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7 December 2012
The New York Times reported that global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2, the most significant heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere) were at a record level in 2011. Researchers believe the global emissions of carbon dioxide are likely to hit record again in 2012, because efforts to limit emissions seem to be failing.
Due to continued increase of global emissions, the objective of limiting global warming is difficult to achieve.
Source: The New York Times | With Carbon Dioxide Emissions at Record High, Worries on How to Slow Warming
6 December 2012
Rich countries are to blame for climate change and should take the lead in forging a global climate pact by 2015, a deadline that “must be met,” the head of the United Nations said on 5 December 2012. In addition, he said that it was “only fair and reasonable that the developed world should bear most of the responsibility” in fighting the gradual warming of the planet.
The comments were made as the Doha Climate Change Conference draws to a close on Friday 7 December 2012. It opened on Monday 26 November 2012 in Doha, Qatar to produce agreement on an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires later this year.
Source: Guardian | Ban Ki-moon: rich countries are to blame for global warming
23 November 2012
In a report published on 23 November 2012, Amnesty International condemns Australia’s newly reinstated policy of offshore processing of asylum seekers in Nauru. During a three-day inspection of the facility, it found a toxic mix of uncertainty, unlawful detention and inhumane conditions creating an increasingly volatile situation on Nauru, amounting to breaches of international human rights law by both the Australian and Nauruan government. According to Amnesty, the dire circumstances that the asylum seekers are facing further highlights why a developed country with a functioning refugee processing system should never send asylum seekers to a country without existing capacity to care for, process and protect them.
Source: Amnesty International | Nauru Camp A Human Rights Catastrophe With No End In Sight
Source: BBC | Australia asylum camp in Nauru 'cruel and degrading'
15 November 2012
On 12 November 2012, the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products was adopted under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This Protocol supplements the WHO FCTC with the aim to effectively counter the illicit trade in tobacco products and its grave consequences for public health and well-being. The Protocol contains obligations to cooperate, for instance the obligations under Article 4(1) paragraphs (a)(c-f), and under Part V on international cooperation (Articles 20-31). The Articles under Part V concern amongst others information sharing (Articles 20-21), assistance and cooperation in investigation and prosecution of offences (Article 24), law enforcement cooperation (Article 27), mutual administrative assistance (Article 28) and mutual legal assistance (Article 29).
Source: Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products | FCTC/COP5(1)
15 November 2012
On 14 November, the UN Security Council unanimously renewed the mandate of the European peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina for one more year in its Resolution 2074.
EUFOR Althea took over peace operations in Bosnia from NATO’s SFOR in 2004. It is one of the three ongoing military operations deployed by the EU in the framework of its Security and Defense Policy.
Source: UN News Centre | Security Council extends mandate of European peacekeepers in Bosnia for another year