Environment

Despite Climate Crisis, Politicians Will Double the Production of Energy from Fossil Fuels

By Bruno Kappa
In a time when the world's scientific community sounds louder, and stronger than ever, the alarm about the fast growing climate crisis and its destructive impacts, governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030.

COP26: Building Climate Resilience Will Require a Focus on Those Furthest Behind

By Julie Kedroske
As the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, approaches (31 October -12 November in Glasgow, Scotland), climate action is more urgent than ever. Yes, we need climate change mitigation.

Climate Change: How 1.300 Billion Africans Cause Least But Suffer Most

By Baher Kamal
While Africa reportedly causes just 4 percent of global emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) —an acidic colourless gas with a density about 53% higher than that of dry air, causing climate change—, this vast continent, home to over 1.300 billion inhabitants in 52 countries, bears the heaviest brunt of 80 percent of the climate crisis destructive impacts.

Forests & Climate: We Need to do Much, Much More

By Fran Price
Governments agree that saving the climate means saving forests – but ambition and action fall short of what’s required. First the good news: one of the forest goals agreed by governments, businesses and civil society organizations has been met.

Turning Carriers of Water into Managers of Water

By Ignatius Banda
Each morning, Langelihle Tshuma checks her taps to confirm the water supply before preparing for the day ahead. Despite living in the city, the married housewife and mother of four has become accustomed to what in most cities would be considered an essential service.

Will Countries Reach an Agreement at COP26?

By Khondaker Golam Moazzem and Abdullah Fahad
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is following the developments of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. Being one of the major climate-vulnerable countries, Bangladesh is a major party to this international conference. The CPD Power and Energy Study will publish a series of articles on key climate change-related issues highlighting the contexts, main debates and their impact and implications for Bangladesh. Articles will be published in The Daily Star every week till the middle of December 2021.

What Fate for Three Billion of Humans Who Are Born Equals?

By Baher Kamal
While more than a third of all purchased food is wasted in rich, mostly Western States, and a similar percentage is lost in poor countries due to the lack of appropriate harvesting, storage and transportation facilities, over three billion people --or some 40 percent of world population-- cannot afford a healthy diet. Add to these figures --which were released by UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16 October this year, marking the World Food Day-- another dramatic fact.

Hamburgers and Climate Change

By Joseph Chamie
Probably no country is more closely associated with the hamburger than the United States. It’s fair to say that the hamburger is the country’s culinary icon. It’s the most popular fast food consumed and readily available from coast to coast.

Table Banking Helping Women in Kenya to Put Food on the Table

By Joyce Chimbi
Pascaline Chemutai’s five acres of land located in the country’s breadbasket region of Rift Valley recently produced 115 bags of maize, each weighing 90 kilograms. She tells IPS that of these, 110 bags will be transported to traders in Nairobi and neighbouring Kiambu County at a negotiated price of $23 per bag.

How Land Management Can Restore Hope to Women in Rural Kenya

By Stella Paul
Jenifer Kamba, 33, has always loved farming – a love passed on to her by her late husband after they married 14 years ago. The young farmer duo grew maise, pepper and vegetables on their two-acre farm in Kivandini of Kenya’s Machakos county. Even after her husband died five years ago, Kamba didn’t stop farming.  However, of late, the soil looks dry, and her production has declined considerably.

Winning the Human Race, Together

By Yasmine Sherif
“Now is the time for a stronger, more networked and inclusive multilateral system anchored in the United Nations,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his latest report “Our Common Agenda.” Indeed, there is a fork in the road: we can either choose to breakdown or to breakthrough.

Atoll Nation of Tuvalu Adopts ‘Cubes’ to Step Up Nutritious Food Production

By Catherine Wilson
Tuvalu, a small atoll island nation in the Central Pacific Ocean, is one of few countries in the world to have so far evaded the pandemic. But, while it has achieved a milestone with no recorded cases of COVID-19, its population of about 11,931 continues to battle food uncertainties and poor nutrition. These challenges, present long before the pandemic emerged, have been exacerbated by lockdown restrictions and economic hardships during the past year and a half.

World Food Day: Climate Change is Exacerbating Hunger & Conflict—it’s Time to Break the Cycle

By Farah Hegazi and Caroline Delgado
Hunger, violent conflict and the visible impacts of climate change are all on the rise. World Food Day, October 16, is a reminder that we need to talk about the intricate ways that these challenges are connected—and how to tackle them together.

GGGI and Qatar MME sign an MoU and funding agreement to promote climate resilience and green growth in Qatar

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) of the State of Qatar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize their joint cooperation to promote climate resiliency and green growth in the State of Qatar.

China and the UN at 50- What We Can Achieve Together

By Siddharth Chatterjee
China was one of the architects of the United Nations and was the first signatory of the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945. But it was only in October 1971, with the Chinese delegation led by Mr. Qiao Guanhua, that China’s representation at the UN resumed. Since that time, the UN has had the great privilege of witnessing and supporting China in achieving one of the greatest periods of socio-economic progress in world history.

Pandemic Highlights Urgent Need to Improve Sanitation in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Basic sanitation, a sector that is undervalued because, according to politicians, it does not bring in votes, has gained relevance in Brazil due to the pandemic that has hit the poor especially hard and the drought that threatens millions of people.

Rural Communities in El Salvador United to Supply Water for Themselves – VIDEO

By Edgardo Ayala
As the saying goes, united we stand, divided we fall, hundreds of families in rural communities in El Salvador are standing together to gain access to drinking water.

Hack the Planet Competition 2021 Finalists Offer Innovative Climate and Ocean Solutions

After an unprecedented pan-Commonwealth search for innovative satellite-driven solutions to tackle the challenges of the climate emergency and ocean sustainability, the Satellite Applications Catapult and the Commonwealth Secretariat are delighted to announce the inaugural finalists of the Hack the Planet competition 2021.

Mangrove Blue Carbon for Climate Change Mitigation

By Joyce Chimbi
Smelly, boggy, and full of bugs, mangroves’ superpowers are well hidden. However, there is rising confidence that mangroves are the silver bullet to combat the effects of climate change.

Where on Earth is a Water-Secure World?

By Vladimir Smakhtin
It is not uncommon for a water-centric research, policy or development organization or network to declare its long-term vision of the “water-secure world”. It reads nicely and feels great.

Less Overseas Coal Is Good, But Developing Countries Still Need More Electricity

By Philippe Benoit
President Xi announced last month that China is stopping its financing for new coal-fired power plants overseas. With this announcement from Beijing, the governments of the world’s largest economies have now achieved a consensus to halt their overseas funding of coal plants in developing countries, thereby advancing global efforts to reduce future carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
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