Category Archives: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Spain: A group of professors creates ‘Manifesto for the Survival of the Planet’

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article in El Adelantado (translation by CPNN)

A group of professors from Campus Maria Zambrano of the University of Valladolid in Segovia have written the ‘Declaration for the Survival of the Planet’ in which they commit themselves to “coherently defend policies of ecological and social sustainability”. Its objective is to promote social debate and citizen awareness to “avoid the progressive deterioration of the planet”.


The professor Agustín García Matilla is one of the first signatories. / N. LL.

The promoters and first signatories of the manifesto, among which is the professor of Communication of the University of Valladolid, Agustín García Matilla, do not seek the support of the institutions, but the greatest number of adhesions by individual professors and professionals of the world of science, culture and communication. Considering the upcoming elections, the professors want to remind all political parties of issues that transcend any electoral contest and that present dilemmas that affect the survival of the planet, “says García Matilla.

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(Click here for the original Spanish article.)

Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

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Problems and challenges

“Global warming, the economic imbalances that increase inequality and excessive profit; the migratory crises that are caused by wars; hunger and misery, caused by them; the hijacking of politics by leaders who have forgotten their public service obligation; the use of religions as instruments for the annulment of autonomous and critical thinking and, at times, used for the promotion of fanaticism; the lack of equality between men and women, these are just some of the problems that have contributed to the present crisis. We have arrived at a decisive moment to avoid an irreversible deterioration of the planet, “says the manifesto.

The creators of the manifesto demand a political approach “for people” conceived as “service to the common good” and presided over by “a humanism that makes the culture of peace the main aspiration of those who inhabit this world”. In addition, the first seven signatories – Marta Laguna, Mari Cruz Alvarado, Rocío Collado, Susana de Andrés, Alfonso Gutiérrez, Luis Torrego and Agustín García Matilla – demand the fulfillment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a starting point for a universal political consensus.

“The Planet’s survival depends upon education, science and culture, and hence we must act now to help mobilize the whole of Humanity”. This is the phrase that begins the manifesto. Its creators seek a majority support and a common voice to guarantee the same opportunities for men and women, identical opportunities for people with different abilities; as well as decent salaries and decent pensions.

The Pact

The manifesto concludes:”We appeal to all the governments and politicians of the world to commit to the signing of a Pact for the Survival of the Planet. Changes must be carried out without delay, interrupting the cycles of accelerated destruction, putting an end tos speeches of fear and the justification of the escalation of arms. Nonviolence, the culture of peace and the aspiration to a Universal Justice, are the demands that need to be put forward from education, science and culture.”

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Brazil’s indigenous tribes protest Bolsonaro assimilation plan

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Thomson Reuters (reprinted by permission)

Thousands of people representing the more than 300 tribes native to Brazil marched to government offices in Brasilia on Friday [April 26] to protest the policies of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro that threaten their reservation lands.


Indigenous people attend a protest to defend indigenous land and cultural rights that they say are threatened by the right-wing government of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Wearing body paint and headdresses made with the colorful feathers of Amazon birds, they brandished bows and arrows and beat drums while chanting resistance songs. The march comes at the end of a three-day rally in the Brazilian capital called the Free Land Encampment.

“Our families are in danger, our children are under threat, our people are being attacked. In the name of what they call economic progress they want to kill our people,” said David Karai Popygua, an ethnic Guarani Mbya from the state of Sao Paulo.

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Question for this article

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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Bolsonaro, a former army captain turned politician, was elected in October with the support of Brazil’s farm sector that has pushed for access to more land and fewer environmental controls. They also want him to ease gun possession laws.
One of his first measures on taking office on Jan. 1 was to dismantle the indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, handing reservation demarcation decisions to the Agriculture Ministry that is controlled by farming interests.

“It is an embarrassment for our country to have a government that does not understand the struggle of indigenous peoples and has no knowledge at all of the indigenous population,” said Daran, a Tupi Guarani chieftain.

Brazil has more than 850,000 indigenous people that make up less than 1 percent of its population. They live on reservations that make up about 13 percent of the country’s territory.

