2015 was the worst year on record for murders of land and environmental defenders – ‘We get threatened, vilified, and killed for standing up to the mining companies on our land and the paramilitaries that protect them’

20 June 2016 (Global Witness) – Para la versión española, clique aquí. More than three people were killed a week in 2015 defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries. For our new report On Dangerous Ground we documented 185 killings across 16 countries – by far the highest annual death toll on record […]

‘Unprecedented’ 65 million people displaced by war and persecution in 2015 – ‘With anti-refugee rhetoric so loud, it is sometimes difficult to hear the voices of welcome. But these do exist, all around the world.’

20 June 2016 (UN) – The number of people displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution last year exceeded 60 million for the first time in United Nations history, a tally greater than the population of the United Kingdom, or of Canada, Australia and New Zealand combined, says a new report released on […]

If global warming empties India – ‘The rapid evacuation of the tropics would cause migrants to concentrate in tropical margins and the subtropics, where population densities would increase by 300 percent or more’

By Gayathri Vaidyanathan9 June 2016 (ClimateWire) – In an armchair experiment where humans are thought of as no wiser than animals, scientists have found that climate change could empty some nations by 2100. A warming of 2 degrees Celsius would cause 34 percent of the world’s population to migrate more than 300 miles, to places […]

Africa has a tomato problem: Miner grubs are wiping out crops and have ‘the potential to effectively eliminate tomato from the agricultural cycle’

By Matthew Hill and Mustapha Muhammad9 June 2016 (Bloomberg News) – Yusuf Ibrahim, a tomato farmer in Kano, Nigeria, has lost almost 90 percent of his crop this year to Tuta absoluta. That prices for the fruit are 15 times higher than before the outbreak of the pest is little consolation; he can’t afford to […]

Ongoing conflicts and droughts exacerbate global food needs – Food insecurity spreads as El Niño casts its shadow over Pacific and Caribbean states

ROME, 2 June 2016 – Drought linked to El Niño and civil conflict have pushed the number of countries currently in need of external food assistance up to 37 from 34 in March, according to a new FAO report. The new edition of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, released today, adds Papua New […]

The 2016 Global Peace Index records a historically less peaceful and more unequal world

9 June 2016 (IEP) – The 2016 Global Peace Index (GPI) shows the world became less peaceful in the last year, reinforcing the underlying trend of declining peace over the last decade. Results also show a growing global inequality in peace, with the most peaceful countries continuing to improve while the least peaceful are falling […]

At UN Security Council, climate change cited among factors impacting stability in Sahel – ‘Life is already tough and will get tougher’

26 May 2016 (UN) – At a meeting today in the United Nations Security Council on the situation in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, senior UN officials stressed that climate change plays a direct role in the region’s security, development and stability by increasing drought and fuelling conflict. Speaking via videoconference from Niger, the […]

50 million Africans face hunger after crops fail again – ‘The situation is critical. We are at the point of no return.’

  By John Vidal22 May 2016 Lilongwe, Malawi (The Guardian) – Up to 50 million people in Africa will need food by Christmas as a crisis across the continent triggered by El Niño worsens, the UN and major international charities have warned. A second year of deep drought in much of southern and eastern Africa […]

UN calls for end to poaching and trade of migratory birds – ‘We must stop the illegal killing now, if we don’t want our skies to fall silent’

10 May 2016 (UN) – Millions of migratory birds are being lost each year as a result of illegal killing, taking and trade, United Nations officials warned on World Migratory Bird Day, calling for concerted action to end the threats to migratory birds and urging everyone to step outside and “listen to the birds chirping,” […]

World Bank: Water scarcity poses a greater risk of turmoil under climate change – Global water shortages to deliver ‘severe hit’ to economies

By Pola Lem4 May 2016 (ClimateWire) – Water scarcity is expected to increase globally as populations boom and climate change sharpens uncertainty around the resource’s availability, according to a report by the World Bank. The conclusion adds to a growing body of research, and it comes days before this year’s Climate Action 2016 summit in […]

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