Climate Action

Photo: The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension bridges, connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

A Compelling Book on 'Humanity’s Success in Ruining Nature'

NEW YORK (IDN) – Across the globe, geologists, climate scientists, biologists, chemists and physicists are alarmed, and if there are uncertainties these are whether danger is in the offing very soon or in a few years; about whether our prospects are calamitous or only troublesome.

The lack of dread among the general public about the risks of irreversible damage is worrying. Politics and Science operate on different time lines and with different urgencies. The open question is if the governments of the world’s dozen or so wealthiest countries are up to organizing a workable, equitable and sustainable global response before it is too late.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 March 2018

Photo: Protestors wear masks of Gautam Adani and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, depicting the unpopular billion dollar government subsidy. Credit: Stop Adani Alliance

Australians Mobilise to Stop Indian Coal Project

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – A peoples’ movement is gathering steam across Australia to stop a project by an Indian company to establish Australia’s biggest ever coal mining project that is supposed to create 10,000 jobs in a remote region of northern Queensland.

The protest movement – which distrusts politicians – argues that Australia needs to cut greenhouse gas creating coal exports rather than opening more mines.

“The more I tried to engage in democracy the more I found democracy to be broken,” said Lilli Barto, member of the ‘Stop Adani’ Sydney campaign team addressing a film screening and a protest meeting at inner-Sydney Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on February 22, that was attended by over 200 people.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 24 February 2018

Women Are Being Left Behind in Spite of UN Pledge

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Two and a half years after the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which pledged not to leave any one behind, women around the world are faced with stark inequalities and grave challenges, says a new report by UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Titled Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women's flagship report identifies gaps and opportunities for gender equality, demonstrates through concrete evidence and data the pervasive nature of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, and puts forth actionable recommendations on how to fulfill the 2030 Agenda.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 February 2018

Use of Coal Increasing in Rapidly Growing Emerging Economies

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – While the number of new coal-fired power plants China and India are building has declined, the planned expansion in the use of coal in fast-growing emerging economies, such as Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam, will in part cancel out the reduction, according to a new study.

The study advocates politically feasible solutions for a global coal exit. For example, coal could be pushed out of the energy markets by means of a roadmap to shut down coal mines, stricter power plant regulations and higher carbon prices worldwide.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 09 February 2018

Nuclear-Weapons Ban Will Help Usher In Peace, Human Rights

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK | TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – Eminent Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), has welcomed the July 2017 adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as a turning point in the global history of efforts to achieve peace and disarmament, emphasizing that while nuclear weapons exist, a world of peace and human rights will remain elusive.

According to a press release highlighting major aspects of his proposal issued in Japanese on January 26, Ikeda outlines strategies for gaining support for the Treaty from the nuclear-weapon states and nuclear-dependent states, and calls on Japan to declare its readiness to consider becoming party to the TPNW: "Having experienced the reality of nuclear weapons, Japan cannot turn away from its moral responsibility."

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 29 January 2018

Image credit: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Two Minutes to Midnight on Doomsday Clock

By the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Citing growing nuclear risks and unchecked climate dangers, the iconic Doomsday Clock is now 30 seconds closer to midnight, the closest to the symbolic point of annihilation that the Clock has been since 1953 at the height of the Cold War.

The decision announced on January 25 to move the Doomsday Clock to two minutes before midnight was made by the 'Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board in consultation with the Board of Sponsors, which includes 15 Nobel Laureates.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 January 2018

Photo: Astro-Lab (Arctic Stratospheric Ozon Observatory) near Eureka Weather Station (Nunavut, Canada). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists Seek Trudeau's Backing for Canada as a Global Leader in Climate Research

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – In the face of U.S. President Donald Trump claiming that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," international scientists have lauded Canada's achievements in the field, and called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to re-invest in climate science.

In an open letter to him, released in Ottawa on January 22, hundreds of prominent international scientists have raised concern that a crisis is looming for Canadian climate and atmospheric research following the government’s failure to renew or replace the Climate Change and Atmospheric Research (CCAR) program which funded seven research networks.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 24 January 2018

Photo: Leonardo Boff. Credit: onepeterfive.com/

The Earth’s Future Will Not Come from Heaven

Viewpoint by Leonardo Boff

The author is a Brazilian liberation theologian, author and campaigner for the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. He is a professor of theology, ethics and philosophy at universities all over the world and a member of the Earth Charter Commission. This article is a slightly modified version of an article that first appeared in Other News.

RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN) – Most readers will find it difficult to accept what I am going to express here. Even though it is based on the best scientific minds that have been studying the universe, for almost a century the situation of planet Earth and her eventual collapse – or qualitative leap to another level of reality – has not penetrated into either the collective consciousness or the major academic centres.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 20 January 2018

Planet Earth Suffers as Politics Rearranges the Deck Chairs on the Titanic

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio

The writer is publisher of Other News, an eminent proponent of "information that markets eliminate" and founder of IPS-Inter Press Service News Agency. This article is being reproduced courtesy of Other News with the writer's permission. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and his articles and comments can be read on Facebook @robertosavioutopia. He warns that while the world is heading for catastrophe, the governments are not taking their responsibility seriously.

ROME (IDN) – The European Union (EU) appears to have decided to scale down its commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which was adopted by consensus by all the 195 member states of the UN Climate Convention and the EU, and has been ratified by 172.

When Europe’s 28 Environment Ministers met in Brussels on December 20, to discuss the Commission's plan for reducing emissions, to comply with the Paris Agreement, they decided, with some resistance from Denmark and Portugal, to follow the direction taken by President Donald Trump who has meanwhile withdrawn from the Paris Agreement to privilege American interests – and this without any attention to the planet.

: Roberto Savio; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 28 December 2017

Photo: Global Landscapes Forum. Credit: Pilar Valbuena

The Price of Forest Degradation and Biodiversity Loss for Livelihoods

By Fabíola Ortiz

BONN (IDN) – Forest degradation and biodiversity loss carry a very heavy price for climate and people’s livelihoods. Restoring forests matters when it comes to growing resilience to climate variation and securing a healthy environment for future generations. This was the main message delivered by experts and community leaders who met in Bonn (December 19-20, 2017) to discuss a more sustainable path to conservation.

“We should stop seeing indigenous peoples, natural resources and forests as a problem. We could see them as a solution,” said Robert Nasi, director general of the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) which hosted the Global Landscapes Forum, a large science-based platform on sustainable land use.