Tuesday, September 01, 2026

COMMENT: COP17 desertification summit delivered mixed results but important momentum

Extreme desertification in Mudug Region, Puntland, Somalia. / Somfany, cc, public domain

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By Linda Krueger, The Nature Conservancy September 1, 2026

As the 17th UN-Convention to Combat Desertification Conference of the Parties (COP17) closed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, this week, Linda Krueger, The Nature Conservancy’s director of biodiversity and infrastructure policy, released a closing statement. In that statement, republished below, she argues that the question is no longer whether the challenges will affect people and nature but how we collectively choose to respond.

More than three billion people are already living with the consequences of land degradation, yet the world still faces a $278bn annual funding gap to restore lands and strengthen drought resilience. At UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, one message was clear: land degradation and drought are not only environmental challenges; they are also economic, social, food and water security threats affecting communities worldwide.

As El Nino and other climate change-driven disruptions continue to alter global weather patterns we used to take for granted, regions that once considered drought a distant threat are increasingly experiencing water stress, extreme heat, crop losses and degraded landscapes. Communities that never had to worry about drought are now finding themselves on the front line.

While negotiations here delivered mixed results and a pace of progress that failed to mirror the rate of environmental change around us, COP17 still generated important momentum via new investments, partnerships and initiatives designed to accelerate action.

Key outcomes included:

Mongolia’s COP Presidency helped drive the transition from ambition to implementation with the launch of the Steppe Action Agenda, including the Rangelands Flagship Initiative. These efforts highlight the critical role of land restoration, nature-based solutions to climate risks, sustainable rangeland management and the land-water nexus in building more resilient communities and economies.
COP17 underscored that restoring land is not a financial burden, but a smart investment in resilience, livelihoods and prosperity. The launch of the Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF) marked a major milestone. As the world’s first global finance instrument dedicated to drought resilience, DRIF aims to mobilize investment and help countries move from responding to drought crises, to preparing for them. While additional governments, development banks, investment funds and companies announced approximately $1.3bn in new and pipeline financing for land restoration and drought resilience across 23 countries.
Brazil pledged to protect or rescue and restore a total of 3.67mn km2 covering 43.1% of the country’s territory by 2030 in its voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Target, which the country presented to the UNCCD. The target includes initiatives that include actions in protected areas, Indigenous Territories such as the Cerrado and Caatinga territories.
One of the most encouraging themes was that local leadership drives lasting results. Indigenous Peoples, local communities and pastoralists played a central role throughout COP17, reflecting the fact that community knowledge and stewardship are essential to restoring landscapes and strengthening resilience.

The Decisions adopted in Ulaanbaatar help strengthen the foundation for future action, particularly on drought resilience and the development of a post-2030 vision for the Convention.

At the same time, negotiations showed the challenges of achieving consensus on some of the most pressing issues facing people and ecosystems. Discussions revealed continued differences among Parties, and progress did not always match the urgency facing people and ecosystems. As Parties as well as stakeholders leave COP17, attention must now turn to implementation and to building the ambition needed to safeguard land, water and livelihoods in an increasingly drought-prone world.

As the first of the three Rio Convention COPs in 2026, CCD-COP17 sets the stage for upcoming biodiversity and climate negotiations. The discussions in Ulaanbaatar reinforced that drought, land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change are interconnected crises that require integrated solutions.

Weather systems that societies have long relied upon are becoming increasingly unpredictable, exposing new regions to drought risk and economic disruption. The question is no longer whether these challenges will affect us, but how prepared we are to respond.

World leaders must match the scale of the challenge with the scale of action. Stronger cooperation, broader inclusion and sustained, coordinated investment will be essential to protect vulnerable communities, strengthen resilience and secure a more sustainable future for people and nature.

The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organisation dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. It engages local communities, governments, the private sector and other partners. You can visit The Nature Conservancy’s newsroom or follow the group’s work on LinkedIn.

UN racial discrimination committee presents legal case for broad slavery reparations

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 31/08/2026 - EURONEWS

The document, which was approved last week but only published on Monday, is expected to provide a powerful new tool supporting reparations claims.

Countries are legally obliged to provide broad reparations for harms resulting from both direct and indirect involvement in the transatlantic African slave trade, a United Nations committee said on Monday.

