News headlines in January 2018

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 31 (IPS) - I am pleased to be with you at this important and timely summit on climate risk and to discuss the opportunities that are there for us to seize through decisive climate action.

Jan 31 (IPS) - Mark Ritchie, former Minnesota Secretary of State and former president of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, sent Felix an email about a very interesting interview with Kevin Watkins, the CEO of Save the Children Fund (UK). The interview and commentary was by Russell Hargrave in devex: "Save the Children CEO on a new era of competition for aid".

PENANG, Malaysia, Jan 31 (IPS) - With floods now causing more damage more frequently around the world, it is time to counter their effects by turning our towns into "Sponge Cities", a recent trend popularised by China to absorb rainwater through permeable roads and pavements, parks, rooftop gardens and other green spaces.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan 31 (IPS) - According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the Financial Tracking Service (FTS), the number of people in need of humanitarian aid in 2017 rose to 141.1 million and they were located in 37 countries.

SANTIAGO, Jan 31 (IPS) - Two-thirds of the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have already submitted or are preparing to submit to the United Nations their land degradation goals, to combat a problem that threatens agriculture and the lives of their people.

SYDNEY & KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (IPS) - At this year's Davos World Economic Forum (WEF), Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau warned the world's business leaders and fellow politicians, "tackle inequality or risk failure".

WASHINGTON DC, Jan 30 (IPS) - In 2010, heavy monsoons led to devastating floods in Pakistan that destroyed 11,000 schools. Thousands of additional schools had to be used as community shelters, preventing them from operating as classrooms. In the immediate aftermath of climate-related events such as this, damage to schools and infrastructure often interrupt a child's education.

PLUMTREE, Zimbabwe, Jan 29 (IPS) - In Zimbabwe, the bulk of rural communities and urban poor still get their energy supplies from the forests, leading to deforestation and land degradation.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (IPS) - When the World Economic Forum (WEF) concluded in Davos, Switzerland last week, the outcome of the annual talk-fest was seemingly predictable—plenty of unrestrained platitudes but, surprisingly, less of the American populist, protectionist rhetoric.

WASHINGTON DC, Jan 29 (IPS) - It is unlikely that President Trump will reverse his policies toward refugees in his State of the Union address on 30 January. Despite his expected silence on the state of U.S. and global refugee policy, there is a lot to say about how refugee policy has changed and will change in the future.