Environment

Are Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Donald John Trump a Menace to the Planet?

By Jan Lundius
We live in different worlds. The ones of friends, family and work colleagues. Worlds which are overshadowed by other, much bigger ones. Global spheres of international finance, politics, climate change, etc., contexts that might threaten our smaller circle of relationships; our family, our income, our general wellbeing, in short – our entire existence. However, even at those levels there exist small circles of acquaintances and associates able to make decisions that affect the entire humankind. Let me take one example – the regimes of U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, which are menacing our global natural habitat.

Is India on Track to Beat the Perfect Storm?

By Manipadma Jena
“The Perfect Storm” was a dire prediction that by 2030 food shortages, scarce water and insufficient energy resources together with climate change would threaten to unleash public unrest, cross-border conflicts and mass migration from worst-affected regions.

How India’s Indigenous Female Forest Dwellers Feel about Owning Their Own Land

By Stella Paul
Kumaribai Jamkatan, 51, has been fighting for women’s land rights since 1987. Though the constitution of India grants equal rights to men and women, women first started to stake their claim for formal ownership of land only after 2005–the year the government accorded legal rights to daughters to be co-owners of family-owned land.

In the Midst of Conflict, India’s Indigenous Female Forest Dwellers Own their Land

By Stella Paul
Jam Bai, an Indigenous farmer from Korchi village in western India, is a woman in hurry. After two months of waiting, the rains have finally come and the rice saplings for her paddy fields must be sown this week while the land is still soft.

Burning Forests for Rain, and Other Climate Catastrophes

By Miriam Gathigah
The villagers living on the foothills of Mount Kenya have a belief: If they burn the forest, the rains will come.

Land Degradation Jeopardizes Ability to Feed the World

By Ibrahim Thiaw
We have known for over 25 years that poor land use and management are major drivers of climate change, but have never mustered the political will to act.

Desertification a Frontline Against Climate Change: IPCC

By James Reinl
A new United Nations report has described farming, land degradation and desertification as critical frontlines in the battle to keep the global rise in temperatures below the benchmark figure of 2 degrees Celsius.

Global Geodetic Framework Helps Monitor Natural Disasters & Rising Sea Levels

By Lakshi De Vass Gunawardena
There are several initiatives in place to foster sustainable development-- and the Global Geodetic Reference governance frame is one that has proved effective.

Your Life or Your Freedom? The Ultimate Price to Defend the Environment

By Natalia Gomez
For the family of indigenous Guatemalan activist Jorge Juc, the announcement last week by US President Donald Trump of an agreement declaring Guatemala a “safe third country” could not be more bitterly ironic.

Extreme Floods, the Key to Climate Change Adaptation in Africa’s Drylands

By Isaiah Esipisu
Extreme rainfall and heavy flooding, often amplified by climate change, causes devastation among communities. But new research published on Aug. 7 in the scientific journal Nature reveals that these dangerous events are extremely significant in recharging groundwater aquifers in drylands across sub-Saharan Africa, making them important for climate change adaptation.

Environmental Migration a Global Challenge

By Dina Ionesco
The Atlas of Environmental Migration, which gives examples dating as far back as 45,000 years ago, shows that environmental changes and natural disasters have played a role in how the population is distributed on our planet throughout history.

What a Little Pigeon Could Teach Our World

By Greg Benchwick
Over 100 years ago a little brown passenger pigeon named Martha died in the Cincinnati Zoo. She was the last of her breed. Just like that, in an instant, a bird species that had once numbered in the billions was wiped out forever.

Producing Clean Energy from Pigsties in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Pigs, already the main source of income in this small municipality in southwestern Brazil, now have even more value as a source of electricity.

A Call for Healthy, Blue Oceans in Asia and the Pacific

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Leaders at the Group of 20 summit last month agreed on the “Osaka Blue Ocean Vision,” which aims to reduce additional pollution by marine plastic litter to zero by 2050. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) stands ready to support Japan and other countries in the region to ensure healthy and sustainable oceans.

Protect, Support and Empower Girls in Lake Chad Region

By Lakshi De Vass Gunawardena
As Lake Chad enters its 10th year of conflict, millions of young girls are being used and manipulated in grotesque ways. Maria Sole Fanuzzi, Lake Chad Child Protection Specialist at Plan International, said: “New York City has 8.25 million people, so when we talk about the girls in the Lake Chad crisis, you have to imagine the whole city where we are now is completely filled by children, and half of that would be girls.”

Boom or Bust -Education Will Determine Africa’s Transformation

By Francis Owino and Siddharth Chatterjee
August 12, marks International Youth Day, and the theme for this year is ‘making education more relevant, equitable and inclusive’, is particularly apt for Africa. Consider this. Every 24 hours around 35,000 African youth are looking for work.

Extreme Weather Events are Just the Tip of Rapidly Melting Icebergs

By António Guterres
First August. It is the middle of summer in the northern hemisphere. We are witnessing not only record global warming but global political tensions are also heating up.

A Rural Sanitation Model That Works

By Liby Johnson
Research and experience across more than two decades in rural Odisha, India, show that an effective rural sanitation model requires both financial assistance and an integrated water supply.

Using Renewable Energy and the Circular Economy to Fight Poverty in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
On the outer edges of Buenos Aires proper, where the paved streets end and the narrow alleyways of one of Argentina’s largest shantytowns begin, visitors can find the En Haccore soup kitchen.

Money Grows on Trees–Don’t Uproot Them

By Friday Phiri
Jennifer Handondo, a small scale farmer of Choma district in southern Zambia, plants food crops such as maize mostly for her family’s needs. Because of uncharacteristically high temperatures and low rainfall during the rainy season in March, the divorced mother who single-handedly supports her three children, has not been able to harvest as much as she usually does. So she has diversified into selling seedlings of neem, Moringa and other medicinal trees.

As SDGs Falter, the UN Turns to the Rich and Famous

By Barbara Crossette
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in trouble. United Nations officials are concerned and say so publicly. Secretary-General António Guterres joined in raising an alarm in mid-July when he introduced the most recent official UN report.
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