The impact of climate change just keeps coming. 1,117 people are dead in massive landslides in China. Combine that with the forest fires in Russia and the floods in Pakistan, and you have a clear view of our future. Natural disasters don't come out of nowhere. Heavy rains that cause flooding and landslides, as well as drought that triggers forest fires are impacts of climate change.
At the beginning of the climate conference in Bonn, Germany, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres called on delegates to do what was “politically possible” and make “incremental” progress. By most accounts, the Bonn talks fell short of even these modest goals. Rifts between poor countries and rich nations that were papered over in Copenhagen reopened leaving delegates with more to debate at the final climate conference in Tianjin, China before the year-end Cancun summit and less common ground from which to begin discussions.
Rwandans re-elected Paul Kagame, who has been president since 2000, to lead their country for another seven-year term. In many ways, this election is about Kagame and his ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front. A fascinating and complicated personality, Kagame has been hailed both as a "visionary leader" and an "iron-fisted strong man," though the latter perspective has only recently emerged in earnest.
I speak with Stephanie Bunker of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs about the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan.
A country that is at the center of US foreign policy is experiencing a calamity the likes of which it has never seen. So why in the world is there nary a mention of the Pakistan floods on the homepages of both the New York Times and Washington Post? There is nothing above the fold on the homepage, no mention below the fold and not even a link in the lower headline boxes:
Friend of Dispatch Adrianna Logalbo of Nothing but Nets send along this dispatch from Senegal:
Last Friday the Nothing But Nets campaign did something we have never done before. We took 20 NBA and WNBA players, coaches, and Legends, to kick off a distribution of 20,000 life-saving bed nets in the town of Rufisque, Senegal – a small town outside the capital, Dakar.
My third visit to Haiti since the tragedy of the January 12 earthquake coincided with the visits of two much more noteworthy individuals, Bill Clinton and Wyclef Jean. President Clinton was visiting in his dual, but separate, roles as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Haiti and Co-chair of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC). The Ex-Fugee and renowned entertainer was there to submit his paperwork and announce his candidacy for the Presidency of Haiti.
The flooding just keeps getting worse and worse. On Saturday, the UN estimated that 4 million people were affected by the flooding in Pakistan. By Sunday they revised that estimate to 6 million people. Today, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that over 13 million people are affected.
Juba, Sudan—Some alarming news out of Khartoum this weekend regarding the southern Sudanese referendum: Tariq Osman, a member of the 9-person Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, told reporters on Saturday that he didn’t think the referendum could be held on time.