Bolsonaro has said that is too much land for so few people and has vowed to review some reservation borders. He says they live poorly and wants to assimilate them by allowing large-scale farming and commercial mining on reservations.

The government did not immediately comment on the protests.

The country’s Supreme Court on Thursday denied an injunction sought by the Brazilian Socialist Party to stop the transfer of indigenous land decisions to the agriculture ministry. Hundreds of tribal people protested outside the building.

Sonia Guajajara, national coordinator of Brazil’s Association of Indigenous Peoples, told Reuters that land invasions and other attacks on tribes by illegal miners and loggers had increased since Bolsonaro took office.

“They say that they have been authorized to occupy indigenous land,” she said. “We are here to oppose mining, hydroelectric and agribusiness companies that destroy tribal communities and Mother Nature.”

“We have resisted for five centuries and we are not going to surrender in four years. We will continue fighting,” she said.

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Meet the Trailblazing Maasai Women Protecting Amboseli’s Wildlife

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Erin Powell from International Fund for Animal Welfare

Surrounding Kenya’s Amboseli National Park lies nearly 150,000 acres of community lands shared by both people and wildlife. The Olgulului-Ololarashi Group Ranch (OOGR) is within the country’s richest area of biodiversity, making it particularly vulnerable to threats including poaching, human-wildlife conflict, and wildlife trafficking.

Now, a team of eight young Maasai women is at the forefront of championing the protection and safety of the region’s wildlife, while simultaneously helping to bridge the gender gap in conservation. Around the world, women are often less involved than men in the conservation and management of protected areas.

Team Lioness is one of Kenya’s first all-female ranger units. They join the Olgulului Community Wildlife Rangers (OCWR) who protect wildlife across six bases and one mobile unit in OOGR through IFAW’s tenBoma, an innovative wildlife security initiative.

“In the larger Amboseli region, out of almost 300 wildlife rangers, to my knowledge there was only one woman,” says Lt. Col. Faye Cuevas, IFAW Senior Vice President. “The need was apparent.”

Assessed through an intensive leadership and peer-review process by a panel of tenBoma representatives and the OCWR Director of Security, the women of team Lioness were selected based on their academic achievements and physical strength, as well as their demonstration of trustworthiness, discipline, and integrity.

“As the first women joining the OCWR Rangers, each of the team Lioness recruits brings a new perspective and a different experience with wildlife than her male counterparts,” says Cuevas. “They are important voices in protecting wildlife and reconnecting communities to the benefits of sharing land with the magnificent big cats and other wildlife that call OOGR home.”

The recruits range in age from 19 to 26 years old, and all are the first women in the history of their families to secure employment. For many, the opportunity to join team Lioness has been life-changing — on average, Maasai girls typically leave school around the age of 10. Even among Maasai women who achieve a higher education, many lack opportunities to seek jobs or financial independence.

“It’s very rare that Maasai women achieve a secondary education,” says Cuevas. “But all of team Lioness have the equivalent of a US high school education, and none of them have had a paying job before this. It’s breaking barriers.”

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Questions for this article

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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Positioned on the Kenya-Tanzania border, OOGR is an expansive area of traditional Maasai community lands and it almost completely encompasses Amboseli National Park. Within Amboseli’s ecosystem, OOGR alone is home to 90% of habitats and corridors for migratory wildlife, including the park’s 2,000 elephants. Forming a horseshoe around Amboseli, it is an essential passage for elephant migration — every elephant that leaves the national park travels through this area, whether on a southern or northern migration route.

“Because we’re conserving our environment, animals are here,” says Loise, a team Lioness ranger. “Through wild animals, there is foreign exchange. As a ranger, now I know I have to teach other women about it. I would like to help others in our community and be a good example. I’m working and happy about that.”

Other wildlife such as giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, baboons, zebra, buffalo, and vervet monkeys also call OOGR and Amboseli home. Due to Amboseli’s proximity to a porous border with Tanzania, coupled with the scale of threats like poaching, retaliatory killings, and the trafficking of wildlife and animal parts, all wildlife in this area is in potential danger. Team Lioness and the OCWR Rangers form the first line of defense for protecting and securing wildlife in these vast community lands.

