Tag Archives: Vanuatu

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- April 8, 2023

World Economic Forum (April 8, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Vanuatu takes the World to Court – The island state pushed through a historic UN motion which calls on the International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court to establish countries’ legal duties to address the climate crisis. The ICJ will provide an ‘opinion’ on what countries can do to cut emissions and protect people and protect climate-vulnerable people. Although the opinion won’t be legally binding, it will carry huge weight and could be used in climate negotiations and future climate lawsuits.

1:43 Japanese workers just got a historic payrise – Every year, unions of major companies negotiate wages in Spring, for shorter hours and better pay. This year, the parties agreed to a 3.8% wage rise, the biggest raise since 1993. For part-time and contract workers, the raise was even larger, 5.91% per hour. A rise in the cost of living drove the agreements. Consumer prices in Japan have risen 4.2% in a year, The sharpest rise for 40 years. And the real value of wages fell 4.1% in January for the tenth consecutive month.

3:03 Latvia has the most female inventors in Europe – A new study charted the gender gap in European inventors from 1978 to today by counting the women named in patent applications. From 2010-2019, 30.6% of Latvia’s inventors were women. Portugal took second place with 26.8% and third was Croatia, where 25.8% of inventors were women. 4:39 Friends are key to reducing inequality – Researchers wanted to know why some people climb the economic ladder faster than others. So they looked at the Facebook friendships of 72 million people. Here’s what they found.

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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

Disasters: Earthquakes & Cyclones Ravage Vanuatu

The Independent (March 28, 2023) – The tiny Pacific island state of Vanuatu was hit by two category-four cyclones and two earthquakes over three days this month, in a devastating onslaught that destroyed homes, cut power, and impacted 80 per cent of the population.

Scientists say global heating is already making major tropical cyclones like those that hit Vanuatu more frequent. Under moderate and worst-case climate scenarios, the country is expected to lose around 20-25 per cent of its GDP from natural disasters each year, according to a recent UN report. Later this month Vanuatu’s proposal for a top international court to clarify the obligations of states to tackle climate change and the consequences of not doing so under international law will be put to a vote at the United Nations.

Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometers. The islands offer scuba diving at coral reefs, underwater caverns and wrecks such as the WWII-era troopship SS President Coolidge. Harborside Port Vila, the nation’s capital and economic center, is on the island of Efate. The city is home to the Vanuatu National Museum, which explores the nation’s Melanesian culture.

2022 Journeys: ‘The Beauty Of Australia & Vanuatu’

Pavel Ivo Sedlacek – Our journey was 7 weeks long,

and we traveled all over the continent. We visited Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland and at the end of our journey, we went for 8 days to the tiny Pacific nation of Vanuatu.

Filmed in August 2022.