Environment

Caribbean Grapples with Intense New Cycles of Flooding and Drought

By Desmond Brown
As unpredictable weather patterns impact water availability and quality in St. Lucia, the Caribbean island is moving to build resilience to climate-related stresses in its water sector.

India’s Cut-Rose Sector Pushes Past Barriers

By Keya Acharya

U.S. Accused of Forcing EU to Accept Tar Sands Oil

By Carey L. Biron
Newly publicised internal documents suggest that U.S. negotiators are working to permanently block a landmark regulatory proposal in the European Union aimed at addressing climate change, and instead to force European countries to import particularly dirty forms of oil.

U.N.’s New Development Goals Must Also Be Measurable for Rich

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations is on the verge of releasing a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - perhaps 17 or more - to replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which will run out by the end of 2015.

If You Cut One, Plant Two

By Amy Fallon
Olga Mugisa, 11-years-old, takes to the microphone in front of her peers, the Ugandan flag proudly draped behind her and green plants framing the stage. She has an important message to share with her fellow students: “If you cut one, plant two.”

OPINION: Why Asia-Europe Relations Matter in the 21st Century

By Shada Islam
Hopes are high that the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting – or ASEM summit – to be held in Milan on October 16-17 will confirm the credibility and relevance of Asia-Europe relations in the 21st century.

Mexican Farmers Oppose Expansion of Transgenic Crops

By Emilio Godoy
Bean grower Manuel Alvarado is part of the majority of producers in Mexico who consider it unnecessary to introduce genetically modified varieties of beans, as the government is promoting.

Major Companies Push for More, Easier Renewable Energy

By Carey L. Biron
Some of the largest companies in the United States have banded together to call for a substantial increase in the production of renewable electricity, as well as for more simplicity in purchasing large blocs of green energy.

OPINION: The Caribbean: A Clean Energy Revolution on the Front Lines of Climate Change

By Richard Schiffman
Lefties Food Stall, a pint-sized eatery serving Barbados’ signature flying-fish sandwiches, recently became the first snack shack on the Caribbean island to be fitted with a solar panel.

New Palestinian World Heritage Site Under Threat of Defacement

By Ido Liven

The Palestinian village of Battir, just six kilometres southwest of Jerusalem and a similar distance from Bethlehem, is the latest to be trapped in the gap between international recognition and Israel's policies in the West Bank.

Mechanical Pumps Turning Oases into Mirages

By Cam McGrath
Using a hoe, farmer Atef Sayyid removes an earthen plug in an irrigation stream, allowing water to spill onto the parcel of land where he grows dates, olives and almonds.

Scepticism as “Green Goods” Trade Talks Begin

By Carey L. Biron
Formal negotiations began this week around the increasingly significant global trade in “environmental goods”, those technologies seen as environmentally beneficial, including in combating climate change.

El Niño Triggers Drought, Food Crisis in Nicaragua

By José Adán Silva
The spectre of famine is haunting Nicaragua. The second poorest country in Latin America, and one of the 10 most vulnerable to climate change in the world, is facing a meteorological phenomenon that threatens its food security.

Shea Harvesting Good for Income, Bad for the Environment in Ghana

By Albert Oppong-Ansah
The shea tree, a traditional African food plant, represents a major source of income for women in Ghana's Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions, but they are helping to destroy the very resource that gives them money by cutting it down to produce charcoal.

New Data Sends Wake-Up Call on Caribbean Reefs

By Desmond Brown
Marine environmentalist Eli Fuller, who for the past two decades has been exploring the coastline of Antigua and Barbuda, warns that while there has been “dramatic changes” to coral reefs since he was a little boy, “it’s getting worse and worse.”

World’s Poorest Nations Seek Presence in Post-2015 Agenda

By Thalif Deen
The 48 least developed countries (LDCs), described as the poorest of the world's poor, want to be an integral part of the U.N.'s post-2015 development agenda currently under discussion.

U.S. Overseas Coal Financing May Be Restarting

By Carey L. Biron
Landmark new policies that have sharply curtailed U.S. financing for international coal projects may be rolled back, the result of a sudden, polarised fight over a little-known government agency here.

Amid Scepticism, U.N. Trumpets Successes in Cutting Poverty

By Thalif Deen
With 17 months before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their targets by the December 2015 deadline, the United Nations is trumpeting its limited successes - but with guarded optimism.

India’s Unholy Mess

By Neeta Lal
One of the first things that Narendra Damodardas Modi did after being anointed as the Indian prime minister on May 26 was to set up an exclusive ministry (Ganga Rejuvenation) under Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti to clean up the country’s national river, the Ganges.

At the Crucial Nexus of Water and Energy

By Jewel Fraser
Global institutions are still in the learning phase when it comes to successfully managing water and energy in an integrated manner as part of the quest for sustainable development.

Floods Displace Lives and Dreams in Paraguay

By Natalia Ruiz Diaz
The worst floods in the history of Paraguay have forced 300,000 people to flee their homes. Asunción, the most affected area, and other urban and rural areas were flooded by the rain-swollen Paraguay and Paraná rivers, foreshadowing what might happen when the El Niño phenomenon kicks in.
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