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Tuesday, November 10, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Environment
Groups Slam Green Climate Fund Approval of Firms Tied to Dirty Energy
Civil society representatives attending the board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Songdo, South Korea expressed strong disappointment Thursday with the board's decision to accredit Deutsche Bank - one of the world’s largest financiers of coal - to receive and distribute GCF funds.
Opinion: ASEAN Must Unite Against Climate Change
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) started as a cooperation bloc in 1968. Founded by five countries - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines - ASEAN has since evolved into a regional force which is slowly changing the landscape in global politics.
Humanitarian Emergencies Lend Urgency to World Population Day
On the eve of World Population Day, the United Nations is fighting a virtually losing battle against growing humanitarian emergencies triggered mostly by military conflicts that are displacing people by the millions – and rendering them either homeless or reducing them to the status of refugees.
Views from the Caribbean ahead of COP21, the December 2015 Climate Change Summit in Paris – Building Resilience to Disaster: Biodiversity
Thanks to its varied geography and climate, the Caribbean region is one of the world's greatest centers of unique biodiversity. With most people living near the coast, marine ecosystems, including mangroves, beaches, lagoons and cays, are essential not only for biodiversity, but as protection from storms. Many are now threatened, along with the coral reefs the region is famous for. 
Q&A: “Climate Change is About Much More Than Temperature”
The cost of inaction is high when it comes to climate change and, so far, countries’ commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are not enough, says Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Opinion: SDGs, FfD and Every Single Dollar in the World
Ethiopia will host an important meeting on Financing for Development (FfD) Conference next week. One of the most-asked questions is: How much will it cost us to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
Climate Commission Issues Blueprint for Low-Carbon Economy
Up to 96 percent of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 to keep global warming below a critical threshold of two degrees C could be achieved through a series of 10 steps, says a new report released by the Global Commission on the Economy and the Climate.
Putting the “Integrity of the Earth’s Ecosystems” at the Centre of the Sustainable Development Agenda
By 2050, we will be a world of nine billion people. Not only does this mean there’ll be two million more mouths to feed than there are at present, it also means these mouths will be consuming more – in the next 20 years, for instance, an estimated three billion people will enter the middle class, in addition to the 1.8 billion estimated to be within that income bracket today.
Despite Scepticism, U.N. Hails Its Anti-Poverty Programme
The United Nations, which launched one of its most ambitious anti-poverty development programmes back in 2000, has hailed it as a riveting success story – despite shortcomings.
Financial Inclusion Key to Climate Risk Reduction for Zambia’s Smallholders
In the advent of unpredictable weather, smallholder rain-dependent agriculture is increasingly becoming a risky business and the situation could worsen if, as seems likely, the world experiences levels of global warming that could lead to an increase in droughts, floods and diseases, both in frequency and intensity.
Caribbean Fights to Protect High-Value, Declining Species
Threats from climate change, declining reefs, overfishing and possible loss of several commercial species are driving the rollout of new policy measures to keep Caribbean fisheries sustainable.
U.N. Swears by Hefty 100 Billion Dollar Target to Fight Climate Change
The most devastating impact of climate change – including rising sea levels, floods, cyclones and both droughts and heavy monsoons – will be felt mostly by the world’s poorest nations.
Drastic CO2 Cuts Needed to Save Oceans
If global carbon dioxide emissions are not dramatically curbed, the world's oceans – and the many services they provide humanity – will suffer "massive and mostly irreversible impacts," researchers warned in Science magazine Friday.
Sustainable Use of Biodiversity Could Fill Gap When Belo Monte Dam Is Finished
Some argue that the sustainable use of biodiversity is the best alternative for local development in the area surrounding the enormous Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, now that the construction project is entering its final phase on the Xingú River in Brazil’s Amazon jungle.
Opinion: If You’re Against Coal Mining, Walk In and Stop It
“If you’re against coal mining, why don’t you just walk into a coal mine and stop the excavators?”
Panama and Nicaragua – Two Canals, One Shared Dream
Nicholas Suchecki Guillén is blind. His dream was to visit the Panama Canal expansion works, touch the cement structures, and feel part of this new period of history in his country.
Union Islanders Wonder if Their Home Will Be the Next Atlantis
Fifteen years ago, Stephanie Browne, a former Member of Parliament in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, needed only to look at the beach outside her house to know why her community in Union Island was called “Big Sand”.A New Climate for Peace
U.N. officials, government leaders and civil society actors gathered Tuesday at the German House for a panel discussion on climate change as a “threat-multiplier”.
Toilets with Piped Music for Rich, Open Defecation on Rail Tracks for Poor
As most developing nations fall short of meeting their goals on sanitation, the world’s poorest countries have been lagging far behind, according to a new U.N. report released here.
China Hailed as Leader for New Climate Plan
Environmental groups are praising China following the formal submission of Beijing’s highly-anticipated climate change strategy to the United Nations Tuesday.
U.N. Chief Seeks Equity in Paris Climate Change Pact
When the 193-member General Assembly hosted a high level meeting on climate change Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that any proposed agreement at an upcoming international conference in Paris in December must uphold the principle of equity.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Through our global network of local writers, we are continuing our award-winning coverage of global and local environmental challenges, with a focus on the people for whom the ecosphere matters in a direct way: rural dwellers who have little means to protect themselves against adverse conditions; communities that need to switch to sustainable development in order to survive; poor women and children, who are the most vulnerable in natural disasters. Sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and The World Bank (WB), IPS also maintains the award-winning Tierramérica, a specialised information service on environment and development.
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