Benefits of investing in protection of biodiversity outweigh financial costs, says UN-backed report

UN, 7 October 2014 – Implementing measures that promote the sustainable use of biodiversity is a worthwhile investment that will bring multiple economic and environmental benefits to countries, according to a United Nations-backed report released today.
The report, released at the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-12) in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, found that there is a gap across all countries and regions between investments needed to meet the 20 global biodiversity goals known as the Aichi targets, and the resources currently allocated to this endeavour.

“Even though political commitment is there, we don’t have a good financial investment plan behind it,” said Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Chair of the High-Level Panel on Global Assessment of Resources for Implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which authored the report.
“The report will help parties understand how we can develop these financial investment plans.”

The report also highlights benefits in areas such as health and well-being and food security that would benefit from higher investments in biodiversity initiatives. 

Mr. Rodriguez, who is also the Vice President for conservation policy at Conservation International, stressed that countries should not simply think of higher expenditures, but they need to look for innovative ways in which development investments also take into account biodiversity.

“Political coherence is urgently needed at the country level,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “If we see how governments behave it’s quite contradictory. On the one hand, we see agencies promoting development with a high environmental cost, and on the other hand we see environmental agencies trying to repair the damage that development agencies have created. We need governments who are able to break down this kind of silo effect.”
Recommendations in the report include diversifying sources of finance for biodiversity; investing in protecting marine and land ecosystems with the view that this will tackle not just biodiversity issues but also wider development issues such as climate change; and strengthening dialogue between governments, the private sector and civil society on biodiversity initiatives.

“We hope that this report will allow parties to move forward actions at the national level as well as the Convention level that are consistent with the political commitment of the Aichi targets,” Mr. Rodriquez added.
un.org
7/10/14

New UN-backed report finds ‘alarmingly high’ levels of elephant poaching across Africa

 UN, 13 June 2014 – The level of elephant poaching across Africa remains alarmingly high, according to a new United Nations-backed report release today, which also found an increase in the number of large seizures of ivory.

“Africa’s elephants continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high-levels of poaching for their ivory and with over 20,000 elephants illegally killed last year, the situation remains dire,” said John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The report by the Convention’s Secretariat says that although the sharp upward trend in illegal elephant killing observed since the mid-2000s is levelling off, poaching levels continue to far exceed the natural elephant population growth rates, resulting in a further decline in elephant populations across Africa.

Three key factors cited for the higher poaching levels are poverty, weak governance and the demand for illegal ivory in consuming nations, according to a news release issued by CITES.

The report identifies monitored sites where poaching is increasing (33 per cent of monitored sites), including Dzanga Sangha (Central African Republic), as well as those sites where a decline in poaching has been observed (46 per cent), such as Zakouma National Park (Chad). Some populations of elephants continue to face an immediate threat of local extinction.

The report also shows a clear increase in the number of large seizures of ivory (shipments over 500 kilogrammes) made in 2013, before the ivory left the African continent.

For the first time, the number of such seizures made in Africa exceeded those made in Asia, according to CITES. Just three African countries – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – accounted for 80 per cent of those seizures.

Large-scale ivory seizures are indicative, said CITES, of transnational organized crime being involved in the illicit ivory trade.

The report, which contains the latest figures from the CITES Monitoring Illegal Killing in Elephants (MIKE) programme and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), will be discussed at the 65th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee next month in Geneva.
[un.org]
13/6/14
--
-

Urgent action needed to safeguard genetic diversity of world’s forests, UN study says

UN, 3 June 2014 – Urgent action to better manage the genetic diversity of forests – under pressure from climate change, exploitation and conversion for other uses – is needed to ensure that the benefits they provide will survive, the United Nations said in a first-of-its-kind report released today. 

“Forests provide food, goods and services which are essential to the survival and well-being of all humanity,” Eduardo Rojas-Briales, Assistant Director-General for Forestry at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said on the release of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources.
“These benefits all rely on safeguarding the rich store of the world’s forest genetic diversity – which is increasingly at risk,” he added.

