Climate Action

Photo: Protest against the Amazon/River Club development Credit: Leon Lestrade. African News Agency/ANA.

Court Freezes Planned Amazon HQ in Cape Town on Historically Significant Site

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A massive new complex housing Amazon’s proposed South African headquarters along with a hotel and other businesses continues to face stiff opposition from indigenous Khoisan, environmental and community groups despite city officials already approving of construction of the nine-story construction.

Opponents say the project will ruin a historically significant riverside site in Cape Town and harm the environment. The Khoisan were some of the country's first inhabitants and their presence in the southern tip of Africa dates back thousands of years.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 24 January 2022

Photo: Two indigenous persons. Source: Survival International

Concern Over 'Fortress Conservation' and Evictions of Kenyans from Ancestral Homelands

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Nature conservancies, with the stated goal of protecting wilderness and endangered wildlife, have enabled the removal of tribal peoples from their ancestral homelands in Africa to allow superior “western” models of conservation to prevail, according to the activist group Survival International.

Under the western model, half of all land must be kept in a natural state to protect Earth, as the National Geographic Society recently declared on its magazine pages, if a stable climate and high quality of life are to be preserved in the near future.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 24 January 2022

Photo: Clerics carry the coffin after the funeral for Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, on Jan 1. (Jaco Marais/Pool/AP).

'Even In Death, Tutu Remains a Vigilant Protector of The Environment'

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Over the course of his 90 years, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu gave voice to his beloved nation in its struggle for change and reconciliation under Black majority rule. His last wishes for a green burial have sparked a tweetstorm on the mostly unfamiliar practice among devoted followers of “the Arch”.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 January 2022

Glasgow Climate Change Conference: A Glass Half Empty

Viewpoint by Ian Fry

This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

CANBERRA, Australia (IDN) — For many, the Glasgow Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, was a significant disappointment. Much had been promised by the UK Government, but last-minute ructions over the reference to the phase-out of coal left many with a sour taste in their mouth. Glasgow was an opportunity to steer the global community towards the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5⁰C above pre-industrial levels.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 15 December 2021

Photo: Internally displaced persons from northern Mozambique seek protection from the violent clashes between the military and armed groups in the port city of Pemba (December 11, 2020). © Estacio Valoi

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 of all 27 EU member countries, according to FoE.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 13 December 2021

Photo: Cameroonian soldiers patrol parts of Lake Chad that have been affected by terrorist activity. (February 2019). UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

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 a draft resolution, co-sponsored by Niger (Council President for December) and Ireland.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 10 December 2021

Photo: Solar powered water pump in Nepal. Credit: UNDP

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 wake a host of dismembered traditional societies which for millennia had faith as their anchor and embraced the natural world as the source of life.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 09 December 2021

Photo: A 'derelict' vessel in Suva Bay. Credit: Josefa Babitu

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 that sail in.

According to the Clear Seas Centre, a research centre in marine shipping in Canada, abandoned ships can harm tourism and fisheries, damage infrastructure, interfere with navigation and pose safety risks to people.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 05 December 2021

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 on climate change.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 03 December 2021

Photo: Collage of Crafts (left) and Sohibdavlat Qalandarkhonova (right).

Tajikistan: Young Girl Out to Save The Community from Pollution

By Sharofat Shafieva

KHOROG, Tajikistan (IDN) — The city of Khorog is generally clean, but it has a problem with waste management. Residents leave their garbage on the streets and especially in public places. The central market is one of the places where there is a large garbage dump.

“Passing by garbage is very unpleasant. No matter how much the administration cleans the garbage, it still collects in one day. It is especially terrible in summer when a very bad smell appears,” notes Shafoat Jafoeva a regular visitor to the market. “The waste mostly belongs to the merchants, and it would be good if the sellers of the market find a better way to manage their waste”, she adds.