plastic chemicals are already finding their way into that sacred space,” he said, his voice trembling with emotion. “That baby has no choice. And neither do future generations if we don’t act now.”

Orona’s stark imagery marked a powerful appeal to the high-level delegation at the UN Ocean Conference on June 10 in Nice, where ministers and representatives from 95 countries backed The Nice Wake-Up Call—a collective demand for an ambitious, legally binding U.N. plastics treaty that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic pollution.

For Orona, the issue is deeply personal and spiritual. “In our culture, the womb is the beginning of the circle of life. Polluting it with plastics is like violating a sacred trust,” he said.

A Crisis in the Making

Plastics are now everywhere—in our oceans, our food, and even our bodies. In 2019 alone, an estimated 28 million metric tons of plastic ended up in the environment—equivalent to dumping the weight of the Titanic into nature every day. Without aggressive intervention, that figure could nearly double by 2040.

For  Orona, who doubles as UNEP co-chair of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group, the negotiations unfolding ahead of the August talks in Geneva are a fight for survival.

Speaking to reporters aboard the WWF Panda, Orona, a descendant of the Tonkawa and Apache tribes, did not mince words. “For Indigenous peoples and frontline communities, plastic pollution is not just an environmental issue—it is a human rights crisis that has been going on for generations,” he said.

With the Mediterranean breeze brushing across the harbor, Orona’s voice cut through the chatter of press briefings and policy handouts. “Our communities live near the extraction sites, the refineries, the chemical plants, the incinerators, and the waste dumps. We are the first to feel the impacts—in our lungs, our water, our food, and our children’s health. And too often, we are the last to be consulted.”

The declaration known as The Nice Wake-Up Call, endorsed by 95 countries at the conference, was a welcome shift in tone for many in the Indigenous rights movement. “It sends a strong signal that many governments are now recognizing what we’ve been saying for decades—that ending plastic pollution means addressing the full life cycle of plastics: from extraction to production to disposal,” Orona said.

From Environmental Damage to Systemic Injustice

Orona, who also represents the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Plastics and is part of the Plastics Environment Justice Delegation, emphasized that plastic pollution must be understood in the context of historical and ongoing systems of exploitation.

“This is a continuation of environmental racism and systemic injustices. The human rights violations and violence that have been normalized in our communities for generations must stop,” he said.

Citing the disproportionate exposure of Indigenous populations to toxic chemicals used in plastics—some linked to cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption—he called for a global ban on these additives. “Many of these chemicals are dumped, burned, and leached into our waters, into our sacred lands,” Orona said. “We cannot talk about justice if these harms continue.”

A Just Transition Rooted in Indigenous Knowledge

While many governments are pushing for ambitious production caps and bans on single-use plastics, Orona warned that these measures must not shift the burden onto those least responsible for the crisis.

“A just transition means phasing out fossil fuel-based plastics while investing in community-led solutions, including Indigenous knowledge and science,” he said. “This isn’t just about cleaning up trash; it’s about restoring balance and protecting future generations.”

In a system long dominated by fossil fuel interests and extractive economies, Indigenous communities have often led the way in conservation and sustainable living. “Our knowledge systems are not just cultural—they are scientific. They are proven. And they are part of the solution,” Orona noted.

Follow the Money—and Ensure It Reaches the Frontlines

Orona’s final message was financial. Any treaty, he insisted, must include a mechanism that guarantees direct access to funds for Indigenous and frontline communities.

“Too often, we are shut out of global financing streams—even when we are the ones on the front lines, creating the very solutions the world needs,” he said. “That must end.”

While images of floating plastic bottles and entangled turtles often dominate headlines, experts at the Nice panel were adamant: the crisis begins long before a straw hits the ocean.

Disproportionate Impacts

Plastic production facilities are often located in marginalized communities—adding a layer of environmental injustice to the crisis.

“Indigenous peoples, rural communities, and minority populations suffer the worst impacts,” said Orona. “We’re talking about asthma, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases—especially in children. These are not abstract consequences; these are lived experiences.”

Reporters on the Panda Boat scribbled notes between bites of Mediterranean pastries, visibly moved by Orona’s personal account.

“This is genocide by pollution,” he added. “Our people are dying, and it’s largely invisible to the rest of the world.”