“We’re encouraging the community to take care of the animals, because in our community if a lion gets in a boma or in our village, [the community] gets it out of the village and they go to kill it. So we’re encouraging them [to see the] importance of animals and to understand,” says Sharon of team Lioness.

Team Lioness will undergo initial training with the OCWR Rangers, followed by a 21-day basic ranger training course that integrates them into the six bases throughout OOGR. In addition to supporting wildlife security operations throughout the region, a large part of team Lioness’ mission will be engaging with Maasai women and maintaining community buy-in for conservation through school visits and fostering community involvement.

“For me, to be a part of team Lioness, it shows that women have an opportunity,” says Purity, a team Lioness ranger. “I’m gaining skills and knowledge on how to conserve and protect wild animals. I will go back to my community and tell them the importance [of conservation] and show them through my experience. You kill that lion, you kill your future.”

The presence of team Lioness has created a demand in some Maasai communities for more female leadership in conservation initiatives and calls for additional female rangers.

“News of team Lioness is really catching on in the Maasai community,” Cuevas says. “A Maasai woman elder from outside OOGR attended one of the recent community meetings and said, ‘I challenge us as a Maasai people that for every four rangers we hire, one of them is a woman.’ It’s really incredible. Getting the word out means we can continue to leverage tenBoma to enable rangers to act predictively to prevent harm to both wildlife and the communities that share land in the expansive OOGR.”

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Photo essay: Climate Change Protests Sweep Europe

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A survey by CPNN

Here are some of the photos distributed on the Internet from the climate change protests that are sweeping Europe.

Climate change activists block the road junction at Oxford Circus in central London on April 19. PHOTO: AFP

Climate change activists demonstrate during the Extinction Rebellion protest, at Canary Wharf DLR station in London, Britain April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

A small number of Extinction Rebellion demonstrators at attempt to cause disruption at Heathrow Airport on April 19
. Credit: ITV News

Environmental activists block the entrance of the French bank Societe Generale headquarters during a “civil disobedience action” to urge world leaders to act against climate change, in La Defense near Paris, France, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

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Question for this article:

Are we seeing the dawn of a global youth movement?

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Environmental activists block the entrance to the headquarters of French oil giant Total during a “civil disobedience action” to urge world leaders to act against climate change, in La Defense near Paris, France, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Thousands join Greta Thunberg April 19 in Rome ‘Fridays for Future’ rally. Photo: picture-alliance/zumapress/C.Fabiano

Fridays for Future climate change protest, Rome, Italy – 19 Apr 2019. Shutterstock Photo

Climate change activists participate in a funeral march during the Extinction Rebellion protest in Vienna, Austria April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

In this Vuzekofest round table on April 9-22, the students decided to draw up a resolution on the development of ecology in Belarusian universities. Photo from Minsk branch of the Russian Economics University G.V.Plekhanov

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Russia: Ecofest, festival for green universities and eco-friendly lifestyle

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

Text translated from Open School

VUZEKOFEST is an annual inter-university festival dedicated to promoting the concept of “green universities” and eco-friendly lifestyle. The festival began in 2015 as a student initiative at Moscos State University, and in three years it has grown into a large-scale educational project with hundreds of events at universities and an audience of about 20 thousand people .

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Question for this article:

Are we seeing the dawn of a global youth movement?

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The need to adapt the Sustainable Development Goals for the successful implementation of national projects is the main theme of the fifth annual youth festival in the field of ecology and sustainable development, VuzEkoFest-2019, which will be held across the country from April 15 to 22 with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.

Annually in April, universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia hold dozens of activities in order to introduce green infrastructure and promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. A series of round tables is planned at the participating universities, which will culminate in the key event “VUZEKOFest-2019”. This includes the round table “Adaptation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of national projects: the potential of universities” with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. The participation of government representatives, Russian and foreign companies interested in sustainable development, scientists, analysts and experts is expected.

The goal of VUZEKOFEST is the formation of a community of young leaders and the spreading of an understanding of the concept of sustainable development, according to which the social, environmental and economic spheres should be developed in a balanced way.

