Environment

Raising Walls Against the Sea

By Rafiqul Islam
Facing the bleak prospect of millions of its citizens being displaced in coming years due to storms and sea level rise caused by climate change, Bangladesh is building up existing coastal embankments in a bid to protect coastal lands and people.

Deadly Algal Bloom Triggers Social Uprising in Southern Chile

By Orlando Milesi and Marianela Jarroud
A ban on harvesting shellfish in Chiloé due to a severe red tide outbreak sparked a social uprising that has partially isolated thousands of local residents of the southern Chilean archipelago and revived criticism of an export model that condemns small-scale fishing communities to poverty and marginalisation.

Fund Launched to Help Mountain People Face Climate Change Threat

By Aruna Dutt
Jake Norton was on a glacier in northern India. A seemingly impenetrable fortress of sweeping ridges and towering walls of granite, capped by hanging glaciers. It seemed, he said, that nothing could touch it, nothing could beat it down.

Hunger, a Matter of Global Security

By Enrique Yeves
Desperate, frustrated, and with little hope for the future, on 17h December 2010, the Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself in petrol and set himself alight. Thus began the popular revolution that toppled the dictatorship of Zine El AbidineBen Ali, in power since 1987, and with it a domino effect that spread across North Africa and the Middle East.

Biomass Could Help Power Africa’s Energy Transition

By Wambi Michael
As fuel, firewood remains the dominant source of energy in Uganda. It has a long history of being unsustainably harvested, leading to severe depletion of the country’s forest cover. But with new technology, biomass is now cleaning up its act.

Refugees and Migrants: A Crisis of Solidarity

By Ban Ki-moon
This September, the United Nations General Assembly will bring together world leaders to address one of the leading challenges of our time: responding to large movements of refugees and migrants.

Climate Change Leaves Kashmir’s Economy High and Dry

By Umar Shah
Trudging barefoot on his two-acre piece of land, 57-year-old Mukhtar Ahmad has little hope of growing any crops this year due to the sudden dry spell that has struck Kashmir’s winter.

WFO Calls for Farmer-Centred Sustainable Development

By Friday Phiri
Over 600 delegates representing at least 570 million farms scattered around the world gathered in Zambia from May 4-7 under the umbrella of the World Farmers' Organisation (WFO) to discuss climate change, land tenure, innovations and capacity building as four pillars on which to build agricultural development.

Let’s Not Forget Disaster Risk as we Rush to Adapt to Climate Change

By Jen Stephens
Helping at-risk communities adapt to climate change impacts is an important part of the Paris Climate Change agreement, but adaptation will not be complete without considering disaster risk.

Nobel Peace Laureates to Help Achieve Food Security

By Thalif Deen
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) believes that ongoing military conflicts, which have also devastated agricultural crops and livestock, are one of the primary causes of food shortages in war zones in Africa and the Middle East.

Farmers Can Weather Climate Change – With Financing

By Friday Phiri
Merian Kalala, a farmer in Solwezi, capital of the North-Western Province of Zambia, knows firsthand that climate change is posing massive problems for agricultural productivity.

No Farmers, No Food — True But Not Enough

By Evelyn Nguleka
Agriculture is the primary sector of all economies. It is the sector responsible for granting food and nutrition security to all human beings. Consequently it is responsible for social stability and health. And it provides work opportunities to families, men, women and youth, and largely contributes to the country Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Mexico Needs to Improve Control of Toxic Chemicals

By Emilio Godoy
A recent explosion at a petrochemical plant in southeast Mexico highlighted the need to strengthen monitoring of hazardous substances, step up inspections of factories and update regulations in this country.

Farmers Hold Keys to Ending Poverty, Hunger, FAO Says

By Friday Phiri
With recent data showing that 793 million people still go to bed hungry, ending hunger and poverty in 15 years is the next development challenge that world leaders have set for themselves.

Seeking a New Farming Revolution

By Kitty Stapp
As the World Farmers' Organization meets for its annual conference in Zambia to promote policies that strengthen this critical sector, IPS looks at how farmers across the globe are tackling the interconnected challenges of climate change, market fluctuations, water and land management, and energy access.

Is the System Broke or Broken?

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Though the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit may seem timely, a debate ensues on an important question: is the world humanitarian system broke or broken?

The Waves of the Pacific Are on Chile’s Energy Horizon

By Marianela Jarroud and Orlando Milesi
Chile, a country with 6,435 km of Pacific Ocean coast line, could find in wave and tidal power a solution to its need to diversify its energy mix.

New Generation Aims to Plug Africa’s Research Deficit

By Busani Bafana
The tonnes of uncollected garbage piling up on the streets of her home in Cairo was a brain wave for Sherien Elagroudy.

Indian Women Worst Hit by Water Crisis

By Neeta Lal
A staggering 330 million Indians, making up a quarter of the country's population (or roughly the entire population of the United States), are currently reeling under the effects of a severe drought, resulting in an acute drinking water shortage and agricultural distress.

The Family Garden Going Out of Style in Cuban Countryside

By Ivet González
In the past, all rural homes in Cuba had gardens for putting fresh vegetables on the dinner table. The local term for these gardens is “conuco”, a word with indigenous roots that is still used in several Caribbean nations.

Black Colombian Activists Continue Our Struggle For Rights

By Charo Rojas
While Colombia’s peace talks continue in Havana, Cuba, back home in the region of North Cauca, Black Colombians have found their cries for access to their ancestral lands met with tear-gas and rubber bullets.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*