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Sunday, June 7, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Combating Desertification and Drought
China Battles Desertification
As scientists increasingly label desertification as one of the most burning challenges facing the world today, a small village in China’s semi-arid Northeastern region of Inner Mongolia is fighting back.
RIO+20: Promised Green Economy Was a Fake, Say Activists
When the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development ended Friday, there were winners and losers – mostly losers.
Rio Outcome Bleak With No New Funding*
Amidst recrimination, anger and charges of “strong arm tactics”, negotiators eventually endorsed a global plan of action for sustainable development following marathon sessions lasting over six weary days.
New Set of Sustainable Development Goals Looks Beyond 2015*
When world leaders from over 100 countries wind up their three-day Rio+20 summit in Brazil next week, they will leave behind the shattered remains of a slew of proposals that never got off the ground.
Cilantro Spices Up Coexistence with Drought in Brazil
Many grow lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, beets and other vegetables. But cilantro is ever-present in the gardens that are helping rural families weather the lengthy drought that is once again wracking Brazil’s impoverished Northeast.
Activists Aren’t Mourning Obama’s Absence at Rio Summit
When a reluctant George H.W. Bush, Sr., then U.S. president, changed his mind and decided at the eleventh hour to address the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, he sounded defensive in his strong response to charges that the United States was one of the major powers responsible for the some of the world's worst environmental ills - from greenhouse gases to conspicuous consumption.
Indian Ocean Rim Countries Battered by Disasters – Part 2
The heat wave in the Indian state of Orissa, which saw a 10-degree Celsius increase in summer temperatures last month, claimed 21 lives, according to government sources; unofficial estimates counted 87 deaths.
Rio+20: Transforming Political Platitudes into Economic Realities
When world leaders endorse the final plan of action, titled "The Future We Want, at the Rio+20 summit in Brazil next week, a lingering question may remain unanswered: how best can the United Nations transform political platitudes into economic realities?
Q&A: “Today’s Food System Is Failing Small Farmers”
With heads of state from more than 120 nations and tens of thousands of civil society and international development experts gathering for the U.N. Summit on Sustainable Development next week, it is accepted wisdom that rethinking agriculture is one of most critical issues facing this and future generations.
Will Water Dry Up at Summit on Sustainable Development?
The headline in a New York newspaper last March captured the essence of a future potential threat to political stability the world over: "U.S. Report Sees Tensions Over Water."
How Would You Measure Success at the Rio Summit?
When the heavily hyped three-day U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) comes to a close in Rio de Janeiro Jun. 22, what would be the yardstick to measure its successes and failures?
Calls for an African Green Revolution, Only Smarter
To deal with looming food crises in the coming decades, Africa needs a Green Revolution on par with what took place in Asia during the 1960s and 1970s, according to experts in Washington.
“Land Is Our Ally, But Its Patience Is Not Eternal”
Land degradation poses a threat to all life on Earth including humanity. To stop the enormous loss of life-giving land, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is pushing for a sustainable development goal of Zero Net Land Degradation (ZNLD) to be adopted at the upcoming Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, in Brazil.
Q&A: The World Must Learn From Smallholder Farmers
As Africa's Sahel region faces a new food crisis, smallholder famers hold the key to making future development policies sustainable.
Action Needed Now to Prepare for Severe Drought
Mexico and Central America look like they are covered in dried blood on maps projecting future soil moisture conditions.Will Climate Refugees Get Promised Aid?
With extreme weather pounding countries across a wide arc in the Asia-Pacific region, questions hover over entitlements for millions of people displaced by climate change, pledged under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other sources.
Treat Illegal Logging Like Organised Crime, Urges World Bank
With illegal loggers clearing the equivalent of a football field of the world's most valuable forests every two seconds, local and international law enforcement systems should target the criminal operations that profit most from the trade, according to a new report released here Tuesday by the World Bank.
Rio+20 Summit: A Moment That Must Be Seized
The upcoming Rio+20 conference has to be the moment in human history when the nations of the world come together to find ways to ensure the very survival of humanity, many science and environmental experts believe.Warming to Ignite the Carbon Bomb
Rising temperatures are drying out northern forests and peatlands, producing bigger and more intense fires. And this will only get much worse as the planet heats up from the use of ever larger amounts of fossil fuels, scientists warned last week at the end of a major science meeting in Vancouver.
ARGENTINA: Three-Quarters of “Breadbasket” Is Drylands
How has Argentina managed to maintain its image as one of the world's breadbaskets when a full three-fourths of its territory consists of drylands? This was one of the questions raised by the scientists who decided to create the National Observatory on Land Degradation and Desertification this year.
COTE D’IVOIRE: Illicit Timber Trade Exposes the North to Drought
Environmental groups in Côte d'Ivoire say the illegal logging and sale of wood from the African gum tree is exposing the north of the country to the encroaching desert. The NGOs are calling on the authorities to take firmer action against the illicit timber traders – who allegedly include government officials.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Today, some two billion people depend on ecosystems in dryland areas, with 90 percent of them living in developing countries. But the pace of arable land degradation is accelerating – now estimated at 35 times the historical rate -- impacting biodiversity, availability of clean water and food security, as well as exposing vulnerable communities to the harsh impacts of climate change. As the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) works to improve the living conditions of people in the drylands. IPS looks at local solutions being implemented around the world, from restoring soil productivity and mitigating the effects of drought, to projects that empower communities to manage their dryland resources more effectively.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
