Archive for December, 2023

07/12/2023

Israel: Strikes on Journalists in Lebanon Apparently Deliberate

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

Intentionally Targeting Civilians a War Crime

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Read a text description of this video: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/07/israel-strikes-journalists-lebanon-apparently-deliberate

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(Beirut) – Two Israeli strikes in Lebanon on October 13, 2023, that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists was an apparently deliberate attack on civilians and thus a war crime, Human Rights Watch said today [7December2023].
07/12/2023

“The Pulverising of Gaza Now Ranks amongst the Worst Assaults on Any Civilian Population in Our Time and Age…”

Human Wrongs Watch

Civilian deaths in Gaza are a stain on Israel and its allies

Statement from Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council:
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This residential building in Gaza collapsed after it was targeted in an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Yousef Hammash/NRC

5 December 2023 — “The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for the innocent people enduring this hell.

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06/12/2023

‘Alarming Surge’ in Climate Change over the Past Decade

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The past decade has been confirmed the warmest ever recorded, continuing an alarming 30-year trend that the UN weather chief said on Tuesday [] is “unequivocally driven by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.” 

Secretary-General Visits Antarctica
UN Photo/Mark Garten | Secretary-General Visits Antarctica

Marked by record breaking land and ocean temperatures, the decade between 2011-2020 saw continued rising concentrations of greenhouse gasses that “turbo charged” dramatic glacier loss and sea-level rise, according to a new report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

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06/12/2023

Record Number of Fossil Fuel Lobbyists at COP28

Human Wrongs Watch

By Kick Big Polluters Out*

Industry influx escalates call to protect talks from Big Polluters

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LONDON 5th December 2023: At least 2456 fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to the COP28 summit in Dubai, signalling an unprecedented presence at crucial climate talks from representatives of some of the world’s biggest polluters, according to a new analysis from the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition.

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04/12/2023

COP28: Methane Pledge by the ‘Giants Behind the Climate Crisis’ Falls ‘Well Short’ of What Is Needed

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday [] sent a strong message to the oil and gas industry: the pledges made at COP28 in Dubai fall well short of what’s needed to meaningfully tackle the climate crisis.

The burning of fossil fuels is driving climate change.
© Unsplash/Patrick Hendry | The burning of fossil fuels is driving climate change.

As the fourth day of this year’s UN climate conference got underway, the UN chief stated: “The fossil fuel industry is finally starting to wake up, but the promises made clearly fall short of what is required.”

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04/12/2023

Netherlands Latest Country to Tilt to the Right

Human Wrongs Watch

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LONDON, Dec 4 2023 (IPS)* The Netherlands is the latest country to lurch to the right amid the global cost of living crisis. Its November election saw maverick far-right populist Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV) come first. A hardline Islamophobe who’s called for the Quran to be banned could be the next prime minister.

Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images

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03/12/2023

Unprecedented Drought Emergency

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — A new report by the UN team combatting desertification reveals alarming trends over the past two years which have resulted in an unprecedented emergency due to human-induced droughts.

Sand flows from a child's hand like through an hourglass. In southwestern Ethiopia, drought worsened by climate change is threatening crops and livestock, pushing the population to the brink.
© UNICEF/Pouget | Sand flows from a child’s hand like through an hourglass. In southwestern Ethiopia, drought worsened by climate change is threatening crops and livestock, pushing the population to the brink.

The Global Drought Snapshot report, released by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Friday [], coinciding with COP 28, paint a grim picture of the scale of lives and livelihoods lost to droughts.

Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary, emphasized the urgency of the situation. “Unlike other disasters that attract media attention, droughts happen silently, often going unnoticed and failing to provoke an immediate public and political response,” he said.

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03/12/2023

“Recurrent climate shocks, widespread insecurity and rampant poverty have pushed the people of Somalia to the breaking point”

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Deadly torrential rains and floods have affected more than two million people in several areas of Somalia, with over 100 killed and 750,000 displaced from their homes, the authorities and humanitarian partners said on Thursday [30 November 2023] in the capital, Mogadishu.  

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© UNICEF | File photo from May 2023 when Beledweyne town was flooded after the Shabelle River burst its banks.

The crisis began with the start of the deyr rainy season in October and comes six months after the country emerged from a historic drought that brought it to the brink of widespread famine.

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01/12/2023

Science Points to ‘Climate Collapse’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The world is heating up at an unprecedented pace, new climate data shows, and leaders gathered for the COP28 conference which opened in Dubai on Thursday [30 November 2023] must get us out of “deep trouble”, UN chief António Guterres said.

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© UNICEF/Ulet Ifansasti | A man crosses parched farmland in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

While 2023 is not yet over, a provisional report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that it is set to be the warmest on record, with global temperatures rising 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Mr. Guterres said that the race is on to keep alive the 1.5-degree limit agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015.

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01/12/2023

Rich Distort Climate Problems, Offer Self-Serving Solutions

Human Wrongs Watch

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov 29 2023 (IPS)* Many in the wealthy West have misrepresented the causes of global warming, offering false solutions while claiming the high moral ground. This distracts attention from how they became wealthy while emitting greenhouse gases.

Tragedy or farce?
Growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the industrial age have caused global warming, with their accumulation continuing to accelerate despite being close to exceeding 1.5°C warming and its associated tipping points.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

This is sometimes depicted as due to the failure to sustainably manage the atmosphere as a shared resource.

The ‘tragedy of the commons’ refers to a community’s inability to manage a common resource sustainably.

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