Hong Kong’s first blog for SDG education news and announcements
In contrast to most people’s banal and hyper-predictable NY resolutions, Extinction Rebellion (XR) announced “a controversial resolution to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic”. Meanwhile, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil have explicitly vowed to continue disruptive practices and will continue to see members get sent to prison. This is an interesting case study in both the nature of protest and its cycles. Perhaps one of the most interesting considerations is the cultural milieu from which protest arises. This will determine how far people pushed before they protest, how widespread it will be, how much popular support it will have. There is something of a chicken and egg relationship between these elements and the nature of the protest itself – march, print, riot, damage, disruption and so on. Environmental activists have certainly gone through a variety of approaches over the years. Which then raises the question of whether the . . .
An interesting article by Drs. Hassan Aboelnga, Olcay Unver and Johannes Cullman in IISD, highlights the way in which till now those advocating for SDG6 have perhaps been too siloed. The solution they say is to highlight water more broadly in the wider climate agenda so that we retain the interconnective element that the SDG framework is supposed to promote and facilitate. One of the key components of climate change is the redistribution of water volume by changing precipitation patterns and the associated changes to evapo-transpiration by changed cloud cover patterns. Thus we see drought and flooding increasing in frequency and severity as places begin to see lower and higher rates of precipitation and at different times of year than was previously experienced. Thus any successful interventions that address SDG 6 must take climate change into account and strategies aimed at SDG13 should explicitly be considering SDG6 outcomes as well. . . .
Urban light pollution is a danger for marine ecosystems – new research (The Conversation) From smog to carbon: Chinese NGOs in transition (Eco-business) Governments urged to confront effects of climate crisis on migrants (The Guardian) What Is Molecular Farming? Plus 6 Companies to Watch (green queen) Thirteen critical questions for international climate action in 2023 (CHN) Climate benefits of killing gas stoves aren’t what you think, but the health benefits are (TC) Environment risks dominate in "polycrisis" world - WEF survey (Reuters) . . .
Highly recommended read in IISD by Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) - Food System Transformation to Boost Biodiversity and Feed the Planet. She makes the point that agriculture needs to be considered as part of our ecosystems, not somehow magically separate from them and thus a holistic approach to biodiversity needs to embrace agriculture and other forms of human ecosystem interventions to truly deliver on its goals. “Unsustainable production and consumption patterns that contribute to biodiversity loss need to be reversed – including by addressing inefficient use of natural resources like water, soils and inputs for production, water scarcity, floods and pollution, land degradation and desertification, soil nutrient depletion, large-scale deforestation, overexploitation of fishery resources and pasture, and of course, climate change. If managed sustainably, agrifood systems contribute to the conservatio . . .
Every year on 18th December, the UN asks the world to mark International Migrants Day, a day set aside to recognize the important contribution of migrants while highlighting the challenges they face. This is something which has come to hold a near permanent place in the politics of many countries, especially those HICs which are often perceived as the main destination for international migrants. However, “85% of the world’s refugees live in low and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs). Nearly half of all migration flows are intra-regional, between LICs and MICs. Yet the disparity between data and analysis available on public attitudes towards refugees and other migrants in high-income countries (HICs) versus MICs, and LICs in particular, is stark.” (Leach & Hargrave, ODI) As an international migrant myself and as a child of migrants, I feel it is paramount that progressive attitudes to migration are pushed to overcome the narrow views that currently dominate, . . .
Without Indigenous leadership, attempts to stop the tide of destruction against nature will fail (The Conversation) New food technologies could release 80% of the world’s farmland back to nature (The Conversation) New York to ban animal sales at pet stores in 2024 (Reuters) Tokyo makes solar panels mandatory for new homes built after 2025 (Reuters) After developing country walkout, ministers arrive to rescue nature talks (CHN) Which countries are ‘particularly vulnerable’ to climate change? (CHN) Environmental Impact of Food Not the Same Around the World, New Report Finds (green queen) Why Climate Grief is the Next Mental Health Crisis (green queen) Green tariffs: what are they and why do they matter? (The Guardian) 18 brands called out for greenwashing in 2022 (Eco-business) . . .
I came across a very interesting article by Matthew Wills in The Conversation entitled Crabs have evolved five separate times – why do the same forms keep appearing in nature? After dealing with the crab story he also highlights birds as another recurring organism and then moves on to bring up the interesting case of how mammals have evolved in two distinct groups - placental and marsupial - and yet similar species appear in both. The adaptations which evolution selects for success tens to recur. He uses his observations to suggest that any form of life would follow the same principles and thus could well exist in another part of the universe (or multiverse anyone?). But it made we wonder as well, whether, if us humans drive ourselves to extinction by causing environmental change quicker than we can evolve to survive under new conditions, does it mean humans could reappear in the future if the earth’s environment returned to that which gave rise to us the first time r . . .
Last Saturday was the UN’s observance of Human Rights Day. 10th December commemorates the day in 1948 when UNGA adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - a milestone document the like of which had never been seen before. The UDHR still underpins much of the way the international law is structured, how governments expect each other to set policy and provides a useful starting point for the way that every person in the world can see how they should be treated and indeed how they should behave in a global context. It is an agreement that sets out the rights that every human has. The theme in 2022 is Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All to mark a year of celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Declaration. Since its inception more and more people around the world have found discrimination against them reduced. There is still some way to go and so the year will also particularly celebrate the activism which underpins translating the 30 Articles into real laws, policies and . . .
