(UN News)* — Countries from around the world are meeting in the Colombian city of Cali, to discuss how best to protect biological diversity and develop a lasting blueprint that will allow humankind to live in harmony with nature.
CALI, Columbia, Nov 3 2024 (IPS)* –The curtains fell on the 16th Conference of the Parties of UN Biodiversity (COP16) on Sunday without any formal closing. In a voice message, David Ainsworth, the Communications Director of the UNCBD, confirmed that the COP was suspended due to a lack of quorum in the plenary and would be resumed sometime later.
An image of an indigenous woman at the Plenary in session at COP16 which took a historic decision on the indigenous peoples and local communities. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
Rome, 31 October 2024(FAO/WFP)*– Acute food insecurity is set to increase in both magnitude and severity across 22 countries and territories, according to a new United Nations report.
CALI, Columbia, Oct 31 2024 (IPS)* – José Aruna, a forest defender from Sud Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remembers the night in September 2019 when a group of heavily armed men barged into his house in the middle of the night.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General at COP16, sent a message that peace with nature was only possible if there was a political solution to conflicts. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
Aruna and his wife—6 months pregnant at the time—were in bed when he heard sounds of boots on the front yard and quickly knew something was about to happen.
He silently slipped out of the bed and hid behind a tree at the back of the house.
There are high hopes that artificial intelligence (AI) can help tackle some of the world’s biggest environmental emergencies. Among other things, the technology is already being used to map the destructive dredging of sand and chart emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Close-up of an electronic circuit board showing microchips and components. (Photo by TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / ABO / Science Photo Library via AFP)
But when it comes to the environment, there is a negative side to the explosion of AI and its associated infrastructure, according to a growing body of research.
28 October 2024 — Greenhouse gas levels surged to a new record in 2023, committing the planet to rising temperatures for many years to come, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than any time experienced during human existence, rising by more than 10% in just two decades.
Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average produce more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts in just over an hour and a half than the average person does in their entire lifetime, a new Oxfam report on 28 October 2024 reveals.
The first-of-its-kind study, “Carbon Inequality Kills,”tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and details how the super-rich are fueling inequality, hunger and death across the world.
The report comes ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, amidst growing fears that climate breakdown is accelerating, driven largely by the emissions of the richest people.
Some parts of the world are burning. Some parts are drowning and people everywhere are struggling to cope and in many cases to survive – particularly and always the poorest and most vulnerable: Inger Andersen
(UN News)* — Annual greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high, and urgent action must be taken to prevent catastrophic spikes in temperature and avoid the worst impact of climate change, according to a new report released on Thursday [] by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
(UNEP)* 24 October 2024 — Lead may be present in everything from cookware and cosmetics to paint and plumbing. Yet there is no safe level of exposure to the heavy metal, which causes more than 1.5 million deaths annually and can trigger developmental disorders in children.
Lead particles contaminate the air, water and soil, reducing crop productivity and harming biodiversity. Lead also disproportionately harms those in low- and middle-income countries.
— Recently I learned a new word – “permacrisis” – a frightening concept of the endless loop of problems the world faces today, like being on a rollercoaster that never stops.
Livestock-holding farmers and herders receive animal fodder distributed by FAO to support local food production in Rafah, Gaza Strip. ©FAO/Yousef Alrozzi
The first-of-its-kind study, “Carbon Inequality Kills,” tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and details how the super-rich are fueling inequality, hunger and death across the world.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 