Polio eradication a UN priority, says Guterres in Pakistan visit

During his first official visit to Pakistan as UN Secretary-General, António Guterres stopped at a kindergarten in Lahore on Tuesday, as the country kicked off its initial nationwide polio campaign for the year. 

While there is no cure for polio, vaccination can protect a child for life, and the campaign this month aims to reach more than 39 million children. 

“Polio is one of the few diseases we can eradicate in the world in the next few years. This is a priority of the United Nations and I am extremely happy to see it is a clear priority for the Government of Pakistan,” said Mr. Guterres. 

Jeff Bezos: World's richest man pledges $10bn to fight climate change

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has pledged $10bn (£7.7bn) to help fight climate change. - BBC

The world's richest man said the money would finance work by scientists, activists and other groups. Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will commit $10bn to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change, he said on Monday.

Bezos is already an investor in Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund whose mission is to finance the development of technologies that can mitigate climate change and reduce the use of fossil fuels and carbon emissions in industries, including energy generation, food production, and manufacturing.

Major airlines say they’re acting on climate change, The Conversations Report research reveals how little they’ve achieved

Several of the world’s major airlines have announced plans to become “carbon neutral”, while others are trialing new aviation fuels. But are any of their climate initiatives making much difference?

The research found three-quarters of the world’s biggest airlines showed improvements in carbon efficiency – measured as carbon dioxide per available seat. But that’s not the same as cutting emissions overall.

Romance with the Environment

Valentine is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and is recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world. While the concept of showing love extends majorly between man and his loved ones, the very system that supports our very existence is left out in this show of love and affection.

The system - Mother Nature provides the very resources for man’s giftings to his neighbor, however, it doesn’t get any in return or perhaps it does, just in tonnes of waste. The Green Institute makes it a tradition to ensure that Mother Nature shares in these displays of deep affection by hosting a get-together called, Romance With The Environment.

A tradition of the Green Kids Club celebrated to express our love for the environment. It was observed on the 14th of February 2020 which was observed in the form of a gathering geared towards sharing love with Mother Nature

The get-together was organized in the form of a picnic for the members of the club.

Event organizer: Green kids club

Implementing club: Green kids club of HOMAJ INT’LL secondary school

Venue: Homaj field compound

Number of attendees: 19

Activities

The get together began with the recitation of the Green pledge. Presentation of two topics that have to do with the environment was presented by two members of the club:

Agunbiade Oluwaseun talked about pollution in the environment, explaining the meaning of pollution and its different types (air, water, land, and visual pollution), with examples of each of the types and how they affect the environment accompanied with contributions by other members during the talk.

Akintola Olufunke talked about deforestation, explaining the meaning, reasons for it, its effect on the environment and how it can be curbed.

Okojie Peace (Commissioner of innovation and social entrepreneurship) went on afterward to read a story about Pamee and the looking pond (a Green Kids Club storybook) to the members.

There was a Cycling competition where members took part in the event and Ezekiel Destiny (Commissioner of sport) took charge of organizing the members in groups and monitoring the race. Fagboye Favour (Commissioner of Happiness) timed the event all through. Before the bicycle riding began, Miss Arinjeniwa Foluke explained cycling as a means of Green Transportation and also Green transportation in detail.

A puzzle game was done as well, where the members helped the elephants find the recycle bin. Miss Adeeko Oluwaseunfunmi helped to identify which was correct and why after they had all carried out the activity.

Green fruits were then served such as pineapple, apple, and banana to the member as prepared by Adebayo Opeyemi (Commissioner of health). The event was then brought to a close with a dancing session and then the recitation of the Green Pledge.

Victim-centred laws ‘paramount’ to combat online sexual abuse against children

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, expressed concern over an unprecedented spike in reports of child sexual abuse material online, noting the scale and complexity of the problem and the enormous harm it is causing.

