Wednesday, May 31, 2023
News and Views from the Global South
Conflict with Local Communities Hits Mining and Oil Companies Where It Hurts
Conflicts with local communities over mining, oil and gas development are costing companies billions of dollars a year. One corporation alone reported a six billion dollar cost over a two-year period according to the first-ever peer-reviewed study on the cost of conflicts in the extractive sector.
CO2 Producing Hollow Food
Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels will make many key food crops like rice and corn less nutritious, a new study shows.
Energy Efficiency Is an Untapped Goldmine
The U.S. could create more than 600,000 skilled jobs, cut air pollution and fight climate change while its citizens reap 17 billion dollars in energy savings by doing one simple thing: Boost energy efficiency.
Charting a Course for Survival, or Oblivion?
Hopefully, on Earth Day today, high-level ministers from all countries are thinking about what they can bring to the table at a key set of meetings on climate change in early May.
South Scores 11th-Hour Win on Climate Loss and Damage
The U.N. climate talks in Warsaw ended in dramatic fashion Saturday evening in what looked like a schoolyard fight with a mob of dark-suited supporters packed around the weary combatants, Todd Stern of the United States and Sai Navoti of Fiji representing G77 nations.
Carbon Emissions on Tragic Trajectory
Burning of fossil fuels added a record 36 billion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere in 2013, locking in even more heating of the planet.
Japan Bails Out on CO2 Emissions Target
Japan announced Friday that it will renege on its carbon emissions pledge, likely ending any hope global warming can be kept to 2.0 degrees C.
Brazil Headed Towards an Energy Revolution
Energy consumption and production are undergoing fundamental shifts but the world is still on course to a 3.6 degree C hotter climate according a report released during the U.N. climate talks in Warsaw.
World Headed for a High-Speed Carbon Crash
If global carbon emissions continue to rise at their current rate, humanity will eventually be left with no other option than a costly, world war-like mobilisation, scientists warned this week.
The Sickest Places in the World
Parts of Indonesia, Argentina and Nigeria are among the top 10 most polluted places on the planet, according to a new report by U.S. and European environmental groups.
No Safe Havens in Increasingly Acid Oceans
Oil, gas and coal are contaminating the world's oceans from top to bottom, threatening the lives of more than 800 million people, a new study warns Tuesday.
The Coming Plague
A climate plague affecting every living thing will likely start in 2020 in southern Indonesia, scientists warned Wednesday in the journal Nature. A few years later the plague will have spread throughout the world's tropical regions.
Building a Better World, One Block at a Time
One evening in the small village of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, England, someone started a conversation about climate change and energy at the local pub. It was 2005. Two years later, residents had cut their carbon dioxide emissions and energy costs by 20 percent.
Mayors Leading an Urban Revolution
With presidents and prime ministers failing to take meaningful action to avert a planetary-scale climate crisis, the mayors of cities and towns are increasingly stepping up to enact changes at the local level.
CO2 Reshaping the Planet, Meta-Analysis Confirms
Greenland will eventually truly become green as most of its massive ice sheet is destined to melt, the authoritative U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported Friday.
Making Local People Stewards of the Earth
The lack of land rights is a crisis not just for local people but for all of humanity, warned organisers at an international conference here.
If You Want to Conserve Biodiversity, Protect Latin America
A team of scientists who analysed the richness of plant species around the world concluded that the ecosystems in need of immediate protection in order to meet the 2020 conservation goals set by the Convention on Biological Diversity are largely concentrated in Latin America.
Dwindling Water Supplies Make Every Drop Count
Drought and chronic water shortages played a significant role in sparking Syria's civil war and in unrest throughout much of the Middle East, water experts now believe.
A Stark Choice: Extreme Heat or Dirty Fuels
Two reports released Wednesday reveal the dangerous gap between science and politics. New climate research shows that extreme events such as the severe heat wave in the U.S. last year will double in 2020, increase 400 percent by 2040, and then get far worse without significant carbon reductions.Climate Change Promises Tough Times for Asia and Africa – Report
Extreme heat, flooding and water and food shortages will rock South Asia and Africa by 2030 and render large sections of cities inhabitable, if the world continues to burn huge amounts of coal, oil and gas, the World Bank is warning.
Developing Countries Lead Global Shift to Green Energy
Emerging economies such as Mexico and India are shifting energy investments into renewable resources while industrialised countries hesitate, noted two new United Nations reports released Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
