UN General Assembly to Vote on Adopting Equal Earth Map Projection
· World · The Independent, Hindustan Times, ABC News (AU)
The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a resolution urging governments, schools, and technology companies to adopt equal-area map projections like the Equal Earth design. Brought forward by Togo with backing from the African Union, the initiative aims to replace the traditional Mercator projection as a global norm. The Mercator map distorts landmasses by shrinking equatorial regions while exaggerating northern territories, depicting Africa as roughly the same size as Greenland despite being 14 times larger. Togo's foreign minister Robert Dussey emphasized that maps shape global perceptions from early schooling and argued that Africa's true geographic reality should be accurately represented. The resolution does not seek to ban the Mercator projection outright but encourages proportional alternatives where accurate scale matters.
Why it matters
Adopting an equal-area map standard would alter how geographic scale is taught globally, correcting historical cartographic distortions that marginalize equatorial nations and the Global South.
Read the original report — The Independent
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