On World Philosophy Day, UN lauds role of dialogue, diversity in multicultural world

UN,  20 November 2014 – The head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today marked the twelfth edition of World Philosophy Day with a widespread appeal for dialogue in diversity, adding that only by embracing the intellectual pluralism of our global society can the foundations of a truly global community be laid.

“Philosophy is an invaluable ally that draws on reflexive reasoning and engagement in dialogue, to open our minds to a wide variety of opinions and views,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova in her messasge for the Day, which this year in on the theme “Social Transformations and Intercultural Dialogue.”

“Such a shift of focus is crucial in a world of rising diversity,” Ms. Bokova continued. “This is both the foundation on which tolerance and peace rest and a means of releasing the creative energy that drives societies forward, while respecting human rights.

World Philosophy Day has been observed every third Thursday of November since 2002, with the aim of making philosophical reflection accessible to all – professors and students, scholars and the general public – thereby enlarging the opportunities and spaces for the stimulation of critical thinking and debate.

This year, the Day is being celebrated with a number of events, including roundtables, debates and concerts, held in Paris, where UNESCO is headquartered, and at other venues around the world.

In addition, a roundtable discussion in Paris will see the launch of the Philosophy Manual, a South-South Perspective which UNESCO describes as an innovative tool designed to facilitate the discovery of philosophical texts from Africa, the Arab region, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, while also promoting their full understanding through a critical apparatus which enables easily adapted educational use.
 [un.org]
20/11/14
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Related 2013:

• On World Philosophy Day, UN official urges critical thinking on inclusion, sustainability

Divisions over aid as climate talks near end

UN climate talks are heading into the final stretch with a host of issues unresolved, including a standoff over how much money financially stressed rich countries can spare to help the developing world tackle global warming.
That issue has overshadowed the talks since they started last week in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the slow-moving annual negotiations aimed at crafting a global response to climate change.
A draft agreement was presented on Friday night, but there was disagreement on several key issues.

Two members of the Arab Youth Climate Movement were taken away by UN police on Thursday after they held up a banner at the calling for Qatar to take a stronger leadership role [Youtube]

"Developing nations are hoping for firm commitments on aid from richer nations. Developed countries are willing to provide help but are unwilling to commit to specific targets because of the global financial turmoil," said Al Jazeera's Nick Clark, reporting from the talks in Doha.
"There's also a last-minute attempt to extend the Kyoto Protocol [climate treaty], which expires at the end of this year, in about three weeks' time," said our correspondent.
Developed countries, many of which face unpopular austerity measures at home, are being asked to show how they intend to keep a promise to raise climate funding for poor countries to $100bn per year by 2020 - up from a total of $30bn in 2010-2012.
Seyni Nafo, a member of the African group of negotiators, told Al Jazeera that the increase of "extreme weather events" such as floods and droughts mean "a catastrophe for Africa".
"What we were looking for when we came to Doha was means of implementation...because developed countries have made pledges to deliver on finance and pledges to deliver on the second period of the Kyoto Protocol, which is the only legal instrument to curb developed coutries' emissions," said Nafo.
"This is right now, as we speak, not on the table."
'Promises upon promises'
Developing countries say they need at least another $60bn between now and 2015 to deal with the fallout from climate change, such as rising sea levels, and convert to cleaner energy.

Follow our in-depth coverage of Doha COP18 negotiations

"We are not going to leave here with promises upon promises," said Gambia delegate Pa Ousman Jarju, who represents a group of least developed countries. "The minimum that we can get out of here is a demonstration that there will be $60bn on the table moving onward."
The European Union and the United States have refused to put concrete figures on the table in Doha for new 2013-2020 climate funding, even as pledges have trickled in from individual EU member states.
National pledges by Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and the EU Commission in Doha
totalled more than $8.95bn for the next two years - more than in 2011-12.
Only a handful of countries - Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Belarus and Ukraine - set new goals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions during the Doha meeting.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace and five other activist groups accused rich nations of pushing the talks to the "brink of disaster," while a small group of warming sceptics appeared at a side event where they dismissed the entire process as a sham to transfer wealth to the poor world.
A British activist even managed to slip into a conference hall where he addressed a plenary session, apparently mistaken for an official delegate. A tweet from the UN climate secretariat said he was "debadged and escorted out" of the venue "for impersonating a party" and violating the conference's code of conduct.
UN climate conferences, bringing together nearly 200 nations, are notorious for missing deadlines.
From the start, the Doha talks had low ambitions, so failure would be less spectacular than at a UN summit in 2009 when world leaders including US President Barack Obama fell short of a new, global package to combat climate change. 
.aljazeera.com
7/12/12
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