UN forest accounting loophole allows CO2 underreporting by EU, UK, US – “There may not be a pathway to 1.5 degrees anymore — at all. Carbon capture and storage is a fantasy.”

By Justin Catanoso 2 May 2018 (Mongabay) – For the past ten years, Mary Booth, an ecologist with the Partnership for Policy Integrity in Pelham, Massachusetts, has immersed herself in the complex, nuanced, politically charged world of international carbon emissions accounting models as if the planet’s fate depends on it. In many ways, it does. […]

Video: Elephants wrecking a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh – “The elephant crushed him”

By Justin Rowlatt and Sanjay Ganguly. 4 May 2018 (BBC News) – Twelve Rohingya people in the refugee camp in Bangladesh have been killed by wild elephants in recent months. The camp has swollen in size since 700,000 members of the Muslim community fled religious persecution in their homeland of Myanmar in August last year. […]

Graph of the Day: Transformation of the biosphere over 8000 years

12 September 2017 (UNCCD) – There is broad evidence to suggest that direct human alteration of terrestrial ecosystems by hunting, foraging, land clearing, agriculture, and other activities started about 12,000 years ago. Sometimes referred to as the “Neolithic Revolution,” agriculture slowly began to transform societies and the way in which people lived; traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles […]

Early rains expose risks for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, warns UN agency – “The worst is yet to come when cyclone and monsoon seasons hit in the coming weeks”

20 April 2018 (UN News) – The arrival of pre-monsoon rains in southern Bangladesh has revealed an alarming level of risks for Rohingya refugees, United Nations humanitarian agencies said on Friday, warning that they do not  have the funds needed to protect hundreds of thousands of desperate people once the rainy season begins in earnest.“The […]

Upswing in global growth won’t last forever – IMF says world must prepare now for leaner times ahead

17 April 2018 (UN News) – While the world economy continues to show broad-based momentum, a new report released Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning that there may be choppy seas ahead, caused by increasing protectionism or tit-for-tat trade wars.“Global growth is projected to soften beyond the next couple of years,” said […]

No nation currently meets its citizens’ basic needs at a globally sustainable level of resource use – “The more social thresholds a country achieves, the more planetary boundaries it exceeds”

5 February 2018 (University of Leeds) – A study led by the University of Leeds has found that no country currently meets its citizens’ basic needs at a globally sustainable level of resource use. The research, published in Nature Sustainability, is the first to quantify the sustainability of national resource use associated with meeting basic […]

Hunger rates remain high amid conflict, climate shocks, warns UN food security report

5 March 2018 (UN) – Increased hunger and food insecurity, fuelled by conflict and climatic challenges, continues to inflict suffering on populations in different parts of the world, forcing them to remain dependent on humanitarian assistance, a new United Nations report has warned.According to the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, issued Monday by the […]

Leaked U.N. draft report sees “very high risk” the planet will warm beyond key limit

By Chris Mooney 14 February 2018 (The Washington Post) – A draft United Nations climate science report contains dire news about the warming of the planet, suggesting it will likely cross the key marker of 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, of temperature rise in the 2040s, and that this will be exceedingly difficult […]

Without firm action on gender equality and women’s empowerment, world may miss sustainable development targets

14 February 2018 (UN News) – “This is an urgent signal for action, and the report recommends the directions to follow,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of UN Women, said on the launch of the new report, Turning promises into action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters […]

U.S. urged to protect rights defenders as activist Maru Mora Villalpando faces deportation case – “Giving people notice of deportation proceedings appears to be a part of an increasing pattern of intimidation and retaliation against people defending migrants’ rights in the U.S.”

GENEVA, 14 February 2018 (UNHCR) – The United States Government must respect the rights of human rights defenders, a group of UN experts* has said, amid concern over action being taken against a Mexican woman who campaigns to protect migrants’ rights.  Maru Mora Villalpando, who has been in the US since 1996, is facing deportation […]

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