Rwandan essential oils: A booming export trade • FRANCE 24

 

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Save the Children report says over half the world's children at risk

More than half the world's children are threatened by conflict, poverty or sexual discrimination, according to a new Save the Children report.

Climate change could push 122 mn into extreme poverty, UN report says

Climate change could sink up to 122 million more people into extreme poverty by 2030, mostly in South Asia and Africa, where small farmers will see their output plummet, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warned Monday.

UN highlights risk reduction, mitigation to combat El Niño’s impact in Central America’s Dry Corridor

The international community must take urgent action to help build resilience, food security, and restore livelihoods in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which are impacted by drought and other extreme-weather effects of the El Niño phenomenon, senior United Nations officials today said.

Climate change and its consequences: climate poverty and environmental refugees

...Climate change first received international attention at the Rio Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. As one of the Summit results, the ‘UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’ was adopted for action to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".

Climate change can force 100 mln into poverty by 2030

Climate change could push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030 if the world fails to take actions, the World Bank warned in a report released Sunday.

China praised for promoting tourism to fight poverty

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has praised China for promoting rural tourism as a way to fight poverty, the organization said on Tuesday.

UN readies historic plan for well-being of people, planet

Negotiators from 193 UN member states agreed Sunday on a draft blueprint for sustainable development that will last through 2030, and the agreement will redefine how the global community works together to tackle poverty and improve living standards while protecting the environment.

UN chief sees biodiversity key to sustainable development (International Day for Biological Diversity)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Friday called on everyone to recommit to global action to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, for people and for our planet, saying that biodiversity is essential to sustainable development and eradicating poverty.

Mozambique: Planting a Future (video Al Jazeera)

According to the UN, South America and Africa lose forests at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world. After years of civil war Mozambique is trying to rebuild itself from the ruins, but the development comes at a great cost to the country's natural resources.

Climate Change: The World, ‘It Turned Out Right’

Stefanie Spear (founder and CEO of EcoWatch):
Portugal student Gonçalo Tocha, as part of the Action4Climate video competition, produced the inspiring short film The Trail of a Tale, which is a monologue of a letter from the future written to our recent past, telling us that the world, “It turned out right.”

The nearly four-minute video is captivating as the narrator tells us, the stranger, how things went right. Society gathered with a fundamental belief that the “purpose of the economic system is to improve the world being for all within the limits of what the planet can sustain … We had to deal with overconsumption first. The prices we paid for things had to reflect the social and environmental costs…”

US obesity epidemic worsens as rates reach historic highs

Rates of adult obesity increased in six US states and fell in none last year, and in more states than ever - 20 - at least 30 percent of adults are obese, according to an analysis released this week.
The conclusions were reported by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and were based on federal government data. They suggest the problem may be worsening despite widespread publicity about the nation's obesity epidemic, from First Lady Michelle Obama and many others, plus countless programs to address it.
From 2011 to 2012, by comparison, the rate of obesity increased in only one state.

Life expectancy rising, but UN report shows ‘major’ rich-poor longevity divide persists

UN, 15 May 2014 – People everywhere are living longer, the United Nations health agency today reported, mostly because fewer children are dying, certain diseases are in check, and tobacco use is down, but conditions in low-income countries continue to plague life quality there.

According to the UN World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Statistics 2014, a girl born in 2012 can expect to live around 73 years and a boy to the age of 68. That is six years longer than the average life span for a child in 1990.

U.N. panel: Climate change effects 'irreversible'

Climate change will lead to increased poverty, sickness, violence and refugees, according to a report from a U.N. scientific panel Monday.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change outlined the causes, effects and solutions to global warming with the latest figures from 2013.

It warned that the impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible."

Michel Jarraud, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a co-sponsor of the climate panel, said the report was "the most solid evidence you can get in any scientific discipline."

FAO: 'Revolution' in Agriculture Vital to Meet Food Targets

BANGKOK — The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] says the world needs to boost agriculture production by 60 percent to meet its estimated food needs over the coming decades. The FAO says declining amounts of arable land and fresh water resources, however, create challenges.

The FAO says improving food security levels by 2050 may require a second "Green Revolution" to boost agricultural yields and feed the world’s expected nine billion people.

The so-called "Green Revolution" of the 1960s came with the introduction of industrial farming practices and high-yielding plant varieties, which helped farmers stay ahead of fast-growing populations.

Weather, increased demand pushes global food prices to highest level in months

 6 March 2014 – Global food prices in February rose to their highest level since mid-2012 as a result of unfavourable weather and increased demand, the United Nations food agency today reported.

In a news release, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its most recent Food Price Index, which measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of 55 food commodities, including meat, dairy, sugar, and cereals, averaged 208.1 points. That is about 5.2 points, or 2.6 per cent, higher than the slightly revised index for January.

Tackling water, sanitation, energy nexus key to future sustainable development. – UN officials

18 February 2014 – The water, sanitation and sustainable energy crises are the among the world’s pre-eminent development challenges, senior United Nations officials warned today, urging Member States to adopt coherent integrated policies and innovative strategies to tackle these issues, which take a tragic toll on the lives of millions of poor people, especially women and young girls.
“Lack of access to water, sanitation and sustainable energy services is a compound magnifier of poverty, ill-health and mortality, and gender inequality,” said General Assembly President John Ashe as he opened the 193-member body’s thematic debate on the issue.

Global food prices expected to remain volatile in coming years, warns UN official.

 

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7 October 2013 – Although global food prices have recently stabilized, they are expected to remain volatile over the next few years, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today, as a ministerial meeting on global food prices kicked off in Rome.