'Unseen' News and Views
23 July 2020 (UN Environment)* — UN Environment Programme has created immersive digital experiences for its #WildforLife campaign. These four ecosystem-based “journeys” show the magic of interconnected natural systems and inspire people to take action to protect these distinct ecosystems.
The first is Marine Journey. This aquatic adventure informs and inspires people to conserve coral reef, seagrass and mangrove ecosystems.
The upcoming digital journeys include savannahs, forests and peatlands.
Nairobi, 24 July 2020 (UN Environment)* – For many coastal communities, including those in the Western Indian Ocean region, mangroves are critical to economic and food security. A new set of guidelines on mangrove restoration for the region aims to support the restoration of its degraded mangrove ecosystems and support recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19.
Mangrove forests are among the most powerful nature-based solutions to climate change, but with 67 percent of mangroves lost or degraded to date, and an additional 1.0 percent being lost each year, they are at a risk of being destroyed altogether.
Without mangroves, 39 percent more people would be flooded annually and flood damage would increase by more than 16 percent and US $82 billion.
(UN News)* — The immediate introduction of a Temporary Basic Income for the world’s poorest people could slow the current surge in COVID-19 and enable close to three billion people to stay at home, according to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report released on 23 July 2020.
Temporary Basic Income: Protecting Poor and Vulnerable People in Developing Countries, estimates that it would cost governments upwards of $199 billion per month, to provide what UNDP describes as “a time-bound, guaranteed basic income, to the 2.7 billion people living below or just above the poverty line in 132 developing countries.”
A global study has revealed exactly why corals glow during ocean heatwaves: to try and survive.
The research by the University of Southampton’s Coral Reef Laboratory shows that some corals exhibit a dazzling colourful display when they suffer bleaching due to warmer temperatures—to protect themselves.
The university’s scientists found that glowing colours in bleached corals act like a protective layer (similar to sunscreen) when symbiotic micro-algae are lost. The vivid colours are also a blinking neon sign that encourages the algae to return. The study suggests that corals develop extreme colouration within 2 to 3 weeks after exposure to mild or temporary heat stress.
– “We may all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now,” Martin Luther King Jr once said. His timeless wisdom rings truer than ever today for the many challenges the world is facing. COVID-19, continued armed conflicts and forced displacement, climate-change induced disasters, deep divides and widespread discrimination mark the human family in the 21st century.
Yasmine Sherif
While COVID-19 is indeed a health crisis, the state of the world is in a bigger, multi-dimensional crisis. The one safe solution is education. Not just any education, but a quality education. One that is holistic and empowers the young generation, especially girls, to realize their potential, be productive and bring lasting peace to their communities and the world.
A disease that may kill every pig it infects and for which there is no effective vaccine, can be eradicated if more countries continue to work together to limit its spread, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on 20 July 2020. (*).
20 July 2020 (UN Environment)* — There was a time when industrial agriculture seemed to be a panacea for a fast-growing world. Synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides and high-yield cereal hybrids promised to reduce hunger, accommodate growing populations and stimulate economic prosperity. Between 1960 and 2015, agricultural production more than tripled, resulting in an abundance of low-cost fareand averting global food shortages.
But not everything went as anticipated. Decades of industrial farming have taken a heavy toll on the environment and raised some serious concerns about the future of food production. “Efficient farming is not just a matter of production,” says James Lomax, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Programme Manager. “It is also about environmental sustainability, public health and economic inclusivity.”
A new statelessness determination procedure in Ukraine gives people without identity documents the right to work, study and access health care. | Español | Français
Anna Miryasheva, a 22-year-old stateless woman from Kyiv in Ukraine, holds a photo album containing pictures of her late mother, Olena. © UNHCR/Anton Fedorov
17 July 2020 (UNHCR)* — Despite having cancer, Olena Miryasheva was denied access to health care: she could not be registered at the outpatient clinic, could not obtain a prescription, and could not even undergo a medical examination which would have been free for a Ukrainian citizen.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 