‘Historic’ treaty on plastic waste, legal rights for nature, bikes as anti-poverty machines
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Photo: Fabian Pulch / Unsplash (CC0)
Today on Squirrel News we take a look at the groundbreaking global treaty in the works to regulate plastic from production to disposal, new legal rights for nature in Panama, and a NGO changing people’s lives by gifting them a bicycle.
World leaders agree to draw up ‘historic’ treaty on plastic waste
The UN environment assembly resolution determines that a legally binding treaty on the “full lifecycle” of plastics will be negotiated over the next 2 years. The move is being hailed as the biggest environmental deal since the 2015 Paris accord.
Far-reaching protections for nature signed into law in Panama
Panama’s president has approved a law recognizing nature as a “unique, indivisible, and self-regulating community of living beings” with a suite of intrinsic rights. This will make it easier to defend the ocean, forests and ecosystems in court cases.
Indigenous communities stop coastal exploration for gas in South Africa
The High Court found that energy giant Shell failed to consult meaningfully with local communities before exploring shale gas off the country’s eastern coast.
EU countries agree to host Ukrainian refugees under exceptional protection scheme
The European Union has agreed to trigger a never-before-used directive to grant temporary protection for Ukrainians fleeing the military aggression waged by Russian forces.
UK finally taking issue of Russian ‘dirty’ money seriously
For years it has been an open secret that billions of Pounds are laundered through companies owned by Russians. Now the British prime minister has announced a decision to “clamp down on Russian money in the UK”.
New study shows that working on your muscle strength can lower risk of dying
A new study demonstrates that doing 30 minutes of muscle-strengthening activities like gardening, sit-ups or yoga per week can lower the risk of dying from any cause by 10-20%.
Getting a free bicycle takes people out of poverty
Giving people in underserved areas a bike is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to support them. It enables girls to get to school fast and doctors to reach more patients. World Bicycle Relief has distributed thousands of bikes around the world.
Rope bridges up high give sloths safe passageways in Costa Rica
Sloths can move safely between trees thanks to new rope bridges built by an NGO. Due to deforestation, if not for the bridges sloths would have to come down to the ground to cross from one tree to another, putting them in danger of being run over or attacked.
In our new podcast episode, we’re talking to Emily Nonko who helps incarcerated people to publish stories on solutions while our second guest, Ryan Moser is serving a ten year sentence in prison himself, and tells us what writing in prison means to him and how he is preparing for a well-paying job in sustainable industries.
