• Last year, OECD members only gave 0.3% of their GNI to aid – less than the 0.7% promised. • 0.7% would help the world's poorest countries meet the SDGs for a decade. • Stable aid flows are needed more than ever during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. On 24 October 1970, the world's richest countries made a promise that would better the lives of people around the world. They committed to give a small percentage of their income – just 0.7% – in i...

By 2100, the global population could surpass 11 billion, according to predictions by the UN.Currently China, India and the USA have the three largest populations in the world, but by 2100, this will have changed to India, Nigeria and China, respectively. The World Population in 2100, by Country In 2015, the United Nations predicted that the global population could surpass 11 billion by the end of the century. Last year, the UN revised these estim...

86% of people want significant change to make the world fairer and more sustainable after COVID-19, a new study finds.Almost three-quarters want their own lives to change too.More than 21,000 people in 28 countries took part in the survey.The findings align with the World Economic Forum's call for a Great Reset after the crisis. A majority of people worldwide support calls for global leaders to ensure we make the world fairer and more sustainable...

Starting this week, 120 Germans will receive a form of universal basic income every month for three years.The volunteers will get monthly payments of €1,200, or about $1,400, as part of a study testing a universal basic income.The study will compare the experiences of the 120 volunteers with 1,380 people who do not receive the payments.Supporters say it would reduce inequality and improve well-being, while opponents argue it would be too expensiv...

Almost 690 million people in the world were undernourished in 2019 – that's 8.9% of the world population, a new UN report says.This figure could exceed 840 million by 2030, if current trends continue.Factors increasing global hunger include economic slowdowns and extreme weather events.The UN warns that without efforts to reform global food systems, its target of zero hunger by 2030 will be missed. There are almost 60 million more undernourished ...

Africa will be the only region in the world where population will still be growing at the end of the century.Given a 48% population decline expected in China, Nigeria will become the second biggest country globally by 2100, behind only India. Every global region could see their populations decline by the end of the century—except Africa. The expected population contraction will be due to dropping fertility rates with death rates being either at p...

Recently, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper's magazine claiming that "open debate and toleration of differences" are under attack. Signatories included JK Rowling, Margaret Atwood, Gloria Steinem and Noam Chomsky. While prefacing their comments with support for current racial and social justice movements, the signatories argue there has been a weakening of the norms of open debate in favour of dog...

Whether its for COVID19 or the underlying climate crisis, naysaying, denial and despair are not the way to go. Coronavirus will pass, climate change will not. Some of the effects of global warming we will have to learn to live with. By rallying to the cause, by embracing the challenge and switching small things we do everyday and inspiring others to do the same, by educating ourselves on the basics of ecology and climate change, by choosing our p...

It's hard for women to succeed in science. Our research shows it's even harder for women of colour. We interviewed women of colour working in scientific and technical organisations across Australia about their experiences. As well as direct discrimination, they face a barrage of brief, everyday racial slights and indignities that one described as "death by a thousand cuts". In addition, we found women of colour often hesitate to tackle these affr...

People who directly depend on the natural world for their livelihoods, like farmers and fishers, will be among the greatest victims of the climate crisis. In vulnerable hotspots, such as the arid lands of Kenya and Ethiopia, farming communities are already struggling with droughts and water scarcity that kill their cattle and threaten their very survival. The glacial-fed river basins of the Himalayan mountains, or the deltas of Bangladesh, India ...