Natural Resources

“Running Out Of Time” – Local Communities Mobilise for the Climate

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Local communities across the globe have risen up to demand commitments on climate change, as frustration mounts over the lack of action.

Q&A: As Water Scarcity Becomes the New Normal How Do We Manage This Scarce Resource?

By Manipadma Jena
Growing economies are thirsty economies. And water scarcity has become “the new normal” in many parts of the world, according to Torgny Holmgren executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

Law of the Sea Convention Expands to Cover Marine Biological Diversity

By Dr Palitha Kohona
Responding to a persistent demand by developing countries, the conservation community and science, the UN General Assembly has commenced a process for bringing the areas beyond national jurisdiction in the oceans under a global legally binding regulatory framework.

UN Begins Talks on World’s First Treaty to Regulate High Seas

By Thalif Deen
After several years of preliminary discussions, the United Nations has begun its first round of inter-governmental negotiations to draft the world’s first legally binding treaty to protect and regulate the “high seas”—which, by definition, extend beyond 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) and are considered “international waters” shared globally.

Maya Farmers in South Belize Hold Strong to Their Climate Change Experiment

By Zadie Neufville
In one of Belize’s forest reserves in the Maya Golden Landscape, a group of farmers is working with non-governmental organisations to mitigate and build resilience to climate change with a unique agroforestry project.

How Guyana Must Prepare to Cope With the ‘Jeopardies and Perils’ of Oil Discovery

By Desmond Brown
Recent huge offshore oil discoveries are believed to have set Guyana– one of the poorest countries in South America–on a path to riches. But they have also highlighted the country’s development challenges and the potential impact of an oil boom.

Why India’s Solar Water-Drawing ATMs and Irrigation Pumping Systems Offer Replicable Strategies

By Ranjit Devraj
At New Delhi’s Savda Ghevra slum settlement, waterborne diseases have become less frequent thanks to solar-powered water ATMs that were installed here as a social enterprise venture three years ago.

Africa’s Economic Growth Prospects Amongst the World’s Brightest

By Ayodele Odusola
The best time to invest in Africa is now. However, foreign investors have not moved into the continent as quickly as expected because foreign investment decisions are often methodically over-structured. One of the major factors cited is too much risk. But risks and profits are inseparable twins: high-risk ventures are frequently associated with higher profits.

Mixed Signals as Guyana Develops its Green Economy Strategy

By Jewel Fraser
Guyana is forging ahead with plans to exploit vast offshore reserves of oil and gas, even while speaking eloquently of its leadership in transitioning to a green economy at a recent political party congress addressed by the country's president.

Poverty-Stricken Communities in Ghana are Restoring Once-Barren Land

By Albert Oppong-Ansah
In the scorching Upper East Region of Ghana, the dry seasons are long and for kilometres around there is nothing but barren, dry earth. Here, in some areas, it is not uncommon for half the female population to migrate to the country’s south in search of work, often taking their young children with them.

Blue Economy Movement Gains Traction in Africa

By Miriam Gathigah
An increasing number of African countries are now embracing the blue economy for its potential to deliver solutions to their most pressing development needs–particularly extreme poverty and hunger.

Q&A: Raising the Profile on the Largest Environmental Issue of Our Time

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Land degradation caused by human activities is occurring at an alarming rate across the world, and the cost will be steep if no action is taken.

Ocean Conservation Is an Untapped Strategy for Fighting Climate Change

By Eliza Northrop
The ocean contributes $1.5 trillion annually to the global economy and assures the livelihood of 10-12 percent of the world’s population. But there’s another reason to protect marine ecosystems—they’re crucial for curbing climate change.

Experts Decry Exclusion of Africa’s Local Farmers in Food Security Efforts

By Miriam Gathigah
Joshua Kiragu reminisces of years gone by when just one of his two hectares of land produced at least 40 bags of maize. But that was 10 years ago. Today, Kiragu can barely scrape up 20 bags from the little piece of land that he has left – it measures just under a hectare.

Bamboo, A Sustainability Powerhouse

By Ed Holt
A landmark conference bringing more than 1,200 people from across the world together to promote and explain the importance of bamboo and rattan to global sustainable development and tackling climate change has ended with a raft of agreements and project launches.

West Africa Moves Ahead with Renewable Energy Despite Unpredictable Challenges 

By Issa Sikiti da Silva
The West African nation of Guinea may be a signatory of the Paris Agreement, a global undertaking by countries around the world to reduce climate change, but as it tries to provide electricity to some three quarters of its 12 million people who are without, the commitment is proving a struggle.

Building West Africa’s Capacity to Access Climate Funding

By Nalisha Adams
When Senegalese president Macky Sall opened the 30MW Santhiou Mékhé solar plant last June, the country gained the title of having West Africa's largest such plant. But the distinction was short lived.

Ukraine Puts Water Strategy High on Development Agenda

By Ed Holt
A campaign to raise awareness of water security in Ukraine could be an inspiration around the world, activists behind it say, after it forced a change in the country’s approach to its water resources.

Food Sustainability, Migration, Nutrition and Women

By Enrique Yeves
We worry about how we can continue to put food on our tables; and yet one-third of food is never eaten, instead being lost or wasted.We worry about eating properly, and yet in many countries, poor nutrition, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies are increasingly common. This trend is taking place in the Americas, Oceania, Asia, Africa and in Europe.

When a Grass Towers over the Trees

By Manipadma Jena
As governments scramble for corrective options to the worsening land degradation set to cost the global economy a whopping 23 trillion dollars within the next 30 years, a humble grass species, the bamboo, is emerging as the unlikely hero.

Q&A: Greening Colombia’s Energy Mix

By Constanza Vieira
Colombia is a global power in biodiversity and water resources, but at the same time it depends on exports of fossil fuels, coal and oil, to the world. But don't panic: in the green economy there are also incomes and jobs - says a world expert on the subject, Juhern Kim.
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