Revealed: Records show the FCDO’s British International Investment fund has continued to back major polluters.
British International Investment has promised to fight climate change. | REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo
24 November 2022 (openDemocracy)* — A fund set up using British overseas aid cash still holds at least 20 investments in fossil fuel companies, two years after it pledged to stop backing dirty energy.
Records analysed by openDemocracy reveal the investments by British International Investment (BII) – which is wholly owned by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – are worth tens of millions of pounds.
Hundreds protest against sanctions in Zimbabwe. Photo: AP News
18 Nov 2022 – The Charter of the United Nations (UN), established in San Francisco in 1945, begins with noble goals, including saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and reaffirming faith in fundamental human rights. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), proclaimed in Paris in 1945, noted that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind,” and affirmed that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
(UN News)* — Millions of people in the Horn of Africa – a region at the intersection of some of the worst impacts of climate change, recurring humanitarian crises and insecurity – are facing the driest conditions in four decades along with extreme food shortages.
The top UN World Food Programme (WFP) official in the region, Michael Dunford, is warning that the situation there is likely to get worse before it improves.
In an interview with UN News, Mr. Dunford said: “Unfortunately, we have not yet seen the worst of this crisis. If you think 2022 is bad, beware of what is coming in 2023. What that means, is that we need to continue to engage. We cannot give up on the needs of the population in the Horn.”
(By UN News)* — Conflict between Israelis and Palestinians “is again reaching a boiling point”, the UN Middle East envoy told the Security Council on Monday [], warning of escalating violence amid a stalled peace process.
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IRIN/Shabtai Gold | Palestinian women walk by Israel’s barrier near Ramallah in the West Bank.
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Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland called for stronger international commitment towards the two-State solution and outlined potential ways to move forward.
He reported that high levels of violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel in recent months has resulted in grave suffering. This included attacks against civilians from both sides, increased use of arms, and settler-related violence.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 