Am Morgen des 6. Juni 2023 wurde gemeldet, dass der Kachovka-Staudamm zerstört wurde, und dass dadurch weite Gebiete flussabwärts, inklusive der Großstadt Cherson, durch eine Flutwelle bedroht werden würden. Der ukrainische Präsident Selensky macht für diese Katastrophe Russland, welches seit dem 24. Februar 2022 den Damm und das dazugehörige Wasserkraftwerk besetzt und kontrolliert hat, verantwortlich. Ob durch eine gezielte Sprengung oder durch grobe Fahrlässigkeit, der Dammbruch hat dramatische kurz- und langfristige Folgen für die Südukraine in Bezug auf Landwirtschaft, Wassersicherheit sowie auch den Schutz vor einem radioaktiven Unfall.
Schlagwort: Umwelt
Is Antarctica Still Exceptional? The Case for “Co-opetition” at the South Pole
Antarctic diplomacy has famously shielded the continent of peace, science, and environmental protection from outside conflict and war. This “exceptionalism” is now being tested by Russia’s war against Ukraine and the belief that international strategic competition between great powers is spilling over into the Antarctic. In order to keep the Antarctic exceptional, however, it would be wise to refocus on what has made Antarctic diplomacy so successful in the first place: cooperation in order to compete, or “co-opetition.”
Stopping the Biodiversity Apocalypse: Existential Threats and Ecological Justice at COP15 in Montreal
Global biodiversity is in a deep crisis. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke of a “biodiversity apocalypse” and of “humanity as a weapon of mass destruction”. The COP15 gathering in Montreal from 7-19 December is tasked with finding a new global framework for effectively protecting global biodiversity. Despite of the scale and speed of biodiversity deterioration, the language of security obscures the key aspect of ecological injustice: not all of humanity is causing environmental destruction but specific modes of economic development and the inequitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens between Global North and South, as well as non-human nature.
Am seidenen Faden: Das Freihandelsabkommen zwischen der Europäischen Union (EU) und dem Mercosur
Zwanzig Jahre lang wurde das Freihandelsabkommen zwischen der EU und dem Mercosur verhandelt, im Juni 2019 wurde eine Einigung über den Handelsteil erzielt, doch die Ratifizierung lässt auf sich warten und steht aktuell unter keinem guten Stern. Trotz breiter Kritik sind zwar noch letzte Hoffnungsschimmer ersichtlich, insgesamt weisen die aktuellen Entwicklungen jedoch in Richtung des Scheiterns.
Protests against new fracking projects in Colombia
A new fracking initiative has been formalized by the Colombian government in cooperation with the state enterprise Ecopetrol. The first of four exploratory projects will take place in Puerto Wilches, a small community located next to the Magdalena River, one of the largest in Colombia. Fracking has been associated with water pollution, which could lead to severe consequences for local people’s livelihoods and the region as a whole. Social and environmental activists have received death threats and have grown increasingly vulnerable since 2016. Nevertheless, protests have emerged and will likely continue, despite COVID-19 restrictions.
SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic is an Alert: Environment-Related Root Causes of Animal-Borne Diseases Need to be Addressed!
The novel infectious disease – SARS-CoV-2 – is nature’s alert to humans. Existing research on the links between animal-borne diseases, human behavior and environmental change clearly demonstrate how humans and the environment are intrinsically connected, however currently in a profound imbalance. Already 70% of “new or emerging” diseases that infect humans originate in animals. In the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and associated vast global health, security and economic damage, the environment-related underlying root causes of animal-borne diseases cannot be ignored any longer.
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