Environment

Water Security Critical for World Fastest-Growing Economy

By an IPS Correspondent
Lack of water management and limited access to data risk hindering Myanmar’s economic growth, making water security a top priority of the new government.

Water: An Entry Point for SDG Implementation in Myanmar

By Dr. Alice Bouman-Dentener
All people, economies, and ecosystems depend on water. Yet water is often taken for granted, overused, abused, and poorly managed. The way we use and manage water leaves a considerable part of the global population without access, and threatens the integrity of ecosystems that are vital for a healthy planet and people.

Economic Interests Harming Global Health: WHO Chief

By Lyndal Rowlands
Putting economic interests over public health is leading the world towards three slow-motion health disasters, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization’s warned the world’s health ministers on Monday.

Natural Capital Investment Key to Africa’s Development

By Busani Bafana
Plugging Africa’s funding gaps to accelerate social and economic development requires a fresh approach to using its natural capital, environment experts said on Monday.

Prickly Pears Drive Local Development in Northern Argentina

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Family farmers in the northern Argentine province of Chaco are gaining a new appreciation of the common prickly pear cactus, which is now driving a new kind of local development.

Why Mainstreaming Biodiversity Is the Call for the Day

By Reza Khan
We have become familiar with the term biodiversity today due to the Convention of Biological Diversity [CBD] that was accepted by the UN Council on December 29, 1993, after which many nations, including Bangladesh, started becoming its signatories. As biodiversity is the foundation of life and is essential for the services provided by ecosystems, this year's theme of the International Biodiversity Day is “Mainstreaming Biodiversity; Sustaining People and their Livelihoods.”

Bangladesh’s Urban Slums Swell with Climate Migrants

By Rafiqul Islam
Abdul Aziz, 35, arrived in the capital Dhaka in 2006 after losing all his belongings to the mighty Meghna River. Once, he and his family had lived happily in the village of Dokkhin Rajapur in Bhola, a coastal district of Bangladesh. Aziz had a beautiful house and large amount of arable land.

Species Loss, the Migration Hiding in Plain Sight

By Monique Barbut
Two months ago, I was in Agadez, a city in the middle of the famous Ténéré Desert of Niger. Agadez has become a major transit point on a hazardous journey for the hundreds and thousands of desperate people from all over West Africa trying to make it to the Mediterranean coast every year.

Myanmar Seeks to Break Vicious Circle of Flood and Drought

By Sara Perria
It has been two weeks now since the village of Htita, with its few bamboo houses hemmed in by parched, cracked earth and dried-out ponds, has enjoyed the novelty of its first ever water well.

The Heavens Poured and Atlas Shrugged

By Editor, Sunday Times, Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan parliamentarians appear to have been moved to unseemly mirth regarding the floodwaters which devastated the country this week, causing more than sixty three officially reported deaths and thousands more missing, with even greater numbers rendered homeless and destitute.

When Emergencies Last for Decades

By Lyndal Rowlands
For the millions of people whose lives have been uprooted by conflict and natural disasters the average amount of time before they can return home is now 17 years.

Indigenous Peoples Inclusion at United Nations Incomplete

By Aruna Dutt
The United Nations Indigenous Forum is one of the UN's most culturally diverse bodies yet its inclusion within the overall UN system remains limited.

Refugees Bring Economic Benefits to Cities

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Refugees are now more likely to live in cities than in refugee camps, bringing with them planning challenges but also opportunities for economic growth.

Climate Change Compounds Humanitarian Crises in Global South

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
As the Global South works to overcome a history of weak institutions, armed conflict and poverty-driven forced exodus, key causes of its humanitarian crises, developing countries now have to also fight to keep global warming from compounding their problems.

Will Canada Recognise Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Developing Countries Too?

By Aruna Dutt
While Canada’s long-awaited support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples brought hope and celebration last week, it's not yet clear whether the rights of Indigenous people in developing countries harmed by Canadian mining companies will also be included.

A Precarious Fate for Climate Migrants in India

By Neeta Lal
After the sea swallowed up her home and family in the Bangladeshi coastal district of Bhola along the Bay of Bengal, farmer Sanjeela Sheikh was heartbroken. Stripped of all her belongings, her fields swamped and her loved ones dead, she contemplated suicide.

Many Cities Don’t Know How Dangerous Their Air Pollution Is

By Lyndal Rowlands
China and India are not the only countries with an air pollution problem. Ninety-eight percent of cities in developing countries don’t meet World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards, according to new research published by the UN body.

Kenya’s Young Inventors Shake Up Old Technology

By Justus Wanzala
Emma Masibo and Lucy Bwire have many things in common.

Weather Wars

By Zarrar Khuhro
When Alexander the Great`s army faced Raja Porus at the battle of the Hydapses the smart money, despite Alexander`s formidable reputation, should have been on Porus. Large and disciplined, Porus’s fighters had the home ground advantage, included war elephants in their ranks (terrifying to the already tired Greeks) and, notably, deployed archers who could more accurately be classified as artillery.

Bees and Silkworms Spin Gold for Ethiopia’s Rural Youth

By Munyaradzi Makoni
Beekeeping and silkworm farming have long been critical cogs of Ethiopian life, providing food, jobs and much needed income.

Justice for Berta Caceres Incomplete Without Land Rights: UN Rapporteur

By Lyndal Rowlands
The murder of Honduran Indigenous woman Berta Caceres is only too familiar to Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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