China’s population is about to shrink
29/5/2022: After four extraordinary decades in which China’s population has swelled from 660 million to 1.4 billion, its population is on track to turn down this year, for the first time since the great famine of 1959-1961.
Source: The Conversation
Satellite data brings new insights on Amazon forest loss
30/5/2022: Satellite data can now tell the difference between forest fires and other forms of forest loss. Nevertheless, 2021 was the fourth consecutive year of rising deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
Source: Mongabay
Weather-related hazards trigger record global displacement
19/5/2022: Disasters continued to trigger most internal displacements globally, with 23.7 million recorded in 2021. Weather-related hazards accounted for 94 per cent of this total, many of which were evacuations in the face of cyclones and floods that struck densely populated areas of Asia and the Pacific region.
Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Philippines inquiry finds oil majors accountable for human rights
6/5/2022: The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines has issued the final report of its multi-year investigation into 47 investor-owned corporations. It finds the carbon majors liable for obfuscation of climate science and continued oil explorations for speculative purposes.
Source: Greenpeace International
The Mekong delta’s transboundary water problems
30/4/2022: The fragmentation of the Mekong River due to the construction of large-scale hydropower dams illustrates the inability of downstream states to shape the Mekong Agreement of 1995 into regional aims, rather than centred around national interests. The Mekong River is the lifeblood of countries in the region .
Source: East Asia Forum
DR Congo ready to auction oil blocks in tropical peatland
3/5/2022: The planned tender for new oil blocks in the Democratic Republic of Congo comes amid serious concerns over the government’s commitment to climate-friendly development. At least three of 16 oil blocks overlap with the world’s largest tropical peatland complex.
Source: Climate Home News
Freshwater planetary boundary oversteps the line
27/4/2022: Humanity’s modification of the water cycle has pushed the world further beyond a safe operating space for continued life on Earth, say scientists. Water is the sixth boundary to be transgressed, out of the nine identified by the Planetary Boundaries Framework, first published in 2009.
Source: Mongabay
Degraded lands and soils under spotlight of UN Convention
27/4/2022: The Global Land Outlook published by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification calls for ambitious plans for sustainable land use to protect human health. By 2050 an additional area the size of South America will be degraded if the world continues along the current trajectory.
Source: Inter Press Service
Worrying insights from assessment of water security in Africa
6/4/2022: Only 29 African countries have made progress in water security over the past three to five years. Twenty-five have made none. The UN’s concept of water security encompasses various criteria and more effort is needed to establish global standards for data and assessment.
Source: The Conversation
Sharing cross-border water resources: Cooperation or conflict?
6/4/2022: From the Euphrates to the Mekong, dams that ensure one country's water supply risk leaving others parched. With 40% of the global population dependent on rivers that cross international borders, climate change is aggravating tensions.
Source: DW