Climate Change

COVID-19 Teaches Us to Better Manage Global Systemic Risks

By Liu Zhenmin
Millions of lives lost. Trillions of dollars in economic damage. Over 120 million more people pushed into extreme poverty. The human and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is almost unimaginable – a once-in-a-century catastrophe.

New Report Calls for Improved Eating Habits in a World of Extremes

By Ignatius Banda
With the two extremes of global hunger and obesity on the increase, a new report suggests a radical reset for food and nutrition to ensure the long-term sustainability of livelihoods and the environment.

Barilla Foundation Brings Health and Climate Together in New Double Pyramid

By Alison Kentish
Following an extensive scientific review, the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation (BCFN) is preparing to launch a new food systems model which incorporates nutrition and climate.

Indonesia’s Climate Villages Where Communities Work Together to Mitigate Climate Change

By Kanis Dursin
Residents of Ngadirejo village in Sukaharjo regency, Central Java province, had often found themselves helpless when their wells dried up or water flooded through their homes. But thanks to a national campaign called Program Kampung Iklim, known by its acronym ProKlim, they now have solutions to this flooding that generally occurs because of a lack of adequate water catchments.

Transforming Global Food Systems
Jose Graziano da Silva on the Path to Zero Hunger

By Timothy A. Wise
The battle for the future of food has grown contentious, and José Graziano da Silva has become a lightning rod for criticism. In 2014, as Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), he presided over the institution’s first International Agroecology Symposium, opening what he called “a new window in the Cathedral of the Green Revolution.” The FAO has since then formalized support for “Scaling Up Agroecology” while continuing to promote the kinds of chemical-intensive agriculture associated with the Green Revolution.

Getting to Better than Normal in a Post-COVID-19 World

By Cecilia Russell
Girls in Asia don't want to go back to normal – they want to go "back to better than normal", says Zara Rapoport, a delegate during an online seminar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender.

Should the 2021 Climate Summit in Glasgow Still Take Place?

By Felix Dodds, Michael Strauss, and Chris Spence
Among the COVID-19 pandemic’s many damaging impacts, could a halt to international progress on environmental issues be added to the list?

What’s in a Hurricane Name? Dorian, Laura, Eta & Iota Retired from WMO List

By Michelle Langrand
The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Hurricane Committee decided at its annual meeting to retire four tropical cyclone names from its rotating list after assessing the record-breaking hurricane 2020 season.

Hope & Numbers: What will it take to Tip the Scales on Climate Action?

By Naomi Goodman
We should be well on the way to solving the climate crisis by now. According to the Paris Agreement, last year should have been the year that all countries presented their commitments to cut carbon emissions for limiting global climate heating to within 1.5oC of pre-industrial levels.

World Water Day: Cry for Water in the South

By Pinaki Roy and Dipankar Roy
Roksana Khatun moves aside dirt and floating leaves from a pond, slowly lowers her earthen pitcher into it and fills it with around 20 litres of water.

Why Water & Sanitation Systems are Vital for the Economy

By Catarina de Albuquerque
This World Water Day, we celebrate the value of water, which at first might be a given: after all, water is the basis of all life. Without water we have no health, wealth, equality, or education.

The Value of Water Goes Far Beyond its Stock Price

By Lyla Mehta and Alan Nicol*
In the midst of a global pandemic, when the presence of water in our lives has never seemed more important, its future availability has also never been more uncertain.

Access to Safe Water Never Loses Value

By Gillian Winkler
The global community is celebrating World Water Day 2021. In the COVID-19 pandemic era, the importance and value of water for all people has never been clearer. Access to safe water is essential for public health and thriving communities.

A Moral Failure: Billions of People with No Access to Clean Drinking Water

By Volkan Bozkir *
Water is integral to sustainable development, but we are well behind on the goals and targets that we have set ourselves.

Clean Water Vital for Protecting Those on the Frontline of Climate Change in Post-Pandemic World

By Jonathan Farr
For many, the last year will be remembered as the time our day-to-day lives screeched to a halt. As Covid-19 spread mercilessly across the world, wreaking havoc on health and livelihoods, world leaders, health experts and scientists grappled with how to protect populations and stem the tide of the virus.

Sustainable Development Goals Can Guide Asia-Pacific to Build Back Better

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
The COVID-19 crisis poses an unprecedented threat to development in the Asia-Pacific region that could reverse much of the hard-earned progress made in recent years. The good news is we know how to tackle this challenge. Recovery from the pandemic and our global efforts to deliver the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 must go hand-in-hand. The Goals provide a compass to navigate this crisis, faster and greener, everywhere and for everyone.

COP26 and India’s NDCs

By Simi Mehta and Ritika Gupta
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that the world is collectively facing at the moment. It is contended that strengthening the global response is pertinent to combat the threat of climate change.

International Women’s Day, 2021
More Women Leaders Make Better Societies

By Simona Marinescu
This year it will be 128 years since the right of women to vote was first recognized, with New Zealand becoming the first nation to allow the participation of women in its general election in 1893. From the suffragettes - to today’s feminists, both men and women have fought to increase women’s political participation and representation. It has been a slow, sometimes bitter and occasionally even dangerous struggle. Yet global progress remains slow and uneven – as it does in Samoa. As we approach the 2021 General Election on 9 April, it is important to remember that women’s full and effective participation in all areas of life drives progress for everyone.

Only Small Percentage of COVID-19 Recovery Allocated to Green Initiatives

By Samira Sadeque
Last year, only $368 billion of a $14.6tn budget geared towards COVID-19 recovery measures across the world’s largest 50 countries took into account green recovery initiatives, according to a report launched yesterday, Mar. 10.

International Women’s Day, 2021
Why Green Growth and Climate Action Fall Short Without Addressing Gender Inequality

By Frank Rijsberman, Ingvild Solvang and Bertha Wakisa Chiudza
As the global effort to address climate change has strengthened over the last few years, so has the realization that rising temperatures and climactic disruptions disproportionately impact women, particularly in developing countries, as they tend to be more dependent upon natural resources and are thus overrepresented in resource-intensive economic sectors. Furthermore, inherent in gender inequality are disadvantages for and discrimination against women in all facets of society, including in the economy and politics. Thus, it is unfortunate, yet perhaps unsurprising, that these structural disparities are mirrored in the negative effects of climate change. Therefore, if gender differences are not incorporated into climate change plans, women will be unable to access the co-benefits that arise from concerted climate action.

International Women’s Day, 2021
Recognizing Rural Women as Central to Cost-COVID Recovery: An Imperative for International Women’s Day

By Haley Zaremba
In times of crisis, policymakers have a tendency to prioritize economic recovery while leaving “social issues” like women’s empowerment on the backburner. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, women’s leadership is as essential to full and meaningful recovery as it is to basic human rights. As the world mobilizes to design and build a post-COVID landscape, women’s rights, interests and priorities must not only be included in international recovery agendas but pushed to the forefront. To achieve this, women themselves must not simply be included in the discussion, but equitably represented in leadership roles.
Next Page »