Issuing a fresh interpretation of an important international rights treaty, the UN watchdog said the accord obliges countries to work to redress the harms caused by slavery and the continuing consequences.

"States parties must implement comprehensive reparatory measures for people of African descent, covering all aspects of remedies," the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said in its findings, presented in a document entitled General Recommendation-40.

It stressed that reparatory justice combined "a wide range of measures conceived as monetary, non-monetary and structural."

The document, which was approved last week but only published on Monday, is expected to provide a powerful new tool supporting reparations claims.

This is "a watershed moment," committee member Pela Boker-Wilson told the AFP news agency.

The CERD panel is composed of 18 independent rights experts.

Tasked with monitoring implementation of the 1969 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, it provided a new interpretation of the treaty's obligations.

Paradigm shift

The convention counts 182 countries as parties, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Portugal and other nations that were heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade, which from the 16th to 19th century saw millions of African men, women and children shipped to the Americas to work in brutal and often deadly conditions.

In many of those same countries, black people continue to face discrimination and poverty today.

"Confronting historical injustice can not be separated from the fight against present-day racial discrimination," Boker-Wilson said.

The Liberian human rights lawyer maintained that the committee's finding brought about "a paradigm shift" in the framing of reparatory justice from a simple historical responsibility to a present-day legal obligation.

A view of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, 26 September, 2025 AP Photo

It clarifies that countries are required to take "active measures that are geared towards restoring the dignity, the justice and equality that people of African descent deserve."

While the CERD's findings are not legally-binding, Boker-Wilson stressed that they carry "significant authoritative weight" and could be used by officials to inform judicial review, by courts as an interpretative tool, as well as to support litigation.

The fresh analysis comes after the UN General Assembly in March adopted a landmark resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade as "the gravest crime against humanity," despite opposition from the United States and some European countries.

Boker-Wilson said the United States and other countries should "welcome" the new findings, noting that the last review of US adherence to the convention on discrimination, in 2022, had found issues with racial profiling and disparities in the criminal justice system.

'Eliminate structural racism'

While the campaign around reparatory justice has been heavily focused on the United States, Boker-Wilson stressed that "it's a global initiative."

The transatlantic slave trade "distorted global economic relations by distributing unjustly accumulated wealth across societies and borders, creating shared responsibility for its enduring effects," the document points out.

Beyond monetary compensation, the required reparations encompass everything from restitution to rehabilitation and memorialisation.

And it pointed to an educational obligation "to investigate and disclose the full truth about transatlantic chattel slavery."

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SLAVERY

glc.yalehttps://glc.yale.edu › sites › default › files › pdf › capatlism_and_slavery.pdf

Capitalism and Slavery

FD Book Cover in the GLC library.jpegInvestigating & disseminating knowledge concerning slavery & its legacies across all borders and all...

‘Polyester’: Understanding Gen Z’s new favourite insult (and why it’s a good thing)

By David Mouriquand

Published on 31/08/2026 - EURONEWS

What does Gen Z’s latest viral insult mean and what does it reveal about their preoccupations?

'Rizz', 'Delulu', 'Locked In', 'Glow Up', 'FRFR', 'Aura Farming'...

It can be hard keeping up with the latest Gen Z slang. While it’s hardly new that every generation develops its own jargon and expressions, the difference with Gen Z and Gen Alpha comes down to speed. Their lingo can go from niche to worldwide viral in a matter of days through social media, and if you’re not au fait with the latest expression, you risk reaching ‘Unc’ status - a Gen Z abbreviation for ‘uncle’ which mocks a person perceived as uncool and out of touch with modern trends.

(Speaking of which, 'FRFR' stands for ‘For Real, For Real’.)

The latest term which has been going viral on TikTok and various social media platforms is ‘polyester’.

It doesn’t directly refer to the synthetic polymer (or does it?) but has become a new way to call something generic, inauthentic, or even try-hard.

A supposed candid moment that’s actually carefully staged? Polyester.

A public apology that rings false? Polyester.

A nose-bleedingly annoying influencer faking enthusiasm and sincerity when trying to peddle cheap merch or a product they’re contractually mandated to tout through sponsorship deals? Polyester. "Polyester Prince", actually.

You get the gist. For all you long-suffering Millennials out there, it’s the equivalent of calling something ‘basic’; but the Gen Z version is more layered than it seems.

