Environment

One Third of Food Lost, Wasted – Enough to Feed All Hungry People

By Baher Kamal
Believe it or not, the way to eradicate hunger from the face of the Earth is as feasible as it is handy. In fact, the current loss and waste of one-third of all food produced for human consumption would be just enough to feed the nearly one billion people who go to bed hungry every single night.

“Ambition & Action” Needed to End Open Defecation

By Will Higginbotham
What would life be like without access to a toilet? What if our waste was not properly disposed of?

Combating Climate Change? Combat Land Degradation, Says UNCCD Chief

By Stella Paul
Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admits Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD). But she also stresses that by 2050, the world population will reach 10 billion. To feed that extra 2.4 billion, current food production would need to be increased by 75 percent.

A Cop Out at COP23?

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Despite a few victories, the UN’s annual climate change conference ended without achieving its goals or injecting a sense of much needed urgency.

Climate-Smart Agriculture in Vanuatu: Learning to Grow

By Elisa Webster, CARE International and Julia Marango
It’s been dry in Isavai on the island of Aniwa for last couple of years – ever since Tropical Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu in March 2015, leaving an El Nino-induced drought in its wake. A dry phase is bad news for farmers anywhere, but in Aniwa, where there is no constant water source and the only water supply comes almost exclusively from harvesting rain into tanks, it’s disastrous.

Lobbying & Sponsorships at COP23 Corrupted Climate Talks

By Rabiya Jaffery
The world’s nations got together in Bonn, Germany, for the 23rd annual Conference of the Parties (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where nearly 200 countries and some 23, 000 delegates met to discuss and influence the negotiations over the rulebook of the Paris Agreement.

Desperate Need to Halt ‘World’s Largest Killer’ — Pollution

By Baher Kamal
Now that the lights of the UN climate change summit’s meeting rooms have been turned off in Bonn, after a week of intense negotiations and some partial results, another major environmental event is now scheduled in Nairobi, this time to search for ways to halt the world’s major killer – pollution.

At Climate Summit, Two Global Energy Alliances Emerge

By Stella Paul
As the summit of governments known as COP23 reached its conclusion in Bonn, Germany this week, two clear alliances have emerged in the global energy landscape.

Financing Will Continue to be Key Issue in Battling Climate Change

By Paula Caballero
“The Bonn climate talks were foundational, paving the way to finalize the rules that underpin the Paris Agreement next year and setting the stage for countries to commit to enhance their national climate plans by 2020. On both counts, the climate talks in Bonn were a success. However, negotiators have plenty of homework to do to get there.

A Self-Made Disaster

By I.A. Rehman
As the rain clouds are slow in offering relief, vast numbers of people in the country continue to experience disruptions in normal life due to the fog and smog. It is doubtful if the federal and provincial governments have fully comprehended the causes and consequences of the phenomena for which nature alone cannot be blamed.

Rejoicing in the Other and Celebrating Diversity Are Needed More than Ever to Address the Root-Causes of Intolerance

By Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim
The Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue H. E. Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim deplored the rise of xenophobia, bigotry and marginalization - targeting refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons - that is taking effect in many regions of the world.

Decent Toilets for Women & Girls Vital for Gender Equality

By Tim Wainwright
This weekend marks World Toilet Day (November 19)-- and the news is disheartening. One in three people are still waiting for a toilet; still having to face the indignity and often fear of relieving themselves in the open or using unsafe or unhygienic toilets.

Climate Change: The World’s Poorest Will Judge us by Action

By Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu
Two years ago, 197 parties came together in Paris and agreed to the historical Paris Framework. Since that December 2015, we all have seen countless pictures of utterly devastating floods, wildfires, hurricanes happening more and more frequently all over our planet mainly affecting the poorest among us.

Good to Know (Perhaps) That Food Is Being ‘Nuclearised’

By Baher Kamal
It might sound strange, very strange, but the news is that scientists and experts have been assuring, over and again, that using nuclear applications in agriculture --and thus in food production—are giving a major boost to food security. So how does this work?

Coal Pollution Continues to Spread in Latin America

By Emilio Godoy
Despite growing global pressure to reduce the use of coal to generate electricity, several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean still have projects underway for expanding this polluting energy source.

Girls in Afghanistan—and Everywhere Else—Need Toilets

By Heather Barr and Amanda Klasing
"I never come here, just because of boys," Atifa says, pointing at the door of the stall. "They're opening the door." Atifa, a sixth grader in Kabul, Afghanistan, attends a school of 650 girls. Since they study in tents in a vacant lot, the only toilets the girls have access to are on the far side of the boys' school next door. The school is one of a very few for girls in the area, so some students walk over an hour each way to get there.

Climate Change is Already Upon us & Will Only Worsen in Short Term

By António Guterres
It is fitting that this year’s conference of parties (on climate change, COP 23) is led by Fiji, a nation on the frontlines. Last month I visited other small islands facing the impacts of a warming world: Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica. The hurricane damage was beyond belief. The catastrophic effects of climate change are upon us. Floods, fires, extreme storms and drought are growing in intensity and frequency.

Vanuatu: Community Farms Helping Small Islands Adapt to Climate Change

By Mala Silas
Here in Vanuatu, the ocean has been getting warmer and more acidic. Scientists are predicting that cyclone patterns will change, we’ll see heavier rainfalls, a wetter wet season and a drier dry season. We’re already seeing the sea rising six millimeters per year in the capital, Port Vila; higher than the global average.

On Gender Day at Climate Meet, Some Progress, Many Hurdles

By Stella Paul
“Five years ago, when we first started talking about including gender in the negotiations, the parties asked us, ‘Why gender?’ Today, they are asking, ‘How do we include gender?’ That’s the progress we have seen since Doha,” said Kalyani Raj.

How to Ensure Farming is More Than Just a Footnote in Climate Talks

By Olga Speckhardt
If change comes from within, then climate action in agriculture must logically start with farmers. They need to find ways to adapt to and mitigate climate change. But when that involves 800 million of the world’s poorest people, they are going to require systematic and dedicated support.

The Mekong, Dammed to Die

By Pascal Laureyn
In Laos, the lush forests are alive with the whines of drills that pierce the air. On the Mekong, a giant concrete wall rises slowly above the trees. The Don Sahong dam is a strong symbol, not only for a power-hungry Asia but also for what critics fear is a disaster in the making.
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