Trump team asks U.S. State Department what it spends on international environmental efforts, after campaign promise to “cancel billions of dollars in global warming payments”

By Juliet Eilperin and Carol Morello 20 December 2016 (The Washington Post) – Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has asked State Department officials to disclose how much money it provides each year to international environmental groups. It’s the latest example of how the incoming administration is reassessing the U.S. government’s approach to tackling climate change […]

“Every migrant is a human being with human rights”, says UN chief on International Day

18 December 2016 (UN) – Despite appearances and media spin, “migration does not have to be chaotic or seem like an invasion,” and as yet another turbulent year for millions of people on the move comes to an end, the United Nations is marking International Migrants Day with a worldwide call for more cooperation and […]

Leaked document reveals Rex Tillerson is director of Bahamas-based US-Russian oil company

  By Luke Harding and Hannes Munzinger18 December 2016 (The Guardian) – Rex Tillerson, the businessman nominated by Donald Trump to be the next US secretary of state, is the long-time director of a US-Russian oil firm based in the tax haven of the Bahamas, leaked documents show. Tillerson – the chief executive of ExxonMobil […]

Oceans poisoned by plastic –‘No matter where you go, the sea is covered in plastic’

By Patrick Winn 13 December 2016 (PRI) – Here in this fishing village, on the island of Java, the surf teems with kaleidoscopic color. Each wave is littered with garish bibs and bobs. The water is speckled with synthetic hues: Coca-Cola red, day-glo green and every other color in the crayon box. There are monochromes […]

Scientists confirm that warm ocean water is melting the biggest glacier in East Antarctica

By Chris Mooney 16 December 2016 (Washington Post) – Scientists at institutions in the United States and Australia on Friday published a set of unprecedented ocean observations near the largest glacier of the largest ice sheet in the world: Totten glacier, East Antarctica. And the result was a troubling confirmation of what scientists already feared […]

UN launches $2.66 billion appeal for emergency assistance in Sahel region – ‘The Sahel will remain the site of one of the world’s major humanitarian operations in 2017’

  7 December 2016 (UN) – The United Nations and its partner non-governmental organizations today launched an appeal for $2.66 billion to provide emergency assistance across eight countries in the Sahel region, where “millions of people still live in conditions of deplorable human suffering.” “The Sahel faces considerable challenges and will remain the site of […]

Aimed at refugees, fences are threatening European wildlife – ‘The big problem is that from Mongolia to the United States to Europe, building fences and walls – that’s a trend’

By Jim O’Donnell15 December 2016 (Yale e360) – The Dinaric Mountains of southeastern Europe are home to three of the continent’s largest carnivores – the Eurasian brown bear, the Eurasian wolf, and the Eurasian lynx. They roam widely through woodlands of ash, oak, beech, and pine that run the length of the range from Greece […]

Climate scientists hatch plans to deal with Trump antiscience policies – ‘If Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellites’

By Josh Fischman15 December 2016 SAN FRANCISCO (Scientific American) – Anxiety among Earth and climate scientists has been mounting for weeks. The election of Donald J. Trump as U.S. president, a candidate who called human-driven climate change a hoax, was followed by Trump naming more and more climate-change doubters to run the government’s environment and […]

Environmental crime threatens peace and security – Global environmental crime valued up to $258 billion annually

WASHINGTON, D.C., 8 December 2016 (UNEP) – More than 80 per cent of countries consider environmental crime a national priority, with the majority saying new and more sophisticated criminal activities increasingly threaten peace and security. INTERPOL and UN Environment surveyed close to 70 countries for their new joint report, Environment, Peace and Security? A Convergence […]

Global wage growth falls to its lowest level in four years

GENEVA, 15 December 2016 (ILO News) – Wage growth around the world has decelerated since 2012, falling from 2.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent in 2015, its lowest level in four years. If China, where wage growth was faster than elsewhere, is not included, growth in global wages dropped from 1.6 per cent to […]

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