'Unseen' News and Views
The number of people living in internal displacement worldwide as of the end of 2018 is the highest it has ever been, according to the Global Report on Internal Displacement, launched today at the United Nations in Geneva.
This is an increase of more than a million since the end of 2017 and two-thirds more than the global number of refugees.
Bonn, 9 May 2019 (UN Environment)* -– Plastic pollution poses serious health risks to wildlife globally, affecting a wide range of species including whales, turtles, fish and birds.
Bo Eide | Photo from UN Environment.
On World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated on 11 May, two UN wildlife treaties and conservationists around the world are calling for urgent action to stop plastic pollution by highlighting its negative effects on seabirds and other migratory birds.
10 May 2019 — A seeming paradise, life on the Pacific islands is threatened by climate change and extreme weather, frustrated by remoteness and a lack of educational and economic opportunities. Secretary-General António Guterres begins a visit to the region this weekend, where he will speak to people living on some of the islands and see for himself how the UN is helping to mitigate some of the biggest issues.
Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change. With the 2019 session of the United Nations Forum on Forests wrapping up on Friday [10 May 2019] in New York, we delve deeper into the subject, and find out what the UN is doing to safeguard and protect them.
– The rise of right-wing nationalism and the proliferation of authoritarian governments have undermined human rights in several countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
As a result, some of the international human rights experts – designated as UN Rapporteurs – have either been politically ostracized, denied permission to visit countries on “fact-finding missions” or threatened with expulsion, along with the suspension of work permits.
Why we need to #StopSoilErosion to ensure a food-secure future.
Soil erosion can increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters like landslides and floods. ©Carey Marks
10 May 2019 (FAO)* — One of the key ingredients to a #ZeroHunger future is the soil beneath our feet. Although it may not look like much, soil is full of water, nutrients and microorganisms that are vital for growing our food.
However, soil is a finite resource – restoring even a few centimetres of soil can take up to 1 000 years.
It is nothing less than a “moral, ethical and economic imperative” to take more action to mitigate the existential threat posed by climate change, said top executives from across the United Nations system on Thursday [9 May 2019].
Calling on Member States to take “urgent action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, the leaders of more than 30 UN agencies and entities, issued a formal, joint appeal for governments everywhere to “step up ambition and take concrete action” ahead of the landmark Climate Action Summit, which has been convened by UN chief António Guterres this September.
10 May 2019 (UN Environment)* — Every year, birds make epic journeys across the world to survive. Over millions of years certain species of birds have become hard-wired to seek food and nesting sites along routes.
Photo by Bob Peyton/USFWS, Flickr
Take the red knot, a tiny shorebird that migrates from the tip of South America all the way to the Arctic Circle. They fly for up to 3,200 km without stopping at altitudes of 6,000 metres where the air is incredibly thin. And as they fly north, there are only a handful of specific places where they land.
A new report on April 25 by a respected think tank has estimated that US sanctions imposed on Venezuela in August 2017 have caused around 40,000 deaths. This atrocity has been almost entirely blanked by the ‘mainstream’ media. Additional sanctions imposed in January 2019 are likely to lead to tens of thousands of further deaths.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 