Before it became the go-to shorthand to call out fakeness and throw shade, “polyester” described a style of fan-edit TikTok that cut clips of characters like Spider-Man and layered them over flashing and frenetic footage.

Then came a viral TikTok featuring an 18-year-old sharing his vision of his dream adult life.

"I want to wake up at 6 a.m. in my New York City penthouse, Bible study with the boys before anything else, crack open an organic yerba mate, and go for a morning run in Cnetral Park... Blue light glasses on, deep work, house music, locked in. I'm not gonna even be doing half of the work because my Claude agent is gonna be running automatic in the background while I eat lunch..."

The internet was quick to label this algorithm-designed clip yearning to be aspirational as ‘polyester’ or "Polyester lifestyle".

Then there's the choice of a fabric word, which isn’t coincidental.

It anchors itself in the backlash against the most-produced synthetic fibre on the planet.

Younger generations are not only trying to distance themselves from fashion brands hawking garments which look great online but which feel terrible IRL and don’t last; they’re also pushing back because of polyester’s disastrous impact on the environment, as the fibre is not biodegradable and sheds microplastics.

Countless creators online are promoting purging their wardrobes from mass-produced and synthetic fabrics, showing that it’s not just a backlash against ultra-fast fashion business models (hence the trending diss “It gives Shein”), but a growing desire to be more environmentally conscious.

In a wider context, the popularity of ‘polyester’ denotes that generations which have grown up online are waking up to the disingenuous nature of influencers / corporations / politicians trying to fool them with catch-all terms and weak promises.

Too much of a stretch? Not really, as ‘polyester’ didn’t come out of nowhere. It follows other viral terms like 'Larping', 'Slop', 'Performative Male', 'Industry Plant' and yes, 'FRFR' – all of which focus on authenticity and call out anything fake.

While many older generations may roll their eyes at a new here-today-gone-tomorrow expression, ‘polyester’ is another reflection of Gen Z’s healthy and expanding sense of distrust towards anything that appears to be artificial. Their growing desire for authenticity - especially at a time when AI is utilised to such a degree that it can be harder to distinguish what’s real from what’s not – shows a promising intolerance towards the insincerity thriving on social media.

Consider yourself un-Unced.

ERGONOMICS

Heavy school backpacks can strain children's bodies. Here’s how to lighten the load

By Marta Iraola Iribarren with AP

Published on 31/08/2026 - EURONEWS

As back-to-school shopping gets underway, experts warn that overloaded backpacks can strain children's bodies.

Backpacks can be fashionable and functional, but they can also be too heavy — weighed down by books, digital devices, musical instruments, sports equipment and more.

It's good to be prepared, but children who walk to school or participate in extracurricular activities may be lugging more than their bodies can handle.

As families begin back-to-school shopping, here's how to know if your child's backpack is too heavy, and how to lighten the load.

How heavy is too heavy?

The modern school backpack has evolved, but it hasn’t necessarily got lighter. Whether students have textbooks, digital devices or both, they often are accompanied by notebooks, water bottles, lunch containers or workout clothes. Individually, those items may not seem heavy, but together they can add unnecessary strain to children's bodies.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, signs a backpack may be too heavy include a child leaning forward to support its weight or having difficulty walking. Straps should not dig into the shoulders.

Back injuries are uncommon but possible, particularly if a child falls while carrying a heavy backpack, said Sadika Kendi, a physician who chairs the academy’s injury-prevention efforts.

“It’s worse if, for example, they trip and fall and they have a huge, heavy backpack on their back. Then that’s just more weight that could increase the severity of an injury,” she told the Associated Press.

Although 10% to 15% of a child’s body weight is often cited as a backpack guideline, there isn’t enough evidence to establish a one-size-fits-all approach, Kendi said. Children vary in size, strength, physical development and daily routines, so caregivers should consider each child’s individual needs and, in general, keep backpacks as light as possible.

Choosing the right backpack

Health authorities recommend backpacks with two wide, padded, adjustable straps.

The straps should be tight enough to hold the bag close to the body and should be adjusted so that the bottom sits just above the child’s waist. A backpack with a waist belt can also help support some of the weight.

Backpacks with wheels can be helpful, especially for children with injuries, but experts say they may be problematic in schools with stairs or crowded walkways, where they can pose a tripping hazard.

Carry only the essentials

After families receive back-to-school checklists for classroom materials, they should take an audit of what a child really must carry every day.

According to Samantha Ness, a history teacher in Phoenix, in the United States, parents should focus on making sure children have basic supplies rather than getting caught up in trendy, decorative or expensive items.

Her pupils have access to classroom textbooks but are still expected to carry a laptop and charger each day. As technology becomes more central to schoolwork, some students have stopped bringing paper altogether, she said. They rely instead on their devices, which can also become distractions.

As students get older, Ness said, backpacks can become more like personal storage than school supplies, carrying items such as makeup, nail polish and hair dryers.

'They wrote little letters': How kids in Portugal are making money off their neighbours' plastic waste

By Lina Ferreira

Published on 31/08/2026 - EURONEWS

The first ever bottle deposit return scheme in southern Europe is helping the environment - and funding kids' bucket list trips.

Sisters Ariela and Alice had already been using Portugal's bottle return scheme to earn money but since June they have upped the ante: now, instead of just returning their own bottles, they are asking their neighbours' for their empty plastic bottles and making money off those too.

Since April this year, when the Volta scheme launched, plastic bottles in Portugal have a €0.10 deposit included in the cost. If you return the empty bottle to a supermarket with a Volta machine, you're given a receipt which can be exchanged for discounts or cash.

Ariela and Alice have big plans for their cash: Alice, who is ten, wants to do a three-week exchange in South Korea. Her sister Ariela, 13, wants to do the same in the United States

"They wrote little letters and I printed them with their project and the time when they were going to collect the bag," explains their mother, Karina Lauro, who moved to Portugal from Rio de Janeiro in 2024. "They leave the bag at people's doors and every day, at nine o'clock in the evening, they go back to pick up that bag with the bottles."

The empty bottles are then exchanged for money. With a clear goal: by June next year they aim to collect 120,000 bottles so they can make €6,000 each.

It was the girls who came up with the idea of using Volta to raise funds and to involve the neighbours, after their mother warned them that just using the bottles from home would not make them much money. "It was very little, wasn't it? Because it was just the bottles from our house," says Karina Lauro. "Basically, if it were only us, there would be no way."

Some people go through rubbish bins to find bottles to return

Under the Volta scheme, plastic bottles of up to three litres now carry a deposit charge of ten cents. This money can then be reclaimed if the bottles are returned. The bottles are returned via machines in supermarkets, which issue a receipt that can be converted into discounts or cash. Kiosks are also starting to appear in other busy locations or to process large quantities of bottles.

This system, run by SDR Portugal, is the country's way of responding to the Single-Use Plastics Directive (DSUP), which requires 90 per cent of deposit bottles to be collected by 2029. The directive allows European Union countries to set up deposit systems in order to reach this target.

In Portugal, the system was rolled out in April. As consumers were getting used to it, reports began to appear of bins being rummaged through, leaving rubbish scattered on the ground. In Lisbon, several residents and parish councils complained about the rubbish pile-ups. At the end of July, the PSP arrested a man for rummaging through bins, whom it described as a "rubbish miner".

This scenario was not entirely new. In an interview with Euronews last year, the president of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), José Pimenta Machado, spoke about possible associated environmental risks. The report also noted that in Germany, which has had a deposit return system since 2003, it is common for homeless people to rummage through rubbish in search of bottles.

But not everyone who looks for bottles is homeless. Some are doing it as a way of earning a bit of extra money and, for some young people, it has become a real summer challenge.

That is the case for two young men who work at a beach concession in Loulé. In an interview with Rádio Renascença, they insist that they do not go "digging around in the rubbish", but simply put into Volta the bottles they already have to pick up at work.

Karina Lauro is aware of the phenomenon of people searching through bins for bottles, including "people who are indeed saving them to have an income". But in this case her daughters do not go through rubbish either.

"No, they're always given to us. We don't pick anything out of the rubbish," the mother explains. "Besides, we don't go out on the streets looking for them; we go straight to people's homes."

This is also an environmental project, supporting recycling, already with another of Alice's dreams in mind: studying at Harvard.

"The aim behind this is for them really to reach that recycling figure, so that it also counts as an environmental project for Alice," the mother explains, recalling the entry criteria for North American universities.

