– German Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz.
Top Story: Could the oft-beset talks at the OECD on an international regime for digital taxation actually bear fruit? This week the signs have been positive for a potential agreement.
Podcast: The EU is deploying military drone technology to survey migrants and refugees at Europe’s external borders. How ethical are such practices? This week I speak to an MEP who has taken the lead in making this a frontline issue. Listen here.
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New 5G Action Plan. Last year, we told you that the Commission’s 2016 5G Action Plan would be reviewed in 2021. This week, we have confirmation of those intentions. Read more below,.
Posted on January 29, 2021
Global Fund for Coral Reefs launches fundraising campaign
The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is pleased to announce that Germany, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, UN Agencies (UNDP, UNEP and UNCDF) and financial institutions (BNP Paribas and Mirova) have made commitments to the fund totaling more than USD$10 million. These contributions, announced during the first GFCR Executive Board meeting this week, mark the launch of a fundraising campaign that will culminate at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021.
Coral reefs, Photo: UNDP Jordan
27. 1. 2021
Minister Jože Podgoršek today attended the 13th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference at the Global Forum For Food And Agriculture (GFFA). The GFFA, which began on Monday and concluded with today’s ministerial conference, features a series of political and professional events, discussions and meetings that take place every year on the fringes of the Green Week fair. The ministerial conference welcomed almost 100 agriculture ministers and their deputies from around the world along with the highest representatives of all major international institutions and international NGOs. The forum was hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture with the central topic of How to Feed the World in Times of Pandemics and Climate Change?
2021-01-22 23:05:24 GMT2021-01-23 07:05:24(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
ROME, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) The director-general of the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday said the coronavirus pandemic has illustrated the need for the world to strengthen agriculture and food systems.
Qu Dongyu, a former vice-minister of China s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs who has led FAO since 2019, said his organization was prepared to support the global effort to develop what he called a new path for improving the sustainability of agriculture and food systems.
He mentioned an array of FAO-sponsored programs that could bolster the process, including the agency s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Program, a partnership project, and its Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which aims to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development.
FAO Director-General made the call in his address to global agriculture ministers conference
22 January 2021, Berlin/Rome - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today addressed the Agriculture Ministers Conference in Berlin underscoring the importance, in the wake of COVID-19, of continued global cooperation to find new ways to strengthen the sustainability of agri-food systems, and outlined FAO and its partners role in this.
The week-long GFFA brought together over 90 ministers from all over the world, together with high-level representatives of international organizations. The final communique adopted on Friday calls for impetus for climate action, response to COVID-19, and preventing future pandemics - the overarching theme of this year s forum.