News headlines in 2017, page 37

BANGKOK, Thailand, Sep 04 (IPS) - Senior government officials from across Asia and the Pacific will meet in Bangkok this week for the first-ever Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment. The high-level meeting is co-convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and UN Environment and is a unique opportunity for the region's environment leaders to discuss how they can work together towards a resource efficient and pollution-free Asia-Pacific.

ROME, Sep 04 (IPS) - Africa contributes only 4 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while six of the 10 most affected countries by climate change are in Africa, warns a major agricultural research for development partnership, while stressing the urgent need to scale up climate-smart agriculture, improve forestry and transform the productivity of water use.

SANTIAGO, Sep 04 (IPS) - Latin America and the Caribbean called for the free movement of persons to be included in the Global Compact on Migration, which will be negotiated within the United Nations in 2018, in the first meeting held by any of the world's regions to decide on the position to be adopted on the future agreement.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 01 (IPS) - A surge in deadly violence in Myanmar has forced over 18,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee in less than one week, a migration agency said.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 01 (IPS) - When Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed the appointment of former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as UN's Special Representative in Libya back in February, the proposal was shot down by US Ambassador Nikki Haley, purely because he was a Palestinian.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 31 (IPS) - Freedom of the press is under attack in the United States and could incite further violence against reporters, said a UN official.

WASHINGTON DC, Aug 31 (IPS) - Climate change is taking a severe toll on farmers, as they watch their livelihoods disappear with the onslaught of floods, droughts and rising sea levels and temperatures. With agriculture currently employing over 1.3 billion people throughout the world, or close to 40 percent of the global workforce, it is imperative that we incorporate climate resilience into all aspects of crop breeding and food innovation.

SANTIAGO, Aug 31 (IPS) - Experts in Latin America warned about the serious risk that would be posed if the fight against hunger, still suffered by 33 million people in the region, is abandoned, while proposing new alternatives and insights which include linking social protection with economic growth.

ROME, Aug 31 (IPS) - Bako* (24), a Nigerian migrant, stairs at new comers at an old, local Roman bar. Extremely polite, he asks for money. If you offer to him to buy some food instead, he immediately accepts.

ABU DHABI, Aug 31 (IPS) - Since weather affects everyone, the idea that women are more susceptible to the effects of climate change may strike some as puzzling.