To find out more about the festival program, see http://vuzecofest.ru/

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The kids got it right: Climate Change, pollution and the system

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Silvia Swinden for Pressenza

Somehow for years vested interests had managed to keep a split between the two most damaging effects of burning fossil fuels: climate change leading to disaster in particular to the poorest areas of the planet and the millions of deaths and illnesses caused by pollution, also being the less well off the most affected. Failing to see them together was a way to weaken the arguments against the radical change in the production of energy necessary for our survival.

We had published in Pressenza (Failing to connect the fossil fuel dots of climate change and health ) a well researched paper from the Lancet referring to this combination, but the split remained both in the media and in most grassroots movements.

This is no longer the case. Yesterday’s schools strike carried the complete message. In the words of Greta Thunberg, “This movement had to happen, we didn’t have a choice. Last year’s UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming  could not have been clearer about the extreme dangers of going beyond 1.5C of global warming. To have any chance of avoiding that extreme danger emissions must drop rapidly – so that by the time we will be in our mid- and late-20s we are living in a transformed world.

“The students who are striking in cities, towns and villages around the world are uniting behind the science. We are only asking that our leaders to do the same.

“If those in power today don’t act, it will be our generation who will live through their failure. Those who are under 20 now could be around to see 2080, and face the prospect of a world that has warmed by up to 4C. The effects of such warming would be utterly devastating. Rivers would flood, storms would wreak havoc on coastal communities and coral reefs would be eliminated. Melting polar ice caps would lead to dramatically higher sea levels, flooding coastal areas. Places on Earth will become uninhabitable.

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Question for this article:


Are we seeing the dawn of a global youth movement?

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“Scientists have also shown us that burning fossil fuels is “the world’s most significant threat to children’s health”. Nine out of every 10 children around the world are breathing dangerous air. Our lives are being compromised before we are born. Toxic particles from exhaust fumes pass through the lungs of pregnant women and accumulate in the placenta. The risk of premature birth, low birth weight and cognitive dysfunction this causes is a public health catastrophe. Pollution from diesel vehicles is stunting the growth of our lungs, leaving us damaged for life. Toxic air from burning fossil fuels is choking not only our lungs but our hopes and dreams.

“And the worst effects of climate change are disproportionately felt by our most vulnerable communities. This is not just about cutting down emissions, but about equity – the system we have right now is failing us, working only for the rich few. The luxury so few of us enjoy in the global north is based on the suffering of people in the global south.”

In fact  The Guardian  reports that “The number of early deaths caused by air pollution is double previous estimates, according to research, meaning toxic air is killing more people than tobacco smoking.

“The scientists used new data to estimate that nearly 800,000 people die prematurely each year in Europe because of dirty air, and that each life is cut short by an average of more than two years. The health damage caused by air pollution in Europe is higher than the global average. Its dense population and poor air results in exposure that is among the highest in the world.

“The new research, published in the European Heart Journal, indicates that while air pollution hits the lungs first, its impact via the bloodstream on heart disease and strokes is responsible for twice as many deaths as respiratory diseases.”

The placards from the 100+ participating countries could not be clearer, children know the system is playing with their lives and they are inviting the adults to join in. In Silo’s 2004 words “Yes, it is worthwhile that this Message and that this Universal Humanism gain strength. It is worthwhile for young people to swell the ranks of this Moral Force as a variant of History… so that this current becomes unstoppable and its murmur heard in all the languages of the Earth. Then the new generations will begin to teach the adults with new affection and new understanding.”

In a world poisoned by cruelty and contradictions, the compassion and solidarity from the youngsters that reject this dehumanised system open the future for everyone, if we listen to them and choose to act now, not guided by the misinformation from the powerful but by listening carefully to the subtle call in the depths of our consciousness for compassion and coherence between our thoughts, feelings and actions. Then the violence will begin to retreat and our true human history will flourish.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Fridays for the Future: 25000 demonstrate in Berlin with Greta Thunberg

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Reto Thumiger for Pressenza

More than 25,000, mostly pupils and students, have gathered again in Berlin to give visible and audible expression to the climate strike “Fridays for the Future”.


