Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 3 March 2021 – The world’s largest meat processor JBS and its leading competitors Marfrig and Minerva slaughtered cattle purchased from ranchers linked to the 2020 fires that destroyed one-third of the world’s largest inland wetland in the Pantanal region of Brazil, according to a new report published by Greenpeace International. The Brazilian meat giants in turn supply Pantanal beef to food giants like McDonald’s, Burger King, French groups Carrefour and Casino, and markets across the world.
Mainly due to human pressures, the planet is losing species – its biodiversity – at an alarming rate, thought to be comparable only to the 5th mass extinction 65 million years ago.
A letter to Greta Thunberg: is 5G an experiment on life?
.
Birds and insects can sense the magnetic field of the earth to find their way | Image fromWall Street International.
Dear Greta,
I am an engineer, not a biologist. Yet, I realize wildlife and biodiversity are the Earth’s greatest treasures and need to be protected. In previous letters, I discussed large-scale 5G networks’ energy consumption and climate impacts. I proposed more sustainable alternatives to 5G public networks. Today, I will report how 5G threatens ecosystems and biodiversity.
Tackling marine plastic pollution and protecting our oceans
Unsplash / 03 Mar 2021
In 2020, the world’s attention turned to the COVID-19 pandemic. But even as we poured all of energy and resources into tackling it, many pointed to wider issues as contributing factors. Nature and biodiversity loss. Climate change. Pollution and waste. The three planetary crises. All of which are destroying the natural world and threatening our future.
6 March 2021 (UN News)* — Women in Europe should be given “greater economic independence” through equal pay, childcare support and the sharing of domestic duties to ensure that they do not fall into poverty, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Unsplash/Tom Parsons | A homeless woman begs for money in the centre of London, United Kingdom
By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director*
International Women’s Day this year comes at a difficult time for the world and for gender equality, but at a perfect moment to fight for transformative action and to salute women and young people for their relentless drive for gender equality and human rights. Our focus is on women’s leadership and on ramping up representation in all the areas where decisions are made – currently mainly by men – about the issues that affect women’s lives. The universal and catastrophic lack of representation of women’s interests has gone on too long. [Also available in: ar | es | fr | ru | zh]
