Buying carbon credits in exchange for a clean conscience while you carry on flying, buying diesel cars and powering your homes with fossil fuels is being challenged by people concerned about climate change.
When people think of the Caribbean, it’s the turquoise seas, clean beaches, coral reefs teeming with fish, turtles and balmy breezes that come to mind.
For us, this paradise is what we call home. We depend upon its riches for sustenance and, often, to make a living. It is the origin of much of the pride we feel when we say we are from the Caribbean.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme
There is something in the air. I am not talking about pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. I am talking about the change humanity needs to address these and other environmental challenges, which have placed our planet and societies in imminent peril.
“Our world is swamped by harmful plastic waste. Microplastics in the seas now outnumber stars in our galaxy. From remote islands to the Artic, nowhere is untouched. If present trends continue, by 2050, our oceans will have more plastic than fish. The message is simple: reject single use plastic. Refuse what you can't reuse. Together, we can chart a path to a cleaner, greener world,” said United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.
Countries across the world must urgently adopt emissions controls and air monitoring systems for the worst pollutants, if they are to grapple with the growing problem of air pollution causing millions of deaths each year, five national academies have said.
Exposure to asbestos has been a long-standing issue, threatening the health of both the environment and human population for centuries. Hundreds of millions of people are exposed to the toxin worldwide each year, despite its known health risks.
Chemicals are an integral part of our lives and are present in most of the products we use every day in our homes. In the bathroom for example, formaldehyde often sits in shampoo, microbeads in toothpaste, phthalates in nail polish and antimicrobials in soaps, while the medicine cabinet contains a myriad of synthetic pharmaceuticals. In the kitchen, a juicy strawberry may carry traces of up to 20 different pesticides.
In a country whose sovereign territory is almost 100 per cent ocean, there are an unexpected number of cars, trucks and motorcycles packed into the Maldivian capital.
Some 70,000 vehicles buzz around the roads of Malé, one of the world’s smallest and most densely populated capital cities. That’s almost one vehicle for every two people living on the small, cramped atoll.
High up in the Swiss mountains, under a cloudless sky, surrounded by a bold rocky landscape, over 70 professionals from the fashion industry gathered to explore ways to make the trade more sustainable. Though it seems like nothing could threaten this beautiful age-old scenery, dark clouds hang over the fashion and textile business.
Humanitarian action offers the opportunity to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity during and after man-made crises and natural disasters. It also offers the chance to prevent and strengthen preparedness for future emergencies.
