Our total human population and economy have imposed on the global environment an excessive weight.
Malthus’ Essay on the principle of population
27 June 2020 (Wall Street International)* — T.R. Malthus’ Essay on the principle of population, the first edition of which was published in 1798, was one of the first systematic studies of the problem of population in relation to resources. Earlier discussions of the problem had been published by Botero in Italy, Robert Wallace in England, and Benjamin Franklin in America.
As academics, we teach about empire, slavery and colonialism because without them, the world makes no sense.
The Rhodes Must Fall campaign in Oxford, UK – 9 Jun 2020 | SOPA Images/SIPA USA/PA Images
27 June 2020 (openDemocracy)* — Observing the protests against racism in the streets of the US, UK, Australia and elsewhere feels like watching not only a mass movement, but also a classroom, crackling with intellectual energy.
28 June 2020 (UN News)* — Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses, to be urgently addressed.
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Agência Brasil/José Cruz | Brazilian mine (file)
Electric cars are rapidly becoming more popular amongst consumers, and UNCTAD predicts that some 23 million will be sold over the coming decade: the market for rechargeable car batteries, currently estimated at $7 billion, is forecast to rise to $58 billion by 2024.
(UN News)* — The UN Charter “brought rules and hope to a world in ruins”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a virtual ceremony on 26 June 2020, commemorating 75 years since the Organization’s foundational text was signed.
UN Photo/Yould | The UN Charter being signed by a delegation at a ceremony held at the Veterans’ War Memorial Building on 26 June 1945.
Adopted by Member States as the Second World War was coming to a close, the UN chief noted that the world today was marking the milestone anniversary “as global pressures are spiraling up”. The Charter was signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and came into force on 24 October 1945.
