UN refugee chief calls for greater focus on climate and conflict factors
UN News, 02 Nov 2022
Responses to climate change must also consider its link to both conflict and the displacement it causes, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday. Mr. Grandi expressed hope that these dimensions “will be in clearer focus” at the COP27 UN climate change conference, opening this weekend in Egypt, and at its successor conference in a year’s time.
COP27: Ensure Climate Action is Rights-Based
Human Rights Watch, 02 Nov 2022
Countries and advocates attending the 27th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt beginning on November 6, 2022 should take rights-based and ambitious climate action necessary to keep the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Human Rights Watch said today.
Egyptian regime criticized as climate activist arrested in run-up to Cop27
The Guardian, 02 Nov 2022
The arrest of an Indian climate activist by Egyptian security forces has renewed alarm about the regime’s dire human rights record as it prepares to host the Cop27 UN climate summit. Ajit Rajagopal, an architect and activist from Kerala in south India, was arrested on Sunday afternoon shortly after setting off on an eight-day walk from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh as part of a global campaign to raise awareness about the climate crisis.
Human rights belong at the heart of climate change debate, urges Türk
UN News, 01 Nov 2022
Humanity’s basic right to life is being threatened by insufficient action in the face of the climate emergency, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Wednesday. The top rights official has written an open letter calling for human rights to be at the heart of efforts to tackle climate change.
Lula victory spurs hope for Amazon, fight against climate crisis
AlJazeera, 31 Oct 2022
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s presidential election victory in Brazil has spurred renewed hope for the future of the world’s largest rainforest as the left-wing leader pledged to combat climate change and reverse some of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro’s policies. “Brazil is ready to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis,” especially by protecting the Amazon, Lula said shortly after being declared the winner on Sunday evening.
Displaced by devastating floods, Nigerians are forced to use floodwater despite cholera risk
CNN, 26 Oct 2022
Desperate to survive, many locals fleeing raging floods which have wrecked their homes and livelihoods are also forced to depend on floodwater for sustenance. For displaced inhabitants of northern Bayelsa’s Odi town, who have found new homes in roadside shacks and tent shelters with no access to running water, stagnant floodwaters are the only available alternatives for drinking, cooking and bathing.