Patrick Odier, chairman of Building Bridges, delivers remarks during the opening of the Building Bridges summit, at the Maison de la Paix, in Geneva, Switzerland, 29 November, 2021. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

Building Bridges chairman Patrick Odier: ‘Sustainability issues have become over-politicised’. As Geneva’s annual sustainable finance summit prepares to open its doors on Tuesday, its co-founder, Swiss banker Patrick Odier, argues that sustainability must remain a long-term priority despite global conflicts, energy and security threats diverting political attention.

🇵🇸OCTOBER 7th ANNIVERSARY. Three years since the Hamas attack on Israel, in which over 1,200 Israelis and other nationals were killed, the toll resulting from Israel’s retaliation on Gaza continues to rise.

In spite of a ceasefire declared a year ago, Israel defends ongoing strikes as a necessary response to threats or attacks.

Not just numbers. Since the temporary truce took effect, Gaza’s health ministry reported last week that at least 1,145 Palestinian have been killed, bringing the total number of people killed since October 2023 to over 74,000, with more than 175,000 wounded.

Satellite images recently released by Google show the massive destruction endured by the territory since 2023, with over 80 per cent of infrastructure demolished.

On Friday, the World Health Organization reported that “not one hospital in Gaza was functional”, while insufficient amounts of aid were entering the strip due to restrictions imposed by Israel. As winter approaches, two million people require shelter from the cold and flooding, its representative in Jerusalem said.

No go. Not all UN agencies are on the same page about highlighting the strip’s crisis, as suggested by the Food and Agriculture Organization's firing of an official, who told The New Humanitarian that his dismissal was linked to his work on famine there.

Homebound. Meanwhile, after a quick trip to New York, where delegates walked out on his UNGA speech and where he avoided detention under an ICC warrant, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home to reports by Egypt that he had received warnings ahead of the 2023 Hamas attacks.

⚖️IT’S A WRAP. After over four weeks, the UN Human Rights Council will conclude its session on Wednesday, after voting on 44 resolutions.

Reflecting rising public concerns and tech sector warnings about the development of artificial intelligence, a resolution on the implications for women’s and girls’ rights will be considered. Another resolution, proposed by France and Albania, will call for the decriminalisation of same-sex intimacy.

Motions to renew fact-finding missions, including those for Sudan and Venezuela, will be voted on, even as a liquidity crisis has reduced the investigative capacity of the human rights office. An EU resolution on the situation in Russia, which includes the re-authorisation of the rights rapporteur for that country, will also be decided. Last week, the rapporteur, Mariana Katzarova, delivered her report on Moscow's transnational repression.

🇺🇸 Can America free itself from Trump? From a European perspective, the United States is a riddle wrapped in a mystery. The country is bogged down in an unwinnable war in the Strait of Hormuz, prices keep rising, and so does inequality. Yet Donald Trump retains a genuine political base. How can this be explained?

Join us on the day of the midterm elections for a conversation with Lionel Pousaz, Heidi.news correspondent in New York, where he also serves as a press attaché to the United Nations.

Usually reserved for subscribers, this time we're inviting Geneva Solutions readers to join too.

📅 Tuesday, 3 November
🕐 1–2 p.m.
💻 Online via videoconference (French)