Environment

Rising Seas Not the Only Culprit Behind Kiribati’s Woes

By Christopher Pala
Scientists say dredging, building causeways and natural climate variations are largely responsible for the flooding events that many officials here point to as evidence that climate change-induced sea-level rise is shrinking and destroying their tropical Pacific island.

OP-ED: Financing of Disaster Risk Reduction Needs Urgent Reform

By Jan Gerald Kellett
Over 20 years, disaster losses in developing nations have amounted to 862 billion dollars (a considerable under-estimate). During this period the international community has spent just 13.5 billion dollars on disaster risk reduction (DRR), equivalent to 40 cents of every 100 dollars of development aid – this has to change.

Trinidad Cracks Down on Destructive Shrimp Trawling

By Peter Richards
Dianne Christian Simmons recalls the days when she would head out with her husband on fishing expeditions in the Gulf of Paria, a 3,000-square-mile shallow inland sea between Trinidad and Tobago and the east coast of Venezuela.

Free Lunches Come at an Environmental Cost

By Keya Acharya
In spite of India’s much-publicised national renewable energy policy as part of its international commitments to reduce carbon emissions, its Mid Day Meal (MDM) Scheme, the world’s largest school lunch programme, has no energy conservation or even a fuel policy in its workings.

Climate Change Threatens Crop Yields in Brazil

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Crop yields in Brazil, an agricultural powerhouse, are set to decline as a result of climate change, according to the most complete diagnosis yet of climate trends in this country.

Forest Communities Draw a REDD Line

By Amy Fallon
As the ink dries on a 3.6 million dollar agreement between Uganda and the World Bank to support the country's preparations for REDD, some analysts are pessimistic over the mechanism's potential.

Proposed Global Accord Called a Disaster for Public Services

By Carey L. Biron
Nearly 350 international civil society organisations are urging countries taking part in new negotiations towards an agreement on “trade in services” to abandon the effort, warning that the accord would negatively impact on universal access to and national regulation of public services.

Scarcity Reveals an Inaccessible Excess

By Miriam Gathigah
For decades Zakayo Ekeno has walked Turkana County’s arid land, herding his livestock, and his father’s before that. Yet nothing about the persistently drought-stricken land in northern Kenya could have given him an indication of the wealth beneath it.

U.S. Debates Climate Impact of Development Investments

By Carey L. Biron
A debate is heating up here over the extent to which U.S. government-facilitated private-sector development investments should be required to take into account how those ventures impact on climate change.

U.S. Report of GE Alfalfa Contamination Was “Inevitable”

By Carey L. Biron
With state and federal government agencies investigating a U.S. farmer’s complaint that his alfalfa crop may have been contaminated by a genetically modified strain, consumer rights groups are suggesting that such reports were inevitable.

Q&A: “The Last Great Exploration Is to Survive on Earth”

By Anna Shen
Newly arrived from London, Robert Swan is facing a promise he made to famed marine researcher and conservationist Jacques Cousteau decades ago.

If You Want to Conserve Biodiversity, Protect Latin America

By Stephen Leahy
A team of scientists who analysed the richness of plant species around the world concluded that the ecosystems in need of immediate protection in order to meet the 2020 conservation goals set by the Convention on Biological Diversity are largely concentrated in Latin America.

Dwindling Water Supplies Make Every Drop Count

By Stephen Leahy
Drought and chronic water shortages played a significant role in sparking Syria's civil war and in unrest throughout much of the Middle East, water experts now believe.

Q&A: Room for Negotiation in Decisive Battle over the Amazon

By Mario Osava
Everything indicates that the decisive battle between harnessing hydropower and preserving the Amazon will play out in the Tapajós river basin in Brazil. At stake there are a potential of nearly 30,000 MW and a vital part of the Amazon rainforest.

Pashmina Withers on the Roof of the World

By Athar Parvaiz
The famed pashmina shawl that keeps the cold away – in style and at a price – could itself have become the victim of winter. Thousands of goats whose fine wool is weaved into pashmina have perished in extreme cold being associated with climate change.

Sharks, Victims or Perpetrators?

By Bradnee Chambers
Recent fatal attacks off Réunion have re-ignited demands for sharks to be hunted. But when it comes to humans and sharks, who is predator and who is prey? And what lessons need to be learned when people venture into environments where they are exposed to dangers posed by wildlife? 

Broad Coalition Pledges to Cut “Super Greenhouse Gases”

By Carey L. Biron
An international coalition has agreed to begin working towards domestic regulation aimed at reducing the use of HFCs, compounds commonly used as refrigerants but referred to as “super greenhouse gases” for their particularly negative impact on global warming.

Brazilian Hydroelectricity Giant Promotes Biogas

By Mario Osava
The massive Itaipú hydroelectric dam, shared by Brazil and Paraguay, has now become a model for the micro-scale production of an energy source that is not only clean, but also helps to reduce pollution and promote local development: biogas.

Water Scarcity Could Drive Conflict or Cooperation

By Thalif Deen
When the General Assembly declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC) three years ago, the U.N.'s highest policy-making body was conscious of the perennial conflicts triggered by competition over one of the world's most critical finite resources.

Kenya Embraces Carbon Trading

By Mary Itumbi
Mary Itumbi reports from Nairobi that Kenya is taking advantage of carbon trading to contribute towards efforts to address climate change.

German Sun Beats Swiss Water

By Ray Smith
Water power is the backbone of Alpine countries' energy supply. Despite its important role in Europe's energy shift, further development of hydroelectric infrastructure in Austria and Switzerland is on hold.
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