Pakistan INGOs, John West exposed, climate risks to food supply and electronics harvesting

Human Rights Watch to Pakistan: withdraw repression of NGOs

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is asking the Pakistani government to withdraw new regulations that require all international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to register and obtain prior permission from the Ministry of Interior to carry out any activities in the country.

HRW fears the new rules will worsen what it believes to be an already deteriorating working climate for international humanitarian and human rights groups in the country.

“Pakistan’s new rules allow the authorities to kick out international groups for anything they might do or say,” says Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The regulations are an invitation to arbitrary use of power and will put at risk any international organisation whose work exposes government failures.”

While the Pakistani government has the responsibility to prevent fraud, financial malfeasance and other illegal activities by INGOs, HRW believes Pakistan already has laws and regulations in place to address such concerns.

Greenpeace exposes John West’s false promises

Britain's biggest supplier of tinned tuna is falling short of its pledge to use sustainable fishing practices, Greenpeace has found.

In order to protect dolphins, turtles and sharks from being caught in fishing nets, in 2011 John West promised to use the "pole and line" technique for 50% of its catch by the end of 2015 and 100% by 2017.

However, recent inquest by the environmental NGO found the seafood company to be using the sustainable fishing method for only 2% of its catch.

As a result, John West earned the status of worst brand for “people, planet and oceans” by a Greenpeace survey which ranked suppliers based on their proportion of sustainably caught tuna.

A John West spokesman said that since the company made the pledge four years ago, the supply of line-caught tuna had dropped, with supply no longer able to meet global demand.

Until it switches to more sustainable fishing practices, Greenpeace is calling on supermarkets to boycott the brand.


John West caught out on fishing pledge
 

Millions face food insecurity due to climate change, Oxfam warns

Oxfam fears that at least 10 million of the world’s poorest people are at risk of hunger in 2015 and 2016 due to extreme weather.

In its report, “Entering Unchartered Waters”, Oxfam notes that erratic weather patterns, including high temperatures and droughts, are disrupting farming seasons around the globe and affecting harvests.

Several countries are already facing a major emergency, the report states, including Ethiopia where 4.5 million people are in need of food aid due to successive poor rains this year, and Malawi where almost 3 million people face hunger as a result of erratic rains followed by drought, which have cut Malawi’s maize production by more than a quarter.

Oxfam warns that conditions may very well worsen due to the incoming El Niño, which could be the “most powerful” since 1997.

El Niño is the periodic prolonged warming of the Pacific Ocean. This can last between nine months and two years, producing below-average rains and high temperatures.


3 million face hunger in Malawi
 

Wrap’s project to recoup raw materials from electronics

UK waste-reduction charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) is launching a £1.5m project to map out effective recovery of raw materials from electrical and electronic products.

The project, Critical Raw Material Closed Loop Recovery (CRM Recovery), will explore commercial opportunities for harvesting critical raw materials and precious metals including gold, silver and platinum group metals from everyday unwanted electrical and electronic products and will be the first of its kind to link collection methods with recovery success.

Globally, some 40% of electrical and electronic products go to landfill after disposal. Added to the increasing demand for raw materials used in such devices, Wrap’s latest project aims to bridge sustainable solutions and economic sense.

The project’s targets include increasing CRM recovery by 5% from products such as consumer electronics, and linking collection methods to how the material components of these products can be efficiently dismantled, recovered and returned to the market.


Commercial metals harvesting
 
Human rights  Pakistan  Greenpeace  fishing  sustainable fishing  John West  Food  Oxfam  waste 

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