This episode of The Lid Is On focuses on cutting edge online technology, and the UN’s role in making sure that it benefits humanity, rather than causing us harm.

Proponents of AI point to the immense benefits these tools could bring to society, but the clamour for robust regulation of AI is growing louder. Similarly, the car industry is forging ahead with plans to ramp up autonomous driving technology, promising a safer future on the roads, but fears surrounding driverless “robot cars” persist.

Conor Lennon speaks to some of the government representatives, industry experts and UN officials working to allay these fears, and avoid an online “Wild West”, where criminals and bad actors can roam with impunity.

There was a wealth of stories to follow at high-level week of the UN General Assembly, from the conference on the Israel-Palestine two-State solution, to the ambitious pledges made at the Climate Summit, and the launch of two bodies aimed at finally creating truly inclusive international AI governance.

But one theme that shone through was the importance of multilateralism and the work of the United Nations.

Conor Lennon and Laura Quinones from UN News break it all down in this special episode of The Lid Is On.

Music: Joachim Harris, all rights reserved

In this episode of The Lid Is On, experts discuss the urgent need to restore the Ocean, which is facing a host of threats that could drive millions of marine life species into extinction and even endanger humanity.

The protection of marine biodiversity will be under discussion at the UN Ocean Conference in June, where advocates will join politicians and members of the private sector to share solutions, including legal protections for the high seas, which lie outside national waters.

The guests are Peter Thompson, the Secretary General's Envoy for the Ocean, Alfredo Girón, Head of the Ocean Action Agenda at the World Economic Forum, and Minna Epps, who runs the Ocean Program at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The shipping industry moves 90% of world trade—and produces nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In this episode of 'The Lid is On', Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), explains how a new UN agreement sets the sector on a path to net zero by 2050, introduces a global carbon pricing plan, and addresses concerns from the world’s most vulnerable economies.

Music by Joachim Harris, all rights reserved, Ketsa.  

A Thai woman has been talking about how she was tricked into handing over more than $300,000 to a criminal gang that entrapped her in an elaborate scam that began as a supposed case of identity fraud and which led her to believe that she and her family could be facing prison.

A new report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says that the transnational organized crime groups in Asia which carry out these types of scams are expanding their operations deeper into the region and beyond.

In this episode of The Lid Is On, Laura Gil reports from Bangkok where she met Wannapa Suprasert from Thailand who is currently living and working in the United States.

In this episode of The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon from UN News speaks to Luz Maria de la Mora, the Director of the International Trade Division at UNCTAD, about the uncertainty that unilateral tariffs are having on the global trade outlook, and why the consequence could be particularly serious for developing economies.

Music by Joachim Harris, all rights reserved 

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a key UN policy document adopted in 1995, has been credited for several major advances for women, from legislation outlawing domestic abuse to inspiring a new wave of young gender justice activists.

But despite undeniable progress in gender relations over the past 30 years, inequalities between men and women persist and, in recent years, there has been a notable backlash against the very concepts of feminism.

In this episode of The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon from UN News speaks to Laura Turquet, the deputy head of the research and data team at UN Women, and Lydia Alpizar, a Costa Rican feminist activist based in Mexico City, to find out why this renewed attack against feminism is taking place, and what it means for the decades-long fight for gender equality.

Music by Joachim Harris, all rights reserved

Just 35 hours later than advertised, the UN Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan wrapped up, with an agreement to triple the amount of climate finance paid to developing nations to $300 billion per year, by 2035.

The deal is a definite step forward, but the final sum is far less than the $1.3 trillion that climate experts say these countries need in order to adapt to the crisis.

On this episode, we look back at the second and final week of COP29, what was achieved, and what comes next.

Music by Joachim Harris, all rights reserved

LINKS

• UN News coverage of COP29: https://news.un.org/en/events/cop29
• All the agreements reached at COP29: https://unfccc.int/documents

COP29, this year’s UN Climate Conference, is being called the “climate finance COP”, because delegates are expected to sign off on a beefed-up funding target to replace the existing $100 billion per year commitment. The final figure the negotiators arrive at remains to be seen and it could be anywhere from a few hundred billion, to over a trillion dollars per year.

On this episode of The Lid Is On, we explain what has been achieved so far, and why the deal gavelled through on carbon markets is important. We also find out what the UN is doing to prevent the rush for the minerals needed for the climate transition turning into a “stampede for greed.’

• Correspondents in Baku: Nazrin Babayeva and Lara Palmisano.
• Music by Joachim Harris (all rights reserved)
• UN News coverage of COP29: https://news.un.org/en/events/cop29

The risk of the world’s major powers engaging in conflict  is at its highest level since the Cold War, and the possibility of nuclear war breaking out is greater today than it has been for several decades.

On the final episode of Focus on the Future, Conor Lennon and Ben Malor from UN News concentrate on international peace and security, and how the Pact for the Future could help to reduce tensions.

We’ll hear from the UN’s heads of Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (and explain the difference between the two concepts), and the Director- General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who warns against “normalizing” the idea of using nuclear weapons.

• Our email: [email protected]
• Summit of the Future Explainer: A new global peace plan for ‘uniquely dangerous’ times | UN News
• UN Web TV
• GA Debate page
• SDG Media Zone
• Invisible killer: What is antimicrobial resistance? | UN News