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
Climate Migration report focuses on the Middle East and North Africa
28/2/2024: A new report from the human rights group EuroMed Rights highlights the growing impact of climate change on human migration patterns in the Middle East, North Africa, and wider Euro-Mediterranean region. Data shows that extreme weather events spur over three times more displacement than armed conflicts.
Source: Morocco World News
Countries draw battle lines for talks on 2025 climate finance goal
20/2/2024: UN climate negotiators are currently staring at a long list of options and no agreed details for a new global climate finance goal that is due to kick in from 2025. The current annual $100-billion pledge had no basis in science and lacked any rules on what activities could be counted.
Source: Climate Home News
Why Kenya is hopeful but hesitant about the Loss and Damage Fund
31/1/2024: The new Loss and Damage fund established at COP28 is a crucial development for Kenya, a nation grappling with the ravages of climate change. However, there are concerns about the selection of the World Bank as administrators and about the tiny amount committed so far to the Loss and Damage Fund by developed nations.
Source: African Arguments
Africa’s life-sustaining water towers have been overlooked
24/1/2024: African countries have lacked resources to monitor the continent's critical water systems and the wide-ranging impacts on them from pollution, climate change, and increasing demand. Global research on water scarcity tends to focus on the presence of snow and ice to identify water towers, thereby omitting Africa.
Source: African Arguments
Concept of planetary boundaries modified for environmental justice
23/1/2024: The team that developed the planetary boundaries framework has merged the concept with social thresholds of tolerance, recognised in doughnut economics and the Sustainable Development Goals. The modified approach has been published in a scientific paper.
Source: Third World Network