The Climate Question – What role is overpopulation playing in the climate crisis? – BBC Sounds

Released On: 07 Nov 2022
Available for over a year

If there were fewer of us, would the amount of greenhouse gasses we emit reduce? It’s a question that often creeps up in discussions about climate change. Studies show that the global population will decline eventually and populations in many rich nations are already declining. However, 11,000 scientists signed a paper warning of “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless society transforms, including the reversal of population growth. But an analysis by the United Nations found that affluence has a greater impact on the climate than population. When we talk about overpopulation, what are we really saying and where does the conversation go from here?

This episode was first broadcast on 13th December 2021.

Presenters Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble are joined by:
Nyovani Madise, head of the Malawi office of the African Institute for Development Policy.
Anu Ramaswami, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton.
Arvind Ravikumar, professor in energy transition and climate policy at the University of Texas.

Producer: Darin Graham
Reporter: Rajesh Joshi
Series producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell
Production coordinator: Siobhan Reed and Sophie Hill

BBC World Service – Newshour, Iran’s ‘Morality Police’ said to be disbanded

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Iran’s Attorney General says the religious police tasked with enforcing the Islamic dress code have been disbanded. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri’s comments follow months of protests triggered by the death of a young woman in their custody. Newshour gets reaction from women in Iran.

BBC World Service – Newshour, Haiti gangs ‘control half the capital’

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Human rights groups in Haiti have told the BBC that gangs now control more than half the capital, Port au Prince, and nearby areas. The turmoil has worsened since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise last year. Newshour has an on-the-ground report.

BBC World Service – Newshour, UN: Haiti on the verge of an abyss

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In Haiti’s capital, brutal gangs have taken control of much of the city, our correspondent is there.

Pegasus Spyware Maker NSO Group Sued in U.S. Court by Central American Journalists

Democracy Now! – Dec 6, 2022

A group of journalists working for the award-winning Central American independent news outlet El Faro have filed a lawsuit in U.S. court against NSO Group, the Israeli company that operates the Pegasus spyware used to monitor and track journalists, human rights activists and dissidents across the globe. The journalists of El Faro, which is based in El Salvador, allege that Pegasus software was used to infiltrate their iPhones and track their communications and movements. “We’re of course of the belief that it was the government of El Salvador who engaged in these attacks. This is weapons-grade software that is sold exclusively to governments,” says Roman Gressier, a French American staff reporter with El Faro English and one of 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. We also speak with Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the lead lawyer in the lawsuit, who says part of the goal is to force the courts to confirm who NSO Group’s client was. “That would send a signal to other government clients around the world that they can no longer rely on NSO Group’s assurances of secrecy when they … intimidate and persecute journalists, civil rights activists, human rights activists around the world,” says DeCell.

Publishing Is Not a Crime: NYT, The Guardian & More Urge Biden Admin to Drop Charges Against Assange

Democracy Now!Dec 6, 2022

The New York Times and four major European newspapers — The Guardian in Britain, Le Monde in France, Der Spiegel in Germany and El País in Spain — recently urged the Biden administration to drop all charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In a joint letter, the newspapers said, “This indictment sets a dangerous precedent, and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and the freedom of the press.” The letter ends with the words “Publishing is not a crime.” Assange, who is jailed in Britain, faces up to 175 years in a U.S. prison on espionage and hacking charges for exposing U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. The five publications had partnered with WikiLeaks in 2010 to report on documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. “The prosecution of Assange … would set a clear and devastating precedent in the United States that could be applied to any of these organizations, journalists, going forward,” says Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

Jeffrey Sachs: A Negotiated End to Fighting in Ukraine Is the Only Real Way to End the Bloodshed

Democracy Now! Dec 6, 2022

With the war in Ukraine now in its 10th month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden have both expressed openness to peace talks to end the fighting, as have leaders in France, Germany and elsewhere. This comes as millions of Ukrainians brace for a winter without heat or electricity due to Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. “This war needs to end because it’s a disaster for everybody, a threat to the whole world,” says economist and foreign policy scholar Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He says four major issues need to be addressed to end the war: Ukraine’s sovereignty and security, NATO enlargement, the fate of Crimea and the future of the Donbas region.

For 30th Year, U.N. Votes to End U.S. Embargo on Cuba – Economic Update with Richard Wolff

Democracy At Work

Dec 6, 2022

Prof Wolff uses the U.S. sanctions regime against Cuba to explain the similarities between military & economic warfare.

“It maybe is time to be honest about these things and to go with 185 who are against embargoes in Cuba, probably against them everywhere else. And take the bold step of reducing the risk of war militarily by reducing the legitimacy of applying sanctions.” – Richard Wolff

This is a clip from S12 E47 of Economic Update: Instability – Capitalism’s Constant

Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/PcBRuWVaAtM