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The Danger of an e-Waste Tsunami

The recognised need for responsible management of chemicals in e-waste has brought together Governments, civil society, the private sector and the chemical industry. Hence, parties to three major chemical Conventions met recently in Geneva to consider the problem of electronic waste in the context of the global environment agenda. The issue raises two critical issues, […]

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Climate, Faith and Hope: Faith traditions come together for a common future

The specific contributions that faith traditions bring to the international climate debate was highlighted at the recent Interfaith Summit on Climate Change in New York, held in conjunction with the UN Climate Summit convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Thirty religious leaders from diverse religious traditions participated in the summit and signed a statement expressing […]

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Global Mobilisation for Action on Climate Change – but is it too few and too late?

Hundreds of thousands of people recently took to the streets in over 2000 cities around the world to participate in a People’s Climate March to demand action from world leaders to address climate change. The World Day of Climate Action was to coincide with the summit of world leaders convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki […]

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Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (2014 – 2024)

In June, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared the decade 2014‑2024 as the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL). The initiative, seeks to make universal access to renewable energy a global priority, at a time when 1.3 billion people lack electricity and 2.6 billion in developing countries use biomass in cooking and heating […]

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Inaugural UN Environment Assembly Calls for Decisive Action on a Range of Issues

“The air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil that grows our food are part of a delicate ecosystem that is increasingly under pressure,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the closing session of the inaugural UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) which concluded its five-day deliberations in Nairobi recently “We need to act […]

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How Does Climate Change Affect Human Rights?

On Thursday 19 June, a side event to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on “Climate Change and Human Rights – an Ethics perspective”, was organized by the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights (GIFCCEHR), of which the WCC is a founder member, and co-sponsored by a dozen civil […]

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Edmund Rice Schools Mark Earth Hour in Latin America

Earth Hour has grown to be the world’s largest mass participation event involving more than 7,000 cities, 7 continents and millions of people. Earth Hour’s mission is three-fold. To bring people together through a symbolic hour-long event. To galvanise people into taking action beyond the hour. And to create an interconnected global community sharing the […]

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Climate Change is Real and Human Activity is Responsible – IPCC

‘Human influence on the climate system is clear’ and‘Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia.’ These are two of the headline statements from the recently releasedIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. Set up in 1988, the IPCC is a UN body based in […]

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Edmund Rice Society Marks World Water Day in Bulawayo.

The southern part of Zimbabwe has received below average rains for the past three years, believed to be a result of climate change. In addition, illegal gold panning has contributed to increasing silting of dams which in turn has reduced the capacity of the dams to supply water to the city of Bulawayo. Residents of […]

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The Rise of the South – New NDP Report

 The UN Development Programme releases a report every two years or so. The latest one is entitled, rather melodramatically, ‘The Rise of the South’. The full report is available online. For those who’ve been battling poverty over the last 10, 20, 30 , … 50 years, it’s good news. Yes, some countries are moving out […]

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