Nuclear Energy Is Not a Solution to Climate Change, says Dr Sue Wareham

08/12/2009 0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Nuclear Disarmament

By Neena Bhandari

Melbourne 08.12.2009 (IPS): As the threat of nuclear weapons looms large over the very existence of life on earth, Dr Sue Wareham, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons’ (ICAN) Australian board member, is calling for a speedy abolition of these weapons and the rejection of nuclear power as a solution to climate change.

Speaking at the sessions on nuclear abolition and disarmament at the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions here, Wareham said the power of religion should be harnessed to bring peace in the world through disarmament, abolition of nuclear weapons, eradication of poverty and action on climate change.

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75 Million Environmental Refugees to Plague Asia-Pacific

03/08/2009 0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Migration

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.08.2009 (IPS): Pacific Islanders, aiming to secure their very survival, are calling for immediate commitments from the developed world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45 percent by 2020.

“For us, climate change is a reality. We have been experiencing high tidal waves, which has not been the case earlier,” Pelenise Alofa Pilitati, Chairperson of the Church Education Director’s Association in Kiribati, told IPS. “High tides and sea level rise will submerge our homeland. We don’t want to become environmental refugees.”

Climate change could produce eight million refugees in the Pacific Islands, along with 75 million refugees in the Asia Pacific region in the next 40 years, warns a new report by aid agency, Oxfam Australia.

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Climate Change to further disadvantage Aboriginals

08/05/2009 0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Indigenous

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 08.05.2009 (IPS): Climate change will further marginalise Australia’s Aboriginal communities, forcing them out of their traditional lands, destroying their culture and significantly affecting their access to water resources, indigenous rights advocates warn.

“As coastal and island communities confront rising sea levels, and inland areas become hotter and drier, indigenous people are at risk of further economic marginalisation, as well as potential dislocation from and exploitation of their traditional lands, waters and natural resources,” said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma.

Indigenous people have been living in close affinity with nature for thousands of years, preserving the environment and protecting the biodiversity.

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