Ban Ki-Moon’s second term: the bridge to where?

Source: Deutsche Welle | by Thorsten Benner *

On January 1, Ban Ki-Moon starts his second term as UN Secretary-General. To leave a lasting mark, Ban needs to go beyond his role as a ‘global bridge-builder’ argues Thorsten Benner in this Transatlantic Voices column.

Climate deal: too big of a task for our leaders?

A very interesting article from the New York Times:

For 17 years, officials from nearly 200 countries have gathered under the auspices of the United Nations to try to deal with one of the most vexing questions of our era — how to slow the heating of the planet.

Every year they leave a trail of disillusion and discontent, particularly among the poorest nations and those most vulnerable to rising seas and spreading deserts. Every year they fail to significantly advance their own stated goal of keeping the average global temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, or about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels.