Viewpoint by John Scales Avery* COPENHAGEN (IDN) — One reason why the Glasgow Climate Conference (October-November 2021) failed so miserably to produce urgently needed climate action was that humans tend to react to what is close to them. Money to pay the rent is urgent, while a climate catastrophe seems to be a distant threat.
MiniMines Mixes Lithium Extraction with Circular Economy and UN SDGs
By Anupam Kumar B.Tech*** NEW DELHI (IDN) — In 2018, the notion of circular economy and its inherent link to the UN SDGs gained currency globally especially after the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. UNCTAD defines a circular economy entailing markets that give incentives to recycling and reusing products, rather than scrapping […]
Striving for a Global Treaty to Combat Plastic Pollution, ‘One of the Greatest Human-Made Threats our Planet Faces’
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — In the 1967 Hollywood box office hit “The Graduate”—a romantic comedy directed by Mike Nichols and based on a novel by Charles Webb—the newly-graduated Dustin Hoffman gets an unsolicited piece of advice: “The future is plastics”. The widely disseminated one-liner was hailed as a boost for the world’s […]
UN Scientists Warn of Climate Change Threatening People and the Planet
By Jutta Wolf BERLIN (IDN) — People and the planet are threatened by the impact of climate change, according to UN scientists. Ecosystem collapse, species extinction, deadly heatwaves and floods are among the “unavoidable multiple climate hazards” the world will face over the next two decades due to global warming, they warn.
Billion Dollar Gas Project Threatens Mozambique
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — An investment of $1.15 billion in a gas project in northern Mozambique is being challenged by Friends of the Earth which foresees a major increase in greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10 per cent by 2022. That’s the equivalent of the combined annual emissions […]
Security Council Debates the Nexus Between Climate Change and Terrorism
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — People and countries most vulnerable to climate change also are most vulnerable to terrorist recruitment and violence, speakers in an open debate told the Security Council on December 9, as the 15-nation United Nations organ considered a draft resolution proposed by Niger and Ireland. The Council was considering […]
Faith, Nature & the Climate Crisis: An Evaluation
Viewpoint by Fazlun Khalid Fazlun Khalid is Founder of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the author of “Signs on the Earth – Islam Modernity and the Climate Crisis” published in 2019. BIRMINGHAM, UK (IDN) — As the post-colonial world emerged in the middle of the last century it left in its […]
Fiji Islands: Sunken Suva Harbour Wrecks Pose Environmental and Safety Hazard
By Josefa Babitu Suva (IDN | Wansolwara) — Instead of a safe haven for ships, the famous Suva Bay has become a graveyard for derelict vessels, which pose a major risk to shipping and marine habitat. And there are growing concerns over the impact of derelict vessels on the environment and the safety of ships […]
Sustainable Development Observer Issue 3 Focuses on COP 26 and Climate Change
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — The November 2021 issue of Sustainable Development Observer focuses on Climate Change and the COP26 summit in Glasgow. We look at the debate on methane gas reduction from a farming mythology perspective. Indigenous people have called for a stop to ‘war on nature’ and we look at their perspective […]
Climate Change Engulfs Historic Venice of Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Saint-Louis, the old colonial capital of Senegal, was built in the 17th century at the mouth of the Senegal River and was the capital of French West Africa until 1902. But these days rising sea levels have created a flooding threat that has already seen […]