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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drives global food insecurity
14/3/2022: The IMF has issued a warning that the world's food supplies are in peril. Russian's invasion of Ukraine is not the sole factor driving global food insecurity, but it is significant. The UN and the World Bank have offered a similar prognosis.
Source: DW
NGOs call for $60bn increase in annual biodiversity funding
13/3/2022: The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has started preparatory negotiations on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in advance of the full conference of parties scheduled for May. International conservation groups are calling on richer countries to increase funding to protect the world's biodiversity.
Source: Mongabay
US abandons share of climate finance for poorest countries
11/3/2022: The Biden Administration committed to deliver $11.4 billion a year in climate finance by 2024 but Congress has approved only $1 billion. Pledges for the Green Climate Fund have been abandoned.
Source: Climate Home News
UN chief wants Amisom to remain in Somalia
10/3/2022: UN chief Antonio Guterres has recommended to the Security Council that the African Union maintains its current Mission in Somalia. Amison is tasked with supporting the country's fragile government in the fight against insurgents.
Source: The East African
Mapping vulnerability of climate risk is contentious
10/3/2022: The UN's climate science panel labelled 3.3-3.6bn people as highly vulnerable to climate disaster but many governments saw the underlying map as problematic. IPCC scientists acknowledge that there is no agreed method for measuring vulnerability.
Source: Climate Home News
UN ocean treaty is vital chance to protect the high seas
10/3/2022: UN negotiators are hoping to finalise a new legal framework to protect biodiversity and govern the oceans. Currently all countries have the right to navigate, fish and carry out scientific research on the high seas with few restrictions.
Source: The Guardian
War in Ukraine poised to threaten global food security
10/3/2022: World food prices were already at their highest levels since 1975 and will now rise further due to the loss of food production from Ukraine (and to some extent Russia). Maintaining food export markets and increasing humanitarian aid are key solutions.
Source: Inter Press Service
Is Russia sabotaging the Iran nuclear deal?
9/3/2022: After eleven months of talks negotiators appear close to striking a deal to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But the negotiations have been complicated by a last-minute demand from Russia which the US has rejected.
Source: DW
Fears grow for Syria amid deepening humanitarian crisis
9/3/2022: The latest UN Human Rights Council-mandated report on the nearly 11-year-old conflict warns that more than half of the pre-war population of Syria has been displaced. The poverty rate is an unprecedented 90 percent with 14.6 million people dependent on humanitarian aid.
Source: UN News
Lessons to learn from EU’s generous response to Ukraine refugees
9/3/2022: The European Union as a bloc moved quickly to grant temporary protection to all Ukrainians without the delays and bureaucracy of the normal asylum procedure. Geopolitical considerations and proximity do not fully explain the contrast with Europe's harsh response to people fleeing other wars and crises.
Source: Human Rights Watch