The Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013sparked a call for change in the global fashion industry. But 10 years on, more than 100 billion clothes a year are made – mostly from oil turned into polyester – by people working in dangerous conditions. This is fast fashion’s impact on people and the planet.
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This story was originally posted by Greenpeace UK.22 September 2023 — You know the feeling: wardrobe full of clothes, nothing to wear. Online, fashion sales fill your feeds. Clothes are cheaper than ever, and even cheaper in the sales, which now happen year-round.
DONATE NOWNo Clear Path to Compensation for Iraqis Abused in Detention by US Forces
The US government has apparently failed to provide compensation or other redress to Iraqis who suffered torture and other abuse by US forces at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq two decades ago.
Iraqis tortured by US personnel still have no clear path for receiving redress or recognition from the US government though the effects of torture are a daily reality for many Iraqi survivors and their families.
1. Mother Earth is a sacred, self organized living being. She creates and sustains life.Through her biosphere and her complex ecological processes, she regulates her water systems, her nutrition cycles, and her climate system.Over 4 billion years, using the energy of the sun, the power of photosynthesis by microbes and the green leaf of plants, she brought the temperature of the planet down from 290 C to 13 C, and the concentration of atmospheric CO2 down from 98% to .03%, from around 4,000 to somewhere around 250-270.
Whether – like in Derna – it’s too much water leading to floods, or too little water causing droughts, or polluted water resulting in health risks, addressing the dangers that water poses can save lives.
As climate change intensifies these threats, there is an urgent need for action.
(UN News)* — The consequences of poor chemicals and waste management worldwide are fuelling an “unprecedented global toxic emergency”, independent UN human rights experts have warned, ahead of a major summit next week.
The fifth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM-5), organized by UN environment programme UNEP and hosted by Germany, kicks off in Bonn on Monday.
By approving a new political declaration at UN Headquarters during the high level meeting, Member States also pledged to take concrete action and provide the necessary funding to reach the ambitious goal.
(September 19, 2023) – When the European Commission president arrived on the island of Lampedusa in Italy on September 17, it was an opportunity to reset Europe’s broken approach to migration. Instead, we got a 10-point plan of ineffective and abusive policies, with some wishful thinking.
(UN News)* — The head of the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees across the Middle East, UNRWA, on Thursday [] appealed for consistent and sustainable financing to keep its operations running and avert chronic shortfalls.
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini was speaking at UN Headquarters alongside the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, following a meeting to support its lifesaving work, which is almost entirely funded by donor contributions.“
It has become absolutely unbearable to deal with a situation where the needs of the Palestine refugees increase, the expectations increase, the region is hit by multiple crises, and at the same time to operate public-like services… with decreasing funding,” he said.
The tension is also fuelling “a feeling of abandonment by the international community”, he warned.
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 21 2023 (IPS)* – Sundus Azza scans the news before she heads home, checking for signs that her 30-minute commute could turn into a four-hour-long slog. Any incident could make travel difficult.
72-year-old Kawthar Ajlouni stands alone in her yard in H2, Hebron, the occupied Palestinian territory. The backdrop reveals a fortified Israeli checkpoint. Amid 645 documented movement obstacles in the West Bank, 80 are here in H2 as of 2023. Isolated due to strict Israeli policies, she is one of 7,000 Palestinians enduring heavy restrictions, while many others have left. The Israeli-declared ‘principle of separation’ (between Palestinians and Israeli settlers) limits their life, generating a coercive environment that risks forcible transfers. Kawthar stays, fearing her home’s conversion into a military post. Credit: OCHA/2023
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 2023 (IPS)* – Politically, the United Nations has largely been described as a monumental failure —with little or no progress in resolving some of the world’s past and ongoing military conflicts and civil wars, including Palestine, Western Sahara, Kashmir, and more recently, Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan and Myanmar, among others.
Credit: United Nations
Still, to give the devil its due, the UN has made some remarkable progress providing food, shelter and medical care to millions of people caught in military conflicts, including in Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Libya and Somalia. Has the UN been gradually transformed into a humanitarian aid organization — diplomats without borders?
22 September 2023 — You know the feeling: wardrobe full of clothes, nothing to wear. Online, fashion sales fill your feeds. Clothes are cheaper than ever, and even cheaper in the sales, which now happen year-round.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 