NAIROBI, May 27 (IPS) - Women provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food and produce up to 80 percent of food in most developing countries, and yet they are almost completely ignored when policy decisions are made about agriculture and biodiversity.
That's about to change thanks to a United Nations agreement on biodiversity that will ask countries to ensure women are involved in decisions regarding biodiversity - including agriculture.
Each month Earthscan will offer a free one-hour webcast on a different topic giving viewers the opportunity to learn from, and interact with, leading authorities from a range of different fields.
In the wake of the COP-15 summit in Copenhagen, the first Earthcast of 2010 will examine the treaty that emerged, the negotiating tactics behind it, and what the next steps are likely to be.
The idea is to identify the most vulnerable areas and design mitigation and adaptation strategies, based not only on expert opinions, but particularly on the input of all the people involved, project coordinator Federico Ferla told IPS.
Participating peoples and organisations call for urgent climate action:
• A complete abandonment of fossil fuels within the next 30 years, which must include
specific milestones for every 5-year period. We demand an immediate cut in GHG of
industrialized countries of at least 40% compared to 1990 levels by 2020.
"Our plates are empty due to drought. Our future is at risk, and we demand that something be done," they wrote in a declaration titled "Our World, Our Future" signed by 164 participants aged 14 to 17 at the conclusion of the forum.
Finnish NGOs call for legally binding agreement in COP-15. Read the whole article in Finnish:
Ympäristö- ja kehitysjärjestöt sekä Akava pitivät tänään tiedotustilaisuuden tavoitteistaan Kööpenhaminan joulukuiselle ilmastokokoukselle. Helsingissä pidetyssä tilaisuudessa järjestöt julkaisivat yhteisen kannanoton, johon on koottu kymmenen tärkeintä vaatimusta.
‘United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Multidisciplinary Perspectives' traces the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The book offers a number of fresh approaches to disability studies and disability rights by exploring the lives of persons with disabilities from multiple perspectives.
In co-operation with the city of Copenhagen, UNICEF organizes Children's climate forum in Copenhagen 28.11.-4.12.2009. Read the whole article in Finnish:
UNICEF järjestää Lasten ilmastofoorumin yhdessä Kööpenhaminan kaupungin kanssa 28.11.-4.12.2009. Foorumiin saapuu noin 160 osanottajaa 44 maasta, sekä kehitysmaista että vauraista maista.
In May 2008 Coalition for Environment and Development launched a nine-month research project under the title CULTURES OF SUSTAINABILITY - SUSTAINABILITY OF CULTURES: Africa-Asia-Europe Dialogue on the Future of Low Ecological Footprint Communities. The aim of the project is to find ways of preserving the ways of sustainable societies and transforming unsustainable ones by engaging in dialogue with concerned people in Finland, India, Kenya, Nepal and Tanzania.