Biodiversity

Mother Earth’s Café Dares Climate Crises in India

By Manipadma Jena
The sun has barely risen when Phlida Kharshala shakes her 8-year-old grandson awake. He hoists an empty cone-shaped bamboo basket on his back, sets the woven strap flat across his forehead and off they go into the wilderness.

Bangladesh’s Climate Change Victims Safeguard the Sundarbans’ Endangered Dolphins

By Rafiqul Islam
Israfil Boyati lives along the shoreline of the Bay of Bengal. In the past he used to catch fish in the canals and rivers of Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forest — one of the world’s largest and habitat to many endangered species, including the Bengal tigers and freshwater dolphins.

How the Oceans and the Cryosphere are Under Threat and What it Means for Africa- IPCC Author Explains

By Isaiah Esipisu
“Special reports come to address issues that need deeper understanding and deeper research,” Dr James Kairo, one of the lead authors of the ‘Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate,’ a special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told IPS.

Making a Whale of a Difference to Marine Conservation

By Neena Bhandari
The thrill of watching a whale up close or schools of dolphins frolicking in an ocean are much sought after experiences today, boosting the demand for tours that provide people the opportunity to see these marine animals in their natural habitats. But becoming a major tourist drawcard has also exposed cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and their environs to risks and challenges.

Global Climate Change Investment Heavily Tilted Towards Mitigation and Low on Adaptation

By Stella Paul
Good news: the graph depicting climate investments has been steadily increasing. Climbing from the 2012 figure of $360 billion in climate investments across the world to close to $600 billion currently.

Oceans in Crisis as they Absorb the Brunt of Climate Change

By Miriam Gathigah
Warnings of strong winds, high waves and reduced visibility along the East African coastline are increasingly common. But local fisher folk like Ali Sombo from Kwale County, situated along Kenya's Indian Ocean Coastline, don't always heed the warnings by the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) to stay clear of the open sea during rough waters.

Nature’s Solution to Climate Change

By Ralph Chami, Sena Oztosun, Thomas Cosimano, and Connel Fullenkamp

When it comes to saving the planet, one whale is worth thousands of trees.

We Need Biodiversity-Based Agriculture to Solve the Climate Crisis

By Vandana Shiva
The Earth is living, and also creates life. Over 4 billion years the Earth has evolved a rich biodiversity — an abundance of different living organisms and ecosystems — that can meet all our needs and sustain life.

World’s Whale Population Struggles to Recover from Carnage Amid Serious Concerns

By Dr Palitha Kohona
Sri Lanka is endowed with an impressive and large concentration of whales off its shores and it is believed they are not a population that migrates seasonally. 26 species have been spotted in Sri Lankan waters, including the massive blue whales.

Translating Ambition to Action: High Hopes for United Nations Action Week

By Cameron Diver
In less than 10 days, countries from around the planet will come together in New York for the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit. I look forward to representing the Pacific Community (SPC) at this important event, and throughout “Action Week” during the upcoming UN General Assembly.

India Promotes South-South Cooperation, but Key Questions Unaddressed

By Joydeep Gupta
At his speech at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) summit in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised South-South cooperation and technology solutions, but issues of land ownership dog the ongoing negotiations. As the second week of the UNCCD Conference of Parties (COP) kicked off in Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted South-South cooperation and issues of land degradation.

Is the UN’s High Seas Treaty Heading Towards Troubled Waters?

By Thalif Deen
The world’s high seas, which extend beyond 200 nautical miles, are deemed “international waters” to be shared globally-- but they remain largely ungoverned.

Let the World’s Future Not Turn into Ashes

By Beverly Longid
With the record rate blaze in the Amazon that struck Indigenous communities, the world is confronted by a humanitarian crisis in the midst of an ever-worsening political-economic condition.

Amazon Fires Heat Up Political Crisis in Brazil

By Mario Osava
August is the month of major political crises in Brazil, but no one suspected that an environmental issue would be the trigger for the storms threatening the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, just eight months into his term.

In the Midst of Conflict, India’s Indigenous Female Forest Dwellers Own their Land

By Stella Paul
Jam Bai, an Indigenous farmer from Korchi village in western India, is a woman in hurry. After two months of waiting, the rains have finally come and the rice saplings for her paddy fields must be sown this week while the land is still soft.

What a Little Pigeon Could Teach Our World

By Greg Benchwick
Over 100 years ago a little brown passenger pigeon named Martha died in the Cincinnati Zoo. She was the last of her breed. Just like that, in an instant, a bird species that had once numbered in the billions was wiped out forever.

A Call for Healthy, Blue Oceans in Asia and the Pacific

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Leaders at the Group of 20 summit last month agreed on the “Osaka Blue Ocean Vision,” which aims to reduce additional pollution by marine plastic litter to zero by 2050. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) stands ready to support Japan and other countries in the region to ensure healthy and sustainable oceans.

Indigenous Rights Approach a Solution to Climate Change Crisis

By Friday Phiri
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) was held in Bonn, Germany to rally behind a new approach to achieving a future that is more inclusive and sustainable than the present – through the establishment of secure and proper rights for all.

There’s No Continent, No Country Not Impacted by Land Degradation

By Desmond Brown
The coming decades will be crucial in shaping and implementing a transformative land agenda, according to a scientist at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

South Africa’s First Carbon Farm

By Tim Christophersen
Land restoration could attract large private investments in the fight against climate change over the coming decades, if Governments and the United Nations put the right incentives and conditions in place.

Uganda’s Rare Tree Climbing Lions and Endangered Primates Threatened By Climate Change

By Wambi Michael
As climate change leads to increased temperatures in East Africa, a thicket of invasive thorny trees with the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions have begun threatening Uganda’s second-largest park, home to a rare breed of tree climbing lions and one of the highest concentrations of primates in the world.
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