Climate activist Greta Thunberg glares at Donald Trump arriving at the United Nations on 23 September 2019, after she scolded international politicians over inaction on global warming at Climate Action Summit 2019. Photo: The Independent

Trump drops by UN climate summit, skips Greta Thunberg’s speech, hurries off to talk faith and freedom – Standing ovation for Trump at religious freedom panel that never mentioned plight of Uighur Muslims

By Julian Borger 23 September 2019 NEW YORK (The Guardian) – In the UN general assembly chamber, the world’s leaders gathered to share the latest grim news of the planet’s climate crisis, but 100 metres away another meeting had been prepared: a summit of one. Donald Trump had booked a separate venue in the middle of the […]

Julia Aylen wades through waist deep water carrying her pet dog as she is rescued from her flooded home during Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Bahamas, Tuesday, 3 September 2019. Practically parking over the Bahamas for a day and a half, Dorian pounded away at the islands Tuesday in a watery onslaught that devastated thousands of homes, trapped people in attics and crippled hospitals. Photo: Tim Aylen / AP Photo

Humanitarian crisis unfolds in hurricane-stricken Bahamas – “What we are hearing lends credence to the fact that this has been a catastrophic storm and a catastrophic impact”

By Ramon Espinosa, Dánica Coto, and Michael Weissenstein 3 September 2019 FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP) – Practically parking over the Bahamas for a day and a half, Hurricane Dorian pounded away at the islands Tuesday in a watery onslaught that devastated thousands of homes, trapped people in attics and crippled hospitals. At least five deaths were […]

Pope Francis greets the faithful as he arrives for the weekly general audience at the Vatican, 28 August 2019. Photo: Remo Casilli / REUTERS

Pope urges politicians to take “drastic measures” on climate change – “We have caused a climate emergency that gravely threatens nature and life itself, including our own”

By Philip Pullella; Editing by Jane Merriman 1 September 2019 VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis challenged governments on Sunday to take “drastic measures” to combat global warming and reduce the use of fossil fuels, saying the world was experiencing a climate emergency. Francis issued his appeal, a written message for Sunday’s World Day of […]

Greta Thunberg arrives by racing yacht in Manhattan, 28 August 2019. Photo: Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg, teen climate change activist, sails into New York City – “Our war on nature must end”

28 August 2019 (BBC News) – Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in New York after a 15-day, 3,000-mile (4,800km) voyage across the Atlantic. She will be participating in UN climate summits in New York City and Chile. The 16-year-old Swede sailed from Plymouth in the UK on a zero-emissions yacht in order to […]

Graphs from the “Climate Change and Land 2019” report by the IPCC, showing changes relative to 1961 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, world agricultural production, food demand, and desertification and land degradation. Graphic: IPCC

World food security increasingly at risk due to “unprecedented” climate change impact, new UN report warns

8 August 2019 (UN News) – More than 500 million people today live in areas affected by erosion linked to climate change, the UN warned on Thursday, before urging all countries to commit to sustainable land use to help limit greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late. Speaking at the launch of a Special […]

Super yacht the “Rising Sun” at the harbor of Santa Margherita Ligure, 24 June 2016. The “Rising Sun” is owned by billionaire and film producer David Geffen, filmed by a drone. The yacht is the 10th largest in the world. Photo: Fly View

A-listers flock to Google summit in private jets, mega yachts to talk climate change – Greta Thunberg will travel to UN summit by sail

By Emily Smith and Ebony Bowden 30 July 2019 (NY Post) – The world’s rich and famous have flocked to a posh Italian resort to talk about saving Mother Earth — but they sure are punishing her in the process. The billionaire creators of Google have invited a who’s who of A-list names— including former […]

Coverage of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV3) vaccine, in the high income group, 2008-2018. Data: WHO/UNICEF national immunization coverage estimates, 2018 revision. Graphic: WHO/UNICEF

Global vaccination rates stalled in 2018 due to conflict, inequality, and complacency – Measles cases more than doubled to almost 350,000 – 20 million children missed out on lifesaving measles, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 15 July 2019 (UNICEF) – 20 million children worldwide – more than 1 in 10 – missed out on lifesaving vaccines such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018, according to new data from WHO and UNICEF. Globally, since 2010, vaccination coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) and one […]

Number of undernourished people and prevalence of undernourishment globally, 2005-2018. The number of undernourished people in the world has been on the rise since 2015 and is back to levels seen in 2010–2011. Graphic: FAO

Over 820 million people suffer from hunger, with number increasing for third straight year – Overweight and obesity rising in almost all countries

15 July 2019 (UN News) – After nearly a decade of progress, the number of people who suffer from hunger has slowly increased over the past three years, with about one in every nine people globally suffering from hunger today, the United Nations said in a new report released on Monday. This fact underscores “the […]

Central American migrants stand on a raft to cross the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico, with the Tacana volcano in the background, near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexicoin, early morning on 10 June 2019. A record 71 million people were forcibly displaced around the world in 2018, according to a report last month by the United Nations refugee agency, in places as diverse as Turkey, Uganda, Bangladesh, and Peru. Photo: Marco Ugarte / AP Photo

From Libya to Texas, tragedies illustrate plight of migrants

By Lori Hinnant and Jamey Keaten 6 July 2019 GENEVA (AP) – They are trapped in squalid detention centers on Libya’s front lines. They wash up on the banks of the Rio Grande. They sink without a trace — in the Mediterranean, in the Pacific or in waterways they can’t even name. A handful fall […]

Diagram showing cascading impacts of climate change. Graphic: UNODRR

One climate crisis disaster happening every week, UN warns

By Fiona Harvey 7 July 2019 (The Guardian) – Climate crisis disasters are happening at the rate of one a week, though most draw little international attention and work is urgently needed to prepare developing countries for the profound impacts, the UN has warned. [cf. the UNDDR report, Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction […]

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