Nairobi (UNEP)* – Heads of State, Ministers of environment and other representatives from 175 nations endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) on 2 March 2022 in Nairobi to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024.
The resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.
“Against the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil, the UN Environment Assembly shows multilateral cooperation at its best,” said the President of UNEA-5 and Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Espen Barth Eide. “Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.”
This includes researching and implementing measures to safely dispose of antimicrobial waste from food, human health and animal health systems, and manufacturing facilities.
MADRID, Mar 2 2022 (IPS)* – These are not by any means just mere figures. It is about the risk of extinction of the whole life cycle. See what is at stake.
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Illegal wildlife trade continues to pose a real danger to biodiversity, ecosystems and human health, as a number of emerging diseases stem from animal products, both domestic and wild. Credit: AWF wildlife archive
Right now, one million wild plant and animal species are facing extinction. And three-quarters of the land-based environment, eighty-five percent of wetlands, and two-thirds of oceans have been significantly and negatively altered by human activity.
CANBERRA, Australia , Feb 28 2022 (IPS)* – Oceans play a pivotal role in regulating the world’s climate and maintaining the conditions for human life on earth. And they are a crucial source of sustenance and economic wellbeing in many developing countries, including small island developing states.
Pacific Islanders depend on coastal fisheries for food and commercial livelihoods. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS
(UN News)* — The world must be made a safer place for people working to protect the planet, who sometimes pay with their own lives for their activism, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday [1 March 2022].
“Protecting the environment goes hand-in-hand with protecting the rights of those who defend it,”she told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is holding its annual month-long session.
Dangers of speaking out
Ms. Bachelet revealed how speaking out and standing up for environmental rights can come at enormous cost as activists have been killed or subjected to abuse, threats and harassment.
Rome, 24 February 2022 (FAO)* – The expansion of social protection for rural populations is a prerequisite for a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 and must be at the core of the post-pandemic recovery policies, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said on 24 February 2022 at the Global Forum for a Human-Centred Recovery hosted by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
(UN News)* — The impact of extreme weather on Madagascar is an example of the “runaway humanitarian needs” the world will face, unless it takes action to tackle the climate crisis, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday [25 February 2022].
The warning comes after tropical cyclone Emnati made landfall on Wednesday in one of Africa’s most storm-prone countries and just days ahead of the launch of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
International donor-led schemes promote peacebuilding and collaboration rather than pushing Israel to end its occupation
Palestine’s struggle is also a climate and environmental struggle | Eddie Gerald / Alamy Stock Photo. All rights reserved
25 February 2022 (openDemocracy)* — At the core of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is its theft of Palestinian natural resources, including land and water, which exacerbates the climate crisis.
(UN News)* — UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi urged on Monday [21 February 2022] for greater protection for refugees and asylum-seekers in Europe.
UN Photo | The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warns of increasing violence and human rights violations at European borders.
He said in a statement that violence, ill-treatment, and pushbacks continue to be regularly reported at multiple entry points at land and sea borders.
NEW DELHI and KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 2022 (IPS)* – A recent Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study shows the largest farms cultivate a high and increasing share of agricultural land in much of the world.
Vikas Rawal
Farm size concentration
World Agricultural Census data for 129 countries show about 40% of the world’s farmland is operated by farms over 1000 hectares (ha) in size. About 70% is operated by the top 1% of farms, all bigger than 50 ha each.
A rising share of farmland is in larger farms. But farm sizes in developed and developing countries seem quite different.
Farms smaller than 5 ha accounted for 63% of land in low and lower middle-income countries. But such farms covered only 8% of farmland in upper middle and high-income countries.
The “share of farmland farmed on the largest holdings has increased in … several European countries (France, Germany and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and in the United States of America.”
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 