Wildlife at Risk

The panel also underscored the devastating effects of plastic on marine life. Every species of sea turtle has been documented ingesting or getting entangled in plastic. For blue whales, the planet’s largest animals, the reality is even more daunting—they are believed to ingest up to 10 million pieces of microplastic every day, sometimes weighing as much as 44 kilograms.

The next round of negotiations for the plastics treaty is scheduled for August in Geneva, where pressure is mounting to solidify a legally binding agreement that includes all five critical points outlined in the Nice declaration.

The sense of urgency also echoes in the corridors of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the U.N. agency overseeing the global shipping industry. Tasked with ensuring environmental safety on the high seas, the IMO has stepped up efforts to address plastic waste, among other pressing marine threats.

In response to a question about the devastating 2021 marine spill in Sri Lanka—where a burning cargo vessel released over 1,680 metric tons of plastic pellets into the Indian Ocean—IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez noted that the agency has been developing new regulations specifically targeting the handling, packaging, and cleanup of plastic pellets. These measures, initially adopted by the European Union, mark a significant step in tightening maritime controls on plastic pollution.

Dominguez stressed that tackling marine pollution also demands inclusive governance. The IMO is increasingly encouraging the participation of Indigenous communities and young people—groups historically sidelined from international maritime decision-making. Their voices, he said, are crucial for shaping policies that are both just and effective.

Next Steps

Professor Bethany Carney Almroth—a renowned environmental toxicologist and one of the leading scientific voices in the negotiations—believes the business world is not the obstacle many assume it to be. Instead, she says, it’s a matter of giving business the legal clarity to act.

“Business follows the rule of law,” she said. “The situation we have today is a mix—some laws are written, others are absent. That’s the problem. If we create new regulations, then it’s no longer a question of whether businesses are voluntarily doing enough. It becomes a question of compliance.”

Carney Almroth, who has worked extensively on the science-policy interface for chemicals and plastics, said that a strong, enforceable treaty is essential to shift the status quo.

“The status quo is broken,” she said plainly. “We need to change the framework so regulations guide businesses to do the best thing possible—for the economy, for the environment, and for people.”

As one of the few experts who has consistently called for systemic reform in how plastics are managed, Carney Almroth said that relying on voluntary industry movements is simply not enough.

“We’ve seen global treaties deliver meaningful results before,” she said. “The Montreal Protocol worked. It changed how we handled chlorofluorocarbons, and it protected the ozone layer. People may not even realize how much their lives have improved because of those decisions—but they have.”

The Hidden Cost of Profit

Responding to a question about the profitability of the plastics industry—especially in countries where it contributes significantly to government revenues—Carney Almroth offered a sobering perspective.

“When we say plastics are profitable, that’s only because we’re not accounting for the real costs,” she said. “Those costs aren’t paid by the companies producing plastics. They’re paid by nature, and they’re paid by people.”

She cited staggering health implications, pointing out that plastics contain thousands of chemicals—many of which are toxic, carcinogenic, or endocrine-disrupting. “The human healthcare costs associated with exposure to these chemicals are astronomical—running into billions of dollars each year. But they’re not included in the price tag of plastic production.”

Building Standards that Protect People and the Planet

So what does it take to eliminate hazardous plastics from global markets?

According to Carney Almroth, we’re still missing a critical piece: effective, fit-for-purpose international standards.

“Right now, most of the existing standards—developed by organizations like ISO or OECD—are geared toward material quality or industrial use. They were never designed to protect human health or the environment,” she explained. “We need new standards. Ones that are developed by independent experts and shielded from vested interests.”

For such standards to be truly effective, she said, they must be holistic and interdisciplinary. “We need to move away from just focusing on economic sustainability. That’s what we’ve done in the past—and it’s failed us. Environmental and social sustainability must be given equal weight.”

As the panel wrapped up, Orona gazed over the Port Lympia waters.

“We have a choice right now,” he said. “To continue poisoning the womb of the Earth—or to become caretakers, protectors.”

And as the reporters descended the gangway of the Panda Boat, the symbolism was not lost: we’re all adrift in this ocean of plastic. Whether we sink or swim depends on what happens next.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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• Chumbe Island: How Tanzania is Leading the Charge to Save Our Oceans
• Waves of Change: From the Glittering Shores of Nice to Struggling Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar
• Global Push to Protect Oceans Gains Momentum Ahead of UN Conference in Nice

The Artificial Intelligence for Inclusion:Strengthening Workforce Participation for Persons with Disabilities side event, held at the United Nations Headquarters. Credit: UN Web TV

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

On June 10, the United Nations (UN) held a conference titled Artificial Intelligence for Inclusion: Strengthening Workforce Participation for Persons with Disabilities. This conference, which was organized by the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN, featured a discussion by a panel of experts from various sectors, looking to shed light on the ways AI tools can be used to create inclusive workforces that maximize fairness and accessibility.

