Archive for ‘Latin America & Caribbean’

08/11/2025

2025 Set to Be Second or Third Warmest Year on Record, Continuing Exceptionally High Warming Trend

Human Wrongs Watch

By the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)*

6 November 2025 — The alarming streak of exceptional temperatures continued in 2025, which is set to be either the second or third warmest year on record, according to the State of the Global Climate Update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 

The mean near-surface temperature in January-August 2025 was 1.42 °C ± 0.12 °C above the pre-industrial average, said the WMO report.

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08/11/2025

‘Worrying Reports’ Continue of Abductions and Disappearances in Syria

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Nearly 100 people in Syria have been abducted or forcibly disappeared since January, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday [], calling for greater accountability from the authorities.

The issue of missing persons in Syria is one of the most prominent humanitarian challenges resulting from years of conflict.
IIMP Syria | The issue of missing persons in Syria is one of the most prominent humanitarian challenges resulting from years of conflict.

“Eleven months after the fall of the former government in Syria, we continue to receive worrying reports about dozens of abductions and enforced disappearances,” Spokesperson Thameen Al-Keetan said at a press briefing in Geneva.

Syria is undergoing a political transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 and 13 years of brutal civil war.

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07/11/2025

US Skips High-Level Presence at COP30 Climate Summit

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 7 2025 (IPS)* “Has the world given up fighting climate change?” was a rhetorical question posed recently by the New York Times, perhaps with a degree of sarcasm.
 

Credit: United Nations

It might look that way, says Christiana Figueres, a founding partner of the nongovernmental organization Global Optimism, “as US president Donald Trump blusters about fossil fuel, Bill Gates prioritizes children’s health over climate protection, and oil and gas companies plan decades of higher production.”

But that’s far from the whole picture, said Figueres, pointing out that the overwhelming majority of the world’s people — 80 to 89%, as Covering Climate Now partner newsrooms have been reporting — want stronger climate action.

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07/11/2025

UN Chief Urges World Leaders to Drive Down Global Warming

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — As world leaders gather in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday ] called for urgent action to drive down global temperatures and keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.

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2025 is likely to be the second or third warmest year on record.
© WMO/Guillaume Louÿs | 2025 is likely to be the second or third warmest year on record.
 
“Every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement, and loss – especially for those least responsible. It could push ecosystems past irreversible tipping points, expose billions to unlivable conditions, and amplify threats to peace and security,” Mr. Guterres told leaders in Belém.

Failure to contain global heating amounts to “moral failure and deadly negligence,” he added.

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07/11/2025

Battlefields to Wastelands: UN Warns Conflicts Are Destroying Ecosystems Worldwide

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — From Gaza to Ukraine and beyond, conflict has caused widespread death and destruction, but it has also devastated natural resources such as water systems, farmland and forests.

Members of a family displaced by drought and conflict rest outside their tent.
© IOM/Raber Aziz | Members of a family displaced by drought and conflict rest outside their tent.

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07/11/2025

Nearly a Third of Jamaica’s Annual Wealth Wiped Out by Hurricane Melissa

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Around 1.5 million Jamaicans have been impacted by Hurricane Melissa – the worst climate disaster in the Caribbean nation’s history, said the top UN development official in the region on Thursday [].

Two staff of the World Food Programme assess the logistical challenges of getting aid to isolated communities in Jamaica.
United Nations | Two staff of the World Food Programme assess the logistical challenges of getting aid to isolated communities in Jamaica.

Kishan Khoday, Resident Representative for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York via video conference that initial estimates of the damage added up to 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Product: “a figure that’s expected to rise.”

UNDP estimates that nearly five million metric tonnes of debris have been generated across western Jamaica following the devastating category 5 storm last week – equivalent to roughly 500,000 standard truckloads.

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06/11/2025

Report Provides 10 New Insights in Climate Science

Human Wrongs Watch

5 November 2025 — On the eve of the UN climate change negotiations in Brazil, a new report delivers a stark assessment of the planet’s climate and an urgent call to step up global action. 
 

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The 10 New Insights in Climate Science highlights a worrying acceleration in climate change indicators and impacts on health and livelihoods.

It underscores that effective, equitable, and science-informed policy remains the most powerful tool to safeguard both people and the planet.

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06/11/2025

World’s Forests at Serious Risk from Warming Planet, Fires and Pests

Human Wrongs Watch

Decades of progress in protecting the planet’s carbon dioxide-busting forests are at risk as the climate crisis continues to accelerate, UN forestry experts said on Wednesday [].
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Global warming is linked to increasingly dry conditions and devastating wildfires across the UNECE region covering Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
© Unsplash/Caleb Cook | Global warming is linked to increasingly dry conditions and devastating wildfires across the UNECE region covering Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

 
In a call to world leaders to boost protection of forests as they prepare for the COP-30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) noted that carbon storage in forests has risen by 11 per cent since 1990.
 
“The message is clear: what we have achieved over the last three decades is now at serious risk from the climate emergency. We cannot afford to lose the planet’s most powerful natural defence,” said UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean.

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05/11/2025

When Sovereignty Becomes a Threat

Human Wrongs Watch

By Raïs Neza Boneza – TRANSCEND Media Service*

For decades, the United States has punished nations that dared to act independently. From Venezuela to the Sahel, a new generation is rejecting the old empire’s script.

The mask has fallen. In a moment of verbal violence reminiscent of an old western, U.S. president Donald Trump openly called for the “removal” of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, accusing Venezuela of “threatening American interests, or supporting drug cartels.”


Let us be clear: this is not mere rhetoric. It is an explicit call for the murder of a sovereign head of state—a flagrant violation of international law.

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04/11/2025

FAO Warns of ‘Silent Crisis’ as Land Degradation Threatens Billions

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Roughly 1.7 billion people are living in areas where crop yields are failing due to human-induced land degradation – “a pervasive and silent crisis that is undermining agricultural productivity and threatening ecosystem health worldwide.”
A woman in Bolivia prepares her land for growing crops.
© WFP/Marco Frattini | A woman in Bolivia prepares her land for growing crops.
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The finding comes in the latest State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), released on Monday [] in Rome.“
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The report delivers a clear message: land degradation is not just an environmental issue – it impacts agricultural productivity, rural livelihoods and food security,” the UN agency said. 

Land is the core of agrifood systems, supporting over 95 percent of food production in addition to providing essential ecosystem services that sustain life on the planet.

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