“By virtue of their commitments under several human rights treaties, States have the primary responsibility to establish a comprehensive legal framework and strategies to protect children in the digital environment, encompassing the early detection of cases, appropriate services, child-friendly reporting mechanisms and effective remedies,” the experts said. “Victim-centred laws and policies are of paramount importance and perpetrators must be held to account.”

Climate Change Could Trigger More Landslides in High Mountain Asia (NASA)

More frequent and intense rainfall events due to climate change could cause more landslides in the High Mountain Asia region of China, Tibet and Nepal, according to the first quantitative study of the link between precipitation and landslides in the region.

High Mountain Asia stores more fresh water in its snow and glaciers than any place on Earth outside the poles, and more than a billion people rely on it for drinking and irrigation. The study team used satellite estimates and modeled precipitation data to project how changing rainfall patterns in the region might affect landslide frequency.

The drive for quality education worldwide, faces ‘mammoth challenges’

Aligning inclusive, quality education with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was centre-stage on Friday, as the President of the UN General Assembly held a high-level interactive meeting for the International Day of Education.       

“The education sector is wrestling with mammoth challenges worldwide”, said Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, in his message for the day.

Listing them, he said there was a “precipitate decline” in the quality and standards of education; a widening knowledge gap between students in technically advanced societies and those in developing countries; a crisis of learning in conflict zones; growing school bullying, and “the declining esteem of the teaching profession” overall.

Mr. Muhammad-Bande maintained that today’s education must “bridge the yawning gap” between the modern employment needs for specialized skills, and actual learning opportunities.

Climate crisis: Antarctic continent posts record temperature reading of 18.3°C

Fresh fears of accelerating damage to the planet’s ice sheets and sea level rise have been fuelled by confirmation from the UN’s weather agency that the Antarctic likely saw a new temperature record of more than 18°C on Thursday. 

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, spokesperson Clare Nullis from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the record reading taken in the north of the continent, would be considered unusual, even during the current warmer summer months. 

“The Argentine research base, which is called Esperanza, it’s on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula; it set a new record temperature yesterday: 18.3°C, which is not a figure you would normally associate with Antarctica even in summertime. This beat the former record of 17.5°C, which was set back in 2015.” 

Experts at WMO will now verify whether the temperature extreme is a new record for the Antarctic continent, which is defined as the main continental landmass. 

Slight fall in coronavirus infections ‘nothing to celebrate’, says UN health agency

A slight drop overnight in the number of people infected by the new coronavirus is welcome but “nothing to celebrate”, a top UN health official said on Thursday.

Dr Michael Ryan, head of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, was speaking in Geneva after confirmation that there are now 28,060 confirmed cases of infection in China and 564 deaths - with 225 cases in 24 other countries, where one death has been recorded, in the Philippines.

“Although we are pleased that the numbers from today are the first day in which the overall numbers of confirmed cases reported from China have dropped, and so we are thankful, and I’m sure our colleagues on the frontline in China are thankful too”, he said.

“But it is very difficult to make any prediction relating to that. We are still in the middle of an intense outbreak and we need to be very careful on making any predictions.” 

Natural disasters cost world $232 billion in 2019: Report

A report from global consultancy Aon has revealed that 409 “natural catastrophe events” in 2019 resulted in economic losses of $232 billion, of which insurance programs covered $71 billion. The “Weather, Climate & Catastrophe Insight: 2019 Annual Report” analyzes the impact of natural disasters around the world to “identify trends, manage volatility, and enhance resilience.”

The two costliest insurance events were Typhoon Hagibis and Typhoon Faxai. Both occurred in Japan and respectively caused $9 billion and $6 billion worth of damage. Inland flooding, meanwhile, was the costliest disaster overall, causing global economic losses of $82 billion. Tropical cyclones followed close behind, at $68 billion.

Similarly, the economic loss due to severe weather events and droughts during 2019 was $41 billion and $23 billion respectively.

The year 2019 was also the second warmest for land and oceans since 1851, with average temperature hovering over 0.95 degree Celsius — above the 20th century average.