Since the mainstream adoption of generative AI systems in the early 2020s, many industries have been restructured. For many workers around the world, the implementation of AI tools have streamlined work processes, making once tedious tasks easier than ever before. Efficiency has been revolutionized, with many human workers being pushed to higher-level positions and creating a host of new jobs across numerous industries.

Despite these benefits, AI systems produce risks of unintentional bias and discrimination, particularly during the hiring process, limiting inclusivity and merit-based employment in the workforce. Additionally, AI systems that have been designed for able-bodied users have effectively shut out members of the disabled community.

Throughout this conference, the panel of experts discussed the methods through which AI systems can be transformed to benefit disabled individuals who have been disproportionately affected by job displacement and discrimination. Due to AI tools being a relatively new development in the global workforce, many industries lack the necessary structures to keep them from compromising a fair and equitable work environment.

“AI is transforming the way that we live, not just how we do business. Because of its rapid arrival to users, because of its regulation, free space is posing huge questions around inclusion, ethics, privacy, and some of our most fundamental institutions,” said Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Jobs and Families.

According to Dr. Jutta Treviranus, the Director and Professor at Inclusive Design Research Centre, OCAD University, the majority of AI tools used in the workforce use algorithms that create biases for those that are considered different from the vast majority. Treviranus states that roughly 90 percent of U.S. organizations rely on AI tools to hire and determine disciplinary action for employees. These systems are often trained to detect individuals who are perceived as outliers and cast them aside, creating “organizational monocultures” which harm the disabled community.

“Bias toward optimal patterns means bias towards difference. As AI gets better and better, it gets better at discrimination. Many of you are using programs that help with efficiency and help produce systems that eliminate anyone that is not optima,” said Treviranus. “We have created an international community that hopes to address statistical inequality and cumulative harm. In U.S.risk and impact assessments, anything that happens to an outlier is deemed to be statistically insignificant. We are facing statistical discrimination with these protections as well.”

Additionally, AI systems that are designed to support disabled individuals often only account for physical disabilities while neglecting individuals with intellectual disabilities. Disabled women are also disproportionately affected by data bias. Without considering these groups, AI systems are effectively working against promoting a diverse array of perspectives in the workplace, which in turn, hurt decision-making processes and innovation.

“AI can be a powerful equalizer and tool, only if it is developed with intentionality,” said A.H. Monjurul Kabir, the Senior Global Adviser and Team Leader at Gender Equality and Disability Inclusion at UN Women. “It is critical that (AI) does not deepen existing stigma, discrimination, and inequalities, especially for women and girls who face compounded layers of discrimination.”

“The unfortunate thing is that even if proportional representation was possible, AI will still rule against outliers and small minorities. It’s extremely difficult to get cluster analysis in disability…We need to look at what is done with that data and how it’s analyzed. Privacy protections do not work if you are highly unique. Differential privacy removes the pieces of data that are helpful to create AI data that will serve you,” added Treviranus.

Furthermore, disabled individuals around the world lack adequate access to AI-powered assistive technologies. With AI tools being implemented in all major sectors of industry, it is imperative that disabled workers are supplied with tools that streamline their work processes and keep their physical and/or intellectual conditions in mind.

“To some extent, addictive tech is a broken business model. The weight of the costs is on disabled individuals and public service…People with disabilities are paying far more for access that works poorly and is often broken,” said Treviranus. “AI using these life changing technologies usually work the least from people who need them the most. The farther you are from the average, the less it works. If the products you have are in a different language or your environment is poor, it will not work well,” she added.

According to Jürgen Dusel, theFederal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Persons with Disabilities for Germany, workers with intellectual disabilities are currently receiving tablets that help them navigate their daily responsibilities in hotel jobs. Additionally, Hajdu states that in many parts of the world, disabled individuals face limited access to breathing technologies due to a lack of electricity in their environments.

To create comprehensive systems that benefit a wide spectrum of individuals, AI technology must be accessible for the most underserved communities. With disabled individuals persisting in every corner of the world, there must be reforms in accessibility to ensure that all people are afforded a fair chance to survive and succeed in their fields.