Plastic bottles are funding food for rescued cats

António Casa Branca is the owner of Gatil Original, a sanctuary in Vendas Novas that takes in older, sick and vulnerable cats. Around a month and a half ago he had an idea: to set up partnerships with local businesses.

Partner businesses hand over their empty bottles to the cattery, which takes them back and keeps the money. The funds are then used to buy food for the animals.

"In Vendas Novas there are lots of 'bifana' [a classic Portuguese sandwich] shops and we try to set up a partnership whereby every week we go and collect the bags they set aside from that recyclable rubbish, those plastic bottles and cans," he explains. "We then go to the machine, exchange them for vouchers and go to the supermarket to swap them for pâté."

On the first attempt, donations from one bifana restaurant filled a van.

"One of the bifana owners filled my van with bags of litre-and-a-half bottles and tiny ones. I filled the van and it came to around €50," António says.

The cattery already has five partnerships, which also involve a pastry shop, and there is even an accountancy office keen to help by donating the bottles used by its staff. António Casa Branca's plan is to go around the partner businesses every day after work. "For me it's gold. I don't mind going out to ask, to beg," he says.

"If we can get €50 a week from each restaurant, from three or four restaurants, that is already enough to cover the animals' food."

It's working: António Casa Branca manages to buy all the food for the roughly 40 cats he has at the cattery. Other costs, such as the vet's bill and medicines, are still unaccounted for.

Volta machines give the option to send the money to charity. Volta's website gives the examples of the Portuguese Firefighters' League, Caritas, the League for the Protection of the Environment and the Portuguese League for Animal Rights. The organisations available depend on the machine.

But some organisations are going further in this fundraising drive. They are asking donors to bring them refund vouchers or even the bottles themselves, taking on the task of depositing them at collection points.

"We can't let this fall apart"

For the past two weeks there has been a bin at Ota Parish Council's office for residents to leave their empty plastic bottles. In the centre of the parish a 1,000-litre container has also been left for bottles to be deposited - it filled up with bottles in just a few days.

"As we have a lot of people using it, we're thinking of putting out two more containers, one at each end of the parish," explains Nelson Mota.

Nelson grew up in Ota and remains closely connected to the area. He is part of Guarda à Casa, a civic movement that wants to restore the building where the forest rangers of the Serra da Ota used to live.

"We decided that we can do something; we can't let this fall apart," he says. "If the competent authorities can't reach us, because this year, with the deluges we've had, it's normal that the councils can't support certain projects."

Then the idea emerged of using the Volta system to raise money.

"Volta is an easy way to raise some money. It's not substantial amounts, but the kind of sums you need to start organising some events."

As well as the containers, the group also has the support of the Recreational and Sports Association, which is donating the bottles from its bar. Members of the civic group are also collecting bottles from friends and at work and then, themselves, reclaim the money at a Volta machine.

"I myself made a deposit yesterday; it came to €11.60. In other words, it was 116 bottles," explains Nelson Mota. "I handed in 116 bottles, which didn't take up space in the car, and it gave me €10 with no difficulty. I think it's worth it, isn't it?" he tells Euronews.

The success of the initiative does not surprise Nelson Mota: "Of course we're getting a good reception. People in Ota, whenever there are initiatives of this kind, always try to help. That's just how people are there."

"I never imagined it would get this big"

Ariela and Alice's project is being given a big boost by social media. Their "Sonho na garrafa" pages explain the collection process and keep a running tally of how many bottles they have managed to gather so far.

"I wanted to create that social-media presence and show this project so that it would reach people and be recorded for her future," says Karina Lauro, referring to her daughter's university dream. "But I never imagined it would get this big, because people started to embrace it."

The Instagram account has more than 12,000 followers and the TikTok has more than 250,000 likes. In this way more people have started to send encouraging messages and also to want to contribute, including people living abroad.

"Once the internet started to see them, people began wanting to donate bottles as well, to donate the money from exchanging bottles," says the mother, adding that she only accepts donations if they come from bottle deposits.

"There is a person in Ireland who sends money every week. In Ireland it's 25 cents per bottle, so she exchanges them there and sends it to the children."

Another big boost came from restaurants, which also wanted to get involved in the project. It is the mother herself who now collects the bottles from the restaurants, once a week.

By mid-August they had collected more than 5,300 bottles and €537.

"But now more messages have started to come in from other restaurants, wanting to help as well. So, with the restaurants coming on board, that number will probably double."