Environment

Will the Upcoming Climate Summit Be Another Talkathon?

By Meenakshi Raman
As the United Nations hosts a Climate Summit Sep. 23, the lingering question is whether the meeting of world leaders will wind up as another talk fest.

OPINION: A Climate Summit to Spark Action

By Ban Ki-moon
On Sep. 23, I have invited world leaders from government, business, finance and civil society to a Climate Summit in New York so they can show the world how they will advance action on climate change and move towards a meaningful universal new agreement next year at the December climate negotiations in Paris.

Organic Farmers Cultivate Rural Success in Samoa

By Catherine Wilson
Rural farming families in Samoa, a small island developing state in the central South Pacific Ocean, are reaping the rewards of supplying produce to the international organic market with the help of a local women’s business organisation.

Blue Halo: A Conservation Flagship, or Death Knell for Fishermen?

By Desmond Brown
Local fishermen are singing the blues over a sweeping set of new ocean management regulations, signed into law by the Barbuda Council, to zone their coastal waters, strengthen fisheries management, and establish a network of marine sanctuaries.

World Bank Tribunal Weighs Final Arguments in El Salvador Mining Dispute

By Carey L. Biron
A multilateral arbitration panel here began final hearings Monday in a contentious and long-running dispute between an international mining company and the government of El Salvador.

A Flood of Energy Projects Clash with Mexican Communities

By Emilio Godoy
Since January, villagers and townspeople near the Los Pescados river in southeast Mexico have been blocking the construction of a dam, part of a multi-purpose project to supply potable water to Xalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz.

U.N. Climate Summit: Staged Parade or Reality Show?

By Thalif Deen
The much-ballyhooed one-day Climate Summit next week is being hyped as one of the major political-environmental events at the United Nations this year.

Salvadoran Farmers Stake Their Bets on Sustainable Development

By Edgardo Ayala
Peasant farmers from one of El Salvador’s most fragile coastal areas are implementing a model of sustainable economic growth that respects the environment and offers people education and security as keys to give the wetland region a boost.

Majority of Consumer Products May Be Tainted by Illegal Deforestation

By Carey L. Biron
At least half of global deforestation is taking place illegally and in support of commercial agriculture, new analysis released Thursday finds – particularly to supply overseas markets.

Mexico’s Cocopah People Refuse to Disappear

By Daniela Pastrana
In their language, Cocopah means “river people”. For over 500 years the members of this Amerindian group have lived along the lower Colorado River and delta in the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora and the U.S. state of Arizona.

World’s Last Remaining Forest Wilderness at Risk

By Stephen Leahy
The world’s last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost – and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines.

When a Disaster Leaves Bathrooms in its Wake

By Malini Shankar
When the 2004 Asian Tsunami lashed the coasts and island territories of India, one of the hardest hit areas were the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI), which lie due east of mainland India, at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

Human Rights and Gender Equality Vague in Post-2015 Agenda

By Ida Karlsson
With the United Nations’ post-2015 development agenda currently under discussion, civil society actors in Europe are calling for a firmer stance on human rights and gender equality, including control of assets by women.

Women – the Pillar of the Social Struggle in Chile’s Patagonia Region

By Marianela Jarroud
In few places in Chile are women the pillars of community, grassroots rural and environmental movements as they are in the southern wilderness region of Patagonia. It is a social role that history forced them to assume in this remote part of the country.

Indigenous Peoples Seek Presence in Post-2015 Development Agenda

By Gloria Schiavi
The world's 370 million indigenous people, who say they were marginalised in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), want to play a key role in the U.N.'s post-2015 development agenda, which will be finalised next year.

OPINION: Africans’ Land Rights at Risk as New Agricultural Trend Sweeps Continent

By Janah Ncube
Agriculture in Africa is in urgent need of investment. Nearly 550 million people there are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, while half of the total population on the continent live in rural areas.

Struggling to Find Water in the Vast Pacific

By Catherine Wilson
Pacific Island states are surrounded by the largest ocean in the world, but inadequate fresh water sources, poor infrastructure and climate change are leaving some communities without enough water to meet basic needs.

New Technology Boosts Fisherfolk Security

By Malini Shankar
As the United Nations gears up to launch its newest set of poverty-reduction targets to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, the words ‘sustainable development’ have been on the lips of policymakers the world over.

Will Climate Change Denialism Help the Russian Economy?

By Mikhail Matveev
The recent call from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for “tightening belts” has convinced even optimists that something is deeply wrong with the Russian economy.

Large Dams “Highly Correlated” with Poor Water Quality

By Carey L. Biron
Large-scale dams are likely having a detrimental impact on water quality and biodiversity around the world, according to a new study that tracks and correlates data from thousands of projects.

IPS at 50, Leads That Don’t Bleed

By Thalif Deen
Tarzie Vittachi, a renowned Sri Lankan newspaper editor and one-time deputy executive director of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, once recounted the oft-quoted story of an African diplomat who sought his help to get coverage in the U.S. media for his prime minister's address to the General Assembly.
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