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Saturday, May 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Climate Change Could Be Worsening Effects of El Niño, La Niña
The strongest La Niña weather system in 50 years has brought historic flooding to Australia and drought to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, driving up food prices.
Climate Change Could Be Worsening Effects of El Niño and La Niña
Scientists believe that global warming could be affecting the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate cycle, whose cold phase, La Niña, is already taking a toll on food production.Africa’s Future Lies in a Green Energy Grid
Development in Africa could falter as climate change grips the continent, increasing the length and severity of droughts and floods by altering precipitation patterns, among other impacts.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Emissions Punted to Durban, Breakthrough Seen on Forests
If success is measured by delaying difficult decisions, then the Cancún climate meeting succeeded by deferring crucial issues over financing and new targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the next Conference of the Parties meeting a year from now in Durban, South Africa.
CLIMATE CHANGE: As World Warms, Southern Africa Swelters
Africa will be amongst the hardest hit regions of the world as the climate heats up, threatening the continent's food security, experts agree. If global temperatures rise 2.0 degrees C, southern Africa will warm an additional 1.5 degrees to a 3.5-degree increase on average.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Cancun Summit Gives Fossil Fuels a Free Pass
The main cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, so why are billions of dollars being invested to find and produce more oil, coal and natural gas?
Cancún Summit Gives Fossil Fuels a Free Pass
At the global summit on climate change, no country is being challenged for its plans to expand fossil fuel production, despite being the main source of climate-changing gas emissions.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Will Year of Extremes End with a Whimper?
This year will likely be the warmest ever recorded, with soaring ocean temperatures resulting in a near record die-off of tropical corals, extreme heat and drought in Russia and massive flooding in Pakistan - all signs that climate change has taken hold.Forests Rescue Plan Riddled with Uncertainties
Deforestation rates have slowed in Brazil and elsewhere in expectation of a windfall of green gold from billions of dollars of carbon credits being mobilised for climate protection, some experts believe.CANADA: A Govt Versus Its People on Climate Change
The Canadian public is completely at odds with its own government on climate change, a new survey revealed Friday.
Toxic Hotspots Require Global Superfund
One of the world's biggest health threats is also one of the least recognised - more than 100 million people who literally breathe and eat toxic pollutants like lead, mercury, chromium every day, according to the first-ever detailed assessment.
An Awakening in Nagoya
The international community has finally awoken to the other great trans-boundary challenge of our time, with a new international agreement to halt the unravelling of the web of life that sustains humanity.Biodiversity Pact Begins With the Genes
The delegates to the 10th Conference of Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity ended up with a relatively weak plan for the Herculean task of halting the disappearance of species. The exception was a pact on the use of genetic resources.Runaway Global Economy Decimating Nature
One-fifth of all birds, fish and animals are threatened with extinction - as many as six million unique and irreplaceable forms of life – an authoritative new assessment warned Wednesday.Tackling Climate Change Could Save Biodiversity
A major change in the direction of economic development is essential to avoid the catastrophic unraveling of Earth's ecosystems that support all life, a new global analysis published in the journal Science revealed Tuesday.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Geoengineering for a Desperate Planet
Delegates to the world summit on biodiversity here are calling for a moratorium on climate engineering research, like the idea of putting huge mirrors in outer space to reflect some of the sun's heating rays away from the planet.
Palau Announces Massive Marine Sanctuary
One of Japan's closest allies declared over the weekend that all of its oceans - more than 600,000 square kilometres - would be a sanctuary for whales, dolphins, dugongs, sharks and other species.
Geoengineering for a Desperate Planet
Climate change made its way into the biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan, as debate topics included the effects of geoengineering on the Earth's ecosystems.Hard to Put a Price-tag on Healthy Rivers
Damming a river may bring electric power, but it often comes at the price of high-quality food fisheries, experts say. When dams are proposed for power, flood control or irrigation, the often devastating impacts on fisheries in rivers and lakes are ignored or discounted.Canada Seeks to Drop Native Peoples from New Biodiversity Pact
Blame Canada if countries fail to agree to a new binding treaty to curb the rapid loss of plant, animal and species that form the intricate web of life that sustains humanity. That is the view of indigenous representatives from Canada in response to a late night move by the Canadian delegation to strike a reference to indigenous peoples' rights at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) members' conference here.
North-South Divide Again Clouds Biodiversity Talks
The accelerating destruction of natural habitats will take millions of years to recover from, scientists have warned. This may be the last chance to apply the brakes, Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, reminded delegates representing the 193 member countries of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).« Previous Page — Next Page »
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