Thursday, June 8, 2023
News and Views from the Global South
Guess Who Is the Worst Enemy of the Oceans (And Everywhere Else)?
The good news: oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97% of the world’s water, represent 99% of the living space on the Planet by volume, and are a major source of food and medicine. Much so that they are the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world.
Of the Sahel and the Merchants of Death
There is a tangled trafficking web that has been woven across the Sahel, which spans almost 6.000 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and is home to more than 300 million people in 10 countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal.
Climate Carnage: Things Can Only Get Worse
Please stop repeating all this softened wording, such as climate change, climate-related hazards, climate crisis, or extreme weather events... And just call it what it really is: climate carnage.
G7 Owes the Poor $13 Trillion in Unmet Pledges. Meanwhile…
Two shocking findings have just been revealed: the G7 countries owe low- and middle-income countries a huge 13.3 trillion USD in unpaid aid and funding for climate action, at a time when one billion people now face cholera risk, precisely because of the staggering reduction and even non-payment of committed assistance.
Europe Sells to Africa and Asia 90% of Its Used Clothes, Textiles Waste
Once the money-making businesses have turned Asia and Africa into their low-cost factories, to produce and market at higher prices their clothes and footwear, obtaining more profits by selling to these two continents around 90% of all their used and textiles waste.
A Short Tale of a Tree and a Moroccan Wedding Party
A much needed break amidst so many alarming news, with a brief story of a tree, a bottle of liquid gold, and a wedding gift.
Unceasing Human Attacks on the Source of 80% of Food, 98% of Oxygen
Two big facts are impressive enough: plants are the source of 80% of all food, and as much as 98% of all oxygen. Logically, it would be taken for granted that human beings would do whatever is needed to protect this essential source of life. But do they?
Can African Farmers Still Feed the World?
Less than a decade ago, Africa was home to 60-65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and 10% of renewable freshwater resources, as reported by the African Union in 2016, while concluding that African farmers could feed the world.
Of Africa and The Magic Formula of The Italian Taxi Driver
Some days ago in Rome, the Italian taxi driver switched on the radio during a longish ride through the usual traffic jam. Music, gossip, and the hourly news bulletin. All of a sudden, the man strongly hit the steering wheel. “They are stupid, those bastards…,” he shouted.
Now Europeans Learn What Climate Extremes Are All About
Apologies to those Western politicians and media who continue to say that Ukraine's brutal proxy war stands behind whatever catastrophes, disasters or crises occur in the Planet.
Africa, Now Squeezed to the Bones
As many as 45 African countries –out of the Continent's 54 nations–, all of them grouped in what is known as Sub-Saharan Africa, have now been further squeezed to their bones, as funding shrinks to lowest ever levels, and as a portion of the so-called aid goes back to the pockets of rich donor countries.
Superbugs Among Top 10 Threats to Whole Cycle of Life
Research after research, world's scientists renew their loud alerts against the high dangers of human-driven ‘superbugs' - bacterias and pathogens that no longer respond to antimicrobials, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
Planet Garbage
Straight to the point: the current system of voracious money-making production and the induced over-consumption patterns have turned Planet Earth into a giant garbage dump.
The ‘Vampiric’ Draining and Poisoning of Lifeblood: Water
Shockingly, the human suicidal war on Nature not only continues unabated but is also set to become even more virulent. Just to start with, please be reminded that groundwater accounts for 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth, according to the 2022 UN World Water Development Report.
The ‘Pernicious Evil’ of Racism, Discrimination, Hatred, Inequality
Three-quarters of a century ago, the world adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasising that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. The 2023 theme of its 75th anniversary focuses on the urgency of combating racism and racial discrimination.
‘Outright Hatred’ Towards Muslims, Risen to ‘Epidemic Proportions’
Islamophobia is a ‘fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world.’
Why Do 800 Mothers a Day – 1 Every 2 Minutes– Die from Preventable Causes?
The answer is that there are alarming setbacks for maternal health care and, in many cases, even a total lack of maternity services, which threaten to further raise the number of these tragic preventable deaths one million or more a year by 2030.
Most African Govts (3 in 4) Spend More on Arms, Less on Farms
The data is shocking: three-quarters of African Governments have already reduced their agricultural budgets while paying almost double that on arms.
Wildlife Is Much More than a Safari. And It Is at Highest Risk of Extinction
Wildlife is indeed far much more than a safari or an ‘exotic’ ornament: as many as four billion people –or an entire half the whole world's population– rely on wild species for income, food, medicines and wood fuel for cooking.
‘Ticking Time Bombs’ for the Most Defenceless: The Children (II)
While the world’s biggest powers and their giant private corporations continue to attach high priority to their military –and commercial– dominance, both of them being shockingly profitable, entire generations are being lost to deadly armed conflicts, devastating climate catastrophes, diseases, hunger and more imposed impoverishment.
‘Ticking Time Bombs’ for the Most Defenceless: The Children (I)
Today, there are more children in need of desperate humanitarian assistance than at any other time since World War II.Next Page »
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NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
