“Malaysia has become the preferred destination for a number of threatened minority groups from Myanmar, including the Rohingya, the Chin, and the Kachin,” says Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch. “Those communities and their networks in Malaysia help to protect new arrivals, and support efforts to get refugee status and protection from UNHCR.”

Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Convention and Protocol on Refugees. It also does not recognise the refugee status given to asylum seekers assessed by the UN Refugee Agency as being at risk if returned to their own country.

 Globally, 26,000 square miles of forest—an area roughly equivalent to the Republic of Ireland—were destroyed in 2021. This deforestation decimated biodiverse ecosystems and released 3.8 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, about as much as the European Union.

According to the annual Forest Declaration Assessment, “not a single global indicator is on track to meet these 2030 goals of stopping forest loss and degradation and restoring 350 million hectares of forest landscape.” 

 “It will cost up to $460 billion per year to protect, restore, and enhance forests on a global scale. Currently, domestic and international mitigation finance for forests averages $2.3 billion per year—less than 1% of the necessary total. Funding for forests will need to increase by up to 200 times to meet 2030 goals.”

Experts have long warned that it will be virtually impossible to maintain a habitable planet unless the world stops felling trees to make space for cattle ranching, monocropping, and other harmful practices. Although halting and reversing deforestation by 2030 is key to averting the worst consequences of the climate and biodiversity crises, the world is off course to achieve these critical targets. At COP26 climate summit last November, 145 nations signed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration “to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation” by the end of the decade.

“To be on course to halt deforestation completely by 2030, a 10% annual reduction is needed,” the report notes. “However, deforestation rates around the world declined only modestly, in 2021, by 6.3% compared to the 2018-20 baseline. In the humid tropics, loss of irreplaceable primary forest decreased by only 3.1%.”

“Tropical Asia is the only region currently on track to halt deforestation by 2030,” thanks to the “exceptional progress” made by Indonesia and Malaysia, which reduced clear-cutting by 25% in 2021, states the report. “While deforestation rates in tropical Latin America and Africa decreased in 2021 relative to the 2018-20 baseline, those reductions are still insufficient to meet the 2030 goal.”

The authors emphasize. “Achieving the 2030 forest goals is essential for ensuring a livable world in line with the Paris agreement.”

They point out that “most financial institutions still fail to have any deforestation safeguards for their investments,” the assessment points out. “Almost two-thirds of the 150 major financial players most exposed to deforestation do not yet have a single deforestation policy covering their forest-risk investments, leaving $2.6 trillion in investments in high deforestation-risk commodities without appropriate safeguards.”

Fran Price, global forest practice lead at World Wildlife Fund explained, “There is no pathway to meeting the 1.5°C target set out in the Paris agreement or reversing biodiversity loss without halting deforestation and conversion.”

‘Not a Single Global Indicator Is on Track’ to Reverse Deforestation by 2030: Analysis (commondreams.org)

A new Greenpeace USA report,  Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, finds that U.S. households generated an estimated 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, only 2.4 million tons of which was recycled. 

Plastic recycling was estimated to have declined to about 5–6% in 2021, down from a high of 9.5% in 2014 and 8.7% in 2018. At that time, the U.S. exported millions of tons of plastic waste to China and counted it as recycled even though much of it was burned or dumped. 

The report also finds that no type of plastic packaging in the U.S. meets the definition of recyclable used by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastic Economy (EMF NPE) Initiative. By EMF NPE standards, an item must have a 30% recycling rate to receive the “recyclable” classification. Two of the most common plastics in the U.S. that are often considered recyclable – PET #1 and HDPE #2, typically bottles and jugs – fall well below the EMF NPE threshold, only achieving reprocessing rates of 20.9% and 10.3%, respectively. For every other type of plastic, the reprocessing rate is less than 5%.  While PET #1 and HDPE #2 were previously thought of as recyclable, this report finds that being accepted by a recycling processing plant does not necessarily result in them being recycled – effectively negating the recyclability claim.

Lisa Ramsden, Greenpeace USA Senior Plastics Campaigner, said, ” The data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill.” She explained, “It’s simply not possible to collect the vast quantity of these small pieces of plastic sold to U.S. consumers annually. More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled. The crisis just gets worse and worse, and, without drastic change, will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.” She added, “It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap. Instead of continuing to greenwash and mislead the American public, industry should stand on the right side of history this November and support an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty that will finally end the age of plastic by significantly decreasing production and increasing refill and reuse.”

Mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste fails because plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not economical to recycle.

