Rainforest politics of the DRC oil auction
23/8/2022: The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has two main goals in selling oil blocks that overlap with the world’s second largest rainforest. Neither involves developing oil.
Source: African Arguments
UN nuclear weapons talks fail over Russian objection
27/8/2022: A UN conference lasting around a month has failed in efforts to update the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Russia objected to the final draft document, apparently over references to the trouble at Europe's biggest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine.
Source: DW
Bleak picture for marine life without emissions cuts
25/8/2022: New research has found that nearly 90% of marine life would be at high or critical risk by 2100 if the world continues upon a high-emissions pathway. Poorer countries at lower latitudes, least equipped to adapt, are the ones that face the highest risk.
Source: Mongabay
By failing Afghan women, we are failing women everywhere
24/8/2022: In August 2021 Afghan women leaders were excluded from the peace process and subsequently abandoned to the misogyny of the Taliban. Other oppressive regimes of the world are aware that a year has passed with no meaningful action taken by the international community.
Source: Devex
The world stands on a nuclear precipice
24/8/2022: The Prime Minister of New Zealand warns that the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is under stress, due to rising tension between the nuclear weapon states. It is vital that current multilateral negotiations to renew the treaty should succeed.
Source: The Guardian
Record profits for grain firms amid food crisis
23/8/2022: The world’s top four grain traders, controlling an estimated 70-90% of global trade, have enjoyed a bonanza as soaring food prices plunge 345 million people into acute food insecurity.
Source: The Guardian
Five years and still no solutions for Rohingya refugees
23/8/2022: Almost one million stateless ethnic Rohingya remain in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the world's largest refugee camp. Five years on from the exodus from Myanmar, the UN Refugee Agency is struggling to sustain international humanitarian support.
Source: UN News
Ukraine: Obstacles to global grain shipments remain
22/8/2022: A month after Russia and Ukraine agreed on a sea corridor to resume global exports of grain, only four vessels have entered the ports of the Odesa region. High insurance premiums threaten the release of Ukrainian grain into world markets.
Source: DW
UN negotiations to decide the fate of the oceans begin
15/8/2022: The final negotiations for a Global Ocean Treaty are in progress. To be considered a success, the meeting must pave the way for 30% of the oceans to be protected from destructive activities lby 2030.
Source: Greenpeace International
To end illegal fishing, we need transparency now
18/8/2022: Insufficient monitoring, loopholes, and weaknesses in China’s regulatory framework makes possible illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and human rights abuses on an industrial scale. Ocean ecosystems are heading toward total collapse.
Source: Devex