Environment

Small Victories at Bonn Climate Talks

By Kitty Stapp
As climate talks wind down in Bonn, Germany, observers of the negotiations say that despite some progress on a draft text, key issues remain unresolved and will carry over at least until the next round in August.

Africa on Threshold of Triple Energy Win for People, Power and Planet

By Kwame Buist
Renewable energy is at the forefront of the changes sweeping Africa, and a “triple win” is within the region’s grasp to increase agricultural productivity, improve resilience to climate change, and contribute to long-term reductions in dangerous carbon emissions.

Opinion: G7 Makes Commitment on Climate … to Climate Chaos

By Lucy Cadena
One of the promises made by the leaders of the world's seven richest nations when they met at Schloss Elmau in Germany earlier this week was an energy transition over the next decades, aiming to gradually phase out fossil fuel emissions this century to avoid the worst of climate change.

India Confronts Water Woes as it Transitions from MDGs to SDGs

By Malini Shankar
As the United Nations closes its chapter on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and charts a new plan of action under the framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), India – a country of 1.2 billion people – is confronting its resource challenges.

Opinion: Cli-Fi Film from Philippines Packs a Punch

By Dan Bloom
I live on a crowded, subtropical island ​nation ​in the Western Pacific, on the opposite side of the "Pacific Pond" from North America. And just south of Taiwan is the ​many-splendored island nation of the ​Philippines. We are neighbours. You can fly there in one hour, it's that close.

A Regional Foodbasket Plans for the Worst

By Desmond Brown
Despite its highly variable climate, Guyana is the only Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country that enjoys food security. But rapid climate change could pose a challenge not only for Guyana, but for its Caribbean neigbours who depend on the South American country for much of their produce.

U.N. Chief Backs New Int’l Decade for Water for Sustainable Development

By Thalif Deen
As the United Nations continues its negotiations to both define and refine a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before a summit meeting of world leaders in September, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed support for a new “International Decade for Water for Sustainable Development.”

Chinese Public Most Worried About Climate Change

By Kitty Stapp
A new survey finds that China leads the world in public support for government action on climate change.

Why ACP Countries Matter for the EU Post-2015 Development Agenda

By Valentina Gasbarri
We are witnessing a shift in the original rationale behind the unique relationship between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries of the ACP group, which goes beyond the logic of “unilateral aid transfer”, “donor-recipient approach” and “North-South dialogue”.

G7’s Coal Addiction Behind Hunger

By Sean Buchanan
As heads of state and government of the G7 states prepare for their Jun. 7-8 summit in Germany, Oxfam has released a new report titled Let Them Eat Coal which they may find hard to digest.

Q&A: ‘What if the Worst-Case Scenarios Actually Come to Pass?’

By Kanya D'Almeida
Imagine this, if you can: the world as we know it torn apart by ‘hypercanes’, storms with wind speeds of over 500 mph, capable of producing a system the size of North America. A tiny fraction of humanity driven to a civilisation underground, the remaining masses left to fend for themselves on the virtually uninhabitable Earth’s surface. Species extinction is complete and genetic engineering is at a new height, to ensure the continued survival of what’s left of the human race.

The U.N. at 70: A Time for Reflection and Reform

By Hardeep S. Puri
Seventy years since its inception, the United Nations remains at the core of the multilateral system. The world body, together with the Bretton Woods institutions, was conceived in the mid-1940s by the architects of the postwar order with the central aim of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war on the one hand, and the need to reconstruct and revive the global economy on the other.

Journalists, Gov’ts Square Off in Game of Drones

By Kitty Stapp
For some, the word "drone" immediately conjures up ominous phrases like "targeted assassination" and "precision strike."

Opinion: For a New Generation of Climate Activists, It’s Too Late to Wait

By Chris Wright
I remember pretending not to be so excited. There was this nervous energy that kicked up my heels as I prowled through the U.N. negotiations that afternoon. You could feel it all around. Circling our meeting point like sharks quietly rounding our prey. If you knew what to look for, you would know exactly what was about to happen.

Thirsty in Nicaragua, the Country Where ‘Agua’ Is Part of Its Name

By José Adán Silva
Nicaragua, the Central American country with the most abundant water sources, and where water – “agua” in Spanish – is even part of its name, is suffering one of its worst water crises in half a century, fuelled by climate change, deforestation and erosion.

As Jamaica’s Prime Forests Decline, Row Erupts Over Protection

By Zadie Neufville
For Jamaica, planting more trees as a way to build resilience is one of the highest priorities of the government's climate change action plan. So when Cockpit Country residents woke up to bulldozers in the protected area, they rallied to get answers from the authorities.

Climate Fund Rolls Out Amid Hopes It Stays “Green”

By Kitty Stapp
After a difficult infancy, the Green Climate Fund is finally getting some legs. The big question now is what direction it will toddle off in.

Zimbabwean Women Weave Their Own Beautiful Future

By Busani Bafana
Seventy-seven-year-old Grace Ngwenya has an eye for detail. You will never catch her squinting as she effortlessly weaves ilala palm fronds into beautiful baskets.

Zimbabwean Women Weave Their Own, Beautiful Future

By Busani Bafana
Seventy-seven-year-old Grace Ngwenya has an eye for detail. You will never catch her squinting as she effortlessly weaves ilala palm fronds into beautiful baskets.

Native Communities in Mexico Demand to be Consulted on Wind Farms

By Emilio Godoy
“It hurts us that our land is affected, and the environmental impacts are not even measured. Wind farm projects affect streams and hurt the flora,” said Zapotec Indian Isabel Jiménez, who is taking part in the struggle against the installation of a wind park in southern Mexico.

Despite Setbacks, Global Sanitation Makes Progress, Says Fund

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations hosted a panel discussion last year urging its partners to “break their silence” on open defecation, Singapore’s deputy permanent representative Mark Neo was outspoken in his characterisation: “Open defecation is a euphemism. What we are talking about is shitting in the open.”
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