Posts by Neena Bhandari

Why Pacific Island nations like Micronesia need climate finance now?

0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 28.06.2021 (IPS): Robby Nena is one of the many farmers and fishermen on the frontline of climate change in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), where coastal flooding and erosion, variable and heavy rainfall, increased temperature, droughts and other extreme weather events are becoming all too common.

FSM is one of the 22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). These nations contribute less than 0.03 percent of the world’s total CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, they are amongst the most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, climate change and sea level rise. A quarter of Pacific people live within 1 km of the coast.

“Every time it rains, our home and farm get flooded, destroying our crops, damaging infrastructure and posing a major health hazard. Our tapioca and taro crops were completely destroyed in the major flooding event last month”, Nena tells IPS from Utwe village in FSM’s Kosrae state via a choppy Messenger call.

Continue reading →

Ozone threatens food security

0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science
Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 24.06.2021 (SciDev.Net): Tropospheric and surface ozone pollution pose significant threats to global crop production and food security, but farmers are largely unaware of its impact on agriculture and damage to ecosystems, say scientists.

According to scientists, ozone, as an air pollutant, is highly oxidising and damages plant tissues. But because it is an invisible, odourless gas that often co-occurs with other stresses, such as heat stress, farmers do not directly experience it.

Baerbel Sinha, head of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, in Mohali, India, says: “If one wants to look at where ozone is possibly disturbing the economics on a large scale, and where one may also be able to educate farmers better, it would be the legumes — soybean, chickpeas and beans in general are very ozone sensitive, their prices are not regulated and they display visible ozone damage on the leaf.”

Continue reading →

Difficulties Australians of CALD backgrounds face in accessing the NDIS

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 21.06.2021 (Hireup): Twenty-five percent of Australians with profound or severe disability don’t speak English at home but most of the information provided by the NDIS is in English. So how do people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds access the needed supports in their plan?

The term ‘CALD participants’ refers to participants of the NDIS who don’t use English as the primary language at home. Historically, Australians from CALD backgrounds have been underrepresented in the disability sector.

According to the National Dashboard in 2020, there were 40,391 people from CALD backgrounds; 9.3 percent of the 442,209 people nationally on NDIS. And further data shows that CALD participants are utilising 66 percent of their plans on average compared to 68 percent for non-CALD participants.

Continue reading →