Over the past two decades, holy men in India have gone on dozens of fasts demanding governments honour their promise to revive the polluted Ganges, a river revered by Hindus. The recent death of one of the most prominent hunger…
Category: Environment
A UN conference undermined by 11th hour withdrawals
When the long-awaited UN conference focusing on the rights and safety of migrants and refugees takes off in Morocco, it will be a rare, if not an unprecedented meeting, for one reason: the withdrawal of at least seven member states…
Egypt’s fertile Nile Delta threatened by climate change
Lush green fields blanket northern Egypt’s Nile Delta, but the country’s agricultural heartland and its vital freshwater resources are under threat from a warming climate.
Cop24: Sharing the roads and Adapting to Climate Change
Dec 7 – Look at any highway in just about any city during rush hours — bumper-to-bumper traffic everywhere. But on closer inspection, many cars have only one occupant. But what if there were better forms of sharing and carpooling.…
COP24: Huge untapped potential in greener construction: UNEP
Dec 7 – Noting some progress in greening the global construction industry, the United Nations environment agency (UNEP) co-released a report on Friday at the COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland, sounding the alarm on the need for “dramatic action”…
Cop24: Move to prepare negotiating texts on Paris Work Plan
Katowice, 7 Dec (Prerna Bomzan and Meena Raman)- At a stocktake plenary held on 6 Dec, the Co-chairs of the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA), informed Parties the time had come for the Chairs to…
World Bank Gr announces $200bn over 5 yrs for climate action
Funding for 2021-2025 includes a significant boost for adaptation and resilience Washington DC – December 2018 –The World Bank Group this week announced a major new set of climate targets for 2021-2025, doubling its current 5-year investments to around $200…
ACC drive against illegal possession of govt quarters
Dhaka, Dec 7 – The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started drive against illegal occupation of the government quarters by some officials in Dhaka and Chattagram.
Burma Buddhists need self correction to end Rohingya crisis
Though everybody knows Buddhists as peace-loving people, Iranian scholar Dr S Javad Mazloumi has said a new definition of Buddhism, seen in Myanmar, is one of many reasons why Rohingyas are suffering there and that definition needs to be corrected.
Stocktake on execution, ambition of pre-2020 actions begins
Katowice, 6 Dec (Evelyn Teh)- The technical part of the stocktake on the pre-2020 implementation and ambition kicked off on 5 Dec. at the ongoing climate talks under the UNFCCC in Katowice, Poland.
Address root causes of Rohingya crisis, US tells Myanmar
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller has urged Myanmar to address the root causes of Rohingya crisis expressing strong support to hold accountable those responsible persons for the atrocities committed against Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Global carbon pollution up in 2018
Washington, Dec 6 (AP/UNB) — After several years of little growth, global emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide experienced their largest jump in seven years, discouraging scientists.
California, here we come!
by Nate Engle “California, here we come!” I was singing this phrase in my head all morning a few weeks ago as I flew from Washington DC to Los Angeles to accompany a Government of Botswana study tour delegation. The…
Watering the Paris Agreement at COP24
Most people will experience climate change in the form of water – higher frequency and intensity of floods and droughts, an increase in waterborne diseases, and overloaded sewage systems that are unable to cope with new demands.
COP24: 1m lives could be saved by 2050 thru climate action
Taking bold climate action now could help save a million lives and a lot of money by the middle of the century, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, launching a special report as part of the ongoing COP24…
Local Government role critical to achieving SDGs
Dhaka, Dec 5 – Experts at a dialogue on Wednesday said, local governments are critical for turning Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into a reality for communities, households and individuals, particularly to those who are at risk of falling behind.
Localise SDGs for inclusive development: Speakers
Speakers at a dialogue stressed the need for involving all, including the grassroots people, in the journey of attaining the core objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Genocide committed against Rohingyas: Holocaust Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has said there is compelling evidence that the Myanmar military committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya, the Muslim minority population of Myanmar.
World Soil Day: Soil health key to environment, human health
From Danielle Nierenberg Dec 4 – Greetings from Chicago! Tomorrow, I am joining Google, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other members of the Refresh Working Group to officially launch our report Refresh: Food + Tech from Soil to Supper.…
Cities can tackle GHG & air pollution simultaneously: Study
C40 research highlights actions that could yield an 87% reduction in GHG emissions, a 49% reduction in PM2.5 levels, 223,000 premature deaths averted and up to $583 billion in economic benefit
Limiting climate change to 1.5 C not impossible: IPCC Chair
When governments set a target in December 2015 of limiting global warming to well below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to hold it at 1.5ºC, they invited the IPCC to prepare a report to provide information on this…
Get ready for COP24: Transition to a sustainable future
By Manuela Matthess Berlin, Dec 3 2018 (IPS) – COP24 is the time for g overnments to act and increase their pledges to prevent global warming ensuring a just transition that leaves no one behind.
COP24 update: Leave no issue behind in package of decisions
Katowice, 3 Dec. (Prerna Bomzan and Meena Raman)- At the launch of the year-end climate talks on 2nd Dec. in Katowice, Poland, under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and the Paris Agreement (PA), developing countries under the G77 and…
Global warming increases frost damage on trees in Europe
Global warming increases frost damage on trees in large areas of Central Europe, according to a new Finnish-Chinese study by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland, the Chinese Academy of Science and Zhejiang A&F University.
Rohingyas not to return without security
The Rohingya community has continued to express ‘unwillingness’ to go back to Myanmar unless their security, basic human rights and citizenship are ensured.
Stop supply of unauthorised bottled water: HC
The High Court today ordered the authorities concerned to immediately check the quality of water sold and supplied through plastic bottles, jars and other manners across the country.
At-risk nations to make case at UN climate summit
Nations most threatened by rising sea levels and devastating droughts will use a UN summit in Poland on Monday to urge richer countries to pay their fair share in the climate change fight.
Indonesian island clean-up nets 40 tons of rubbish daily
Residents on a string of coral-fringed islands off Jakarta’s coast are battling a tidal wave of trash, with more than 40 tons of rubbish collected daily over the past week, an official said.
Migrants send record remittance but overall poverty pertains
At the end of this year, migrants will have sent 466 billion dollars to family and friends in their countries of origin. Despite this record amount these remittances have little to no effect on the dire economic state of affairs…
Tabligh Jamaat factional clash jams Dhaka’s airport road
The vehicular movement on the western side of the busy Airport Road remained halted from Airport Crossing to Abdullahpur since Saturday morning following a clash between two factions of Tabligh Jamaat.