By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 13 December 2023 (IDN) — When the much-ballyhooed climate change “conference of parties” —COP28—concluded on December 12 in the bustling Emirati city of Dubai, it reflected an old Greek proverb: the mountain that laboured to produce a mouse. The London-based Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Policy Lead at Oxfam International, […]
The Future of Human Civilization Is at Stake
By Franz Baumann This article was issued by Meer and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 11 December 2023 (IDN) — A Freudian Slip is a revealing blunder: saying what one really thinks rather than what is expected, polite, or politically correct. A textbook example is Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber’s claim, […]
COP29 Will Explore the Negatives of Eating Meat
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 10 December 2023 (IDN) — As the Dubai conference on climate winds up, some difficult issues may remain on the table for future debates—namely fossil fuel controversies and geopolitical tensions. The central debate among countries is whether to “phase out” or “phase down” fossil fuels. Despite […]
Loss and Damage Fund Is Signed for Climate-Damaged Countries
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 5 December 2023 (IDN) — Diplomats from nearly 200 countries celebrated with cheers and applause at the opening of the UN Climate Conference in Dubai, where a disaster fund to help vulnerable nations cope with the impact of drought, floods and rising seawater was announced. The […]
Climate Crisis Fuels Child Marriages, FGM in East and Southern Africa
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | 3 December 2023 (IDN) — At 15, Sarah* was entangled in an early marriage that would change her life forever. The drought spells in Kotulogh village in Kenya’s West Pokot country had pushed many pastoralist families to the brink of survival. Sarah’s mother, desperate for money to […]
African Countries Lagging on Climate Justice, Rights Groups Say
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 29 November 2023 (IDN) — Rising sea levels, droughts and floods have exposed some of the failures of African countries to prioritize human rights and climate justice, resulting in negative outcomes for vulnerable communities. That was the view of Amnesty International, one of several groups monitoring […]
Climate Change Is ‘The Wolf in The House’, US Weather Expert Warns
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 28 November 2023 (IDN) — The phrase “climate change” has slipped quietly but firmly into our popular vernacular. It pops up around the clock, in the news, in school and church, on the street, and in speeches by politicians running for office. According to scientists, climate […]
COP28: Global Faith Leaders Concerned About Grave Challenges
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 26 November 2023 (IDN) — In the lead-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) that will take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December, the Global Faith Leaders Summit has warned that we “stand at the precipice of history, considering the gravity of the challenges” ahead, and […]
Activists Confront Uganda Over Oil Pipeline Financed by China
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 6 November 2023 (IDN) — As the world tightens its belt to use less dirty oil and more solar and other clean energies, one country on the African continent is moving full speed ahead in the opposite direction. Uganda recently signed on to one of the […]
Climate Change Threatens to Reverse Health Gains
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 2 November 2023 (IDN) — A new multi-agency report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that as the world warms at a faster rate than at any point in recorded history, climate change is threatening to reverse decades of progress towards better health and well-being, particularly in […]