The Rapid Rise of Green Bonds

Most countries joining the growing list of nations pursuing clean geothermal power have been confronted with a huge financial challenge.

Nuclear States Face Barrage of Criticism in Vienna

Sarcastic laughter erupted when a civil society representative expressed his “admiration for the delegate of the United States, who with one insensitive, ill-timed, inappropriate and diplomatically inept intervention” had “managed to dispel the considerable goodwill the U.S. had garnered by its decision to participate” in Vienna Conference on Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons.

Latin America Faces the Novelty and Challenge of Ageing

The eternally young Latin America is also ageing, due to the rise in life expectancy and the drop in birth rates - a demographic revolution that poses new challenges in a region that has begun to move slowly away from its status as the most unequal part of the world.

Civil Society Support for Marshall Islands Against Nuclear Weapons

Ahead of the Dec. 8-9 Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, activists from all over the world came together in the Austrian capital to participate in a civil society forum organised by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on Dec. 6 and 7.

Divestment Campaign Aims to Bleed Dry the Fossil Fuel Industry

Even as the presence of major oil and gas corporations is nearly ubiquitous at the U.N. climate talks in the Peruvian capital known as COP20, fossil fuel divestment campaigns have gained ground in various countries and are moving to counter the influence of the "dirty energy" lobby here.

Climate Neutrality – the Lifeboat Launched by Lima

Packed into stifling meeting rooms in the Peruvian capital, delegates from 195 countries are trying to find a path that would make it possible for the planet to reach climate neutrality in the second half of this century – the only way to avoid irreversible damage, scientists warn.

OPINION: Addressing Climate Change Requires Real Solutions, Not Blind Faith in the Magic of Markets

Norwegians know something of life in a climate change world. Migratory birds arrive earlier in spring, trees come into leaf before previously expected, and palsa mires (wetlands) are being lost as permafrost thaws.

“Indigenous Peoples Are the Owners of the Land” Say Activists at COP20

The clamor of indigenous peoples for recognition of their ancestral lands resounded among the delegates of 195 countries at the climate summit taking place in the Peruvian capital. “I want my land…that’s where I live and eat, and it’s where my saintly grandparents lie,” Diana Ríos shouted with rage.

War Knocks on Door of Youth Centre in Zwara

It could be a squat house anywhere: music is playing non-stop and there is also a radio station and an art exhibition. However, weapons are also on display among the instruments, and most here wear camouflage uniform.

Climate and Post-2015 Development Agenda Talks Share the Same Path

The international community’s post-2015 development agenda will depend, in key aspects, on whether the delegates of 195 countries meeting now at the climate summit in the Peruvian capital reach an agreement to reduce global warming, since climate change affects all human activity.

Climate Finance Flowing, But for Many, the Well Remains Dry

For more than 10 years, Mildred Crawford has been “a voice in the wilderness” crying out on behalf of rural women in agriculture.

Football Stars Join ‘Africa United’ Campaign to Stop Spread of Ebola

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has joined a number of football stars, celebrities, international health organisations and corporations in the ‘Africa United’ global health communications campaign aimed at preventing the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

Native Villagers in Honduras Bet on Food Security – and Win

The town’s dynamic mayor, Sandro Martínez, assumed the commitment of turning the Honduran municipality of Victoria into a model of food and nutritional security and environmental protection by means of municipal public policies based on broad social and community participation and international development aid.

U.N. Chief, Under Fire, Moves Closer to Gender Parity

When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named an international panel to review peacekeeping operations last October, the announcement was greeted with bitter criticism because it lacked even a semblance of gender balance: only three out of 14 members were women.

Ebola Overshadows Fight Against HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone

The outbreak of the deadly Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone has dwarfed the campaign against HIV/AIDS, to the extent that patients no longer go to hospitals and treatment centres out of fear of contracting the Ebola virus.

HIV Prevention is Failing Young South African Women

When she found out that she had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Thabisile Mkhize (not her real name) was scared.

Illegal Logging Wreaking Havoc on Impoverished Rural Communities

Rampant unsustainable logging in the southwest Pacific Island states of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, where the majority of land is covered in tropical rainforest, is worsening hardship, human insecurity and conflict in rural communities.

Athens Sit-in Highlights Catch-22 for Refugees

A sit-in protest by Syrian refugees on Syntagma Square opposite the Greek parliament in the heart of Athens has turned into a demonstration of the stalemate faced by both Greek as well as European immigration policy.

Elections Offer Little Solace to Sri Lanka’s Poor

Priyantha Wakvitta is used to seeing his adopted city, Colombo, transform into a landscape of bright sparkling lights and window dressing towards the end of the year.

Indigenous Community Beats Drought and Malnutrition in Honduras

In the heart of the Pijol mountains in the northern Honduran province of Yoro, the Tolupan indigenous community of Pueblo Nuevo has a lot to celebrate: famine is no longer a problem for them, and their youngest children were rescued from the grip of child malnutrition.

Democratising the Fight against Malnutrition

There is a new dimension to the issue of malnutrition – governments, civil society and the private sector have started to come together around a common nutrition agenda.