 99 percent of plastic is made from fossil fuels, and as big brands continue their addiction to this harmful material, they are fueling climate impacts and jeopardizing communities in the name of profits. All over the world, communities face health impacts from the plastics industry, whether through incinerators, landfills, petrochemical facilities, polluted waterways, or the harmful plastic packaging pushed on communities. 

New Greenpeace Report: Plastic Recycling Is A Dead-End Street—Year After Year, Plastic Recycling Declines Even as Plastic Waste Increases | Common Dreams

189 million people per year have been affected by extreme weather-related events in developing countries since 1991.  Since 1991, developing countries experienced 79 per cent of recorded deaths and 97 per cent of the total recorded number of people affected by the impacts of weather extremes. The number of extreme weather and climate-related events that developing countries experience has more than doubled over that period with over 676,000 people killed.

Lower-income countries are paying the highest price as emissions and fossil fuel profits rocket. 55 of the most climate-vulnerable countries have suffered climate-induced economic losses totalling over half a trillion dollars during the first two decades of this century as fossil fuel profits rocket leaving people in some of the poorest places on earth to foot the bill.

According to a new report published, The Cost of Delay, by the Loss and Damage Collaboration – a group of more than 100 researchers, activists, and policymakers from around the globe – highlights how rich countries have repeatedly stalled efforts to provide dedicated finance to developing countries bearing the costs of a climate crisis they did little to cause.  ‘Loss and damage’ broadly refers to the consequences of climate impacts which cannot be or have not been avoided through mitigation or adaptation. ‘Loss’ can refer to loss of lives, livelihoods or culture and ‘damage’ can be to infrastructure or ecosystems, among other things.

In the first half of 2022, six fossil fuel companies combined made enough money to cover the cost of major extreme weather and climate-related events in developing countries and still have nearly $70 billion profit remaining.  The fossil fuel industry made enough super-profit between 2000 and 2019 to cover the costs of climate-induced economic losses in 55 of the most climate-vulnerable countries almost sixty times over.

The entire continent of Africa produces less than four per cent of global emissions and the African Development Bank reported recently the continent was losing between five and 15 per cent of its GDP per capita growth because of climate change.

The catastrophic flooding in Pakistan this year, directly affected at least 33 million people and costs were estimated at over $30 billion. Yet the UN humanitarian appeal for the floods is set at only $472.3 million (just over one per cent of what is needed), and only 19 per cent funded. The flood response is not considered to be anywhere near enough to help the millions of people who have lost their livelihoods and homes and face hunger, disease and psychological impacts.

Lyndsay Walsh, Oxfam’s Climate policy adviser and co-author of the report said: “It is an injustice that polluters who are disproportionately responsible for the escalating greenhouse gas emissions continue to reap these enormous profits while climate-vulnerable countries are left to foot the bill for the climate impacts destroying people’s lives, homes and jobs. This is not a future reality, it is happening now, as we are seeing with the devastating floods in Pakistan and unprecedented drought in East Africa.”

Professor Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, said: “As one of the few people who has attended every single COP over the last three decades, I have personally witnessed the resistance from the developed countries to every attempt by the vulnerable developing countries to discuss loss and damage from human-induced climate change.”

Every fraction of a degree of further warming means more climate impacts with losses from climate change in developing countries estimated to be between $290 billion and $580 billion by 2030. These estimates do not include non-economic losses and damages, such as psychological impacts and biodiversity loss, which are profound but cannot be translated fully into monetary terms, meaning the true cost is far higher than what is accounted for.

189 million people per year affected by extreme weather in developing countries as rich countries stall on paying climate impact costs – World | ReliefWeb

 Climate change contributed greatly to the drought situation, he said, and was causing the poorer populations in Africa to suffer the most.

 “I think it is a call for the globe as a whole to address the issue of climate change, because it affects a lot of people not only in Africa, but on other continents as well,” explained Kenya’s Turkana region’s county secretary for disaster management and drought, Jeremiah Namuya.

Somalia’s Minister for Agriculture Ahmed Madobe Nunow warned, “Some pockets of the country are on the brink of famine, unless we do something about it immediately.”  According to Madobe Nunow, Somalia is on the verge of a second famine, after the 2010-2012 crisis which according to the UN claimed more than a quarter of a million lives, half of them children.

Workneh Gebeyehu, the executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an organization for regional development, recently said that more than 50 million IGAD citizens in member states Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan are food insecure.

