Extinction VCC News
[Nov 01, 2026] Minimal Progress, if any, at COP 17 of the Biodiversity Convention : COP 17 of the Biodiversity Convention made little, if any progress in reaching the agreed-upon targets in restoration of ecosystems. Patrick Greenfield summarize the situation in his article “‘Bunch of baloney’: calls grow for Cop summit reforms as countries on track to fail nature targets” in the Guardian. Four years ago, twenty three targets aiming at the transformation of humanity’s relationship with nature were agreed upon by nearly every government on the planet. “Despite progress in some areas, governments are way off track on meeting almost all of the targets.”
[Oct 31, 2026] We love them as pets, but we don't respect their rights!: Rebecca Ratcliffe reports in her article “Twice as many plants and animals sold in wildlife trade as previously thought, says report” in the Guardian the results of the report “The true scale of global wildlife trade is obscured by data gaps” that “Overexploitation of wildlife is one of the greatest global drivers of biodiversity loss.” While is seems like many people love to have “exotic” animals as pets, they don't respect the animals' rights or care for the future of the species they exploit.
[Sep 07, 2026] Surviving Earth: The docuseries “Surviving Earth” which premiering on June 11, 2026 on NBC, explores eight large extinction events going back 450 million years. through the lives – and eventual annihilation – of the creatures that preceded or existed alongside the dinosaurs. Vivian Ho in her article “‘Life has always managed to crawl through’: docuseries takes us back to mass extinction events” give voice to those involved in producing the series. Tim Haines, the producer of the series, comments that this series essentially on death is actually a series on life and its resilience, and how life bounced back from the volcanic eruptions, flooding and drought that have repeatedly caused large extinction events. View the trailer on YouTube.
[Jun 13, 2026] Wildfires Increase Extinction Risks: In her article “‘Flamin’ cockatoos’ have lost much of their habitat to bushfires. Can the species survive? published in the Guardian, Petra Stock points out that two fires in 12 years wiped out all but a handful of the mature native pines in Victoria’s Wyperfeld national park. This area is a key breeding ground for endangered pink cockatoos. The author asked the important question whether the damage done by increasing wildfires will lead to the extinction of the species.
Platform News
[Nov 03, 2026] AI is in all Google Searches but not on Place4Us: As Johana Bhuiyan reports in the article “Google says there’s no way to use Search without using artificial intelligence”, Google has made clear that all Google searches use AI. Anybody who uses Google search therefore supports the uncontrolled development of AI. The article unfortunately does not point to alternatives. DuckDuckgo.com, for example, allows switching of AI totally for all searches. It should be made mandatory that users can switch off AI in whatever service they utilize. Importantly, we working on Place4Us make every effort to keep AI away from the platform.
[Sep 26, 2026] “Digital Technology should be governed by people for people”: Joseph Gorden-Levit, the UN Global Advocate for Human-centric Digital Governance, in his opening remarks (starting at about 20:00 in the recordings) at the Digital Cooperation Day 2026 emphasized that “the decision we make in this moment are going to have a massive impact on everyone's life, on the whole future of humanity.” He underlined that how “digital technology is designed and developed and deployed should be governed by people for people.” The challenge is that some believe digital technology should be governed by the market. Place4Us is designed and governed by people and for people with no role to play for the market.
[Sep 26, 2026] “In the absence of truth, trust deteriorates”: This is what Mia Amor Mottley made very clear in her amazing speech at the 81st United Nations General Assembly. She said: “When we luck truth and we luck trust law becomes theater, News become spectacle, and science becomes just another opinion.” With respect to the ongoing ecocide in Gaza she quoted the Roman historian Tacitus who reported a statement of a Scottish chieftain about the Roman soldiers: “They make it desert and they call it Peace.”
[Sep 21, 2026] End Times Fascism: The book “End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World” by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor underlines that the End Times Fascist have given up on humanity and this world. They are not only building the arks for themselves, they also accelerate the coming of the flood.
[Sep 21, 2026] Meta and Instagram ban ads with “social topics”: Stephen Burgen reports in the Guardian article “Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism” that Meta explained that “any mention of civil rights, feminism or social reform are usually classified as ‘social topics’ by our automatic system” and are filtered out. These topics are central to Woolf’s work. As reported, Meta recommended removing “key words” so that the text doesn’t appear to encourage activism. This underlines the importance of Place4Us, where social topics are at the forefront and activism is encouraged.
[Sep 13, 2026] "They are traitors to creation, to the wonders of here": Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in their article “The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear” make clear that the unholy alliance of the billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and others, who suffer from an absence of awe in the face of the unique beauty of our home planet, is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only they as the chosen few will emerge unscathed. The authors claim that it is becoming clear how we stop them.
