Science Media Centre

After a high-level meeting yesterday, all 193 United Nations member states have pledged to work together to tackle superbugs – disease-causing bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that have developed resistance to drugs. It was only the fourth time the UN held a high-level meeting on infectious diseases. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined the number of […]

The United Nations Climate Summit, concluding in New York this week, has put climate policy firmly back on the political agenda. High-profile leaders such as Barack Obama and David Cameron were among the some 100 Heads of State at the international summit, which aimed to raise political momentum towards a new climate agreement to be thrashed […]

United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has ordered the 20-strong inspection team investigating alleged use of chemical weapons in Damascus to leave early as anticipation of a US-led military strike on Syria grows. The UN team will withdraw on Saturday, a day a head of schedule, and may issue their findings in an interim report released by […]

New Zealand will not commit to a second round of Kyoto Protocol emissions reductions but will instead make pledges under the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change, the Government said last week. The move sees New Zealand join several of the world’s largest emitters, including the US, China and India, in negotiating a replacement […]

Leading medical journal The Lancet has published a special series of articles focusing on adolescent health, including an international comparison of health and mortality data which highlights New Zealand’s poor ranking in youth suicide and death statistics. The 45th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population Development, which has an adolescent health theme takes […]

This week representatives from around the world are meeting in Durban, South Africa for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In today’s New Zealand Herald, economics editor Brian Fallow explores the issues surrounding the convention and what it could mean for New Zealand. An excerpt (read in full here): Durban acid test for […]

The world population passed the seven billion mark on Monday (according to the UN), highlighting the population issues faced by global society. The tipping point (October 31), based on census data and surveys, was largely symbolic but was used by the United Nations to draw attention to their report: People and Possibilities in a World […]

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon left no room form confusion over his stance on climate change at the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland this week. Ban Ki-Moon had already expressed the need for Australia and New Zealand to act on climate change in the days preceding the forum, so it came as no surprise when […]