East Africa’s drought threatens millions with starvation – DW – 10/24/2022

 The International Labor Organization and the World Health Organization got together jointly to estimate the number of deaths caused by occupational diseases and injuries at world level for 2016. 

The two international agencies found that as many as 1.90 million people died from occupational diseases and injuries this year. 

Out of this 360,000 deaths were caused by occupational injuries. This implies that the remaining 1.54 million were caused by occupational disease.

Occupational accidents generally become news while occupational diseases seldom do so, in fact among all deaths caused by occupational diseases and injuries, occupational diseases cause as many as 82% of total deaths (1.54 million out of 1.90 million) while occupational accidents cause 18% deaths. 

 The ILO/WHO estimate attributes the highest number—750,000—to long working hours. This is a very significant number for all those struggling against imposition of unduly long working hours, particularly in situations of working conditions which even otherwise are unhealthy and/or stressful. 

Workplace air pollution, in the form of exposure to particulate matter, gases and fumes, has been estimated by the ILO/WHO study to be responsible for 450,000 deaths in 2016.

Occupational deaths can be called a silent killer. Due to poverty, economic compulsions and lack of compensatory payments, most of them have to continue working in these conditions, increasing their distress and health risks. When they cannot work any more, many of them are discarded all too easily by non-caring employers, forced to live out the rest of their life in extremely difficult conditions, as can be seen in the context of many victims of occupational diseases.

A review of the existing data on occupational diseases by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention appears to be marked more by what is missing than by what is available. Thus this review states that 66,000 cases of occupational skin diseases were reported in a year, then hastens to add that this is a case of severe under-reporting. Why severe under-reporting should persist on such an important issue is not stated.

In the context of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it is stated that 20 million workers in the USA are potentially exposed. But what is more important is to find out how many actually suffer. 

n the case of occupational threat in the form of hearing loss to various extents this review is more firm in stating that this is the most widespread occupational health problem in the USA , with more than 30 million exposed to hazardous noise, 

And an additional 9 million at risk from other orthopaedic -traumatic agents.

Also, 30% of American workers are employed in jobs that routinely require them to perform activities that may increase risk of developing lower back disorders. In a single year 332,000 musculoskeletal injuries were reported in US workplaces.

In his book, The Picture of Health, Erik Eckholm stated that as many as 100,000 people die from occupational diseases while 390,000 new cases of occupational disease appear in a year in the USA. Nearly 10 million workers are estimated to be exposed in this country to 11 high-volume carcinogens. Big increase in cancer rates have been reported in some lines of work. In fact occupational risks are increasing the most in those lines of work in which new and serious hazards are appearing but in most cases the seriousness of these hazards is sought to be denied or underplayed by very powerful industrial interests, delaying remedial action, if not altogether denying it.

Another disturbing trend is that with changes in farm technology, very serious hazards in the form of poisonous chemicals and other inputs are appearing in farm work too.

Occupational Diseases Pose Very Serious Threat To Health And Welfare Of Workers| Countercurrents

 Representatives of the United States’ major freight rail companies, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee,  rejected a proposal from the third largest rail workers union which called for just seven days of paid sick leave per year.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) requested the addition of paid sick days — modeled on a system used for federal workers in which employees accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked — last week as its members voted against a proposed contract. That contract included unpaid days off for medical care, but no paid sick days.

Clark Ballew, for the BMWED, noted that having reported more than $10 billion in stock buybacks and dividends in the first six months of 2022, rail companies “can very easily afford” to provide workers with paid leave when they are sick, as they did during the coronavirus pandemic hit before vaccines were available to employees.

“It is not unreasonable… and they’d still be making record profits if they agreed to provide railroad workers paid sick leave,” Ballew told the Associated Press.

Rail worker unions agreed not to call a strike until workers from across the industry, represented by 12 unions, have voted on the tentative deal reached last month. A work stoppage could begin as early as November 19.

The CEO of the National Association of Chemical Distributors criticized rail companies for refusing to bend regarding the demand for paid sick leave. Eric R. Byer wrote, “Now is not the time to deny reasonable benefits for a labor community that has been decimated by losses in recent years… It’s time for the freight rail industry to right this wrong and get rail back on track.”

Labor Notes reporter Jonah Furman pointed out in a tweet, ” the capitalist class splitting in real time. the rail monopolists have gone so far in destroying the industry for destructive profit-seeking that their customers, big chemical distributors, are siding with the workers in reforming the freight railroad labor system.”

