Environment

African Women Mayors Join Forces to Fight for Clean Energy

By A. D. McKenzie
When some 40,000 delegates, including dozens of heads of state, descend on Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference later this year, a group of African women mayors plan to be there and make their voices heard on a range of issues, including electrification.

Opinion: Edinburgh University Bows to Fossil Fuel Industry

By Kirsty Haigh, Eric Lai, and Ellen Young
The University of Edinburgh has taken the decision to not divest from fossil fuels, bowing to the short-term economic interests of departments funded by the fossil fuel industry, with little to no acknowledgement of the long-term repercussions of these investments.

“Swachh Bharat” (Clean India) Requires a Mindset Change

By Prerna Sodhi
“Swachh Bharat”, or Clean India, is a slogan that most Indians today associate with the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his first nation-wide campaign launched soon after taking office in 2014.

Opinion: Clean Energy Access, a Major Sustainable Development Goal

By Magdy Martinez-Soliman
The Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Forum will take place May 18-21 in New York. Success in achieving sustainable development and tackling climate change challenges requires investment in clean energy solutions.

Poor Land Use Worsens Climate Change in St. Vincent

By Kenton X. Chance
For 32 years, Joel Poyer, a forest technician, has been tending to the forest of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The U.N. at 70: Is It Still Fit for the Purpose?

By Julia Rainer
Events are being organised around the world to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, but a recent seminar held in the Austrian capital was not held to applaud the body’s past contributions.

The U.N. at 70: Energy Powers Lives, Literally

By Suleiman Al-Herbish
When, in 2003, Professor Richard Smalley, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, listed the top 10 problems facing humanity for the next 50 years in order of priority, energy was at the top of his list, followed by water, then food.

Texans Propose to Adopt Threatened African Rhinos

By Lisa Vives
Thefts, murders and mutilation of Africa’s wildlife, from white rhinos to elephants with their prized horns and tusks, are at an all-time high, say conservationists who are keeping track of the poaching of species by fortune-seeking hunters.

NGOs Urge Post-2015 Declaration Include Water, Sanitation as Basic Human Rights

By Thalif Deen
Virtually every major international conference concludes with a “programme of action” (PoA) – described in U.N. jargon as “an outcome document” – preceded by a political declaration where 193 member states religiously pledge to honour their commitments.

Reviving Dignity: The Remarkable Perseverance of Myanmar’s Displaced

By Rob Jarvis and Kim Jolliffe
In Myanmar’s Western Rakhine State, over a hundred thousand people displaced by inter communal violence that broke out nearly three years ago remain interned in camps on torrid plains and coastal marshes, struggling to survive.

Farmers Fight Real Estate Developers for Kenya’s Most Prized Asset: Land

By Miriam Gathigah
Vegetables grown in the lush soil of this quiet agricultural community in central Kenya’s fertile wetlands not only feed the farmers who tend the crops, but also make their way into the marketplaces of Nairobi, the country’s capital, some 150 km south.

Opinion: Don’t Leave Indigenous Peoples Behind in SDGs

By Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
U.N. member states are meeting throughout the year to finalize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will set the global development agenda for the next 15 years. The goals are supposed to be universal and aspire to “leave no one behind.”

Farmers Fight Real Estate Developers for Kenya’s Most Prized Asset: Land

By Miriam Gathigah
Vegetables grown in the lush soil of this quiet agricultural community in central Kenya’s fertile wetlands not only feed the farmers who tend the crops, but also make their way into the marketplaces of Nairobi, the country’s capital, some 150 km south.

Opinion: A Development Fairytale or a Global Land Rush?

By Karine Jacquemart and Anuradha Mittal
In our work at Greenpeace and the Oakland Institute around access and control over natural resources, we face constant accusations of being anti-development or “Northern NGOs who care more for the trees”, despite working with communities around the world, from Cameroon, to China, to the Czech Republic.

Caribbean Looks to Paris Climate Summit for Its Very Survival

By Desmond Brown
Caribbean leaders on Saturday further advanced their policy position on climate change ahead of the 21st Conference of Parties, also known as COP 21, scheduled for Paris during November and December of this year.

Opinion: Renewable Energy – How to Make It More Bird-Friendly

By Jacques Trouvilliez and Patricia Zurita
Climate change is one of the greatest risks to human societies, but also to biodiversity, often creating a “snowball effect” exacerbating existing pressures such as habitat fragmentation.

Opinion: The Bursting of Europe’s Biofuels Bubble

By Robbie Blake
Last week, the European Union reached a momentous decision to finally agree a reform to its disastrous biofuels legislation, signalling Europe’s U-turn on the burning of crops for biofuels.

Prepaid Meters Scupper Gains Made in Accessing Water in Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo
While many countries appear to have met the U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water, rights activists say that African countries which have taken to installing prepaid water meters have rendered a blow to many poor people, making it hard for them to access water.

The Biggest Lessons Nepal Will Take Away From This Tragedy

By Amantha Perera
There has never been any doubt that Nepal is sitting on one of the most seismically active areas in South Asia. The fact that, when the big one struck, damages and deaths would be catastrophic has been known for years.

Opinion: South-South Cooperation Vital for Sustainable Development

By Dr. Palitha Kohona
Sustainable development is central to a range of key discussions at the United Nations and elsewhere at the moment.

Living the Indigenous Way, from the Jungles to the Mountains

By Stephen Leahy
In the course of human history many tens of thousands of communities have survived and thrived for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Scores of these largely self-sustaining traditional communities continue to this day in remote jungles, forests, mountains, deserts, and in the icy regions of the North. A few remain completely isolated from modern society.
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