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Climate change and our common future
I saw at one time a leaflet that asked people to come together in stopping climate change. It seems that many are not aware that the climate changes all the time and that the change is not stoppable. Climate changes however differ in their timing and magnitude and are a result of many factors such as the distance between the sun and the equator which contributes to the heat budget of the Earth and the difference in the temperature of the equator from that of the cooler poles due to deviations in Earth’s orbit or variations in solar radiation.
L’eau douce en Amérique latine et dans les Caraïbes
Bien que l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes possèdent les plus grandes ressources en eau douce par habitant un tiers de la population n’a pas accès durable à l’eau potable. Jusqu’à ces dernières années on attribuait les problèmes liés à l’eau douce à la distribution inéquitable des ressources à l’absence de financement adéquat pour les infrastructures hydriques à la mauvaise gouvernance dans le secteur de l’eau douce ou à une conjugaison de ces trois facteurs. Aujourd’hui alors que les nations essaient de préparer la voie qui mène à la conclusion d’un accord afin de mettre en place un régime multilatéral qui stabilisera le climat mondial les pays d’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes ont réalisé que les changements climatiques ont eu des effets profonds sur les ressources en eau douce de la région avec des conséquences importantes pour les écosystèmes et les sociétés.
Will there be climate migrants en masse?
While some countries are historically responsible for climate change should the global community take up responsibility for climate migrants even if they do not cross international borders? Should there be immigration concessions for climate migrants when they need to or have to cross borders? These are important questions that arise at a time of global climate change.
Freshwater in latin america and the caribbean
Despite the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean have the largest freshwater resources per capita a third of the region’s population is cut off from sustained access to drinking water. Up until a few years ago freshwater problems had been generally characterized as a result of inequitable natural distribution lack of adequate financing for water infrastructure poor freshwater governance or a combination of the three. Nowadays as nations try pave the way towards sealing a deal to put in place a multilateral regime that will stabilize the global climate Latin America and the Caribbean countries have realized that global climate change has affected freshwater resources of the region with significant consequences to ecosystems and societies.
In the shadow of climate change
Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges of the twenty-first century. Its impacts vary among regions generations age classes income groups and gender. Based on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc) it is evident that people who are already most vulnerable and marginalized will also experience the greatest impacts. The poor primarily in developing countries are expected to be disproportionately affected and consequently in the greatest need of adaptation strategies in the face of climate variability and change. Both women and men working in natural resource sectors such as agriculture are likely to be affected. However the impact of climate change on gender is not the same. Women are increasingly being seen as more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change mainly because they represent the majority of the world’s poor and are proportionally more dependent on threatened natural resources. The difference between men and women can also be seen in their differential roles responsibilities decision making access to land and natural resources opportunities and needs which are held by both sexes. Worldwide women have less access than men to resources such as land credit agricultural inputs decision-making structures technology training and extension services that would enhance their capacity to adapt to climate change.
Unlayering of the ozone
The formation of the Antarctic ozone hole is a graphic demonstration of how rapidly we can change the atmosphere of our planet. There are many other environmental issues facing us today and we must link them together to understand and debate the under lying causes rather than treat each issue in isolation. Antarctica is a wonderful continent. Glaciers carve their way to the sea where the waters teem with penguins and whales. Although 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water resides in the polar ice cap the continent is a veritable desert with liquid water in short supply. The frozen ice takes on many shades from the brilliant white of freshly fallen snow to the deep indigo at the bottom of a gaping crevasse. This land of contrasts is where the Antarctic ozone hole was discovered.
A future for itself
In a small village in western Zambia the Lozi king—the Litunga— will call on his people to leave the lowlands and join him in a spectacular ceremony celebrating the seasonal flooding that will fertilize their farmlands. But in the past two years there have been no celebrations. Rains arrived earlier than usual leading to devastating floods. The Lozi blame climate change. “The seasons have changed. This is a very big disaster” says Bennet Imutongo Sondo the seventy-four-year-old induna or chief advisor of Liyoyelo village in Zambia’s Mongu district.
The ecology of recycling
While not on the front line of climate solutions recycling of waste materials wastewater and wasted energy is a locally available and highly desirable means of reducing greenhouse gases. One potent greenhouse gas the methane emitted from landfills and wastewater accounts for about 90 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the entire waste sector. That amount is 18 per cent of human-caused methane emissions globally and about three per cent of total greenhouse gases according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Diverting waste bound for landfills and putting it to good use then is an obvious and proven means for conserving land and resources as we have known for a long time; we can now add the knowledge from numerous studies that these practices also bolster climate protection.
Financial innovations and carbon markets
For the first time in recorded history humans are altering the planet in ways that can endanger its basic life-support systems. We are rapidly transforming the planet’s atmosphere its bodies of water and the complex web of species that makes up life on Earth. Human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have changed the Earth’s atmosphere unleashing a potentially catastrophic climate change that can threaten the survival of human civilization. This is real and it is happening now. As the polar caps and Greenland’s permafrost start to melt the sea level rises. Entire towns in Alaska are sinking into the warming seas. Species such as the polar bear are on the verge of extinction. Island nations like the Seychelles and low-lying countries such as Bangladesh risk sinking into the ocean. And hundreds of millions of people could follow suit. Indeed 50 million “climate change refugees” are expected by 2010 and more than 200 million by 2050—one out of every 45 people who will be alive at the time.
Oil in a low-carbon economy
When it comes to the subject of energy in the Middle East we instinctively think of oil—the black gold that has been the source of stable and healthy economies in the region. Nevertheless this is about to change. With the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen Governments are realizing the imminent threat of climate change and that there is no choice but to act fast. According to the “2009 World Economic and Social Survey: Promoting Development Saving the Planet”1 we need to transform our economy similar to a wartime setting. When United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he will convene an unprecedented Climate Change Summit at UN Headquarters on 22 September 2009 he said that we have less than ten years to halt the rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet. Small Island Developing States that are under the threat of rising sea levels are calling for a peak in emissions by the end of 2010 and to stabilize greenhouse gas concentration at 350 parts per million (ppm) CO2 equivalent as fast as possible.
Arshak Makichyan: The lone picketer
Every Friday since March 2019 Arshak Makichyan has been demonstrating alone in Moscow’s Pushkin Square. His placard displays slogans like “Global warming equals hunger war and death”. This young violinist in Russia’s capital is leading a solitary and tenacious fight on behalf of the entire planet.
تغير المناخ والتعليم
خانلما ّيغت ةحفاكم لىع ةيبترلا نإ .يروضر رمأ ةمادتسلما ةيمنتلا عيجشتو ةريدج براجت كانه ،ةينيتلالا اكيرمأ في لىع ءاوس اهب ىذتحُي ةلثمأ نوكت نأب .ىرخلأا تاراقلا في وأ ةقطنلما ىوتسم.ةلمهم تيقب بناوجلا ضعب نأ يريغ
جرائم في حق البيئة
.يلماعلا ديعصلا لىع يثراك روطت رطاخم نم تداز خانلما ةرهاظ راكنإ لىإ ةعزنلا نإ ةداَقلل دعي ملو ؟ةعزنلا هذه عابتأ عدرل ليودلا يئانجلا نوناقلا لىإ ءوجللا بجي لهف وأ ةيئيب راضرأ في ةببستم تناك ءاوس .ؤّبرتلل لااجم ينييسايسلاو ينييداصتقلاا تاموكحلا لمحتت نأ دب لا ،يشربلا سنجلا ءاقب لىع طلسلما ديدهتلا لهاجتب ةيفتكم كرحتلا نع اهعانتما وأ اهتافصرت ءارج اهقتاع لىع عقت يتلا ةيلوؤسلما تاسسؤلماو.خانلما يريغت ءازإ
Искусственный интеллект – наш помощник в решении социальных проблем
Искусственный интеллект (ИИ) все шире применяется для решения двух острейших проблем сегодняшнего дня: фальшивые (фейковые) новости и вторжение в частную жизнь. Компания Factmata использует его для борьбы с дезинформацией а компания D-ID – для защиты от систем распознавания лиц. Обе они вошли в десятку лауреатов форума инноваций Netexplo-2019 награды которым были вручены в апреле этого года в штаб-квартире ЮНЕСКО.
Изменение климата исоциальная справедливость
В публичных дискуссиях об изменении климата «зеленые» технологии зачастую представлены как универсальное решение. При этом мы часто упускаем одну деталь: крайне важно чтобы их развитие шло параллельно с укреплением социальной справедливости. «Мы до сих пор не осознали того факта что речь идет не просто о глобальном потеплении а о глобальном потеплении в мире где присутствуют неравенство и несправедливость» – отмечает Тьягараджан Джаяраман. По мнению индийского исследователя без равенства и справедливости – иначе говоря без мира и безопасности – с изменением климата нельзя бороться эффективно.
Идеи: Сценарий будущего: Выбор за нами
Станет ли искусственный интеллект полностью самостоятелен? Ответ на этот вопрос зависит только от нас. Именно нам предстоит написать сценарий будущего человечества и построить такой мир где люди смогут мирно сосуществовать с этим сверхмощным инструментом который подчас кажется нам фантастическим чудовищем.