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Most of the participants were not at my eye level, as they were not yet fully grown. That’s why most of the cardboard signs were right in front of me. Apart from the physical aspect, I felt like a dwarf with my generation in the face of the joy, determination and will of these children and young people taking responsibility and the future into their own hands.

“We are the generation that can and must change the climate chaos,” said activist Luisa Neubauer, “because we are more global, connected and agile than the generation before us”.

The initiator of the worldwide movement, the 16-year-old Swedish climate protection activist Greta Thunberg, also took part in the protest action in Berlin, where she gave a speech at the closing rally in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

She then visited the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) together with Lisa Neubauer and met with scientists to discuss climate research, change and its consequences.

On Saturday, Greta Thunberg received the Golden Camera Special Award, which she dedicated to those people who supported the Hambach Forest and that fossil fuels remain in the soil. At the gala, which was broadcast live on ZDF, 2ndnational broadcast television, Greta called on the stars and starlets present to use their great influence on so many people and to work for climate protection.

It is a strange world in which children have to sacrifice their education to protest against the destruction of their future, Thunberg said. And in which stars were not committed to environmental and climate protection because “they would no longer be able to fly around the world to visit their favouriterestaurants, beaches and yoga seminars”.

While I walked along the demonstration for climate protection on Friday and looked into the faces of the other participants, I heard inside my head like an echo the words of Silo (Mario Rodríguez Cobos) in his speech in 2004:

“But nothing of what is said will be listened to. Nonetheless, events themselves […] will result in children rejecting the hypocrisy of their parents; and cause each person to reproach the contradiction that they generate in themselves and in those around them.

We are at the end of a dark period in history and nothing will ever be the same as before.  Little by little, the dawning of a new day will come. Cultures will begin to understand one another; the peoples will experience a growing yearning for progress for all, understanding that progress for the few ends up being progress for no one. Yes, there will be peace, and out of necessity it will be understood that the outline of a universal human nation is taking shape.”

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Question for this article:


Are we seeing the dawn of a global youth movement?

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Greta Thunberg’s speech, her Facebook page

My speech tonight at Goldene Kamera in Berlin. There is no recording available without me dubbed into German yet…
so here it is:


I dedicate this award to the people fighting to protect the Hambach Forest. And to activists everywhere who are fighting to keep the fossil fuels in the ground.

We live in a strange world. Where all the united science tells us that we are about 11 years away from setting off an irreversible chain reaction way beyond human control that will probably be the end of our civilization as we know it.


We live in a strange world where children must sacrifice their own education in order to protest against the destruction of their future.


Where the people who have contributed the least to this crisis are the ones who are going to be affected the most.


Where politicians say it’s too expensive to save the world, while spending trillions of euros subsidizing fossil fuels.


We live in a strange world where no one dares to look beyond our current political systems even though its clear that the answers we seek will not be found within the politics of today.


Where some people seem to be more concerned about the presence in school of some children than the future of humankind.


Where everyone can choose their own reality and buy their own truth.


Where our survival is depending on a small, rapidly disappearing carbon budget. And hardly anyone even knows it exists.


We live in a strange world. Where we think we can buy or build our way out of a crisis that has been created by buying and building things.


Where a football game or a film gala gets more media attention than the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.


Where celebrities, film and pop-stars who have stood up against all injustices will not stand up for our environment and for climate justice because that would inflict on their right to fly around the world visiting their favorite restaurants, beaches and yoga retreats.


Avoiding catastrophic climate breakdown is to do the seemingly impossible. And that is what we have to do.


But here is the truth: we can’t do it without you in the audience here tonight.


People see you celebrities as Gods. You influence billions of people. We need you.


You can use your voice to raise awareness about this global crisis. You can help turn individuals into movements. You can help us wake up our leaders – and let them know that our house is on fire.


We live in a strange world.


But it’s the world that my generation has been handed.

It’s the only world we’ve got.


We are now standing at a crossroads in history.


We are failing but we have not yet failed.


We can still fix this.

It’s up to us.

* * * *

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

New UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration offers unparalleled opportunity for job creation, food security and addressing climate change

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, declared today [March 1] by the UN General Assembly, aims to massively scale up the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems as a proven measure to fight the climate crisis and enhance food security, water supply and biodiversity.


