Category Archives: International Events

Any event that involves two or more nations.

World Cup Scores!

The World Cup has scored a green goal! Sorry, I couldn’t resist such cheesy writing. Seriously though, the World Cup organizers in Germany have surpassed their own goal of making the event have a small ecological footprint as possible. One thing they wanted to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that normally would have been released for such a large event by encouraging bike riding and riding public transit. They did more too!

“There are water-free urinals, overflow limiters on the wash-basins and electricity-saving measures, which are all things that save resources but go virtually unnoticed. The fans also don’t get to see the solar panels on the stadiums, which is a shame.”

Spain to Donate to MDGs

The Millennium Development Goals are still being strived for and Spain will support this effort by donating 1.2 billion dollars. This is great to see that nations are still interested in promoting the MDGs, and let’s not forget that mayors are all about the MDG.

“Pajin said the agreement represents “a very important advance in quality and quantity, but there is still a long way to go.”

Herfkens said it was the first time in history that human had resources, knowledge and consensus to end poverty, but he added that not all nations were fulfilling their aid promises.

The UN official praised Spain for paying more attention to the developing nations, especially those in Africa, to help them meet the Goals.”

Mayors Will Help the UN

We’ve mentioned the World Urban Forum eariler, and it looks like the forum was a success. A group of mayors from the around the world have pledged to support the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

“The mayors have been filmed during the Forum at the Millennium Campaign’s mobile television studio to commit publicly to the global effort to fight poverty and to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

“We firmly believe that local authorities, as the sphere of government closest to the people, can support the United Nations, both in the achievement of the MDGs and in raising awareness among citizens,” said Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Councillor in Tshwane, South Africa and co-President of UCLG. “

World Refugee Day

Today is World Refugee Day, and the United Nations wants us to become more aware of the needs of refugees.

“From remote camps to big cities, from the steaming lowlands of Liberia to the high plateaux of Afghanistan, from floodlit fountains to fashion shows and soccer matches, the United Nations today celebrated World Refugee Day with a message of “Hope” broadcast around the globe by leaders, film stars and refugees themselves. ”

In Toronto Amnesty International, the Red Cross, and a whole load of local and small NGOs where at a rally at Yonge and Dundas Square. It was great to see so many people out and supporting human refugee rights.

Do You Live in a Polite City?

Readers Digest has conducted a survey of major cities around the world to find which ones are the most polite. I can’t say I’m surprised that New York City won – NYC has an undeserved reputation of rudeness. Playfuls as a short article on the polite cities.

“The survey showed that New York (80 points), Zurich, Toronto, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Zagreb (Croatia), Auckland, Warsaw and Mexico City were the world’s most polite cities.”