How to stop Western theft of developing countries’ IP wealth
8/5/2024: Developing countries have struggled to stop industrialized nations from co-opting and patenting products based on the knowledge and culture of local peoples. A new UN pact, to be facilitated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at a conference later this month, could help them stop so-called biopiracy.
Source: DW
Chinese fishing fleets in Indian Ocean accused of abuses
5/5/2024: A recent investigation has revealed evidence that China's distant-water fishing fleet commits environmental and labour abuses in the southwest Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. The report by the Environmental Justice Foundation also finds that entering a fishing zone reserved for local fishers is another common illegal behaviour.
Source: DW
Tensions rise over new climate finance goal
25/4/2024: Updating the $100 billion annual climate finance promise for poorer countries is the most important decision expected to be taken at this year’s climate summit. Negotiators remain at odds over how large the overall sum should be, and whether the list of donor countries should include China.
Source: Climate Home News
UK ‘double counting’ humanitarian aid as climate finance
16/4/2024: The UK government has reclassified nearly £500m of humanitarian aid for nations including Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia as “climate finance”. The chair of the Least Developed Countries group at UN climate talks says the UK’s actions are a “clear deviation from the path to climate justice”.
Source: Carbon Brief
Expectations mount as loss and damage fund staggers to its feet
25/3/2024: Progress on getting a new UN loss and damage fund up and running is slow. Its board faces an unenviable task: figuring out how to fairly divide very little money among too many people in desperate need of it, as climate impacts accelerate. The fund isn’t expected to hand out any money until 2025 at the earliest.
Source: Climate Home News
Global water shortages are looming; what can be done?
22/3/2024: World Water Day will shine a spotlight on the global water crisis, which is being driven by a combination of factors, from climate change to leaky pipes. Here are seven things countries and individuals can do to stem water shortfalls.
Source: UN Environment Programme
States submit arguments to world’s highest court on climate obligations
22/3/2024: The deadline has closed for State written submissions to the International Court of Justice which will deliver an advisory opinion on the international legal obligations countries bear in safeguarding people from the impacts of climate change. All Pacific Island nations have made strong submissions to the Court in a strong show of unity.
Source: Greenpeace
Workload of UN climate body not matched by funding
21/3/2024: The chief of the UN climate agency has made an urgent plea to plug the body’s funding gap with government donations. The UNFCCC has estimated that it needs around $165 million in the 2024-2025 period, of which only half has been promised.
Source: Climate Home News
UN Environment Assembly reaffirms collaborative action for the planet
1/3/2024: The recently concluded sixth UN Environment Assembly aimed to boost multilateral efforts to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution. Debates highlighted the historic role of multilateral environmental agreements in addressing the world’s most pressing environmental issues.
Source: UN Environment Programme
People displaced across the Americas to testify on the climate crisis
29/2/2024: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will take evidence from the frontline of the climate emergency in Mexico, Honduras, the Bahamas and Colombia, as part of a special hearing in Washington sought by regional human rights groups.
Source: The Guardian