News headlines in December 2019, page 6

People have a right to define their own food system. This includes which seeds they use. Last week, farmers in Nakuru County, Kenya, celebrated the launch of "Ten rich, underutilized crops," a publication and documentary that capture their efforts to promote and sustain the varieties they grow.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 09 (IPS) - When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) last month, he pointed out the dramatic impact of climate change triggering natural disasters around the world--- from glaciers that melt, ice caps that disappear and corals that bleach.

NEW YORK, Dec 06 (IPS) - In addition to its unprecedented rapid rate of demographic growth during the past 75 years, world population's distribution across the planet has changed significantly over the past seven decades. The momentous global changes in humanity's geographic distribution pose serious social, economic, political and environmental challenges and disquieting implications for the future. 

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Dec 06 (IPS) - While opening a newspaper or watching a TV program we are every day made aware of the plights of irregular migrants. Some recent examples among many – on 24 October, 39 Chinese nationals were found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex. They had apparently frozen to death within a refrigerator container with temperatures as low as -25C (-13F).

This while tragedies occur almost daily on the Mediterranean Sea. On 26 November, a rescue vessel found a boat almost completely sunken. It had three dead bodies aboard. Fifty-five migrants were saved. Three of them were in a critical condition, and one died after reaching Melilla in Spain, where the migrants were brought in. Three children were among the survivors, though a further ten individuals were reported missing.

Nowadays, such news items pass by almost imperceptibly. Every day, thousands of unfortunate human beings are trafficked all over the world to suffer underpaid, hazardous work, or prostitution.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 06 (IPS) - Genesis smiles and holds her hand up proudly to answer questions in class. She claps her hands in support of her classmates when they answer the teachers' questions correctly. "I miss my cousins and aunts in Venezuela, she says." Her smile fades and her lips tighten. She struggles to hold back her tears. "I can't return. I want to stay here in my school, with my new friends." Her smile returns, as she resolutely states: "I want to become a lawyer, so I can help solve problems."

MADRID, Dec 06 (IPS) - African legislators have been challenged to come up with legal frameworks for climate change to enable countries avoid catastrophes and reactionary emergencies that eat up their budgets.

NEW DELHI, Dec 06 (IPS) - Dogged by intractable air pollution debilitating large northern swathes from mainly urban vehicle emissions, India earlier this year announced targets for a 40 percent non-fossil component in its fuel-mix by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) to the Paris accord on climate change. It aims for full electrification of public transit systems and of one-third private vehicles by 2030.

WASHINGTON DC, Dec 05 (IPS) - When I think of the incredible challenges we must confront in the face of a changing climate, my mind focuses on young people. Eventually, they will be the ones either to enjoy the fruits or bear the burdens resulting from actions taken today.

WASHINGTON DC, Dec 05 (IPS) - Protecting and restoring natural areas in Latin America, home to fifty percent of the planet's biodiversity and over a quarter of its forests, is critical if the world is to avert a biodiversity and climate disaster.

MADRID, Dec 04 (IPS) - The travel and tourism sector, with its significant economic and social benefits, has no choice but to transform to survive and thrive in the face of climate change, said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa at COP25 to industry representatives.