Are some emerging nations able to command more influence at global talks now? For years developing countries have found themselves sidelined in global matters. Now with the financial crisis, rich countries are admitting that emerging nations need to be involved in discussions. Recent international meetings included some emerging countries more, but it will not be easy for them to get the bigger voice they have long been denied. This update includes a few links and details on this issue as well as inclusion of some videos that explain some aspects of the financial crisis further.

Irresponsible arms trade can fuel conflicts and divert precious resources away from tackling poverty and other issues. Previous attempts at arms sales codes of conduct have been problematic because of loopholes and other workarounds. At the end of October 2008, 147 states at the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to move forward with work on the Arms Trade Treaty. The US and Zimbabwe voted against it, while 18 others abstained: Bahrain, Belarus, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen.

An overview of the Climate Change Conference (also known as COP 14), held in Poznań, Poland, at the beginning of December, 2008. As with past conferences, this too was not without its controversies. For example, while the Adaptation Fund was launched the funding of it caused lots of disagreements. The conference came at a time when Europe seemed to weaken their usually strong stance on climate change action and on news that in recent years, emissions from industrialized nations had risen.

The Israeli offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip on 27th December, 2008 ended on January 17, 2009 when both Hamas and Israel announced separate ceasefires, which have turned out to be quite fragile. The 3 week offensive claimed some 1,300 Palestinian lives, 400 of which were children. Another 5,000 were injured including some 1,800 children and 800 women. 13 Israelis were also killed. How did this crisis come about and what were some of the issues raised?

World military spending has topped $1.2 trillion annually and is back to Cold War levels. This is based on latest data available, from 2007, before the global financial crisis hit. Updated graphs and charts provide some additional information.

Over 25,000 children die every day around the world. That is equivalent to: 1 child dying every 3.5 seconds or 17-18 children dying every minute. It is like a 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 1.5 weeks, or an Iraq-scale death toll every 16–38 days. It means over 9 million children dying every year. For latest figures available, some 70 million children died between 2000 and 2007. The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Although the number of children dying each year is being reduced (some half a million less deaths in 2007 than 2006, for example), the rate of reduction is slow. Furthermore, it is feared that the global financial crisis will undo some of that annual reduction, with an extra 200,000 to 400,000 children dying from the knock-on effects of the economic downturn. And yet, despite the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage. This update includes updated numbers, charts and graphs.

Biodiversity loss and species extinction is on the increase. It is generally understood that the high species loss rate is in large part due to human activity. This update includes updated sections on declining amphibian species, more about dwindling fish stocks and declining shark numbers, and a video about ocean biodiversity.