Environment

Island Women Take the Lead in Peatland Restoration

By Stella Paul
Eluminada Roca has lived all her life next to the  Leyte Sab-a Basin peatlands. The grandmother from of San Isidro village in Philippines’ Leyte island grew up looking at the green hills that feed water to the peatland, she harvested tikog—a peatland grass to weave mats—and ate the delicious fish that was once in abundant in the waters. But today, the land is losing its water, the grass is disappearing and the fish stock has drastically decreased.

Smart Tech Will Only Work for Women When the Fundamentals for Its Uptake Are in Place

By Ibrahim Thiaw
Science and technology offer exciting pathways for rural women to tackle the challenges they face daily. Innovative solutions for rural women can, for example, reduce their workload, raise food production and increase their participation in the paid labour market. But even the very best innovative, gender-appropriate technology makes no sense without access to other critical resources, especially secure land rights, which women in rural areas need to flourish.

Industrial Jobs in Danger When the Climate is to be Saved

By Linda Flood
The trade unions' solution for a greener world is new jobs with good working conditions. The critics argue that there's not enough time. ”We can either protect industrial jobs in the global north or save the climate”, says political scientist Tadzio Müller.

Healthy Oceans, Healthy Societies

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Over recent years, there have been shocking reports of marine endangerment and plastic pollution. The threats are clear, and now urgent action is needed more than ever.

Living with Leprosy on the Climate-Vulnerable Kiribati Island Atolls

By Stella Paul
Kurarenga Kaitire lives in Kiribati—one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. Already vulnerable to nature, the 29-year-old mother of five has faced a series of vulnerabilities over the past decade, including facing social stigma and domestic abuse.

Saving for a ‘Rainy Day’ Takes on New Meaning in Caribbean

By Kenton X. Chance
In the tiny eastern Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, proverbs relating to the weather are very common. Everyone knows that “Who has cocoa outside must look out for rain”, has nothing to do with the drying of the bean from which chocolate is made or the sudden downpours common in this tropical nation.

Q&A: Caught Up in the Opportunities of Climate Change and Less So With Adaptation

By Desmond Brown
Caribbean countries have been signalling their willingness to dedicate time and resources to implement and sustain effective multi-hazard early warning systems.

Doing Business with Nature

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
As the environment continues to degrade and natural resources deplete at unprecedented rates, spelling disastrous consequences for societies, a new tool aims to bring financial institutions into the fight to protect nature.

Bangladesh Needs Intensive Surveys to Gauge Potential of Its ‘Blue Economy’

By Muhammad Syfullah
(UNB/IPS) - Bangladesh needs intensive surveys in the Bay of Bengal, complemented by proper interpretation of the findings and appropriate research to gauge the potential of its ‘blue economy’ as the country largely depends on the stocks of living and non-living marine resources falling within its Exclusive Economic Zone, experts said.

Accelerating the Caribbean’s Climate Resilience

By Jewel Fraser
The Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator launched last year June with the backing of Virgin’s Richard Branson has given itself five years to help the region become climate resilient.

Does Climate Change Offer New Opportunities for Agriculture in Argentina?

By Daniel Gutman
Climate change poses a global threat to food production, but for agriculture in Argentina it could also present new opportunities. In some areas of the country, farming conditions will improve, according to an analysis by experts of the latest climate projections.

Taking the Lead in Fight Against Climate Change

By A. D. McKenzie
As the grandchild of Jamaican citizens who moved to Great Britain, Monique Taffe says she inherited a tradition of recycling and learned not to be part of the “throwaway culture”, as some environmentalists have labelled consumerist societies.

Local School Is a Model for Energy and Water in Rapa Nui

By Orlando Milesi
A school in the capital of Easter Island (Rapa Nui, in the local indigenous tongue) gives an example of clean management with the use of solar energy, rainwater recovery and an organic vegetable garden, as well as rooms and spaces built with waste materials.

The Future of Urbanism: Is the UAE Pioneering it?

By Rabiya Jaffery
According to data from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Arab world is one of the most urbanised areas in the world, with more than 70 per cent of the population of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)--- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-- living in urban areas.

‘No Way to Defend Ourselves Against the Onslaught of Climate Change’

By Desmond Brown
Two of the most prominent women in the Caribbean nation of Suriname are speaking out about developed countries that release large volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

A World Party

By Roberto Savio
I have been a member of the first international party: the Transnational Radical Party, founded in 1956 by Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino. Then in 1988, I was a witness of the large protest, in Berlin West, against the meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, a precursor of the “Battle of Seattle” in 1988, where 40.000 protesters disrupted the annual meeting of the two world’s financial institutions. I was even detained for a day by the police, even if was just a witness: my condition of foreigner made me automatically suspect.

Reverse Engineering for SDGs

By Dr. Kakoli Ghosh and Loreta Zdanovaite
When young people from small towns and villages seek higher education they have to usually migrate to big cities leaving their local communities behind. On completion of their degree from the Universities, they generally prefer staying in cities, in search of a good job and a successful career. Though this is a standard practice, it is also a case of lost opportunities, especially for students who pursue higher education in agriculture. Here is why.

Wake Up and Smell the Organic Coffee

By Busani Bafana
In 1992, the idea of replanting her father’s ruined coffee farm seemed foolhardy at the time. But in retrospect it was the best business decision that Dorienne Rowan-Campbell, an international development consultant and broadcast journalist, could have made.

Agribusiness Is the Problem, Not the Solution

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
For two centuries, all too many discussions about hunger and resource scarcity has been haunted by the ghost of Parson Thomas Malthus. Malthus warned that rising populations would exhaust resources, especially those needed for food production. Exponential population growth would outstrip food output.

In the World of Sustainability, Colonialism is Not Dead

By Zafirah Zein
Scandinavian fashion label and global It-brand Ganni hardly caused a stir recently when it closed Copenhagen Fashion Week with a sustainability-themed showcase titled “Life on Earth.”

Mining Grabs Up Land, Deals Blow to Agriculture in Central America

By Edgardo Ayala
Like an octopus, metals mining has been spreading its tentacles throughout Central America and dealing a blow to the region's agriculture and natural ecosystems, according to affected villagers, activists and a new report on the problem.
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