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Saturday, November 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Environment
Earth Summits Fail Biodiversity in India
Heads of state and governments are meeting in Rio de Janeiro this week to decide how to renew their pledges made during the first Earth Summit held in Rio in 1992.
G20 Summit in an Unsustainable Environment
Water shortages, hotel development projects, overfishing and the impacts of mining activities are among the main environmental problems in the region of Los Cabos, the venue for the summit of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies.
RIO+20: Reforestation Pledges Reach Only 12 Percent of Target
The world's countries have committed themselves so far to restoring just 18 million hectares of forests by 2020, barely 12 percent of the goal of 150 million hectares agreed by the Bonn Challenge in 2011.
Refugees in South Sudan Facing “Full-blown Humanitarian Crisis”
Within the next nine days, drinking water at refugee camps in South Sudan's Upper Nile state will run dry, warned the aid agency Doctors Without Borders on Tuesday. Meanwhile, refugees continue to stream into the state, as the few camps set up to house to entrants are stretched even further beyond capacity.
RIO+20 Doubts over Impact of Sustainable Development Dialogues
Announced as an innovative way to encourage the participation of Internet users and the public in general in the debates at Rio+20, the proposal for Sustainable Development Dialogues also raised doubts about the impact its recommendations would have.
Environment in Trouble in Most Biodiverse African Country
Ranked fifth in the world in terms of animal and plant diversity, the Democratic Republic of Congo is considered to be a treasure chest of biodiversity and a vital regulator of global warming.
Rio’s Roadmap Falls Flat, Civil Society Groups Say
"Very disappointing." That was the term business and non-governmental organisations used to describe the formal intergovernmental negotiations at the Rio+20 Earth Summit as of Tuesday.
Rio Outcome Bleak With No New Funding*
Amidst recrimination, anger and charges of “strong arm tactics”, negotiators eventually endorsed a global plan of action for sustainable development following marathon sessions lasting over six weary days.
U.N. Paper Factory Threatened with Closure
One of the world's largest "paper factories" – a dubious title traditionally conferred on the United Nations - is on the verge of running out of business.
Rio+20: Creating a Future Girls Want
On a wall in the Rio conference centre is an unusual, brightly coloured tree. It is made of sticky notes, arranged so that the tree's branches extend down and out. On these notes, delegates passing by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girls Scouts (WAGGGS) have been asked to write down the futures they envision.‘Armed Youth’ to Rock Rio
Environmental and community activists from Taiwan will enliven the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference, dubbed Rio+20, and the parallel People’s Summit, with one of the island’s most prominent social protest music groups, the Village Armed Youth Band.
World Bank: Latin America Has the Green Antidote Within Reach
The natural resources of currently buoyant Latin America could be significantly depleted in less than a generation. Combined with the fact that this is the region with the greatest income inequality between the rich and the poor, the outlook might appear disastrous. But the warning, voiced by the World Bank, is not meant as cause for despair.
RIO+20: Ignoring Science, Negotiations Become Political Battle
The science is crystal clear: humans are threatening Earth's ability to support mankind, and a new world economy is urgently needed to prevent irreversible decline, said scientists and other experts at an event on the sidelines of the Rio+20 Earth Summit.
Youth Farmers Have Great Needs and Low Expectations from Rio+20
Ulvia Abdullayeva, from Ganja in western Azerbaijan, has come to Rio to deliver a simple but critical message to world leaders and her national authorities: small farmers need protection and financing.
RIO+20: The Two Faces of BRICS Development Aid
The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) face a key choice: to opt for "good" development aid, based on sustainable development, or for the "bad" old traditional model, which they criticised when they were its recipients.
Hoping To Save Millions, Antigua Turns to Backyard Gardening
As a boy, Hilson Baptiste remembers going to his neighbour's home and giving them a large slice of pumpkin grown in his family's backyard garden. In return, he would be given two fish for his family.
UN, People’s Summit Clash over Green Economy
U.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner believes that he and the Rio+20 People’s Summit agree that the global economic model has caused the current environmental destruction. But the discussion on what to replace it with turned into an acrid debate.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Residents of the Capital Clean Up Their Neighborhoods
Residents of 39 districts and neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa are participating in the Barrio Limpio (Clean Neighborhood) project, clearing trash from ravines, ditches and roads to help prevent flooding during the upcoming rainy season.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Rio to Offer Incentives for Sustainable Construction
Rio de Janeiro City Hall has decided to encourage sustainable construction by offering a 50 percent tax reduction for certified building projects.Brazil Takes Steps to Confiscate Property of Landowners Using Slave Labor
Decent work is an essential requirement for sustainable development, the central theme of the Rio+20 summit, taking place in a country where slave labor has yet to be eradicated.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Swift Progress in DNA Barcoding of Birds
Argentina has made rapid progress in the genetic identification of birds as part of the International Barcode of Life Project (iBOL).« Previous Page — Next Page »
Through our global network of local writers, we are continuing our award-winning coverage of global and local environmental challenges, with a focus on the people for whom the ecosphere matters in a direct way: rural dwellers who have little means to protect themselves against adverse conditions; communities that need to switch to sustainable development in order to survive; poor women and children, who are the most vulnerable in natural disasters. Sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and The World Bank (WB), IPS also maintains the award-winning Tierramérica, a specialised information service on environment and development.
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