‘Spectre of poverty’ hangs over tribes and indigenous groups: UN labour agency

Indigenous and tribal communities are around three times more likely to face extreme poverty than others with women “consistently at the bottom of all social and economic indicators”,- UN labour experts said on Monday.

Highlighting new data showing that disproportionate numbers of indigenous people live on less than $1.90 a day – 18.2 per cent versus 6.8 per cent of non-indigenous people - the International Labour Organization (ILO) insisted that millions are being held back by a “spectre of poverty”.

The problem warrants global attention because this at-risk population is significantly larger than was previously thought, ILO insists.

According to the UN organization, there are more than 476 million indigenous people globally, the majority of whom live in relatively prosperous countries.

CoronaVirus: Eleven confirmed cases in the US

Health officials Sunday announced three more cases of the coronavirus in California, bringing the state's total to six and the country's total to 11 cases. - CNN

The State Department has warned Americans to avoid all travel to China due to the "rapidly spreading" outbreak. The decision came after the WHO designated the outbreak a global public health emergency.

Two new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in San Benito County, California, the county public health department said.  

Health officials told CBS San Francisco the new two people were a husband and wife have also tested positive for the illness. Of more concern was that health officials said the husband, who had recently returned from Wuhan, had infected his wife with the disease.

Green Educators Workshop - First Edition (Summary)

The Green Institute hosted its first Green Educators Workshop for students and Teachers in High Schools, this is inline with the Institutes mission.

Our mission is to build the next generation of sustainability innovators through education, advocacy and social entrepreneurship.

The opening introduction was given by Simileoluwa Kafaru, the Team Lead of the Institute on what the Institute is all about and an introductory speech on what to expect from the workshop

In attendance was Kitan David, the cofounder and CEO of SeedDev and Abraham Akpan, the Director of Emerging communities Africa and Akure Tech hub. They both came around and gave a talk on Tech for Social Good. Challenging individuals to upskill and educate themselves to be globally competitive.

Mr Kitan Davis

Kitan Davis, one of the invited speakers spoke on tech for social good, sharing light on how Nigerian youths need to reinvent themselves through continuous personal development to be globally competitive.

We are advocates of the 3.R’s and its only natural for us to have a session that accommodates this. Thus, we had a skill acquisition session which trained participants on the use of recycled materials for making awesome and beautiful frames.

The participants were equipped with strategies that enables them have an Active Green Club in their respective schools and techniques to ensure participation of club members.

Mr Akpan Abraham

Mr. Akpan Abraham started with a game of Simon says which cooled off everyone and got them excited about his talk where he shed light on the fact that we do not need to climb mountains to solve problems but by looking at our environment and see the immediate needs we can proffer innovative solutions.

The Green Team

The closing remark was given by Miss Adeeko Seunfunmi, the Lead Organizer and Miss Arijeniwa Foluke.

Corona Virus - All you need to know

The Corona virus is speculated to have originated from the Wuhan Seafood market in China.

At least 170 people have died from a new coronavirus in China following an outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, forcing a government lockdown in almost 20 cities that, in effect, has quarantined an estimated 56 million people.

Nearly 8,000 cases have been reported, most of them in China and especially in Wuhan and nearby cities in Hubei province.

On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people. WHO has been working with Chinese authorities and global experts from the day we were informed, to learn more about the virus, how it affects the people who are sick with it, how they can be treated, and what countries can do to respond.   

Prevention of Corona Virus as death toll stands at 106

The death toll from the new coronavirus now stands at 106, with the number of infections almost doubling in a day to more than 4,500.

Prevention and treatment of the new coronavirus

There is currently no vaccine to prevent infection. The best way to do so is to avoid exposure to this virus. The CDC recommends the following every day preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

• Stay home when you are sick.

• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

China goes into emergency mode as corona virus casualties clock thousands

The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus now stands at 80, with almost 2,800 cases confirmed across China, as the country initiates emergency procedures to try and rein in the pathogen's global spread.

Making that task more difficult is the fact that the virus can be spread before any symptoms appear, Chinese health authorities said Sunday, meaning carriers may not realize they are infected before they transmit the virus to others.

