'Unseen' News and Views
– “The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures,” says the UN Secretary-General as he launches a call to action on extreme heat and its impact on society and the environment.
Extreme heat has caused hundreds of deaths and has many other implications. This is an image from Dahanu, Maharashtra. Credit: 350/flickr
Workplace exposures to excessive heat in Africa were above the global average, affecting 92.9 per cent of the workforce.
.
GENEVA, 25 July 2024 (ILO)* – A new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Heat at work: Implications for safety and health, warns that more workers are being exposed to heat stress worldwide.
The new data reveals that regions previously unaccustomed to extreme heat will face increased risks, while workers in already hot climates will confront ever more dangerous conditions.
.jpg?sfvrsn=2ee86607_9 "Hunger numbers stubbornly high for three consecutive years as global crises deepen: UN report")
**If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, half of them in Africa. ©iStock
Rio de Janeiro, 24 July 2024 (FAO)* – Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today [24 July 2024] by five United Nations specialized agencies.
(UN News)* — Soaring summer temperatures in Europe and Central Asia are killing nearly 400 children a year according to new analysis of the latest available data by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released on Wednesday [].
Debunking Biodiversity Credits, the Next Wave of Bio-Imperialism
In the name of biodiversity “conservation” and “protection”, the corporate sector is increasingly making calls for the financialisation of nature.
The financialization of nature continues the harmful legacy of bio-imperialism.
– Many low-income countries (LICs) continue to slip further behind the rest of the world. Meanwhile, people in extreme poverty have been increasing again after decades of decline.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Falling further behind
World output more than doubled from $36 trillion in 1990 to $87 trillion by 2021 (in constant US dollars), but this growth has not been evenly distributed, causing most LICs to fall further behind.
Many of the world’s poorest economies have had meagre growth since the 1960s. As most developing countries have made progress, income gaps among nations have declined.
()* — The entire social fabric of families is unraveling in Haiti as displacement in the country reaches record numbers due largely to insecurity and gang-related violence, according to Abdoulaye Sawadogo, head of the UN’s humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, in the Caribbean island nation.
Residents in Baghlan-e-Jadid district assess the damage caused by recent flooding in Afghanistan’s northeastern Baghlan province. © UNHCR/Mujeeburrahman Habiby
On 15 November 2022, the world’s population reached an estimated 8.0 billion people, a milestone in human development. This unprecedented growth, according to the UN, is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries. Meanwhile, the UN will be commemorating World Population Day on July 11.
– Across East Asia, birthrates are plummeting. Japan’s has been falling for eight straight years and recently hit a record low of 1.2 children per woman, the lowest since record keeping began in 1899.
For reference, a total fertility rate of 2.1 is needed to maintain a stable population. China’s total fertility rate is now approaching 1.0. South Korea’s plummeted in 2023 to a record low of 0.72, the worlds’ lowest.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 