1 October 2020 - NPWJ News Digest on Environmental Justice & Human Rights

Articles

Greenland's ice melting faster than at any time in past 12,000 years
The Guardian , 30 Sep 2020

Greenland’s ice is starting to melt faster than at any time in the past 12,000 years, research has shown, which will raise sea levels and could have a marked impact on ocean currents. New measurements show the rate of melting matches any in the geological record for the Holocene period – defined as the period since the last ice age – and is likely to accelerate, according to a paper published in the journal Nature.

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World leaders endorse ‘Pledge for Nature’ to address planetary emergency
Mongabay, 29 Sep 2020

In the midst of a planetary biodiversity crisis, 71 world leaders have endorsed the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. News of the leaders’ participation, announced Sept. 28, comes ahead of the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity this week. It builds upon mounting support for a science-based target: to protect 30% of the planet by 2030, which is included in the most recent draft of the U.N.’s Convention on Biological Diversity as one of its 20 post-2020 strategies. Borris Johnson, for instance, promised to increase UK protected areas to 30% by 2030.

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The EU-Mercosur Trade Deal’s Environmental Implications And Pushback
The Organisation for World Peace, 28 Sep 2020

The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, drafted in 2019, has been critiqued in both Europe and South America for its environmental implications. The Mercosur bloc includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The trade deal would remove trade tariffs between the EU and Mercosur, increase exports, and create a free trade market that would impact about 800 million people. According to the BBC, this would lead to more exports of beef, sugar, poultry, and farm products from Mercosur, and more exports of industrial products and cars from the EU.

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Poland agrees to shut coal mines by 2049
Euractiv , 26 Sep 2020

Poland moved closer to ending its heavy reliance on coal Friday (25 September) as the government and miners’ unions agreed a landmark plan to phase out mines by 2049. The agreement puts Poland on track to meeting European Union climate targets.

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Why won't Chile ratify Escazu environmental agreement?
Anadolu Agency , 25 Sep 2020

Surprise and dismay among environmentalists caused the decision of the Chilean government not to adhere to the agreement that it proposed, together with Costa Rica in 2012 and that it pushed for six years, before beginning to show reluctance to ratify the document. Anadolu Agency spoke with environmental protectionists and experts who question the reasons why Chile was marginalized from the ambitious agreement, whose date to adhere ends on Sept. 26, and that will come into effect when 11 countries have signed it.

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