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Wednesday, September 2, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Lack of Food Is a “Persistent Myth”
Rising fuel and transportation costs could force governments to return to local production of food, scientist Michel Pimbert says in a Tierramérica interview.
DEVELOPMENT: Can Sorghum Solve the Biofuels Dilemma?
A new crop that provides food, animal feed and fuel at the same time promises to help developing countries redirect money spent on oil imports to benefit their own farmers. Is sweet sorghum biofuel's "holy grail"?ENERGY-AFRICA: From Kerosene to the LED, O-HUB and O-BOX
In many of Africa's towns and villages, smoky kerosene lamps are all that keeps the darkness at bay after sunset. However, kerosene is a dangerous and increasingly expensive source of light for Africans who do not have access to electricity - about three-quarters of those living on the continent, according to the World Bank.
ENVIRONMENT: “Doctor” Nature in Danger
"When we harm nature, we are harming ourselves," says Aaron Bernstein, a doctor at Harvard Medical School and one of the authors of the upcoming book "Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity".CLIMATE CHANGE: Firms Coming Clean on Carbon
Thousands of companies supplying some of the world's largest corporations know climate regulations are coming and are agreeing to measure their emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases.
“Doctor” Nature in Danger
Your health, and the health of your loved ones, is interlinked with that of a much larger family -- one we call "nature", says a new book about medicine and biodiversity.
DEVELOPMENT: Reinventing Agriculture
The results of a painstaking examination of global agriculture are being formally presented Tuesday with the release of the final report for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).
DEVELOPMENT: Towards a New and Improved Green Revolution
As food prices soar and hundreds of millions go hungry, experts from around the world will this week present a new approach for ensuring food security, at the intergovernmental plenary for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The Apr. 7-12 conference is taking place in South Africa's commercial hub, Johannesburg, and will be attended by representatives of an estimated 60 governments.CLIMATE CHANGE: A Game With Too Many Free Riders
The evidence is piling up that climate change threatens to bring a chaotic future unlike anything ever known. Taking collective action in time to avert the worst means rewarding climate-safe behaviour, punishing climate transgressors and publicly praising those who are trying to protect the environment, a new study suggests.CLIMATE CHANGE: A Vision Worth Fighting For
Sweeping societal change is a slow and erratic business. The civil rights movement in the United States went nowhere for decades and then exploded in the 1960s. Not long ago, smokers could light up anywhere they pleased in Canada and the U.S. Now they are mostly confined to a few outdoor areas and as a consequence, far fewer people smoke.
CLIMATE CHANGE: The Fault Lies Not in Our Cars but in Ourselves
Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere can be compared to a flooding river, swamping low areas at first but inevitably bursting its banks.CLIMATE CHANGE: The Future Is Now
Our fingers are glued to the global thermostat, pushing it ever higher, and climate catastrophe has already begun to reshape human civilisation.CLIMATE CHANGE: A Glacial Vanishing Act
Glaciers, the world's freshwater towers, continue their record-breaking meltdown, a new U.N. report shows.
ENVIRONMENT: Emissions Solutions Start at Home
Making buildings more environmentally friendly is the easiest and most effective way to cut climate-changing carbon emissions, often slashing energy costs by up to 70 percent. So why isn't there a massive effort to "green up" existing buildings and set green standards for all new construction?ENVIRONMENT: Polar Bears in Limbo as Drilling Leases Go Forward
A coalition of environmental groups sued the George W. Bush administration Monday for delaying a decision to protect polar bears threatened with extinction due to the melting ice in its Arctic habitat. Polar bears could be the first species officially threatened by climate change.CLIMATE CHANGE: The Ostrich Brigades
Colder than usual January temperatures in the United States have brought the climate change deniers out of hibernation, flooding websites, and opinion and letters pages about the "great global warming hoax". They even organised their own conference on denial in New York City this week.ENVIRONMENT: Galapagos Islands in Search of Clean Energy
Ecuador has taken the first step towards ending the oil dependence of its Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with the official opening of a 10.8 million dollar wind energy facility on the island of San Cristóbal.
BIODIVERSITY: Life Under the Macroscope
Free, authoritative and online: 1.8 million species.
Galápagos Islands in Search of Clean Energy
Can the Galápagos Islands, the world-famous Ecuadorian nature reserve, break its perilous addiction to oil?ENVIRONMENT: First Map of Human Impacts on Oceans Released
Oceans span nearly three quarters of the Earth's surface and despite this vast size hardly a square kilometre has been untouched by humans.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Biofuels Worse Than Fossil Fuels, Studies Find
Biofuels are making climate change worse, not better, according to two new studies which found that total greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels are far higher than those from burning gasoline because biofuel production is pushing up food prices and resulting in deforestation and loss of grasslands.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
