Amazon deforestation starts 2022 at fastest pace in 14 years
15/3/2022: According to data from Brazil’s national space research institute, forest clearing in the Amazon through the first two months of 2022 has amounted to 430 square kilometers, more than twice the average over the past ten years. The data suggests that the Brazilian government is falling short of its pledge at last year’s UN climate conference.
Source: Mongabay
UN rights chief decries 81 executions in Saudi Arabia
14/3/2022: High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has condemned the beheading of 81 people by Saudi Arabia during the course of a single day. Ms. Bachelet voiced her concern over the extremely broad definition of terrorism in Saudi legislation.
Source: UN News
Yemen facing ‘outright catastrophe’ over rising hunger
14/3/2022: New data analysis from war-ravaged Yemen indicates potentially record food insecurity. Of extreme concern to humanitarians is the likelihood that the number of people experiencing famine-like levels of hunger will increase five fold, from 31,000 now, to 161,000, by 31 December.
Source: UN News
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