Environment

Goats Take the Bite Out of Climate Change in Zimbabwe

By Jeffrey Moyo
With unusually hot and dry weather beating down on this Southern African nation, climate change and the accompanying drought have cost farmers much of their cattle herds. In response, many ranchers are turning to goats to preserve their livestock assets.

First Six Months of 2015 “Hottest on Record” Since 1880

By Kanya D'Almeida
According to new data released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Tuesday, globally averaged temperatures over ocean and land surfaces between January and June of 2015 were the hottest on record since 1880.

Calls Mount for “Bold” Climate Deal in Paris

By Kitty Stapp
A diverse coalition of 24 leading British scientific institutions has issued a communique urging strong and immediate government action at the U.N. climate change conference set for Paris in December.

Caribbean Seeks Funding for Renewable Energy Mix

By Desmond Brown
A leading geothermal expert warns that the small island states in the Caribbean face “a ticking time bomb” due to the effects of global warming and suggests a shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is the only way to defuse it.

Papua New Guinea’s Unemployed Youth Say the Future They Want Begins With Them

By Catherine Wilson
Zibie Wari, a former teacher and founder of the Tropical Gems grassroots youth group in the town of Madang on the north coast of Papua New Guinea, has seen the hopes of many young people for a decent future quashed by the impacts of corruption and unfulfilled promises of development.

Opinion: Strengthen Tax Cooperation to End Hunger and Poverty Quickly

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
By the end of this year, the 15-year time frame for the Millennium Development Goals will end, with good progress on several indicators, but limited achievements on others.

Big Oil Privately Accepted Global Warming, but Publicly Battled Climate Science

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
For decades, executives and decision makers at major U.S. and European fossil fuel companies were aware that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused global warming, but still provided millions in funding to boost disinformation campaigns and sponsor scientists who denied climate change.

2014 Another Record-Shattering Year for Climate

By Kitty Stapp
A new report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Weather and Climate has found that 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded, with Eastern North America the only major region in the world to experience below-average annual temperatures.

Indigenous People in Brazil’s Amazon – Crushed by the Belo Monte Dam?

By Mario Osava
Ethnocide, the new accusation leveled against the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, brings to light deeper underlying aspects of the conflicts and controversies unleashed by megaprojects in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

Opinion: Unrestrained ‘Privatisation of Poverty-Reduction’ Puts Human Rights at Risk

By Savio Carvalho
Corporate lobbyists are unusual guests at development meetings, but when the United Nations held its Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa this week to decide who pays for its new “Sustainable Development Goals”, some governments laid out the red carpet for the private sector.

U.N. Panel Lays Out Vision of “Just Security”

By Nora Happel
Amid a range of new and old challenges, from climate change to gender equality and war crimes, a new report by the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance emphasises the need to reform the U.N. system.

Opinion: What Will It Take to Bring a Second Green Revolution to India?

By Bijay Singh
Long-term agricultural growth in India is slowing down. The lands that saw remarkable increases in productivity in the 1970s and 80s, thanks to the technology rolled out as part of the first “Green Revolution”, are not yielding the same results today.

Is Climate Change or ISIS the Greater Threat to Humankind?

By Thalif Deen
The world at large is apparently divided over what constitutes the biggest single threat to human kind: the devastation caused by climate change or the unbridled terror unleashed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)? According to a new Pew Research Center survey designed to measure perceptions of international threats, climate change is viewed as the “top concern” by people around the world.

Latin America Has Uneven Record on Environmental Sustainability

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Millions of Latin Americans have better access to clean water and decent housing than 25 years ago. But the region still faces serious environmental challenges, such as deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions - a legacy of the model of development followed in the 20th century.

Jamaica’s Coral Gardens Give New Hope for Dying Reefs

By Zadie Neufville
With time running out for Jamaica's coral reefs, local marine scientists are taking things into their own hands, rebuilding the island’s reefs and coastal defences one tiny fragment at a time - a step authorities say is critical to the country’s climate change and disaster mitigation plans.

Earthquakes Don’t Kill, Buildings Do – Or Is It Inequity?

By Robert Stefanicki
70-year-old Chiute Tamang was working in his field when the earth shook on Apr 25. He grabbed a tree. His wife and daughter were inside the house at the time, but managed to run out. In the blink of an eye, the building turned into a heap of stones. They were the lucky ones.

Fishing Families Left High and Dry by Amazon Dams

By Mario Osava
Small-scale fisherpersons were among the first forgotten victims of mega construction projects like the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingú River in the Brazilian Amazon.

Water and Sanitation Urged as Focal Points at Addis Ababa

By Roger Hamilton-Martin
Ahead of the all-important International Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa, a top water charity has called upon world leaders to prioritise programmes for water, sanitation and good hygiene, so that no one is left behind.

Opinion: From New York to Addis Ababa, Financing for Development on Life-Support – Part Two

By Bhumika Muchhala
The key priorities of the Group of 77 developing countries (G77) remain somewhat aligned around a set of issues that have been present from the beginning of the FfD negotiations in New York.

Opinion: En Route to Paris

By Gunter Nooke
When the three-day conference on Financing for Development begins on Jul. 13 in Addis Ababa, the competitors in this year’s Tour de France will have reached the mountains. They will have already experienced a few spills and will still have many kilometres to go.

Science and Technology a Game Changer for Post-2015 Development Agenda

By Thalif Deen
A group of international scientists, designated as advisers to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has conveyed a significantly timely message to him: science, technology and innovation (STI) can be "the game changer" for the U.N.’s future development efforts.
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