Preparing trees for planting at a nursery in Senegal.
”

The degradation of land and marine ecosystems undermines the well-being of 3.2 billion people and costs about 10 per cent of the annual global gross product in loss of species and ecosystems services. Key ecosystems that deliver numerous services essential to food and agriculture, including supply of freshwater, protection against hazards and provision of habitat for species such as fish and pollinators, are declining rapidly.

“We are pleased that our vision for a dedicated Decade has become reality,” said Lina Pohl, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador, a regional restoration leader. “We need to promote an aggressive restoration program that builds resilience, reduces vulnerability and increases the ability of systems to adapt to daily threats and extreme events.”

Restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded land between now and 2030 could generate USD 9 trillion in ecosystem services and take an additional 13-26 gigatons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.

“The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration will help countries race against the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss,” said José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). “Ecosystems are being degraded at an unprecedented rate. Our global food systems and the livelihoods of many millions of people depend on all of us working together to restore healthy and sustainable ecosystems for today and the future.”

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Question for this article:

 

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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“UN Environment and FAO are honored to lead the implementation of the Decade with our partners,” said Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme. “The degradation of our ecosystems has had a devastating impact on both people and the environment. We are excited that momentum for restoring our natural environment has been gaining pace because nature is our best bet to tackle climate change and secure the future.”

The Decade, a global call to action, will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration from successful pilot initiatives to areas of millions of hectares. Research shows that more than two billion hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded landscapes offer potential for restoration.

The Decade will accelerate existing global restoration goals, for example the Bonn Challenge, which aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded ecosystems by 2030 – an area almost the size of India. Currently, 57 countries, subnational governments and private organizations have committed to bring over 170 million hectares under restoration. This endeavour builds on regional efforts such as the Initiative 20×20 in Latin America that aims to restore 20 million hectares of degraded land by 2020, and the AFR100 African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative that aims to bring 100 million hectares of degraded land under restoration by 2030.

Ecosystem restoration is defined as a process of reversing the degradation of ecosystems, such as landscapes, lakes and oceans to regain their ecological functionality; in other words, to improve the productivity and capacity of ecosystems to meet the needs of society. This can be done by allowing the natural regeneration of overexploited ecosystems, for example, or by planting trees and other plants.

Ecosystem restoration is fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, mainly those on climate change, poverty eradication, food security, water and biodiversity conservation. It is also a pillar of international environmental conventions, such as the Ramsar Convention on wetlands and the Rio Conventions on biodiversity, desertification and climate change.

Currently, about 20 per cent of the planet’s vegetated surface shows declining trends in productivity with fertility losses linked to erosion, depletion and pollution in all parts of the world. By 2050 degradation and climate change could reduce crop yields by 10 per cent globally and by up to 50 per cent in certain regions.     

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations,

Greta Thunberg—Swedish Teen who Inspired School Climate Strikes—Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Ecowatch

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who jump started the climate strike movement, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The news comes as Thunberg is helping to organize a massive global school strike March 15 that is expected to involve at least 1,659 towns or cities in 105 countries, The Guardian reported.


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“We have proposed Greta Thunberg because if we do nothing to halt climate change it will be the cause of wars, conflict and refugees,” Norwegian Socialist MP Freddy André Øvstegård said, The Guardian reported. “Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace.”

Øvstegård was one of three members of members of Norway’s Socialist Left Party to nominate Thunberg, The Associated Press reported. Peace Prize nominations can come from anyone who meets the criteria, including national government officials, former winners and some academics. Nominations for the 2019 prize were due by February 1, and the winner will be announced in October and awarded in December. There are 301 nominations for the 2019 prize, including 223 individuals and 78 groups, according to the Nobel Prize website.

If Thunberg won, the 16-year-old would be the youngest winner ever and the second after 2007 co-winners former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to be honored for work on climate change, New Scientist reported. The current youngest winner is Malala Yousafzai, who was awarded the prize at age 17 in 2014.

“Honoured and very grateful for this nomination,” Thunberg said in a tweet.

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Question for this article:


Are we seeing the dawn of a global youth movement?

