BULAWAYO and BONN, Sep 4 2023 (IPS)* – Mango farmer Eufria Nyadome used to earn USD 60 from selling a 20-litre bucket of fresh mangoes and now can barely make USD 20 even though her mango trees are giving a good yield. She is throwing away buckets of rotten mangoes.
Wild boar female (Susscrofa) walking on mud beside a river with her piglets. The wild boar is an invasive Alien Species in countries such as South Africa, Vanuatu, and Uruguay. Credit: Budimir Jevtic/Shutterstock
Nyadome, from Mhondiwa Village in Ward 9 Murehwa District of Zimbabwe, has lost her income to an invasive Oriental fruit fly all the way from Asia.
(UN News)*— Amplified by wildfires and desert dust fanned by climate change, more frequent heatwaves are leading to a sharp drop in air quality and human health, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a new report on Wednesday [].
UN News | In early June 2023, strong wind brought heavy smoke from wildfires in Canada to New York City.
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The news came as the UN chief released a strongly worded statement on a record summer of global warming in the northern hemisphere, according to the European Union’s climate service Copernicus and WMO.
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Earth has just experienced its hottest August on record – by a large margin – and the second hottest month ever after this July.
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Factoring in June, they represent the hottest three month period ever, the data indicates. The year overall is the second warmest on record behind 2016.
(UN News)* — Startling findings from a new UN data platform reveal that the marine dredging industry is extracting a staggering six billion tons of sand and sediment annually.
This is equivalent to over one million dump trucks every day – placing immense pressure on marine biodiversity and the well-being of coastal communities.
(UN News)* — An unprecedented number of migrants and refugees continue to cross the dense tropical jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap, risking their lives and facing horrific human rights abuses, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday [].
So far this year, more than 330,000 people have crossed the Darien Gap on their journey towards North America – the highest annual figure recorded to date, OHCHR said. One in five was a child.
(UN News)* — Members of the African diaspora continue to face immense challenges participating in public life in many countries, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said in a new report on Tuesday [].
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Unsplash | UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged States to “accelerate action towards meaningful, inclusive and safe participation for people of African descent in every aspect of public affairs”.
It details how systemic racism, marginalization and exclusion, rooted in the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, continue to have a negative effect on all aspects of life.
In the mountainous province of Bukidnon in the southern Philippines, local indigenous groups are being forced to adapt to the alarming impacts of climate change. With UN support, communities are making significant strides, using centuries-old knowledge to forge sustainable solutions.
Local tribal leader Jemuel Perino discussed the success of local initiatives, supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Adaption Fund Climate Change Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA), in educating his community on effective prevention and mitigation techniques to deal with the growing impacts of climate change.
“The indigenous cultural communities have their own centuries-old knowledge, systems, and practices and have kept them alive,” Mr. Perino said. “In the Philippines, the Government is promoting their use in environmental protection and conservation.”
Climate-induced water insecurity poses one of the biggest threats to humanity and will lead to more hunger, disease and displacement.
Climate Change and Water Security. Oxfam‘s report “Water Dilemmas” highlights how a water security crisis, in large part driven by global heating from greenhouse gas emissions, will fuel hunger and disease and force more people to leave their homes. | Photo: Oxfamwash.org
Oxfam water engineers are having to drill deeper, more expensive and harder-to-maintain water boreholes used by some of the poorest communities around the world, more often now only to find dry, depleted or polluted reservoirs. | FrenchArabic
Climate justice is not just about survival but also about benefit sharing, reducing inequality and enabling a better society that thrives – Yamide Dagnet, Climate Justice Director at Open Society Foundations
A family shelter on the roof of their small house surrounded by floodwater in Jatrapur Union in Kurigram District, Bangladesh. Credit: Muhammad Amdad Hossain/Climate Visuals
BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE, Aug 31 2023 (IPS)* – The failure to tackle the climate change crisis is an injustice to the millions who have lost lives and livelihoods through floods, extreme weather, and wildfires, pointing to the urgency of adaptation and mitigation finance, experts say.
On August 30, the United States embassy in Port-au-Prince called on all US citizens to leave Haiti “as soon as possible” because of the worsening security situation in the country. The next day, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement loaded 57 Haitians on a plane and deported them to Haiti.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 