El Niño could leave 4 million people in Pacific without food or drinking water – ‘We’re in uncharted waters’

By Ben Doherty  11 October 2015 (The Guardian) – Two dozen people have already died from hunger and drinking contaminated water in drought-stricken Papua New Guinea, but the looming El Niño crisis could leave more than four million people across the Pacific without enough food or clean water. The El Niño weather pattern – when […]

Drought is a global problem, and we need a global solution – ‘All the technical gizmos in the world haven’t stopped wells emptying in California after four years of low rains’

By Fred Pearce9 October 2015 (The Guardian) – Drought is arguably the biggest single threat from climate change. Its impacts are global. Some say drought triggered the crisis in Syria that sent tens of thousands of refugees heading for Europe this summer. Relief failures and poor drought forecasting caused innumerable deaths in the Horn of […]

UNHCR head Guterres urges massive EU response to help Greece attend to refugees – ‘With the kind of weather that you have in the Balkans, we could see this turn into a tragedy at any moment’

By Tim Gaynor9 October 2015 GENEVA, 9 October 2015 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today appealed to the European Union to provide “massive support” to Greece to meet the needs of up to 6,000 refugees arriving each day as winter looms across Europe. He stressed that Greek authorities alone were not […]

Estimate of migrants into Germany doubles to 1.5 million – Europe facing ‘battle of compassion versus fear, and of tolerance versus xenophobia’

5 October 2015 (BBC News) – The number of people seeking asylum in Germany this year will be as high as 1.5 million – almost double the previous estimate, German media report. The German government has not confirmed the new estimate, which comes from an internal official report cited by popular daily Bild. The report […]

Cameron gives top environment policy job to oil man ahead of major climate talks – ‘Like asking Count Dracula for advice before a conference on veganism’

By Harry Davies17 September 2015 (The Guardian) – Environmentalists have criticised a decision to appoint a former consultant to major oil and gas companies as David Cameron’s key adviser on energy and environment policy. Stephen Heidari-Robinson, a little-known consultant from oilfield services company Schlumberger, arrives in Downing Street just months before the prime minister is […]

UNHCR: Time running out to resolve refugee emergency in Europe – ‘The crisis is growing and being pushed from one country to another without solution’

GENEVA, 18 September 2015 (UNHCR) – Following yesterday’s mayhem on the Serbian border with Croatia, which has closed some entry points, the UN refugee agency today issued a stark warning that time was running out for Europe to resolve the current refugee crisis. UNHCR blamed the continuing absence of a coherent and united response to […]

UNHCR urges Europe to change course on refugee crisis – Syria conflict will displace another million people, says UN official

16 September 2015 (UNHCR) – UNHCR reiterates its deep conviction that only a united European emergency response can address the present refugee and migration crisis. Individual measures by individual countries will not solve the problem but will make an already chaotic situation worse, further the suffering of people and increase tension amongst states at a […]

August 13th is Earth Overshoot Day this year – In less than eight months, humanity has used up nature’s budget for the entire year

OAKLAND, CA, USA, 12 August 2015 (GFN) – In less than eight months, humanity has used up nature’s budget for the entire year, with carbon sequestration making up more than half of the demand on nature, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in North America, Europe and […]

Other countries ‘airy-fairy’ on climate change, says Tony Abbott, as Australia delays new emissions target announcement

By Lisa Cox13 July 2015 (Sydney Morning Herald) – The Abbott government does not get enough credit for its emissions reduction policies, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said, as he revealed Australia will not announce post-2020 climate targets until August. Mr Abbott told a media conference on Monday that targets Australia will take to a […]

Green Climate Fund partners with Deutsche Bank, to green fury – ‘To partner with one of the largest private-sector coal financiers in the world is so far from this vision and mandate that it boggles the mind’

By Alex Pashley10 July 2015 (RTCC) – A UN piggy bank to help poor countries deal with climate change partnered with a leading coal funder on Thursday, sparking an outcry from green groups. At a meeting in its South Korean headquarters, the Green Climate Fund approved Deutsche Bank and 12 other financial entities to receive […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial