Environment and Climate Change
Wide angle: Podcasts: Radio reinvented
By developing new forms of sound narratives podcasting has done more than breathe new life into radio. In just a few years it has evolved into a global industry — reinventing the audio medium and allowing closer links to be forged with listeners.
La sécurité humaine, les changements climatiques et les femmes
How serious is wildlife crime?
Whilst there is little specific data demonstrating the involvement of organized crime groups in wildlife crime (i.e. known members of such groups who have been convicted of wildlife crime offences) there is a considerable number of indicators of such involvement. For example:
嘉宾: 萨玛尔I叶斯利亚莫娃与谢尔盖^德沃兹 弗伊:大银幕折射出的现实
Global warming and surging glaciers
The Earth’s climate undergoes fluctuations and for the past thousand years has experienced periods of warming and cooling. In the seventeenth century severe and long-standing winters known as the Little Ice Age recurred in the south of Europe. One can see frozen channels and snow-covered Holland in the paintings of famous Flemish artists.
Ideas: The origins of violence
Our image of the wild and warlike prehistoric human which persists even today is actually a myth devised in the second half of the nineteenth century. Archaeological research shows that in fact collective violence emerged with the sedentarization of communities and the transition from a predation economy to a production economy.
Un espoir possible pour les pays en développement
Environ 99 % des décès causés par les changements climatiques ont lieu dans les pays en développement. Alors que la croissance économique et le développement sont des priorités dans tous les pays les besoins des pays en développement et des pays les moins avancés sont d’un tout autre ordre. Les pays en développement sont soumis à des contraintes en raison de leur vulnérabilité aux effets des phénomènes météorologiques et du climat. Les pauvres de ces pays sont exposés à un risque élevé en raison de nombreux facteurs : leur dépendance vis-à-vis de l’agriculture et des services fournis par les écosystèmes leur croissance rapide la concentration de la population et l’insuffisance des services de santé. Si l’on ajoute à ce sombre tableau leur manque de moyens pour s’adapter aux effets des changements climatiques leur infrastructure inappropriée les revenus bas des ménages et leurs difficultés à épargner ainsi que le soutien limité des services nous avons une bombe prête à exploser.
Our guest: Samal Yeslyamova and Sergey Dvortsevoy: Reality on the big screen
Familiar yet invisible people around 2.5 million migrants have left their homes in Central Asia to try their luck in Moscow. Most of them eke out a living doing precarious jobs. In Ayka — a feature film which won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 — Russian- Kazakh writer-director Sergey Dvortsevoy and Kazakh actress Samal Yeslyamova explore the fate of those who are willing to sacrifice everything in the hope of a better life.
Is Africa ready?
The evidence for climate change is overwhelming. It has been reconfirmed by successive international studies and reports over the last two decades. Catastrophic climate change which will threaten our entire ecosystem as we know it is possible though not yet probable. It is likely to happen if we do not change course and continue to ignore the evidence before our eyes: escalating temperatures will cause a big rise in sea level and the release of methane from the tundra will take us towards a tipping point where living creatures are unable to adapt to the changes fast enough.
Small Islands, rising seas
“You know that with a sea-level rise of over 1.5 metres hundreds of millions of people would be dead. They would simply be wiped out” President Mohammed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives told the UN Chronicle just two days after he addressed other world leaders at the 2009 UN General Assembly Summit on Climate Change.
Pour des emplois plus verts
Lors de cette dernière phase des négociations relatives au changement climatique les négociateurs se sont fixé pour tâche de définir un ensemble d’engagements qui compteront parmi les plus complexes que la communauté internationale se soit jamais assignés. Cet objectif est un plan ambitieux qui peut contribuer dans le peu de temps qu’il nous reste à prévenir les changements climatiques dangereux. Un tel accord favorisera la réorientation des investissements facilitera le transfert des technologies et mobilisera des milliards de dollars pour aider les pays en développement à faire face au changement climatique.
L’Afrique est-elle prête ?
Les effets des changements climatiques sont bien réels. Ils ont été confirmés par des études et des rapports internationaux au cours des deux dernières décennies. Une catastrophe climatique qui menacera l’ensemble de notre écosystème tel que nous le connaissons est possible mais pas encore probable. Elle risque de se produire si nous ne changeons pas de voie et continuons d’ignorer les preuves : la hausse des températures entraînera l’élévation du niveau de la mer et la libération de méthane dans la toundra nous conduira vers un point de non-retour où les créatures vivantes n’arriveront plus à s’adapter.
Vision needs a seat at the negotiating table
When American theorist Buckminster Fuller said “[we] are called to be architects of the future not its victims” he may not have known how difficult a challenge that would become in the years following his death.
Biotechnology—A solution to hunger?
World hunger and food insecurity is a recurring problem in most parts of the developing world. Among the many potential biotechnologies that are available and the different ways in which they can be applied genetic modification (gm) of crops demands particular attention. Genetically modified crops possessing genes from different species could possibly relieve global food shortages. Although initial excitement surrounded the use of gm crops—that they will provide bigger and better harvests for farmers— there are still questions about the benefits of such crops. In addition the general public may not welcome the creation of “super plants” as a viable option in solving global hunger.
Feeding the world sustainably
The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was memorable for its landmark agreements to guide sustainable development worldwide. The first principle of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states: “Human beings are at the centre of concern for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.” Twenty years later we have yet to deliver on this fundamental principle—too many people in this world are still not living healthy and productive lives in harmony with nature. Approximately 925 million people are suffering from hunger. We cannot call development sustainable if one out of every seven persons is left behind. At the same time there is hunger which is senseless in a world that already produces enough food to feed everyone. Hundreds of millions more suffer from obesity and related medical problems.
Vulnerable countries should take centre stage at Rio+20
As the world’s attention turns to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 in June 2012 we are all reminded of the multiple crises which continue to bedevil the globe. These crises are all the more evident in resource-strapped nations that continue to battle a myriad of challenges related to poverty and underdevelopment.
HIV/AIDS and climate change a pattern of response
Almost three decades into the hiv/aids pandemic there is still widespread stigma denial and government inaction. There are reports of rising rates of infection in the Western industrialized nations and concerns about the possibility of explosive epidemics in the Asian block; yet sub-Saharan Africa with less than 15 per cent of the world’s population remains at the epicentre of the epidemic with over 70 per cent of the infections worldwide.
Tracking climate change from space
For centuries rural communities in the high plateaus of the Andes have utilized water from melting glaciers that typify this amazing mountain range. But the retreat of these glaciers is forcing the communities to reconsider their livelihoods and ways to adapt. From a wider perspective the melting of glaciers is an iconic warning to the larger cities in the Andes that rely on glaciers for potable water. Unfortunately for these communities the source of this particular problem and its potential solution lie far away from their arc of influence due to the fact that local actions contribute very little to remedy this problem.
Livelihoods in peril indigenous peoples and their rights
Inuit hunters in northern Greenland are treading carefully on increasingly thinning ice while at the same time the key marine species they depend on—seals walrus narwhals and polar bears—are moving away from the areas in which they are traditionally hunted as they in turn respond to changes in local ecosystems. In the high ranges of the Himalaya Sherpa Tamang Kiranti Dolpali and other indigenous groups are witnessing the melting of glaciers; the same is true in other mountain regions of the world such as the Peruvian Andes where the indigenous Quechua report that they are worried when they look at the receding glaciers on their mountain peaks. In the Kalahari Desert the San have learnt to deal with the periodic but all-too-frequent occurrence and experience of hunger and poverty arising from a combination of economic political environmental and climatic events. The San like other indigenous peoples have had to devise ingenious strategies to cope with environmental change and its consequences yet they are reporting that the character of such change is now different than many remember. All over the world indigenous peoples are confronted with unprecedented climate change affecting their homelands cultures and livelihoods.
Health and food security benefits from climate change mitigation
Societies must find a way to stop the rapid growth in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to avoid a disastrous future for our planet. As the greatest contributor to global warming CO2 is the natural focus of current climate negotiations. Unfortunately one of the very properties that makes CO2 so problematic—the long time it stays in the atmosphere—creates high barriers to efforts aimed at reducing its emissions. First the benefits of limiting CO2 emissions present themselves only after many decades which is well beyond the focus of most politicians or corporations. Second nations disagree over how much responsibility for reductions should be based on historical emissions or on current levels.
A hypothesis of hope for the developing world
About 99 per cent of climate change casualties take place in the developing world. While economic growth and development are priorities in all countries the needs in developing and least developed countries are on a different scale altogether. Developing countries are constrained by their particular vulnerability to the impacts of fickle weather and climate. The poor in these countries are at a higher risk to future climate change given their heavy dependence on agriculture strong reliance on ecosystem services rapid growth and concentration of population and relatively poor health services. Add to this gloomy scenario insufficient capacity to adapt to climate change impacts inadequate infrastructure meagre household income and savings and limited support from public services and you have a veritable time bomb ticking away.
Addressing the sustainable urbanization challenge
Over the last two decades demographic and economic changes have propelled cities and urban centres to become the principal habitat of humankind. Cities are not only where rapid improvements in socio-economic and environmental conditions are possible but it is indeed where such change is most needed. The cities of the world’s emerging economies are increasingly drivers of global prosperity while the planet’s resources are fast depleting. It is therefore more critical than ever that Member States and United Nations agencies commit themselves to realize the goal of sustainable urbanization as a key lever for development.
VIH/sida et changements climatiques un modèle de réponse
Presque trois décennies après le début de la pandémie du vih/sida la stigmatisation le déni et l’inaction des gouvernements subsistent. Des rapports font état d’une augmentation des taux d’infection dans les pays occidentaux industrialisés et l’on craint une explosion de l’épidémie dans les pays asiatiques. C’est pourtant en Afrique subsaharienne qui compte moins de 15 % de la population mondiale que se trouve l’épicentre de l’épidémie avec plus de 70 % des infections dans le monde.
Amincissement de l’ozone
La formation du trou d’ozone dans l’Antarctique montre la rapidité avec laquelle nous pouvons changer l’atmosphère de notre planète. Il y a de nombreuses autres questions environnementales auxquelles nous faisons face aujourd’hui et nous devons les lier entre elles pour comprendre les causes sous-jacentes et en débattre au lieu de traiter chaque question de manière isolée. L’Antarctique est un continent magnifique. Les glaciers descendent jusqu’à la mer royaume des pingouins et des baleines. Bien que 70 % de l’eau douce du monde se trouve dans la calotte polaire le continent est un véritable désert où l’eau douce y est pratiquement inexistante. La glace prend diverses couleurs du blanc étincelant de la neige fraîche au bleu indigo profond au bas d’une crevasse béante. C’est dans cette terre de contrastes que l’on a découvert le trou d’ozone.
Radio Ambulante: A wealth of Latin American stories
Colombian guru who abused dozens of women while pretending to heal them; a Cuban writer remembering her childhood in Havana; an amateur astronomer who managed to photograph the birth of a supernova from the terrace of his house in Rosario Argentina. These are some of the diverse stories told on Radio Ambulante a podcast service in Spanish that for eight years has not spared the imagination or effort to reach more and more people. Carolina Guerrero one of its founders explains the mission of this new kind of broadcasting.
Dirty collar crime in Naples
It is true that “green criminology” should be grounded in the principles of environmental justice and help with the production of relevant legislative tools for the defence of the earth. However there are conducts which violate even the limited and inconsistent existing norms. A variety of such conducts can be detected in the “rubbish crisis” experienced in Naples two years ago.
Giant African pouched rats find landmines and much more
Landmines have been used as weapons of war since 1277 when the Song Dynasty Chinese used them against Mongols who were besieging a city. Concerted efforts to put an end to their use are underway galvanized by humanitarians such as Jody Williams and Rae McGrath who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for founding The International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Despite these efforts landmines continue to be placed adding onto the many remaining from the millions that have been planted since 1900. They cause great harm by denying civilians access to their homes and land as well as by causing bodily harm death and psychological duress. According to a recent report1 people in more than 70 countries are adversely affected by mined areas and nearly 500000 people live with injuries inflicted by mines. Many victims are both severely handicapped and unable to afford the rehabilitation and the other services that they need.
Le pétrole dans une économie à faible emission de carbone
Lorsque l’on parle d’énergie au Moyen-Orient on pense instinctivement au pétrole – l’or noir qui a été la source des économies stables et saines dans la région. Or cela est sur le point de changer. Avec la Conférence des Nations Unies sur le climat qui doit bientôt avoir lieu à Copenhague les gouvernements réalisent que face à la menace imminente posée par le changement climatique il n’y a pas d’autre choix que d’agir vite. Selon l’Étude sur la situation économique et sociale dans le monde 2009 : promouvoir le développement protéger la planète nous devons transformer notre économie à un niveau similaire à celui des périodes de guerre. Lorsqu’il a annoncé qu’un sommet sans précédent sur le climat aurait lieu au siège de l’ONU le 22 septembre 2009 le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies Ban Ki-moon a dit qu’il nous restait moins de dix ans pour enrayer la hausse des émissions de gaz à effet de serre si nous voulions éviter des conséquences catastrophiques pour les populations et la planète. Les petits États insulaires en développement qui sont directement menacés par l’élévation du niveau de la mer demandent de fixer un seuil d’émissions d’ici à la fin de 2010 afin de limiter dès que possible la concentration de gaz à effet de serre à 350 parties par million (ppm) d’équivalent CO2.
Human security, climate change and women
Le rayon des livres de la Chronique
The true costs of conventional energy
“Renewable energy is expensive—we cannot afford it.” I have heard this argument many times over. But those who bring it up are wrong. The costs of renewable energy are not higher than those for conventional energy. Instead people confuse costs with prices and need to be better aware that the market price of conventional energy does not tell the truth.
Late-night radio: A window on intimacy
With a freer and more intimate tone than daytime broadcasts night-time radio has long been the privileged place for confidences delivered in the anonymity of the night. At a time conducive to imagination and solitude these broadcasts provide listeners with a reassuring voice that seems to speak only to them. But they are now giving way to less expensive programming.
Reflections
Just after World Wildlife Day this year armed poachers broke into a French zoo undetected by staff and security shot a white rhinoceros and stole the murdered animal’s precious horn.
Nuestros invitados: Samal yeslyamova y sergei dvortsevoi, el cine como espejo de la realidad
Siluetas familiares y sin embargo invisibles casi 25 millones de migrantes de Asia Central vinieron a Moscú para probar suerte y se encuentran ahora trabajando en empleos precarios. En Ayka el director ruso-kazajo Sergei Dvortsevoi y la actriz kazaja Samal Yeslyamova ganadora del Premio de Interpretación Femenina del Festival de Cannes de 2018 muestran el destino de aquellos que están dispuestos a sacrificarlo todo ante la esperanza de una vida mejor.
China's Himalaya FM: Radio à la carte
Having worked as a professional host for the radio and television station of Jilin province one traditional Chinese broadcaster experienced an interesting transformation into a new media host. Since 2014 Shi Zhan has been practising a new form of audio storytelling — vividly recreating the history of China's ancient dynasties on Shanghai-based Himalaya FM the country's most successful audio network.
Women and radio: On the same wavelength
In a sound environment that has long been dominated by men women have been slow to carve out a place for themselves. Yet having been assiduous listeners from the start they have played a central role in shaping the history and content of radio.
Will climate change impact the right to health & development?
On a dusty construction site in western China Mr Tan is just another anonymous migrant labourer. But the unassuming former farmer is also the face of a complex web of crises threatening global health.
Current affairs: The league of nations: A universal dream that has stood the test of time
A hundred years ago on 10 January 1920 the League of Nations was born out of the rubble of the First World War. The International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) UNESCO's predecessor was created in its wake. The aim was to overcome the national egoisms that had led to the disaster by focusing on multilateralism. This dream would not survive the inter-war period. But in an era facing challenges such as war terrorism economic crises and climate change the credo of the founding fathers of the League for a more united world has not lost any of its relevance.
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.