If we value human rights, we must fight for climate justice
23/3/2023: The island state of Vanuatu is leading more than 100 countries in tabling a resolution at the UN General Assembly to refer the issue of climate change to the International Court of Justice. The motion seeks to clarify the obligations of states under international law to protect future generations from climate change.
Source: Inter Press Service
Water security lags behind in UN environmental protection
25/3/2023: The UN’s first water conference in nearly 50 years claims to have secured over $300 billion of promises of global action. But there is no legally binding international agreement to protect water resources and no UN special envoy.
Source: Devex
UN warns of’imminent global water crisis
22/3/2023: The UN has released the World Water Development Report 2023, painting a grim picture of rising global water scarcity. It finds that about 10% of the global population lives in countries where water stress is considered "high or critical."
Source: DW
Historic UN Ocean Treaty agreed
5/3/2023: An historic UN Ocean Treaty has finally been agreed after almost two decades of negotiations. Greenpeace describes the agreement as an important sign that multilateralism still works in an increasingly divided world.
Source: Greenpeace International
Climate displacement & migration in South East Asia
28/2/2023: According to the Groundswell Report of the World Bank, the number of internal climate migrants in the East Asia and Pacific region will reach 49 million by 2050. While most climate mobility occurs within a country, there will be growing pressure on national borders as climate change worsens.
Source: Inter Press Service
A green wall to promote peace in Africa’s Sahel region
22/2/2023: The Great Green Wall of restored forests and lands stretching more than 8,000km across the Sahel region has been selected as a flagship of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The project is making a difference in the lives of many people in countries prone to conflict.
Source: UN Environment Programme
UN Ocean Treaty negotiations to resume
17/2/2023: Greenpeace has warned that, without a strong Ocean Treaty, it is practically impossible to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, the target agreed at COP15 in Montreal in December 2022. Resolving impasses depends on the Global North making a fair and credible offer to the Global South.
Source: Greenpeace International
Africa objects to US chairing UN climate fund
26/1/2023: African board members have raised an objection to the nomination of a US official to jointly lead the UN flagship Green Climate Fund. The US has contributed just $1 billion to the fund in its 12-year history, compared to $9bn from EU countries and $3bn from Japan.
Source: Climate Home News
China’s population falls for first time since 1961
17/1/2023: China's population fell last year, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers. The largest drop since the last year of China's Great Famine lends weight to predictions that India will become the world's most populous nation this year.
Source: CNA
World strikes ‘historic’ deal to protect nature
19/12/2022: Global leaders have agreed at the UN COP15 negotiations to protect and restore a third of the Earth's natural areas. $500 billion of environmentally harmful subsidies will be eliminated or redirected to fund the deal.
Source: DW