THERE is no doubt that mining can stimulate economic growth and bring prosperity. But without a commitment to human rights and sustainability, and without regulation, transparency and accountability, it can also cause people to lose their land and way of life, while irreparably damaging the environment.
Cattle manure is most popular with Christmas shoppers in NSW and mosquito nets most popular with Victorians, an analysis of Oxfam Australia’s sales of its donation program Oxfam Unwrapped revealed today.
Cows and buckets might be strange things to ask for at Christmas time, but they’re at the top of wish lists of Australian actors Mia Wasikowska (star of Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre and Restless) and Anna Torv (star of TV series Fringe).
In Africa, location of this year’s UN Climate Summit, severe climate events are also impacting on people’s ability to grow food. More than 13 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are facing desperate food shortages following the worst drought in 60 years.
We are half a world away from the UN Climate Change Negotiations in Durban, but our fate is intertwined with the outcome of this South African meeting.
Australia’s narrow foreign policy and security interests can’t be the driving force behind its engagement in disaster management.
Millions of people in West Africa could be protected from a serious food crisis if preparations are scaled up across the region, Oxfam said today.
Negotiators at the UN climate talks have narrowly avoided a collapse, agreeing to the bare minimum deal possible.
It took the international “summit season”, a visit by US President Barack Obama and the prospect of a reversal on our ban on sales of uranium to India to finally put foreign affairs on the national political landscape.
International aid agency Oxfam says Australia must join with other countries to take strong action at this week’s climate change negotiations in Durban or risk pushing millions of people further into hunger and poverty.