The Future of Food Security Lies Beyond COP29’s Negotiation Tables

Climate change has thrown our food systems into chaos. Extreme weather events and dramatic climate variations are hammering food production and supply chains across the world. As global leaders gear up for COP29, there’s plenty of buzz about climate action. But can we really expect these slow-moving, bureaucratic negotiations to deliver tangible and swift results to decarbonize and insulate our agri-food systems? Most likely not. But do not despair. While the COP29 talks unfold, crucial climate solutions for transforming food systems are already taking root on the ground.

Honduras: Environmental Defenders Still under Siege

Juan López was gunned down on 14 September. An environmental activist, community leader and member of the Municipal Committee in Defence of the Commons and Public Goods of Tocoa, he was the latest victim of extractive greed in Honduras. Communities protecting the rivers that flow through the Bajo Aguán region have seen several of their leaders assassinated.

Transparency and Inclusion: The Keys to Successful 30×30 Conservation

Two years ago world leaders from nearly 200 countries made a landmark commitment to protect and conserve at least 30% of the planet's land, ocean, and freshwater by 2030 - an initiative known as "30x30".

Race to Close Global Climate Finance Gaps Amid Escalating Climate Risks

The impact of climate change continues to devastate economies worldwide, creating a pressing need for all countries to significantly increase international climate finance. To drive critical action towards reduced climate risks and sustainable economic growth calls for expanded access to affordable, predictable finance at scale.

Building Water Security for the Next Generation in the Pacific Territories

The Pacific Islands region is both the frontline of the wrath that climate change is lashing on the environment and human life and the drive for innovation and solutions to stem the destruction and strengthen island environments for the future. The survival of life, even nations, in the Pacific depends on it.

Agroecology: The Game-Changing Solution to Global Food, Climate and Conflict Crises

Edward Mukiibi, President of Slow Food, champions agroecology as a transformative answer to the world's most pressing crises: food insecurity, climate change, and violent conflicts. In a world where these challenges intersect, Mukiibi called for an urgent rethink of our approach to food systems. 

Biogas, a Circular Energy, Advances in Brazil Thanks to Local Arrangements

“I don't know of a more sustainable technology for the transformation of society than biogas,” said Professor Alex Enrich-Prast, an activist for this energy alternative with a highly diversified and decentralised expansion in Brazil.

Why Africa Should Embrace Territorial Markets to Withstand Climate Shocks and Crises

African policymakers, local leaders and the private sector have been asked to create an enabling environment that will help African traders and farmer folks build reliable systems for food security and resilience through territorial markets. During a week-long 2024 Africa Agroecological Entrepreneurship and Seed Festival in Harare, Zimbabwe, experts observed that persistent crises have shown the importance of resilient close-to-home ‘territorial’ markets that feed billions of people every day—from public markets and street vendors to cooperatives, from urban agriculture to online direct sales, and from food hubs to community kitchens. 

Cuba’s Coastal Dwellers Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change

Every time a hurricane clouds the skies over the city of Manzanillo, in the eastern Cuban province of Granma, the sea pounds the Litoral neighbourhood, forcing many of the 200 families who live there to evacuate inland because of flooding. When the weather is calm, the sea penetrates subtly and constantly, salinizing the water table and eroding the coast, affecting the foundations of houses and artesian wells.

‘Australia Must Turn Its Climate Rhetoric into Action’

 
CIVICUS discusses the recent Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting in Tonga with Jacynta Fa’amau, Pacific Campaigner at 350.org, a global civil society organisation campaigning for climate action.

COP 29: High Stakes for Small Islands Fighting for Climate Finance

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change. When leaders of those islands met in Antigua and Barbuda in May, they let the world know that achieving climate justice hinges on comprehensive climate finance.

It’s Time for Rich Polluters to Pay for the Climate Crisis They Created

The world is standing at a critical juncture. Climate change is not just a future threat—it’s here, and it’s already devastating lives. From record-breaking heat waves to floods and landslides, the planet is sending us clear signals that we cannot afford to ignore.

Dying for a Cause: Environmental Defenders in the Firing Line

In 2017, South African activist Nonhle Mbuthuma took a stand against the powerful oil giant Shell, halting their plans to explore the pristine Wild Coast. Despite facing death threats, she refused to back down. As a co-founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and a 2024 Goldman Prize winner, Mbuthuma continues to fight for her community’s rights and the environment. Her bravery reflects the countless risks land and environmental defenders face across the globe.

Tanzania’s Maasai Women Adopt Climate-Smart Solutions To Tame Drought

In the scorching sun of Mikese village in Tanzania’s eastern Mvomero district, 31-year-old Maria Naeku tirelessly tends to her small vegetable patch. Each time she pulls a weed, the red soil stains her hands as she guides the trickle of water from a maze of pipes through an elevated bed to nurture her plants. In a drought-stricken area, Naeku's small garden is a lifeline for her family, giving them food and income.

Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto are Surging– and Tax Policy Can Help

What do crypto assets and artificial intelligence have in common? Both are power hungry. Because of the electricity used by high-powered equipment to “mine” crypto assets, one Bitcoin transaction requires roughly the same amount of electricity as the average person in Ghana or Pakistan consumes in three years. ChatGPT queries require 10 times more electricity than a Google search, due to the electricity consumed by AI data centers.

Net Zero by 2050 Delays Needed Urgent Climate Action

Net zero emissions by 2050 prioritise mitigation for climate stabilisation. Pledges to achieve this still distant target have grown but inadvertently delay urgently needed climate action in the near term.

It Is Time to Save The Deep Sea

This week’s United Nations General Assembly marks nearly 20 years since the body first resolved to restrict bottom trawling on the world’s seamounts, submarine mountains that rise thousands of feet above the sea floor and comprise some of the most biologically rich marine ecosystems on the planet.

Summit of the Future: On the Need for Civil Society to Make Its Voice Count at the UN

In a context of shrinking civic space that threatens civil society participation in an increasing number of countries and all the way to some UN processes, world leaders will gather to discuss the “multilateralism we want” at the Summit of the Future at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Forest Fires in the Amazon Threaten Earth’s Stability

This year has been the worst for the Amazon rainforest in almost two decades. Although there has been a measured decline in deforestation when compared to 2023, forest fires have ravaged acres of critical ecosystems. For the first eight months of this year, the Amazon has seen routine forest fires, totalling to over 53,000 recorded instances.

Governments Using Billions of Public Funds to Subsidize Climate-Destructive Industries—Report

A report examining corporate capture of public finance is accusing industries fueling the climate crisis, including fossil fuel ones, of draining public funds in the Global South, singling them out for squeezing out of governments USD 700 billion in public subsidies each year.

Explainer: Why Venezuela Needs To Reduce Its Gas Flaring

The most visible part of gas flaring in Venezuela is the so-called “Monagas illuminated nights.” These are red and orange skies, which are visible from the homes of the locals at night and which show the gas flaring in the oil fields of Monagas, a state located in the east of the Caribbean country and key in its oil production.