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Good morning, this is Bruno. I am the editor of Geneva Solutions’ Climate section. I am thrilled to be sharing this first edition of the GS Daily Brief, which will cover current and thematic news Monday to Saturday.

I will also be live next week Monday 31 August to discuss our climate coverage with our editorial director Serge Michel as part of a webcast series for our launch.

Today’s features include Marie-Claire Graf, the young Swiss climate activist, the World Overshoot Day (this past Saturday), megafires rage in California and the serious case of Switzerland's carbon emissions.

photo journaliste

Bruno Jochum

24.08.2020


Today’s reason for hope


Preserving forests while emptying trash cans? The story of a Burkinese green charcoal. In Burkina Faso, trees are disappearing and garbage is forming mountains. A Burkinese engineer found a solution — green charcoal, produced from waste, used for cooking while preserving the forest. Production started in January.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Ongoing matters


Tens of thousands defy Belarus president and take to the streets. Defiant protesters have flooded central Minsk again in a sign that even a threat to use the army was not enough to quell the uprising against Belarus’s authoritarian president. State television released a video showing Mr Lukashenko arriving at the presidential palace by helicopter, wearing a flak jacket and carrying an automatic weapon.

The Guardian (EN)

Syria constitutional committee delegates meet in Geneva. UN envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has welcomed a meeting this week in Geneva of the select committee of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, saying it was an "important step in the right direction".

Swissinfo (EN)

Geneva-based UN staff fight against pay cuts. Following a 2016 decision, a 5.2 % pay cut for Geneva-based United Nations staff was introduced. While it has since been cancelled for employees of some agencies, that decision is still valid for others, including the over 1600 employees of the UN Secretariat. Hard to believe: two different courts pronounced opposed decisions in the same matter. The Geneva-based UN staff will now appeal to the UN Appeals Tribunal.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Climate news


Image of the day


Photo article

(From left) Climate activists Luisa Neubauer, Greta Thunberg, Anuna de Wever, and Adélaïde Charlier give a press conference after meeting with the German Chancellor, where they pressed Merkel to act immediately for the climate emergency.


Next on the agenda


24 August (1:00 pm) | Online: Water diplomacy, a tool for climate action? Many transboundary water basins around the world are facing climate challenges that will intensify in the decades to come, potentially contributing to insecurity and fragility. As part of World Water Week 2020, this webinar will discuss how water diplomacy can be used as a tool to help prevent and resolve conflicts over water resources.

adelphi and IHE Delft (EN)

27 August (3:45 pm) | Geneva: Measuring progress towards the SDGs. Since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, significant progress have been made in the analysis of the progress of their implementation. Since then, new approaches have emerged and some initiatives have established new indices to monitor and assess progress. SDSN Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Statistical Office is hosting an in-person event to discuss all these.

SDSN Switzerland and Swiss OFS (EN)

27 August (5:00 pm) | Online: Fuelling Low-Carbon, what next for clean-tech? The past twenty years of renewables development has been widely regarded as a resounding success. But what’s next for clean-tech and what innovations hold the greatest potential to drive towards net-zero? This online discussion will explore the different technologies that can deliver a more sustainable future.

Reuters Events (EN)

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Have a good day!

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