Young climate activists met with experts at the American Library in Paris to discuss how to protect rivers, trees, wildlife and people through legislation. The sixth Ecologues discussion featured Tim Crosland and moderator Alice McCrum, with Linda Sheehan and Irmak...
Some 785 million people worldwide lack a basic drinking water supply. Experts came together at the UN to find solutions to our planet’s worsening water crisis. Delegates pose next to a sign set up outside the United Nations headquarters during the UN 2023 Water...
A yearly gathering of the UN General Assembly commemorates victims of the Holocaust and reminds us that we must work harder to keep hatred at bay. Attendants to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust look up the names of...
Where diplomacy balances demagoguery, should one nation be able to veto the votes of 192 others? Giving peace a chance might just be too much to ask. Non–Violence or The Knotted Gun by Carl Fredrik Reutersward, UN New York. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 Hands up if you...
Global citizenship and cross-border collaboration has never mattered more. Among the 193 nations that make up the United Nations, the island nation of Tuvalu – less than 13,000 people – has the same vote on referendums in the General Assembly as China, which has more than 1 billion people. But China also serves on the UN Security Council and so can veto any proposal. Because of this strange inequity, the UN has been unable to stop ethnically-driven massacres, genocidal persecution of minorities and other smaller conflicts. On the other hand, it is bringing the world together on climate change.
Exercise: Turn your class into a mini United Nations. Each student will get one vote. But appoint a small number of students to also serve on the Security Council. (You might choose the tallest, biggest students to emphasize the idea of power imbalance.) Have students propose changes that should be made by the school or your class. Then have the students on the Security Council see if they are willing to endorse the idea, with any one student on it given the power to quash the proposal. Then have students discuss the pros and cons of that structure and the power of the veto.
Food systems contribute greatly to climate change. Cooling the planet might require shaking up our meal plans. Substitute meat brands at a supermarket in Westchester County, New York, 16 February 2021. (STRF/STAR MAX/IPx) This article is the fifth in a series of...