Environment

Global Web Movements Lift Democratic Decision-Making to a New Level

By Britta Schmitz
In recent years, online activism platforms have multiplied to the degree that they are starting to have a significant real world impact in areas like environmental protection, human rights and public policy.

Islamic Declaration Turns Up Heat Ahead of Paris Climate Talks

By Kitty Stapp
Following in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who has taken a vocal stance on climate change, Muslim leaders and scholars from 20 countries issued a joint declaration Tuesday underlining the severity of the problem and urging governments to commit to 100 percent renewable energy or a zero emissions strategy.

Latin America Should Lead in Protecting the Planet’s Oceans

By Marianela Jarroud
Latin America should assume a position of global leadership by adopting effective measures to protect the oceans, which are threatened by illegal fishing, the impacts of climate change, and pollution caused by acidification and plastic waste.

Kashmir: Where a Pilgrimage Threatens a Delicate Ecosystem

By Athar Parvaiz
As he struggled to find a section of the stream clean enough to rinse off his muddy shoes, Mohan Kumar, a Hindu pilgrim on his way to the holy Amarnath shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir, gazed with despair over the filth that lay thick on the landscape.

Zimbabwe’s Forest Carbon Programme Not All It Seems

By Ignatius Banda
The efficacy of attempts to sustainably manage forests and conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks in Zimbabwe is increasingly coming under scrutiny as new research warns that the politics of access and control over forests and their carbon is challenging conventional understanding.

Tiny Island Nation Pleads for Global Moratorium on New Coal Mines

By Thalif Deen
The tiny island of Kiribati in the Central Pacific, with a population of about 103,000, has long been identified as one of the U.N. member states threatened with physical extinction due to sea-level rise triggered largely by climate change.

Impressive Relief Effort Alleviating Hardship in Flood-Affected Myanmar

By Kanya D'Almeida
With the rainy season still far from over, flood-affected communities in the Sagaing Region and other parts of northern and western Myanmar are preparing for more hardships, while the government continues what the United Nations has called an “incredible” relief effort.

Latin America Has Enormous Untapped Potential for Green Infrastructure

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Latin America is facing a two-pronged challenge: double power generation by 2050 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The only solution? Green energy.

Pope Francis Joins Battle Against Transgenic Crops

By Emilio Godoy
A few centuries ago, the biotechnology industry would have been able to buy a papal bull to expiate its sins and grant it redemption. But in his encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si”, Pope Francis condemns genetically modified organisms (GMOs) without leaving room for a pardon.

Protests Greet Japan’s Relaunch of Nuke Power

By Kitty Stapp
Protesters rallied outside Japan's Sendai nuclear plant a day ahead of its planned opening and four years after the Fukushima disaster galvanised opposition to nuclear power in the country.

Caribbean Artists Raise Their Voices for Climate Justice

By Kenton X. Chance
Award-winning St. Lucian poet and playwright Kendel Hippolyte thinks that Caribbean nationals should view the Earth as their mother.

Money, Knowledge and Controversy in Brazil’s Development Bank

By Mario Osava
Brazil’s rush to build hydroelectric dams, refineries, railways, ports and other megaprojects since the last decade, not only at home but in other countries as well, has been fueled by the sheer volume of financing from its development bank.

Opinion: The Road to Paris and the Path to Renewable Energy

By Jed Alegado
Renewable energy is now being seen by many people around the world as a cost-effective development solution both for developed and developing nations. Countries have slowly been realising that the use of coal and the huge amount of carbon emissions it generates harms the environment and impacts our daily activities.

Obama Takes Lead on Climate Change Ahead of U.N. Talks in Paris

By Nora Happel
This week, U.S. President Barack Obama formally unveiled the details of his Clean Power Plan (CPP), a comprehensive carbon-cutting strategy he described as “the biggest and most important step…ever taken to combat climate change” in a prior video address posted on Facebook.

Unique Alliance Between Gauchos and Environmentalists Protects Argentina’s Pampas

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The traditions of Argentina’s gauchos or cowboys have joined together with modern agricultural technology in a unique alliance between stockbreeders and environmentalists aimed at preserving biodiversity in the pampas, boosting productivity, and enhancing the flavour of this South America’s country’s famous beef.

U.N. Post-2015 Development Agenda Adopted Amidst Closed-Door Deals

By Bhumika Muchhala
At about a quarter to seven on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 2, the member states of the United Nations adopted the post-2015 development agenda outcome document, titled "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda."

Making the World’s Indigenous Visible in the SDGs

By Aruna Dutt
As the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples approaches on Sunday, Aug. 9, concerns are growing that they will not fully benefit from the newly drafted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Trans Fat Substitute May Lead to More Deforestation

By Zhai Yun Tan
Following growing concerns in the United States about the risks of trans fat since 1999, demand for palm oil, a cheap substitute for trans fat, more than doubled over the last decade and is expected to increase, eliciting concerns about deforestation in several Southeast Asian countries that provide 85 percent of the world’s palm oil.

U.N. Taps Private Sector to Fund Development, Advocate Social Causes

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations seeks outside financial assistance either for development needs or to advocate social causes, it invariably turns to the private sector these days.

Fish Farming Now a Big Hit in Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo
Hillary Thompson, aged 62, throws some grains of left-over rice from his last meal, mixed with some beer dregs from his sorghum brew, into a swimming pool that he has converted into a fish pond.

U.N. Targets Trillions of Dollars to Implement Sustainable Development Agenda

By Thalif Deen
After more than two years of intense negotiations, the U.N.’s 193 member states have unanimously agreed on a new Sustainable Development Agenda (SDA) with 17 goals -- including the elimination of extreme poverty and hunger -- to be reached by 2030.
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