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Thunberg started a movement with a one-woman school strike in front of Swedish parliament last August. Thunberg had been part of a group inspired by the Parkland students’ movement against gun violence who wanted to do something similar around climate change. When the group could not agree on a plan, Thunberg was motivated by wildfires in Sweden’s Arctic region and a record northern European heat wave to go it alone, according to a recent profile in The Guardian.

“I painted the sign on a piece of wood and, for the flyers, wrote down some facts I thought everyone should know. And then I took my bike to the parliament and just sat there,” she said. “The first day, I sat alone from about 8.30am to 3pm – the regular schoolday. And then on the second day, people started joining me. After that, there were people there all the time.”

Her action inspired student strikes from Australia to Brussels, and earned her invitations to speak at the COP24 talks in Katowice, Poland in December 2018 and at Davos this year, where she excoriated world leaders for their lack of action.

“Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money,” she said at the Poland conference, as USA Today reported.

Thunberg told The Guardian that she suffered from depression when she was younger, partly because of climate change and the lack of action it seemed to inspire. It was talking to her parents about the issue and having them listen to her concerns seriously that helped her realize she could persuade others, too.

“That’s when I kind of realised I could make a difference. And how I got out of that depression was that I thought: it is just a waste of time feeling this way because I can do so much good with my life. I am trying to do that still now,” she said.

Friday’s upcoming strike is proof that Thunberg’s activism has had an impact. The Guardian said it was likely to be one of the largest environmental protests in world history.

However, Thunberg is focused on her goal of actually seeing governments take adequate climate action, and will strike every Friday outside the Swedish parliament until her country’s policies match up with the Paris agreement. She told New Scientist that she was frustrated with some of the responses the strikes had generated.

“They talk about our age, our looks and so on. The emissions are still rising and that is all that matters. Nothing has happened, that is crucial to remember,” she said.

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Voices of young climate action activists ‘give me hope’ says UN chief

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from UN News

In the wake of Friday’s demonstrations by schoolchildren across the world against climate change inaction, the UN Secretary-General has said he understands their fears, but is hopeful for the future.


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In a direct message to the youth activists who took to the streets, UN chief António Guterres said that he understood the anxiety and “fear for the future” behind their actions but added that “humankind is capable of enormous achievements. Your voices give me hope.”

Writing in an opinion piece for The Guardian, Mr. Guterres said that the more he witnessed the “commitment and activism” of young people who were fed up with the pace of the international response to global warming, “the more confident I am that we will win. Together, with your help and thanks to your efforts, we can and must beat this threat and create a cleaner, safer, greener world for everyone,” he added.

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Question for this article:


Are we seeing the dawn of a global youth movement?

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“These schoolchildren have grasped something that seems to elude many of their elders”, he said, adding that “we are in a race for our lives, and we are losing. The window of opportunity is closing; we no longer have the luxury of time, and climate delay is almost as dangerous as climate denial.”

The Secretary-General acknowledged that his older generation “has failed to respond properly to the dramatic challenge of climate change.  This is deeply felt by young people. No wonder they are angry.”

Global emissions are reaching record levels, and continuing to rise, he said, adding that concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is the highest it has been in 3 million years.

“The last four years were the four hottest on record, and winter temperatures in the Arctic have risen by 3°C since 1990,” he added, noting also rising sea levels, the death of coral reefs, and a growing threat to human health worldwide, as made clear in the UN’s Global Environmental Outlook, published this week.

The historic 2015 Paris Agreement  signed by more than 190 countries to keep global emissions well below 2°C, “itself is meaningless without ambitious action,” said the UN chief.

“That is why I am bringing world leaders together at a Climate Action Summit  later this year. I am calling on all leaders to come to New York in September with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade, and to net zero by 2050.”

The latest analysis shows that if we act now, we can reduce carbon emissions within 12 years and limit global warming to 1.5°” said Mr. Guterres. “But if we continue along our current path, the consequences are impossible to predict.”
 

“Momentum is building:, he added, “people are listening and there is a new determination to unleash the promise of the Paris Agreement. The Climate Summit must be the starting point to build the future we need.”

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