Links to news and analysis on climate change, biodiversity loss and water scarcity, from the perspective of environmental justice, seeking equity between richer and poorer countries in a growing world population.
Scientists warn of looming groundwater crisis
29/4/2021: Nearly half of the human population depends on grounwater for daily needs and for agriculture. But up to a fifth of wells worldwide that tap into these reserves are at risk of running dry, according to a recent study.
Source: Mongabay
Has water as a human right moved from a resolution to reality?
28/7/2020: Ten years on since the UN General Assembly officially recognized the human right to water and sanitation, 1 in 10 people — 785 million in all — still lack access to clean water close to home. One in 4 people, or 2 billion in total, do not have a decent toilet of their own.
Source: Devex
Water-related violence rises globally in past decade
31/12/2019: Recorded incidents of water-related violence have more than doubled in the past 10 years, as water shortages and extreme weather create tension, especially in Middle East and India.
Source: The Guardian
Population panic lets rich people off the hook for the climate crisis
26/7/2020: Rising consumption by the affluent has a far greater environmental impact than the birth rate in poorer nations, says George Monbiot.
Source: The Guardian
Declaring a double emergency
2/1/2021: We are in the middle of a biodiversity and climate change emergency – and the two are inextricably linked. Climate change is driving nature’s decline, and the loss of wildlife and wild places leaves us ill equipped to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to change.
Source: Centre for Alternative Technology
Arctic seed vault gets new crops
25/2/2020: A “Noah’s Ark” vault in the Norwegian Arctic, designed to safeguard the world’s crops, expects to restore the collection back to more than a million varieties.
Source: Climate Home News
Biodiversity is not just an environmental issue
17/10/2019: An interview with IPBES ex-chair Robert Watson discusses the importance of biodiversity to global development and economics.
Source: Mongabay