“The unexplored knowledge terrain is that entire area that faces intersectional barriers…..If you work with individuals who experience greatest barriers you will create a much more adaptive system with less need for help. In the long term, you are saving money and you don’t need to engage so many people. …I think there is an imperative to do this work we need to ensure these people creating this intelligence actually act intelligent,” said Treviranus.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

The alleged rape is the latest allegation of misconduct made against soldiers at a controversial base in Kenya.

Government of Vanuatu, including Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change; Director General of the Pacific Community Dr. Stuart Minchin; Vishal Prasad, Director of the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change; and Julian Aguon, Director of Blue Ocean Law, briefs journalists at UNOC3.

By Cecilia Russell
NICE, France, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

To the outside world, a sea level rise of 34 cm (or slightly longer than a child’s ruler) may not seem dramatic, but it’s an existential threat to the Pacific island state of Vanuatu.

Vanuatu, in support of a youth movement, the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, has approached the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on how existing international laws can be applied to strengthen action on climate change and protect people and the environment. The opinion is expected later this year.

Already there has been some success in the international campaign Vanuatu has led on behalf of the Pacific states and territories and a 2024 advisory opinion from the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea confirmed states’ obligations to prevent climate-related harm, including from non-state actors, like fossil fuel corporations under signatory states’ control.

“So, this opinion is significant. It has provided crucial certainty that protecting our oceans from climate change is international law. It’s not optional,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change, Vanuatu, emphasizing these obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He was speaking at a press briefing held today (June 11, 2025) at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference underway in Nice, France.

In the case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Vanuatu has made a broad case that goes beyond climate conventions and includes human rights law and customary international rules, said Julian Aguon, Director, Blue Ocean Law.

Speakers at the conference emphasized the need for ambitious climate action, noting that the Pacific contributes less than 0.01 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but faces severe impacts.

The case before the ICJ was crucial because its outcome could “essentially turn the page on business-as-usual and actually embark on a new course, a new era of climate change reparations,” said Aguon and the opinion, which will hopefully elaborate on the legal consequences of the breach of obligations, will mean “stepping into a new era of climate accountability.”

Vishal Prasad, Director, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, added that communities on the frontlines of the effects of climate change should not have to pay the costs of rebuilding—whether this is seawall construction or mangrove regeneration—and bear the burdens of a group of historical polluters who fail to grasp their responsibility in exacerbating the climate crisis.

Asked by IPS about the increased reliance on fossil fuels and the poor response to reparations financing, as in the Loss and Damage Fund, Aguion said the opinion would mean countries would no longer be able to hide from their obligations.

“This will, once and for all, decisively dispel the legal ambiguity that has long hobbled the ability of the international community to respond effectively to the climate crisis.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Plastic has worked its way into every corner of the food system. Credit: Giorgio Cosulich / FAO

By Kaveh Zahedi
ROME, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

Each year, more than 12.5 million tonnes of plastic are used in agriculture alone, and another 37 million tonnes become food packaging. Very little gets recycled.

You don’t have to look far to see how plastic has worked its way into every corner of the food system. Seedling trays, mulch films, irrigation tubing, shipping crates, cling wrap. And that’s before it even hits the shelves. It’s efficient, cheap, and convenient, helping to protect crops and reduce food losses—but it lingers.

Plastic waste doesn’t disappear. It breaks down, over years, into particles too small to see.FAO’s research confirms that even tiny amounts of plastics can affect water retention, microbial activity, and plant growth. It also finds evidence that microplastics and plastic-associated chemicals can be absorbed by crops, potentially reaching edible parts

Plastic waste doesn’t disappear. It breaks down, over years, into particles too small to see.
FAO’s research confirms that even tiny amounts of plastics can affect water retention, microbial activity, and plant growth. It also finds evidence that microplastics and plastic-associated chemicals can be absorbed by crops, potentially reaching edible parts. These findings – due to be published later in 2025 – reinforce the need for immediate action to reduce plastic inputs in agriculture and protect the health of soils, crops, and consumers.

The Food and Agriculture Organization is helping governments, farmers, and industries cut down on plastic waste—through smarter use, better alternatives, and practical changes on the ground that bring better production, better nutrition, better environment and better lives and don’t compromise the bottom line for farmers.

