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Good morning, as we continue our focus this week on environmental peacebuilding, we hear how justice systems often fail to recognise people’s connection to the natural world.

In other news, a play in Geneva pays tribute to the humanitarian world and a lightning travels the equivalent distance of London to Hamburg.

Geneva Solutions

03.02.2022


Opinion of the day


Photo article

The illegal dumping of waste in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, by oil company Trafigura in 2006 killed eight people, harmed the health of over 100,000, and degraded the environment. (Credit: Keystone/EPO/Legnan Koula)

Enough of the abuse and crimes: it’s time to green justice. “Toxic waste dumping kills eight in Cote d’Ivoire”; “Wildlife in catastrophic decline due to human destruction”: These headlines and the stories that accompany them are as numerous as they are devastating. But their message is falling on the deaf ears of a world unperturbed by environmental decay and degradation, writes Munini Mutuku, a transitional justice practitioner and a speaker at Geneva’s Environmental Peacebuilding week, and calls for further efforts to be made in improving processes for bringing about justice.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Fact of the day


Photo article

The world’s longest ‘megaflash’. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recorded two new world records for lightning megaflashes occurring last year. “What is a megaflash?” We hear you ask. “A really, really, really, big flash of lightning,” a WMO spokesperson in Geneva explained. It can cover a horizontal distance of hundreds of kilometres and last several seconds.

In this case, a megaflash recorded in southern United States in April 2021 covered the equivalent distance of London to Hamburg in a matter of seconds. A second flash during a major thunderstorm in Uruguay and Argentina lasted a record 17.1 seconds. The WMO said these weren’t linked to climate change and “has more to do with improvements in our technology”. The lesson? Thunderstorms can strike far from their source, so follow the age-old advice – and whatever you do, do not hide under a tree.


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