The accumulation of still growing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in an increasingly unequal world is accelerating planetary heating. It is also worsening disparities, especially between the rich and others, both nationally and internationally.
For 18-year-old Lionel Ngukusenge, a refugee from Burundi, where he was forced into hiding because of a repressive regime, he has found another foe to contend with at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya: climate change.
"Our organization is showing that it is indeed possible to move toward energy transition and not depend on oil," said Elaina Shajian, president of the
Regional Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of San Lorenzo (Corpi-SL), in the Peruvian Amazon.
El Granjero, the second-largest egg producer in El Salvador, invested US$2.5 million in 2017 to build a biogas plant, proving that there is a solution to the thorny issue of environmental pollution caused by most poultry companies in the country.
One would expect that this year’s
wetter than average rainy season in parts of Africa would be viewed with relief, not fear. Yet many areas in the region sits at a knife’s edge—still recovering from years of drought and a historic famine, too much rain leads to flooding and water-borne diseases. Both varieties of extreme weather place enormous stress on livestock systems across the region, on which communities rely for both sustenance and livelihoods.
There is no question that most climate activists and governments were delighted when Brazil offered to host the 2025 UN Climate Conference taking place this November.
While recent heat waves were causing
thousands of deaths, the Trump administration was busy
dismantling policies that regulate greenhouse gases on the theory they don’t harm human health.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued one of the most progressive climate justice decisions of our time. Its historic
Advisory Opinion on the climate emergency and human rights, released on July 3, 2025, was unequivocal: States have legal obligations under international human rights law to reduce, prevent, and address climate damage, including reining in big polluters.
CIVICUS speaks with Matthew Renshaw, a partner at a UK law firm that represents Nigerian communities taking legal action against Shell over environmental damage caused by its operations in the Niger Delta.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stands on the precipice of a profound environmental and social crisis, as the government prepares to auction 55 new oil blocks that cover more than half the country’s landmass.
US President Trump has successfully used tariff threats to achieve economic, political and even personal goals. These threats, reminiscent of colonialism, have secured submission and concessions.
Two-thirds of the developing world, or ninety-five out of 143 economies, are dependent on commodities for export value, making up 60 percent of their merchandise
exports. For the least developed world, this number rises to 80 percent, leaving entire nation's revenue vulnerable to price swings, fiscal shocks, and evolving trade compositions. Hidden behind the numbers lies a deeper transformation, one disrupting fossil fuel trade, triggering a higher reliance on mineral exports, particularly on mining essential for green technologies.
The UN80 Initiative, unveiled in March by Secretary-General António Guterres, is a system-wide effort to reaffirm the UN’s relevance for a rapidly changing world.
Still in its early stages and with few players, the poultry sector in El Salvador is taking small steps toward environmentally sustainable production by using its biological waste to generate biogas and, in turn, electricity –an equation that benefits the natural environment, communities, and the farms themselves.
As a result of the worsening climate crisis, extreme weather patterns have disrupted nearly all aspects of human life around the world. With the impacts of fossil fuel reliance being more pronounced than ever before, the United Nations (UN) has implored governments and industries to begin adopting more sustainable, renewable energy sources.
At the UN 2025 High Level Political Forum last week, global energy leaders warned that without urgent action in expanding access to clean energy, hundreds of millions will remain vulnerable, and the world will risk falling short of its 2030 SDG deadline.
Nearly ten years after the
Paris Agreement — a legally binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — the
gap between climate goals and government actions remains stubborn.
China, with its investments, products, technology, and innovation focused on solar and wind farms in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as on electricity networks and services, stands out as a driving force for the region's shift toward energy less reliant on fossil fuels and increasingly cleaner and greener.
In the heart of Burkina Faso’s drylands, in the village of Zoungou, a quiet transformation is underway. Alhaji Birba Issa, a smallholder onion farmer, bends over neat rows of lush green crops, the hum of solar-powered pumps audible in the background.
Thailand’s transport sector is a significant contributor to national greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 18.4 per cent of the
country’s total emissions. Bangkok is at the centre of this challenge. With more registered vehicles than residents, the resulting traffic congestion worsens air pollution and strains the city’s roads and overall mobility infrastructure.
CIVICUS speaks with Claude Iguma, a mining governance expert with a PhD in Social Sciences, who is based in Bukavu, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).