The report says that half of the forest species regularly utilized by countries are threatened by the conversion of forests to pastures and farmland, overexploitation and the impacts of climate change. 

Biodiversity in forest genetic resources is also essential, it says, to improving both forest species' productivity and the nutritional value of the foods they produce, which includes leafy vegetables, honey, fruits, seeds, nuts, roots, tubers and mushrooms.
A wide variability in desirable traits, such as fruit size, growing speed, oil composition and pulp proportion, is a prerequisite for breeding and domesticating improved tree species, it says. 

At the same time, it adds, genetic diversity is needed to ensure that forests can adapt to changing environmental conditions, including those stemming from climate change and invasive pests and diseases. 

Among the primary actions called for by the report is stepped up management and data gathering on forests resources. While existing tree species in the world is estimated at between 80,000 and 100,000, only 2,400 (around 3 per cent) are actively managed for the products and services they provide. 

Data from 86 countries in the report show a lack of data and insufficient awareness of the importance of forest genetic resources, Linda Collette, Secretary of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, said, adding that it often translates into national policies that are “partial, ineffective, or non-existent.” 

“Governments need to act and implement the Global Plan of Action for Forest Genetic Resources and FAO and its Commission stand ready to guide, support and assist countries in the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources,” she said.
[un.org]
3/6/14
--

Scientists: Rising Sea Levels Threaten NASA Space Centers

U.S. scientists say global warming is forcing NASA to build seawalls near major flight and research centers along the U.S. coasts.

A report by the Union of Concerned Scientists says rising sea levels are the greatest threat to the historic Kennedy Space Center, along the Atlantic Ocean in Florida. It says other NASA facilities already have faced costly damage from erosion and hurricanes.

NASA says it is essential that launching pads be located near water if a test flight has to be aborted in mid-air or a technical problem forces astronauts to make an emergency return to Earth.

Other key NASA facilities are located along the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.

The report says rising seas threaten other historic sites, including colonial Boston, Hawaiian state parks, and Liberty Island in New York Harbor. Some reporting by AFP
[voanews.com]
20/5/14

First UN report on antibiotic resistance reveals ‘serious threat’ to global public health. - WHO said that people can help tackle resistance...

UN, 30 April 2014 – Antibiotic resistance – when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections – is now a major threat to public health, says a new United Nations report released today.

The study, produced by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), is the first to look at antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, globally, and provides the most comprehensive picture to date, incorporating data from 114 countries.

It reveals that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future; it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country, WHO pointed out in a news release.

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” said Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security.

“Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine,” Dr. Fukuda noted. “Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

While the report notes that resistance is occurring across many different infectious agents, it focuses on antibiotic resistance in seven different bacteria responsible for common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhoea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea.

The results are cause for high concern, according to WHO, which documented resistance to antibiotics, especially “last resort” antibiotics, in all regions of the world.

For example, resistance to one of the most widely used antibacterial medicines for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli – fluoroquinolones – is very widespread. In the 1980s, when these drugs were first introduced, resistance was virtually zero. Today, there are countries in many parts of the world where this treatment is now ineffective in more than half of patients.

• WHO said that people can help tackle resistance by using antibiotics only when prescribed by a doctor; completing the full prescription, even if they feel better; and never sharing antibiotics with others or using leftover prescriptions.

Health workers and pharmacists can help tackle resistance by enhancing infection prevention and control; only prescribing and dispensing antibiotics when they are truly needed; and prescribing and dispensing the right antibiotic(s) to treat the illness.

The report, which is kick-starting a global effort led by WHO to address drug resistance, reveals that key tools to tackle antibiotic resistance, such as basic systems to track and monitor the problem, show gaps or do not exist in many countries. While some countries have taken important steps in addressing the problem, every country and individual needs to do more.

