'Unseen' News and Views
26 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — The annual United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) flagship Emissions Gap Report is now online. But what is this report really about? And why should you care? Keep reading to find out more.
(Photo posted here from UN Environment).
The Emissions Gap could also be called the “Commitment Gap”. It measures the gap between what we need to do and what we are actually doing to tackle climate change.
Why our food systems need to focus on underutilized fruits and vegetables
28 November 2019 (FAO)* — Our food systems aren’t working as they should be. Over 820 million people are still going hungry on our planet today. At the same time, there is a worldwide obesity epidemic. Access, in terms of availability and cost, to healthy food is a major factor in both scenarios.
Putting Mediterranean and other traditional diets back on the consumer’s plate
The Mediterranean diet implies high intakes of diverse vegetables, fruits, legumes, herbs and olive oil. Vegetables are displayed on sale at a stall at the Esquilino market in Rome, Italy.
ROME, 27 November 2019 (FAO)* — Promoting traditional healthy diets is important for advancing our efforts towards a food system that respects the environment, culture and well-being of people, which is a fundamental element of sustainable development.
Since the beginning of 2019, measles has taken more than 5,000 lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a top UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official said on Wednesday [27 November 2019], pointing out that over 90 per cent of the deaths were children under-five. (*).
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“While the Ebola outbreak, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives in the Eastern DRC, has commanded sustained international attention, measles, which has claimed more than twice as many lives, continues to be underreported”, said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in the country.
© 2018 AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
This was one of the lines officials were instructed to deliver to children returning to Xinjiang and learning that their family members had been sent to “political education” camps, according to a trove of Chinese documents leaked to and published by the New York Times.
The number of international migrants in 2019 is now estimated at 270 million and the top destination remains the United States, at nearly 51 million, the UN migration agency said on Wednesday [27 November 2019]. (*)
In its latest global report, IOM noted that the overall figure represents just a tiny fraction of the world’s population, although it is a 0.1 per cent increase on the level indicated in its last report, published two years ago.
“This figure remains a very small percentage of the world’s population (at 3.5 per cent), meaning that the vast majority of people globally (96.5 per cent) are estimated to be residing in the country in which they were born,” IOM’s Global Migration Report 2020 said.
– A longstanding proposal for a regional nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East – one of the world’s most conflict-ridden regions – has been kicked around the corridors of UN committee rooms since 1974.
Nuclear Test. Credit: United Nations
And as another effort to negotiate a legally-binding treaty concluded last week, there were lingering questions crying out for answers: how realistic is the proposal in the face of implicit opposition from US and Israel? Is the proposal still in the realm of political fantasy?
The overthrow of the elected leader cannot be understood without a glance at the nation’s massive reserves of this crucial mineral.
Supporters of Bolivian ex-President Evo Morales, take part in a march in downtown La Paz on November 12, 2019, after he left in exile to Mexico. – Bolivia’s Evo Morales was en route to exile in Mexico on Tuesday, leaving behind a country in turmoil after his abrupt resignation as president. The senator set to succeed Morales as interim president, Jeanine Anez, pledged to call fresh elections to end the political crisis. (Photo: Aizar Raldes/AFP via Getty Images)
27 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — Depending on where you live, end of the year holidays may be a time to be with family and friends. These traditions often include gift giving.
Image from UN Environment.
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From bringing flowers and chocolates to buying gifts for children, family, friends and co-workers, why not think about the environment too when you consider gifts this year?
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 