'Unseen' News and Views
As the West questions damaging austerity policies, it is becoming the new normal for the rest of the world, risking achievement of sustainable development goals.
– After years of austerity, a number of Eurozone countries are now considering expansionary fiscal policies. And in the UK, government spending is set to return to levels last seen in the 1970s. But austerity abounds elsewhere in the world, including in some of the poorest countries.
26 November 2019 (Wall Street International)*— The young German guide’s eyes beamed and a broad smile covered his face as he described how the student movement in West Germany during the 1960s forced the German people to face their past. Students inspired by protests in the United States, protested against what they considered to be the “perpetrator generation”.
Auswitchtz | Image from Wall Street international.
Democratic Institutions Are in Danger
John Scales Avery
Today there is a deep split in public opinion in the United States. Democratic institutions are in danger from racism and neofascism.
Progressives are fighting to save the values and institutions on which their country was founded. They are fighting to save America’s soul.
Racism, Discrimination and Xenophobia
Progressives today would like to eliminate all forms of discrimination, whether based on race, religion, ethnicity, or gender.
They are opposed by white nationalist groups, especially in rural areas and among white industrial workers and evangelicals, who fear that their own groups will soon be outnumbered by those who differ from them in ethnicity, race or religion.
Learn how countries of the global South empower each other by sharing solutions
Cotton is a main income source for many communities around the world. ©Rafael Martinez/CONALGODON
25 November 2019 (FAO)* — For many people around the world, cotton is a safety net. As a crop resistant to climatic changes, it can be planted in dry and arid zones and represents a real economic lifeline in rural areas where there are high levels of poverty.
Geneva, 26 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — On the eve of a year in which nations are due to strengthen their Paris climate pledges, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report warns that unlessglobal greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year between 2020 and 2030, the world will miss the opportunity to get on track towards the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
26 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — The newly launched Emissions Gap Report tracks the gap between where greenhouse gas emissions are heading and where they need to be. Are we meeting goals of the Paris Climate Agreement?
Even if countries meet commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is heading for a 3.2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise over pre-industrial levels, leading to even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts, warns a report from the UN Environment Programme, released on Tuesday [26 November 2019]. (*).
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25 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — Our health and what we eat are inextricably linked. A balanced, nutritious diet gives us energy, keeps us focused and keeps many medical conditions at bay.
Photo by Unsplash/ @freestockpro
But what and how we eat is just as important to planetary health, and right now our diets are helping to create a sickly Earth.
Geneva, 25 November 2019 (World Meteorological Organization)* — Levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached another new record high, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This continuing long-term trend means that future generations will be confronted with increasingly severe impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures, more extreme weather, water stress, sea level rise and disruption to marine and land ecosystems.
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In her message for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says: “If I could have one wish granted, it might well be a total end to rape”. Read the full message►
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 