Transnational Bodies

IEA Report Casts Uncertainty on UN Climate Pledges

December 12, 2016

Robert Rapier writes that, in the 2016 installment of its World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency warns that the technology required to meet the ambitious pledges countries made under the UN's Paris climate deal to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions does not yet exist, given the continued rise in global demand for fossil fuel-based energy.
Warsaw Summit Explores Global Standards on NHRIs

December 12, 2016

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Council of Europe, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently hosted a meeting in Warsaw on best practices in implementing standards on the independence of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) to further the global human rights agenda.
OSCE Trains Authorities on "Gender-Sensitive" Laws

December 12, 2016

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights recently hosted a "study visit" in Vienna for officials from Belarus on "institutionalizing gender analysis" in lawmaking and regulatory processes to ensure that national and local rules are appropriately "gender-sensitive."
OSCE Promotes "Gender Mainstreaming" in Communications

December 09, 2016

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) recently held a workshop in Ukraine on how government officials must use "gender mainstreaming" in their communications to avoid terms that "devalue and silence women and other non-dominant groups" and instead become change agents for gender equality.
WTO Panel Rules Against US Aerospace Tax Incentives

December 09, 2016

A panel of the World Trade Organization recently found, in a proceeding triggered by EU officials, that certain tax incentives offered by the US State of Washington to the aerospace industry violate global trade rules.
OSCE Trains Counter-terrorism Authorities on Rights

December 06, 2016

At a recent training course for Spanish law enforcement, intelligence, and military authorities in Madrid, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights emphasized a focus on the human rights of victims, potential offenders, and police officers in the performance of counter-terrorism operations.
Global Energy Body: Climate Pledges Are Inadequate

December 05, 2016

The International Energy Agency has warned that national pledges made as part of the UN climate deal agreed in Paris last year are inadequate to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming and has called for ambitious actions by governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Security Organization Promotes "Green Economy"

December 05, 2016

At the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Aarhus Centres Annual Meeting in Vienna, the OSCE gathered government officials and nongovernmental organizations to discuss how countries have pursued "resource efficiency, green economy and environmental protection" under the Aarhus Convention to promote the global "sustainability" agenda.
OSCE Official: UK Anti-Terror Law Threatens Media

December 05, 2016

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović has warned that the recently approved UK Investigatory Powers Bill threatens media freedom by permitting government surveillance of journalists and requiring internet service providers to retain connection data for use by law enforcement.
Russia Cuts Ties to ICC

December 05, 2016

Citing the institution's ineffectiveness and lack of independence, and following a verdict from the body on Russia's recent actions in Crimea, the Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the country's intent, under a directive signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to no longer seek to become a full party to the International Criminal Court (ICC).