As part of the response, FAO’s Provisional Voluntary Code of Conduct built through consultations with governments, scientists, producers, and private companies can guide the sustainable use of plastics in agriculture. It offers clear, actionable advice: reduce where possible, reuse when practical, recycle when safe. It points towards a gradual transition away from short-lived plastics, without putting food security or farmer’s incomes at risk.

One promising frontier is the shift toward bio-based and biodegradable materials—drawn from agricultural residues, organic matter, and natural polymers. FAO supports innovation through bioeconomy to help farmers replace conventional plastics with options that break down safely and support soil health.

Consider the banana sector. Plastic bags, twine, and wraps have long been standard in large plantations. FAO’s World Banana Forum has been working with producers and researchers to change that. By sharing practical guidance and exploring alternatives, farmers are beginning to cut down on plastic use and reduce the waste leaking into surrounding environments.

Then there’s the issue of pesticide containers. Too often, these are burned or tossed into fields, releasing toxic residue into the soil and air. FAO is piloting safer disposal methods—like the triple-rinse technique—and helping countries establish collection and recycling systems.

Together with the International Atomic Energy Agency, FAO is leading research on microplastic detection in soil. They’re using advanced isotopic techniques and working to develop standardized testing methods so countries can measure the problem and respond effectively.

Concerns don’t end with the soil. Microplastics have been found in water, salt, fish, and even some vegetables. FAO has conducted scientific reviews on how these particles move through food systems, and what they might mean for human health. Research is ongoing, especially around effects on the gut microbiome, but efforts are already underway to improve testing and keep consumers informed.

National programs are starting to shift practices in real time. In Sri Lanka, FAO’s CIRCULAR project, funded by the European Union, is helping reduce single-use packaging and improve retail design. In Kenya and Uruguay, FAO is helping develop greener policies through the Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management” (FARM) project, funded by the Global Environment Facility. The programme combines technical support, farmer outreach, and policy reform to shrink the plastic footprint of agriculture.

The Global Soil Partnership, hosted by FAO, includes the Global Soil Doctors programme—farmer-to-farmer training focused on practical tools to manage soil pollution. Knowledge moves across borders, one field at a time.

Plastic pollution doesn’t stop at the shoreline. Fishing gear—lost, abandoned, or discarded—chokes marine ecosystems and threatens coastal economies. FAO has issued guidelines on marking fishing gear to make it traceable and recoverable. Through the GloLitter Partnerships, implemented by IMO in collaboration with FAO, 30 countries are improving waste management in ports, testing cleaner vessel technologies, and tracking sources of marine litter.

Reducing plastic in agrifood systems isn’t a single solution—it’s a process of rethinking how we grow, move, and consume food in ways that protect people, soils, and oceans alike. Step by step, FAO is working to help countries move toward more sustainable and resilient food systems—ones that don’t rely on plastics to hold them together.

Excerpt:

Kaveh Zahedi is the Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Three children were rescued on Tuesday reportedly found clinging to trees after their bus was swept away.

Chumbe Island Coral Park is an example of a successful Marine Protected Area. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
NICE, France, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

Under the surface of Tanzania’s turquoise waters, a miracle unfolds quietly every day.

Just off the coast of Zanzibar, in the Chumbe Island Coral Park, reef fish glitter like scattered gemstones, weaving between coral gardens that pulse with life. The air is heavy with salt, and the silence underwater is only broken by the rhythmic clicks of snapping shrimp and the steady heartbeat of the sea itself. Sea turtles slither over hard corals. Butterflyfish dart like flashes of sunlight. It’s a living display—one of the most pristine marine ecosystems in East Africa.

And it might have been a thing of the past…

Three decades ago, this vibrant reef was on the verge of collapse. Unregulated fishing, reef blasting, and coral bleaching were turning once-vibrant habitats into underwater graveyards. But today, Chumbe stands as a glimmer of hope—a thriving marine sanctuary wholly managed by a private conservation initiative and proof of the power of local stewardship in a world waking up too slowly to an unfolding ocean crisis.

“If we save the sea, we save our world,” Sir David Attenborough whispers in the final scene of Ocean, his swan song to marine life. A humpback whale glides across the screen, her calf pressing gently against her side. “The ocean still has the power to heal,” he says. “All it asks of us is to let it breathe.”

At the recent UN Ocean Conference in Nice, Tanzania’s ocean story drew quiet admiration in global hallways increasingly crowded with diplomatic speeches and pledges. As policymakers debated the legal frameworks for deep-sea mining and delegates exchanged notes on 30×30 goals, one African nation presented a blueprint that blends science, law, and community with palpable urgency.

