Friday, July 10, 2020
News and Views from the Global South
Green Economy
GGGI signs a Contribution Agreement with the European Union to provide support in accelerating Greening Uganda’s Urbanization and Industrialization Agenda
The European Union (EU) represented by the European Commission in Uganda and the Government of Uganda through the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have signed a contract today to cooperate on advancing the Greening Uganda’s Urbanization and Industrialization agenda. This project is part of the European Union’s Inclusive Green Economy Uptake Programme (GreenUP) financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) and will be implemented for a 36 months period with a total cost estimated of just under EUR 5mln. The MoU was signed by European Union in Uganda and Ms. Dagmar Zwebe, Country Representative of the GGGI Uganda office.
Building Back Greener in Africa
COVID-19 continues to race across the African continent. People are dying, and even more are being pushed into hunger and poverty, in many cases risking to overturn years of development gains.
The Goan Village Women Helping Mitigate Plastic Pollution by Making Eco-friendly Sanitary Pads
Jayashree Parwar has not traveled much outside of her village of Bicholim in the western coastal Indian state of Goa. But the homemaker-turned-social-entrepreneur has been reaching women in dozens of cities across the country with a hygiene product she makes at home along with women from her community. Called Sakhi (friend in Hindi), the plastic-free sanitary pad is Goa’s first menstrual hygiene product made with organic materials.
Put Climate at the Heart of COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plans
Cast your mind back. Six months ago—it seems like a lifetime—the world’s attention was on Madrid. The United Nations was meeting to take stock of international progress in fighting climate change. Headlines were dominated by young people pointing out—rightly—that governments were still not doing enough. They demanded urgent and ambitious action to cut emissions and help the most vulnerable.
We Should Not Aim to Return to Normal
The world before COVID-19 looks very attractive right now. In light of the disease, mass unemployment and social distancing, a return to pre-pandemic normality seems appealing. Yet we should remember what normal was.
Why Rwanda is a Great Green Growth Investment
In its effort to accelerate Rwanda's green growth development initiative, its local businesses encouraged their Italian counterparts to invest in the East Africa region.
Falling Clean Energy Costs Create Opportunity to Boost Climate Action in COVID-19 Recovery Packages
As COVID-19 hits the fossil fuel industry, a new report shows that renewable energy is more cost-effective than ever - providing an opportunity to prioritize clean energy in economic recovery packages and bring the world closer to meeting the Paris Agreement goals.
We Need to Slow down and Reconnect with Our Ocean for the Future of the Planet
COVID19 has brought the world to a halt. The devastating impact of the global pandemic on people’s lives and the world’s economy is a jarring and historic turning point for all of us but it is also an opportunity to re-think many of our practices.
Post-COVID recovery should lock in ocean sustainability, says Commonwealth Secretary-General
The Commonwealth Secretary-General is urging governments to ensure their countries’ post-COVID economic recoveries are environmentally sustainable and safe for the ocean.
Beyond the Crisis
Looking back to the start of 2020, the world has changed almost beyond recognition. To protect public health, the global economy was put into stasis. Shops closed, factories were mothballed, and people’s freedom of movement was severely curtailed. No country has escaped the health, economic, and social impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Tragically, more than 260,000 people have died and millions have been infected. The IMF is projecting global economic activity to decline on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. It is truly a crisis like no other.
Coronavirus Hasn´t Slowed Down Ecological Women Farmers in Peru’s Andes Highlands
It's eight o'clock in the morning and Pascuala Ninantay is carrying two large containers of water in her wheelbarrow to prepare with neighbouring women farmers 200 litres of organic fertiliser, which will then be distributed to fertilise their crops, in this town in the Andes highlands of Peru.
Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition
Rosa Manzano carefully arranges pieces of wood in a big mud igloo that, seven days after it is full, will produce charcoal of high caloric content.
Green Counter-Revolution in Africa?
In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation jointly launched the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The African Green Revolution Forum claims AGRA is the “world’s most important and impactful forum for African agriculture”.
Harness Youth to Change World’s Future
Vanessa Nakate of Uganda may have been cropped out of a photograph taken at the World Economic Forum, but she along with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg have made the climate crisis centre stage.
Women & Climate: Planting a Global Forest in a Connected World
In January of this year, Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, shocked much of the world when they announced they would be stepping down from their roles as senior royals.
3Returns Blog
On Thursday 20 and Friday 21 February, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) and the University of Queensland (UQ) held a validation workshop on the 3Returns Model and Framework, presenting an Investment Case for Coastal Landscape Mangrove Restoration in Myanmar through the findings from an Economic Appraisal of Ayeyarwady Mangrove Forests, Bio-based Value Chains for Mangrove Restoration and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms. The event proved informative for both participants and presenters alike, providing critical insights and opening dialogue between multiple government departments.
Air Pollution in South Asia: Biomass Burning Emissions & its Impact
A young adult man requires 15 m3 or 15 kg of air, 1.5 liters or 1.5 kg of water and 0.75 kg of solid food every day. This indicates around 87% of our everyday basic requirement is air.
An Ambitious Year for Climate Action Is a Big Year for Women’s Empowerment
This year, the Paris Agreement’s effectiveness as a global response to the climate crisis is being tested as governments are preparing to submit more ambitious national targets for mitigation and adaptation.
The Italian Pyramid: Scientific Observatory at the Top of the World
Hello! Are you Italian?
No, I’m from Nepal.
Oops.
Kaji Bista is the staff manager of the Ev-K2-CNR’s innovative Pyramid International Laboratory/Observatory (known as the Italian Pyramid) at 5,050 m a.s.l. located in Lobouche.
Synergy with Hydropower Plants Boosts Biogas Production in Brazil
Fomenting biogas production among agricultural producers may seem at first glance to be a distraction from the purpose of Itaipu, the giant hydroelectric power plant shared by Brazil and Paraguay, but in fact it is part of their energy business strategy.
‘Organic is the Future’
Vandana Shiva, a pioneer of organic farming in India, is incensed by the 2019 draft law to compulsorily register all seeds used by farmers. On a wintry afternoon, at her farm Navdanya in the Himalayan foothills, the noted ecologist spoke on the future of the organic farming movement in India. Excerpts:Next Page »
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