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Environment > Climate change   Civil society campaign towards a Global Climate Fund In a world long plagued by poverty, the climate crisis is now terrifyingly urgent. A new sign-on statement by civil society organizations understands that to meet these crises, the global community will have to rapidly mobilize at least on a scale comparable to recent responses to the global financial crisis. In the face of the economic meltdown, over four trillion US dollars were mobilized in a mere two months. To successfully face down the climate crisis, a similar level of ambition is needed. [see more]   Agrofuels   Agrofuels and the right to food in Latin America An increasingly greater proportion of so-called bio-energy is produced from agricultural crops traditionally used as food and animal feed. The production of nonfood crops for energy production also requires land and water. This creates direct competition for resources needed to feed the world population, of which around 854 million people suffer hunger and malnutrition, the majority in rural areas. The possible impact of agrofuels on the human right to adequate food for the most oppressed and marginalised social groups must be considered prior to applying policies and programmes that encourage the production, investment and trade of agrofuels. [see more]   Tourism   Another tourism is possible The international debate on tourism and climate change needs to be widened to include a human rights based approach. This is one of the main messages to tourism leaders formulated by a group of civil society organisations in a discussion paper on the occasion of World Tourism Day 2008. This year's World Tourism Day will be celebrated by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on 27th September in Peru. [see more]   GM food   NGOs react to general release permit of GM potatoes in South Africa A pest-resistant strain of genetically modified potato, earmarked for possible commercial release in South Africa, will be of no use to local spud farmers, said the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), a section 21 non-profit organisation, based in South Africa. It will also increase risk to the farmer in an already volatile agricultural sector. [see more]   The water crisis   Sanitation: a human rights imperative While there has been some progress on the recognition and implementation of the right to water, the same is not true of sanitation services. The current International Year of Sanitation presents an opportunity to address the lack of attention paid to sanitation and hygiene in human rights terms. [see more]   Biotechnology and biosafety   Women, biodiversity and the gender action plan of the CBD What happens if women do not want to participate in negotiations about and enforcement of ´benefit sharing´ because they consider local resources their own common property? What if they do not want their livelihood resources and their knowledge to be integrated into the mainstream of commercialisation and patenting? What if they want to change the mainstream instead of participating in it? Does the strategy of gender mainstreaming leave space for an alternative concept and for needs, rights and interests that are not compliant with the mainstream? writes Christa Wichterich from WIDE. [see more]     Subscribe to receive what’s new on Choike.  Syndicate this site. International and Regional Organizations International NGOs and Networks Information Resources   Arid Lands Information Network (EA) Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN)- Eastern Africa is a network of Community Development Workers (CDWs) who are involved in drylands development. Go to NGO directory Selected news Sustainable Development - Tue Nov 25 2008 Climate change: ambition missing at upcoming UN talks On 1-12 December 2008, the Polish city of Poznan will host crucial United Nations climate talks. The UN reported this week that greenhouse gas emissions in industrialised countries continue to rise, exposing their lack of ambition to seriously address the climate threat. Source: Friends of the Earth International Sustainable Development - Tue Nov 25 2008 Greenpeace blog on the Poland climate talks Greenpeace has launched a Climate Rescue Station (CRS), a huge globe on the edge of a vast open pit coal mine in Konin, very close to Poznan and the upcoming climate talks. See the blog with daily updates on the conference. See more ... News channels Greener Electronics  Major companies fail to show climate leadership (Greenpeace International) our story (Friends of the Earth) contact (Friends of the Earth) Thank you! (Greenpeace International) See more ... Save the Sinharaja rainforest Stop IADB funding agrofuels in Guatemala Sign the petition against Vedanta

Mining Agrofuels Divisions in Africa over GM crops Tourism Oil fueling conflicts Biotechnology and biosafety Wetlands conservation Hazardous waste trafficking The water crisis GM food Climate change Desertification Rio+10: Earth Summit 2002

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