Chumbe: A Living Laboratory of Hope

Chumbe Island Coral Park, established in the mid-1990s, was one of the first marine protected areas (MPAs) in the region to be managed privately, without government funding. Its genesis was simple but bold: protect what remains before it’s gone. No fishing. No anchor damage. No pollution. No greenwashing.

The result? A thriving marine habitat where coral cover reaches over 90 percent—unheard of in many parts of the Indian Ocean. Rare species like giant groupers, humphead wrasses, and endangered hawksbill turtles breed undisturbed. Underwater, it feels like a lost world—alive, balanced, and breathing.

“Chumbe is proof that conservation isn’t a luxury—it’s survival,” says Rukia Hassan, a local marine guide trained by the park. “Our ocean is our life. Without it, we have nothing.”

And the reef gives back. The protected area replenishes nearby fishing zones through the spillover effect. Local communities, once skeptical, are now stewards and beneficiaries. Through ecotourism, jobs have been created, schools funded, and marine education embedded into Zanzibar’s youth culture.

“People thought banning fishing here would starve us,” says fisherman Salum Juma from nearby Mbweni village. “But now we see more fish than ever—on the reef and in our nets.”

Tanzania’s Ocean Strategy: Beyond Promises

While many nations arrive at global summits armed with pledges, Tanzania has quietly built its marine protection framework from the seafloor up. The National Marine Ecosystem Management Strategy outlines ambitious conservation targets across its 1,400-kilometer coastline, with a growing network of MPAs.

Leading the charge is Danstan Johnny Shimbo, Director of Legal Services at the Vice President’s Office. At the Ocean Summit, his message was clear: “We don’t govern the ocean for the sake of it. We do it because our survival depends on it.”

Under his leadership, Tanzania has ratified a suite of international marine agreements and is drafting regulations for deep-sea mining, balancing economic potential with ecological limits.

“Yes, we have minerals on our seabed,” Shimbo told IPS in an exclusive interview. “But we’re not going to destroy the ocean to get them.”

Tanzania has also cracked down on blast fishing, once rampant in mainland and island coastal zones. Enforcement teams now collaborate with local communities to report violations and restore reefs. Education campaigns are working: destructive fishing is no longer seen as an act of desperation but as an attack on future generations.

“It used to be about catching more fish,” says Fatuma Ali, a mother of three from Bagamoyo. “Now we talk about catching fish next year and the year after that.”

The Global View: A Race Against Time

Yet, the ocean is in peril. At the Nice summit, Dr. Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer and marine ecologist, delivered a haunting truth: only 3 percent of the global ocean is highly protected. To meet the 30×30 target—protecting 30 percent by 2030—85 new MPAs would need to be established every single day.

“What we’re doing right now is not enough,” Sala said. “The ocean needs courage, not half-measures.”

Countries like Sweden and Greece pledged to ban bottom trawling in MPAs. Others, like France, offered softer reforms. But in small island nations and community-led zones like Zanzibar’s Chumbe, the real conservation work is already happening.

“We’ve had enough conferences,” said Sala. “It’s time to act.”

A New Ocean Economy

What may finally turn the tide is money.

According to a recent study by National Geographic’s Pristine Seas and Dynamic Planet, every USD 1 invested in a well-managed MPA yields USD 10 in returns—from tourism and fisheries to storm protection. That economic logic is already bearing fruit in Chumbe, where ecotourism helps finance education, conservation, and livelihoods.

“MPAs aren’t a burden—they’re the smartest investment we can make,” said Kristin Rechberger, CEO of Dynamic Planet.

Tanzania’s strategy increasingly frames the ocean not just as an environmental issue but as an economic one. From fish exports to blue carbon markets and nature-based tourism, the sea is now seen as a bank—not to be emptied, but replenished.

Can Tanzania Inspire the World?

For Shimbo and others, the challenge ahead is massive. The rising pressure of climate change, industrial development, and plastic pollution threatens to undo years of progress. But Chumbe, Mafia Island Marine Park, and other MPAs remain shining examples of what’s possible.

“If a country like Tanzania, with limited resources, can do this,” said marine scientist  Grace Mwakalukwa from the Institute of Resources Assessment of the University of Dar es Salaam, “then rich nations have no excuse.”

