Environment

Soil: Keeping Nutrients in Food and Carbon in the Ground

By Lyndal Rowlands
Healthy soil not only makes food more nutritious it also helps keep carbon out of the atmosphere by storing it underground.

Initial Global Effects of Trump Even Before Taking Office

By Martin Khor
Even before taking office, President-Elect Donald Trump and the policies he promised during his campaign are already having a worldwide impact in at least three areas --  global finance, trade and climate change.

The Potential Cost of U.S. Climate Inaction

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Although U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has hinted he may be softening his stance on climate change, many are still uncertain of what lies ahead concerning climate action within and beyond the United States.

Battle of the Desert (and III): UNCCD ‘s Louise Baker on The Silk Road

By Baher Kamal
Marking this year's World Day to Combat Desertification last June, the United Nations announced the launch of a China-United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Belt and Road Joint Action initiative to curb Desertification along the Silk Road.

Coal Mine Threatens Ecological Paradise in Chile’s Patagonia Region

By Orlando Milesi
An open-pit coal mine in the southern island of Riesco, a paradise of biological diversity in Chile’s southern Patagonia wilderness region, is a reflection of the weakness of the country’s environmental laws, which are criticised by local residents, activists, scientists and lawmakers.

Climate Finance for Farmers Key to Avert One Billion Hungry

By Fabíola Ortiz
With climate change posing growing threats to smallholder farmers, experts working around the issues of agriculture and food security say it is more critical than ever to implement locally appropriate solutions to help them adapt to changing rainfall patterns.

Climate: Strong Commitment and New Global Action on Water Scarcity

By IPS Correspondents
“No country, irrespective of its size or strength, is immune from the impacts of climate change, and no country can afford to tackle the climate challenge alone.”

Battle of the Desert (II): A ‘Great Green Wall for Africa’

By Baher Kamal
Desertification, land degradation, drought, climate change, food insecurity, poverty, loss of biodiversity, forced migration and conflicts, are some of the key challenges facing Africa—a giant continent home to 1,2 billion people living in 54 countries.

New Fund Aims to Help Build Resilience to Climate Change

By Fabíola Ortiz
The world has been too slow in responding to climate events such as El Niño and La Niña, and those who are the “least responsible are the ones suffering most”, Mary Robinson, the special envoy on El Niño and Climate, told IPS at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech (COP22).

Battle of the Desert (I): To Fight or to Flee?

By Baher Kamal
To fight or to flee? These are the stark choices Maria, a single mother from the Bangalala midlands of Tanzania, faces repeatedly. “After the rains failed for a few years, some neighbours claimed our trees were drawing too much water from the ground. We cut them down. Our harvests fell. My mother closed her stall at the local market. That is when my father and I moved from the midlands to the Ruvu Mferejini river valley.”

Coal Entrenches Poverty, Drives Climate Change: Report

By Lyndal Rowlands
Coal power does more to harm the world’s poor than to help them, even before the devastating impacts of climate change are taken into account, according to a recent report published by 12 international development organisations.

Mideast: ‘Climate Change Will Make a Difficult Situation Much Worse’

By IPS Correspondents
“Climate change will make a difficult situation much worse, and will affect millions of people in the Middle East and North Africa region,” World Bank MENA Vice-President Hafez Ghanem stated at the 22nd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech, Morocco on 7-18 November.

Phosphate Mining Firms Set Sights on Southern Africa’s Sea Floor

By Mark Olalde
A persistent fear of diminishing phosphorus reserves has pushed mining companies to search far and wide for new sources. Companies identified phosphate deposits on the ocean floor and are fighting for mining rights around the world.

SDGs: Making the Universal Agenda Truly Universal

By Paloma Duran
One of the key features of the 2030 Agenda which the United Nations and member states identified in the lead up to the SDG agreement was the principle of universality.

Thriving Rural Communities Is a Recipe for Healthy Cities

By Josefina Stubbs and David Lewis
As the dust has settled on Habitat III and the summit in Quito, Ecuador, we now have a clear vision and a concrete road map for how to transform our cities into inclusive, safer and more productive environments. The New Urban Agenda comes at a propitious time. Urbanization is growing at a fast pace, particularly in developing countries, where the urban population is expected to double by 2050. In South Asia alone, the urban population grew by 130 million between 2001 and 2011, according to recent World Bank study. Another 250 million are expected to join them by 2030.

Why Kenya’s Engagement with the UN Is a Big Deal

By Siddharth Chatterjee
President Uhuru Kenyatta warmly welcomed dozens of U.N Agencies, development partners and senior Government officials to the State House on 02 November 2016 to discuss the joint development plan from 2014 – 2018.

Convincing Investors to Unlock Africa’s Green Energy Potential

By Friday Phiri
Lowering investment risks in African countries is key to achieving a climate-resilient development pathway on the continent, say experts here at the U.N.-sponsored Climate Conference.

Trump’s Threat on Multilateral Treaties Keeps UN Guessing

By Thalif Deen
At the height of the US Presidential campaign in early 2015, Republican nominee Donald Trump made a rash of public pronouncements -- some threatening internationally-agreed UN conventions-- which set off political reverberations throughout the United Nations.

Climate Change, A Goat Farmer’s Gain

By Busani Bafana
Bongekile Ndimande’s family lost more 30 head of cattle to a ravaging drought last season, but a herd of goats survived and is now her bank on four legs.

Actions Needed Urgently to Tackle Air Pollution – Part 2

By Martin Khor
As evidence mounts on the threats posed by air pollution to both human health and the environment, action must be urgently taken to address this problem.  

Reflections on Trump Election

By Roberto Savio
From the city of Cuzco, where the Inca culture was subjugated by the Spanish conqueror, I am watching how the world inexorably leads to a different measure of history. And given the impossibility of drafting a complete analysis, these are some of my scattered observations.
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