Rail Cos. Reject Union’s Demand for Paid Sick Leave (consortiumnews.com)

 The Right to Food Campaign held a press conference in Delhi on October 21, 2022 highlighting the situation of hunger in India and the inadequate policy response of the government. All the speakers drew attention to the plight of people facing loss of livelihoods, low wages, inflation and hunger.

The Global Hunger Report 2022 ranks India at 107 among 121 countries. Each year since the report has been released in 2006 India has ranked extremely poorly highlighting that hunger and malnutrition remains a serious concern in the country. The current situation post-covid is even worse and is not entirely reflected in the report as the data are not available.

High levels of child malnutrition (stunting and wasting) in India are a reflection of food insecurity in households, poor dietary diversity, lack of maternal and child care services, low status of women and inadequate access to health and sanitation. 

It is indeed a matter of concern that over 35% of children in the country are stunted (low height for age) and 19% children are wasted (low weight for height) according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021). The WHO prevalence cut-off values for public health significance state that stunting above 30% and wasting above 15% is “very high”.

 All evidence points to increasing inequality and poverty in the country. 

Right To Food Campaign Flags The Alarming Situation Of Hunger In The Country| Countercurrents

 Early data from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)– results of a survey of its members are due later this month – shows that 50% of heads say their school will be in deficit this year, with almost all expecting to be in the red by next September, when their reserve run out.

Nine out of 10 schools will have run out of money by the next school year as the enormous burden of increased energy and salary bills takes its toll.

Headteachers and academy leaders are warning that further spending cuts will push many schools and academy trusts over the cliff, and result in most schools having to lose essential teaching and support staff. “There are no easy fixes left,” said Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT. “Schools are cut to the bone. This will mean cutting teaching hours, teaching assistants and teachers.”

The Rev Steve Chalke, whose Oasis foundation runs 52 academies in England, said: “At this burn rate, in under three years we will be bankrupt. No one is in a position to keep going for very long eating their reserves.” Chalke said electricity and gas costs for schools in his chain had rocketed from £26,000 a year to £89,000, even with the six-month energy price cap. The foundation is also having to find an extra £4.5m for the teachers’ pay rise, which was announced this summer after school budgets had been set. The rise – which at 5% for most teachers remains significantly below inflation – is seen as crucial but has left schools floundering because it came with no new funding.

Chalke said,  “Any government that neglects the welfare and education of its children had better be saving up for its future mental health and benefits bills, and investing in the justice system.”

Exclusive: 90% of UK schools will run out of money next year, heads warn | Education | The Guardian

 Prof Dame Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, the country’s most senior public health expert, said there was a common misconception that a warmer climate would bring net health benefits due to milder winters. But the climate emergency would bring far wider-reaching health impacts, she said, with food security, flooding and mosquito-borne diseases posing threats.

“The heatwave this summer really brought home to people the direct impact,” said Harries. “But it’s the breadth of the impact. It’s not just the heat.” 

This summer, the UK experienced record temperatures of 40.3C and six separate heatwave periods associated with more than 2,800 excess deaths. “If several aeroplanes all exploded and we’d lost that many people it would be front-page news in health protection terms,” Harries said. It is projected that numbers of heat-related deaths will triple by 2050, with the hottest summers on record that we have observed in recent years becoming simply “normal” summers. 

The climate crisis poses a “significant and growing threat” to health in the UK. Harries said the UK needed to build resilience to protect the population from the health impacts of extreme weather events. The aim is not to paint a “doom and gloom scenario”, she added, but to identify threats for which the UK could prepare.

Viewed purely in terms of annual excess deaths, the climate crisis was likely to have an interim benefit in the UK due to warmer winters, Harries said. But other factors could soon reverse this trend. As temperatures rise, Europe is becoming vulnerable to infectious diseases historically seen in the tropics. The Asian tiger mosquito, which carries dengue fever and chikungunya, is now established in southern Europe and this year France experienced its most severe outbreak yet of dengue, which mosquitos can transmit efficiently only when average temperatures rise above 28C.

“In France, they have had cases of infectious disease that you would normally see in tropical climates and the vector has come right up to Paris,” said Harries. “We’re starting to witness the progression of this impact in European countries. In the UK, Asian Tiger mosquito eggs have been detected in the south-east and the Culex modestus mosquito, which can transmit West Nile virus, is present in parts of Kent and Essex. 

“We’ve already beefed up our surveillance programme, but it’s one of those areas where we need to raise the flag and build out capacity in advance,” she said.

Climate crisis poses ‘growing threat’ to health in UK, says expert | Climate crisis | The Guardian