As the world wrestles with how to fund ocean protection, Tanzania is proving that community, courage, and clear rules can go further than big speeches.

A Final Plea from the Reef

Back on Chumbe, a reef shark circles  a coral head  while a green turtle rests in a sandy lagoon. Above, schoolchildren visit the island’s Eco-Education Center, learning  how  sea cucumbers  filter water and parrotfish create  sand. They sketch fish, laugh at hermit crabs, and speak of the ocean  not as a problem but as a promise.

“We tell the children this is your inheritance,” says Rukia, the marine guide. “Protect it like you would your own home.”

The lesson is painfully clear: the world is running out of time to conserve unique marine biodiversity but not out of hope.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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• Waves of Change: From the Glittering Shores of Nice to Struggling Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar
• Pacific States, Territories Gift the World its ‘Largest Conservation Project’

Pacific Island leaders speak at a press conference at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference in Nice. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

By Naureen Hossain
NICE, France, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

“There is no climate action without ocean action,” President Hilda Heine of the Marshall Islands told reporters, as she and other representatives of Pacific island states reiterated that countries must honor their climate action agreements.

“The ocean is bearing the brunt of our failure to address climate change and transition away from fossil fuels.”

Heine remarked that countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) must include how they will transition toward renewable energy sources in line with the 1.5 degree limit under the Paris Agreement.

President Surangel Whipps Jr. of Palau remarked that protecting the oceans requires countries to deliver on 1.5-aligned NDCs. He called on all countries, including major emitters from the G20 to deliver on them by September this year. “We need to adapt to shield our oceans from further harm. And that means, plain and simple, money—and money that we can use,” said Whipps Jr.

On the second day of the UN Ocean Conference, leaders and representatives from Pacific island states spoke to reporters following the Pacific-France Summit with President Emmanuel Macron. The leaders sat down with Macron to discuss the role that France could play in supporting climate resilience in the Pacific islands. They hoped that he would be an advocate for the Pacific island states and climate action within the European Union (EU), the G20 and the G7. Heine acknowledged that their meeting was not a “formal negotiating venue.” Rather, it was an opportunity to share concerns from the Pacific island states.

Whipps Jr. said that he invited Macron to invest in the Blue Pacific Prosperity Initiative and Pacific Resilience Fund. “The gap between what we need and what we have is growing dangerously wide,” said Whipps Jr. Macron was said to have committed to investing in climate financing in the region, as Whipps stressed that financing should reach the communities that would benefit from it the most without it taking months or even years to reach them.

“In the Pacific, our security depends on climate action,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Management, Vanuatu. “Without climate action, we face a very dangerous future.”

Venues such as the Ocean Conference provide opportunities for underrepresented communities  and smaller countries to bring global attention to their challenges with the hope of effecting forward momentum, even as the process can be slow-moving.

“A lot of these changes that happen at the International level, when they do happen, are a result of these coalitions of the willing,” said Regenvanu, pointing to how nearly 50 countries have ratified the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and that 37 countries have issued a moratorium on seabed mining.

“It’s the way you get to change—building support.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Related Articles

• Pacific States, Territories Gift the World its ‘Largest Conservation Project’
• Waves of Change: From the Glittering Shores of Nice to Struggling Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar
• Oceans at Risk: Report Warns Global Fossil Fuel Expansion Threatens Marine Biodiversity

Gaza children under rubble. Credit: Mohammad Ibrahim

By Melek Zahine
BORDEAUX, France, Jun 11 2025 (IPS)

During President Trump’s tour of Gulf monarchies last month, he mentioned Gaza only two times. The first time was in Doha, when he expressed his desire to make Gaza a “freedom zone.” Gaza’s 2.1 million residents, nearly half of whom are children, would like that, too.

Just as the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in violation of the Geneva Convention have the right to immediate and unconditional freedom, Gazans also have the right to live free of the inhumane and illegal collective punishment they’ve been forced to endure for more than 600 days.

Melek Zahine

They would like freedom from the brutal bombardment, starvation, forced displacement, siege, and blockade of Gaza. They would also like the freedom to safely collect food and basic humanitarian supplies from the UN and other legitimate and experienced aid providers, the freedom to return to their communities to search for and bury their dead with dignity, and the freedom to rebuild Gaza even if it takes a generation.

The survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Dresden, Stalingrad, and Le Havre, were free to rebuild their cities. Why should this freedom be denied to Gazans?

