Climate Change

Renewable Energy: The Untold Story of an African Revolution

By Wambi Michael
Africa is experiencing a revolution towards cleaner energy through renewable energy but the story has hardly been told to the world, says Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Glaciers and Fruit Dying in Peru with no Response from COP20

By Milagros Salazar
Snow-capped mountains may become a thing of the past in Peru, which has 70 percent of the world’s tropical glaciers. And farmers in these ecosystems are having a hard time adapting to the higher temperatures, while the governments of 195 countries are wrapping up the climate change talks in Lima without addressing this situation facing the host country.

OPINION: Climate Change and Inequalities: How Will They Impact Women?

By Susan McDade
Among all the impacts of climate change, from rising sea levels to landslides and flooding, there is one that does not get the attention it deserves: an exacerbation of inequalities, particularly for women.

Climate Change Creates New Geography of Food

By Fabíola Ortiz
The magnitude of the climate changes brought about by global warming and the alterations in rainfall patterns are modifying the geography of food production in the tropics, warned participants at the climate summit in the Peruvian capital.

Pushing for Gender Equity at COP20

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Despite international acknowledgement that women are disproportionately affected by climate change, the Lima climate negotiations have been slow to deliver progress on recognising their importance, while threats of pushback loom on the horizon.

Africa Sets Demands for Post-2015 Climate Agreement

By Wambi Michael
The post-2015 global climate change agreement should be flexible and fully resourced or else condemn Africa to another cycle of poverty resulting from the adverse effects of climate change.

The Rapid Rise of Green Bonds

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

Mangrove Conservation Paves the Way to a Sustainable Future

By Malini Shankar
When the Asian tsunami washed over several Indian Ocean Rim countries on Boxing Day 2004, it left a trail of destruction in its wake, including a death toll that touched 230,000.

Divestment Campaign Aims to Bleed Dry the Fossil Fuel Industry

By Leehi Yona and Diego Arguedas Ortiz
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.

OPINION: Women Must Be Partners and Drivers of Climate Change Decision-Making

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
As leaders from around the world gather in Lima, Peru this week to discuss global cooperation in addressing climate change, a woman in Guatemala will struggle to feed her family from a farm plot that produces less each season.

Climate Neutrality – the Lifeboat Launched by Lima

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
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

By Kristen Lyons
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

By Milagros Salazar
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.

“What’s Good for Island States Is Good for the Planet”

By Desmond Brown
The lead negotiator for an inter-governmental organisation of low-lying coastal and small island countries doesn't mince words. She says the new international climate change treaty being drafted here at the ongoing U.N. Climate Change Conference “is to ensure our survival".

Indonesia’s New President Promises to Put Peat Before Palm Oil

By Jeff Conant
Last week, Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo, ordered the country’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry to review the licenses of all companies that have converted peatlands to oil palm plantations.

U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals Remain Intact

By Thalif Deen
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has refused to jettison any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by an Open Working Group of member states: goals aimed at launching the U.N.'s new post-2015 development agenda through 2030.

Q&A: Why Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism is at a Crossroads

By Wambi Michael
The U.N. mechanism for supporting carbon emissions projects in developing countries – the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – is in crisis as a result of a dramatic slump in the prices being paid for carbon credits.

OPINION: To Conserve Arctic Species, Take Action in Africa

By Jacques Trouvilliez
So great are the contrasts between the frozen empty expanses of the far north and Africa’s baking deserts, steamy rain forests and savannahs that any direct connections between the two seem far-fetched - if they indeed exist at all.

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

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
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

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

Africa Laments as Kyoto Protocol Hangs in Limbo

By Wambi Michael
African countries fought hard for the Kyoto Protocol not to die on African soil at the 2011 Climate Change Conference in South Africa, but they say it is now languishing in limbo because developed countries are taking what they called “baby steps" towards ratification of the Doha Amendment that gave it a new lease of life.
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