Other important actions include preventing infections from happening in the first place – through better hygiene, access to clean water, infection control in health-care facilities, and vaccination – to reduce the need for antibiotics. WHO is also calling attention to the need to develop new diagnostics, antibiotics and other tools to allow healthcare professionals to stay ahead of emerging resistance.

un.org30/4/14------------------------

• WHO warnt: Antibiotika bald wirkungslos....

Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation ist alarmiert. Resistenzen gegen Antibiotika nehmen zu. Dies gilt auch für keimtötende Arzneimittel, welche als "Reserve" bei sonst schlecht behandelbaren bakteriellen Infektionen verwendet werden. Dies stellt die WHO in einem aktuellen neuen Bericht fest. Auch Österreich wird darin genannt.

So stellte Keiji Fukuda, stellvertretender Generaldirektor für Health Security der WHO, fest: "Ohne eine schnelle und koordinierte Aktion vieler Beteiligter steuert die Welt auf eine post-antibiotische Ära zu, in der häufige Infektionen und auch kleinere Verletzungen, die Jahrzehnte lang behandelbar waren, wieder tödlich werden können."..................http://diepresse.com/home/leben/gesundheit/1600648/WHO-warnt_Antibiotika-bald-wirkungslos?from=rss
30/4/14 
--
-
 

• Ένας ιός που θάφτηκε στον πάγο

Air pollution now linked to 1 in 8 deaths worldwide, UN health agency reports

25 March 2014 – Air pollution – both indoor and outdoor – killed some 7 million people across the globe in 2012, making it the world’s largest single environmental health risk, according to new figures released today by the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
“The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes,” said Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.

“Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution; the evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe,” Dr. Neira added.
In particular, the new data, which cites air pollution as the cause of one in eight global deaths, reveals a stronger link between both indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure and cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and ischaemic heart disease, as well as between air pollution and cancer. This is in addition to pollution’s role in the development of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

“Cleaning up the air we breathe prevents noncommunicable diseases as well as reduces disease risks among women and vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly,” Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General Family, Women and Children’s Health said. “Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves.”

Analysing the risk factors, taking into account revisions in methodology, WHO estimates indoor air pollution was linked to 4.3 million deaths in 2012 in households cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. The new estimate is explained by better information about pollution exposures among the estimated 2.9 billion people living in homes using wood, coal or dung as their primary cooking fuel, as well as evidence about air pollution's role in the development of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancers.

In the case of outdoor air pollution, the agency estimates there were 3.7 million deaths in 2012 from urban and rural sources worldwide. The most air pollution-related deaths occurred in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, according to WHO, with a total of 3.3 million deaths linked to indoor air pollution and some 2.6 million related to outdoor pollution.
Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Due to this overlap, mortality attributed to the two sources cannot simply be added together, hence the total estimate of around 7 million deaths in 2012.

“Excessive air pollution is often a by-product of unsustainable policies in sectors such as transport, energy, waste management and industry. In most cases, healthier strategies will also be more economical in the long term due to health-care cost savings as well as climate gains,” Carlos Dora, WHO Coordinator for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health said. 

“WHO and health sectors have a unique role in translating scientific evidence on air pollution into policies that can deliver impact and improvements that will save lives,” Dr. Dora added.
The release of today’s data is a step in the development of a WHO roadmap for preventing diseases related to air pollution. This involves the development of a WHO-hosted global platform on air quality and health to generate better data on air pollution-related diseases and strengthened support to countries and cities through guidance, information and evidence about health gains from key interventions.
 un.org
25/3/14
--
-
Related:

• Pollution kills 7 million people every year. -WHO

• Η έκθεση υπολόγισε ότι κάθε χρόνο καταγράφονται 5 εκατομμύρια θάνατοι από την ατμοσφαιρική ρύπανση, την πείνα και τις ασθένειες ως αποτέλεσμα της κλιματικής αλλαγής

• La pollution de l'air a causé la mort de sept millions de personnes en 2012...