When President Trump mentioned Gaza for the second time during his Gulf tour, he was in Abu Dhabi, where he briefly acknowledged the humanitarian crisis. He said, “We’re looking at Gaza. A lot of people are starving.”

The world now knows that President Trump’s words were nothing more than a virtue-signaling smoke screen. He wasn’t actually seeing the scale of the human suffering in Gaza, which the United States helped create.

Instead, he was talking about the so-called Gaza “Humanitarian Foundation,” a cynical and deadly tool designed by Israeli and U.S. officials to replace an established, functioning, independent, and credible international aid system in order to accelerate the ethnic cleansing and annexation of Gaza.

Since its launch ten days after Trump made his comments in Abu Dhabi, the G.H.F. has delivered more death than food and proven itself to be anything but humanitarian.

It’s just another lethal weapon in Israel’s vast Western-subsidized war arsenal and a way to appease Israel’s patrons in the U.S. Congress. How, after all, can “Hamas tunnels” and fighters hide beneath the emaciated, dying, and dead bodies of Gaza’s starved children?

Aftermath of a 6 May Israeli airstrike on an UNRWA school turned-shelter in Gaza where dozens of people were reportedly killed, including women and children. Credit: UNRWA

President Trump had a real chance to prove that his concerns for Gaza and his persistent claims of being a peacemaker were genuine during the 4 June U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire and full, unhindered humanitarian access.

Like President Biden before him, President Trump instructed his Acting U.N. Ambassador to cast the lone, shameful vote against a resolution meant to prevent the further loss of life in Gaza, including for the remaining Israeli hostages whose families have been pleading for a lasting ceasefire every day since November 2023.

This U.N. resolution wasn’t a political call for sanctions or an arms embargo against Israel. Nor was it a call to recognize the State of Palestine. It was simply a call for humanitarian action in order to get life-saving aid into Gaza at scale and to get the hostages out of captivity.

The political wisdom and courage to vote in favor of this ceasefire was the bare minimum President Trump and his administration could have offered. More importantly, it’s what a majority of American citizens have wanted for some time now, including those who voted for President Trump.

According to a March 2025 AP-NORC poll, 60% of Republicans now believe that “it’s essential” for the U.S. to “facilitate a permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” and in May, a Data for Progress poll showed that 76% of Americans across political lines are in favor of an immediate ceasefire and would like to see the U.S. do its part to de-escalate the crisis in Gaza.

By voting against the ceasefire and providing numerous misleading reasons for doing so afterward, President Trump ignored the views of a majority of Americans towards the increasingly desperate situation faced by Gaza’s besieged and starving population.

The urgent question now is whether the 14 sovereign states that voted in favor of the resolution will quickly honor their votes with meaningful action. There’s so much that can be done, from pausing trade talks and relations to arms embargoes and sanctions, but the following three measures will send a strong, immediate message that there’s serious determination behind the condemnation.

European, U.K., Turkish, and regional Arab States should join forces to provide a no-fly zone over Gaza. This action is the fastest way to stop Israel from prosecuting its deadly daily air strikes. I witnessed how it saved lives and paved the way to peace when NATO enforced a No Fly Zone over Bosnia for a thousand days between 1993 and 1995.

A no-fly zone over Gaza will help calm tensions in the region and build a political and humanitarian space for more seasoned mediators to ensure the safe release of the Israeli hostages and for legitimate humanitarian aid actors to resume operations through the Karem Shalom, Erez, and other crossings into Gaza.

Simultaneously, the deployment of French, Turkish, British, and Russian naval hospital ships already in or near the Mediterranean should sail to Gaza immediately, especially towards the North of the strip where no fully functioning hospitals remain and where people are dying for lack of basic medical supplies and infrastructure.

This action will help save lives and lift the burden from Gaza’s devastated healthcare system until it’s given a chance to recover. Furthermore, the governments that voted in favor of the resolution must pressure Israel to facilitate immediate access for international journalists into Gaza.

If a small sailboat in the Mediterranean and the thousands of ordinary citizens from 32 countries presently marching towards Gaza through Egypt can try to break Israel’s unlawful siege and blockade, surely the most powerful governments and navies from the Eurasian continent can do their part.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Excerpt:

Melek Zahine is an international humanitarian affairs and disaster response expert.

Clashing ideas over how Edgar Lungu should be honoured have led to a political standoff.

Clashing ideas over how Edgar Lungu should be honoured have led to a political standoff.