Across China, 15 cities with a combined population of over 57 million people -- more than the entire population of South Korea -- have been placed under full or partial lockdown.

Weekly Updates

Interesting Facts: Desertification

---

QuotesMonday

---

Sustainable Development Goals Highlights

In the early hours of Monday, a weak flow of lava began seeping out of Taal volcano - located some 70km (45 miles) south of the capital Manila. The Taal Philippines volcano is considered the second most active volcano in the country

Inaction will lead to continued sea level rise, risking the displacement of 280 million people from coastal areas and islands by 2050.

Each year, at least 55 million children in Europe suffer some form of physical, sexual, emotional or psychological violence - the UN health agency (WHO). “The cost of violence against children adds up”, WHO maintained, highlighting that an estimated $581 billion is spent annually on treating victims.

---

Data

• The average rate of increase since 1981 (0.17°C / 0.31°F) is more than twice as great.

• The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and 9 of the 10 have occurred since 2005. Click here for more details

---

Weekly Funding Opportunities

1. Call for Proposals: Grant Scheme for Common Cultural Heritage (EU-Turkey)

2. Grants, Van Tienhoven Foundation (see list of countries)

3. Small Grants Program, Mérieux Foundation (list of countries in link)

4. International Training Programme (ITP), Sida (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia)

5. Call for Proposals, Civil Society Organizations as Actors of Governance and Development work in the field, European Commission (South Africa)

6. Call for Inquiry Forms, 2020 Grant Program, Motorola Solutions Foundation

7. Request for Applications, Grant Competition, US Institute of Peace

8. Call for Proposals, VIVA Girls Initiative, MADRE

9. Endangered Animal Species small grants project, Fondation Ensemble

10. Call for Applications, Grant Program 2020-2021, Kubota Fund

---

Picture of the Week

#TB The Green Kids Club

---

Video of the Week

A time-lapse video of Taal Volcano, located in Batangas province, taken on 12 January when volcanic activity intensified and generated a tall steam-laden column of up to 15 km with volcanic lightning and wet ashfall that reached Metro Manila. (Video credit: I. Brinas-Pamintuan) pic.twitter.com/W5zTt6YOwG

— OCHA Philippines (@OCHAPhilippines) January 13, 2020

---

Upcoming Events

Land Use change

Facts

Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. 

• Total world land area suitable for cropping: 4.4 billion hectares

• Percent of the total world cultivated area that is rainfed: 80% (1.2 billion ha)

• Total land area currently being cultivated: 1.6 billion hectares of which 20% (0.3 billion ha) is on marginally suitable lands

• Share of world land sources that are degraded: 25%

• Share that are moderately degraded: 8%

• Share that are improving: 10%

• In several regions, soil quality constraints affect more than half the cultivated land base, notably in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern America, Southeast Asia and Northern Europe.

Three people dead in waterbombing plane crash - Australia WildFire

A water tanker plane tackling Australia's bushfires crashed on Thursday as soaring temperatures and strong winds stoked out-of-control blazes in the country's southeast. 

The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council told CNN the casualties were American.

The crew members belonged to Coulson Aviation, an aerial firefighting company that owned the aircraft contracted to the NSW RFS.

Conditions on Thursday were dry and hot, reaching into the 40s across NSW, while wind gusts strengthened in the south-east, exceeding forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology.

Rising inequality affecting more than two-thirds of the globe, but it’s not inevitable: new UN report

The World Social Report 2020, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), shows that income inequality has increased in most developed countries, and some middle-income countries - including China, which has the world’s fastest growing economy.

The challenges are underscored by UN chief António Guterres in the foreword, in which he states that the world is confronting “the harsh realities of a deeply unequal global landscape”, in which economic woes, inequalities and job insecurity have led to mass protests in both developed and developing countries.

“Income disparities and a lack of opportunities”, he writes, “are creating a vicious cycle of inequality, frustration and discontent across generations.”