Environment

New Protocol Aims to Cut Trillion-Dollar Food Waste Bill

By Stella Paul
Four years ago, 27-year-old Tsering Dorji of western Bhutan’s Satsam village took to organic vegetable farming. Since then, thanks to composted manure and organic pesticide, the soil health of his farm has improved, and the yield has increased manifold.

Polynesian Voyagers Bring Messages of Hope to UN on World Oceans Day

By Lyndal Rowlands
Polynesian voyagers who have sailed the world by canoe using ancient navigation skills will bring pledges they collected along the way to the UN on Wednesday as part of World Oceans Day celebrations.

Coral Reef Tourism in Danger as Reefs Struggle to Adapt to Warming

By Lyndal Rowlands
A recent UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report on world heritage sites in danger from climate change received widespread media attention after the Australian government requested the removal of a chapter on the Great Barrier Reef.

Q&A: Crisis and Climate Change Driving Unprecedented Migration

By Manipadma Jena
Climate change is now adding new layers of complexity to the nexus between migration and the environment.

Golden Rice: The Malnutrition Fighting Crop

By Dr. Bjorn Lomborg
Over the past two decades, Bangladesh has remarkably managed to feed an increasing population better - the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that in 1993, the average Bangladeshi had access to just 2,000 calories per day, whereas today that number has increased to 2,450 calories per day. To a large extent, this success comes on the back of ever-higher rice production - rice makes up 70 percent of the average daily calorie intake.

Issues of Overdevelopment

By Noman Ahmed
Urbanisation in Pakistan has been moving at a swift pace, albeit in a rudderless fashion. The Planning Commission estimates that half of our population shall be living in cities by 2030. Among other impacts, the approach and conduct of land governance shall drastically change for the worse, clear evidence of which is visible even today.

Climbing the Knowledge Ladder

By Saleemul Huq
After the Paris Agreement on climate change endorsed by every participating country last December at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Convention in Climate Change (UNFCCC), all the participants , including both developing as well as developed countries, have to put in place a clear strategy to not only reduce emissions of greenhouse gases through mitigation actions, but also to adapt to the adverse impacts of human-induced climate change.

World Oceans Day – A Death Sea Called Mediterranean

By Baher Kamal
While the United Nations identifies 17 major regional seas in its planning, the Mediterranean is perhaps the most dramatic case as it has gone from being the so-called cradle of civilization to be a cemetery for thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants. And it is most probably also the most polluted water basin the whole world. See this report.

Mega Dams Remain Controversial Source of Energy

By Lyndal Rowlands
Although mega dams can have devastating impacts on ecosystems and indigenous communities, many of the world’s poorest countries still see them as a way to fill gaping holes in their energy supplies.

What Lies Ahead for Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources

By Andrew Hudson
In September 2015, the international community adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Wildlife Trafficking Needs to Be a Policy Priority in Asia Pacific Before It Is Too Late

By Isabelle Louis and Jeremy Douglas
This year’s World Environment Day on June 5 puts the spotlight on the illegal trade in wildlife. The problem has particular significance in Asia, which is the destination for most of the ivory taken from 20,000 to 25,000 elephants and the horns of more than 1,200 rhinos killed in Africa every year. Demand in the region is driven by fast growing middle and upper classes with an appetite for exotic pets, décor, food and fashion.

Mea Culpa

By Faisal Bari
Some reports suggest that more than 150 infants have died in Sindh`s Tharparkar district since January of this year alone. However, officials of the government of Sindh`s health department have said that 140 is the fatality toll for children under five years since October last year. Either way, does this not come close to the number of children who were martyred in the gruesome attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar?

Closing the Gaps in Fight Against Wildlife Trafficking in Latin America

By Emilio Godoy
Although it violates the international conventions that regulate the wildlife trade, it is possible to go online and find websites to buy, for example, axolotl salamanders (Ambystoma mexicanum) or spiny softshell turtles (Trionyx spiniferus).

Battered by Storms, Sri Lanka Rethinks Food Security

By Amantha Perera
The picture could be straight out of a tourist postcard – a sleepy green mountain with misty clouds floating above the canopy – if not for one fatal flaw: the ugly gash running right through the middle.

It’s Time to Tell Livestock’s Untold Secret

By Franck Berthe
As nations attempt to usher in a new era of global development, seeking to satisfy both the Paris climate agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, there is one natural resource that has remained untapped.

New International Accord to Tackle Illegal Fishing

By Lyndal Rowlands
A new international accord to tackle illegal and under-reported fishing will come into force on June 5.

Malawi’s Drought Leaves Millions High and Dry

By Charity Chimungu Phiri
It’s Saturday, market day at the popular Bvumbwe market in Thyolo district. About 40 kilometers away in Chiradzulu district, a vegetable vendor and mother of five, Esnart Nthawa, 35, has woken up at three a.m. to prepare for the journey to the market.

Traditional Mexican Recipes Fight the Good Fight

By Emilio Godoy
In a clay pot, Araceli Márquez mixes tiny Mexican freshwater fish known as charales with herbs and a sauce made of chili peppers, green tomatoes and prickly pear cactus fruit, preparing a dish called mixmole.

A Disaster-in-Waiting

By Shamsuddoza Sajen
In a recent interview with BBC, India's minister of water resources Uma Bharti unveiled her government's massive plan to divert major rivers including the Ganges and Brahmaputra. According to the Guardian, the project is just waiting for a rubber stamp from the environment ministry of India. While we do not want to be alarmists, it is hard to ignore the fact that, if implemented, the project will rob Bangladesh, a riverine country, of her very lifelines.

Water Woes Put a Damper on Myanmar’s Surging Economy

By Sara Perria
The central plains of Myanmar, bordered by mountains on the west and east, include the only semi-arid region in South East Asia – the Dry Zone, home to some 10 million people. This 13 percent of Myanmar’s territory sums up the challenges that the country faces with respect to water security: an uneven geographical and seasonal distribution of this natural resource, the increasing unpredictability of rain patterns due to climate change, and a lack of water management strategies to cope with extreme weather conditions.

Bangladeshi Shrimp Farmers See Big Money in Small Fry

By Naimul Haq
Frozen tiger shrimp exports from Bangladesh, mainly to the United States and the European Union, have grown substantially over the years and the demand keeps increasing.
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