Environment

How Extreme Weather is Testing Tanzania’s $2 Billion Electric Railway Dream

By Kizito Makoye
On a rainy Wednesday morning, in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) terminal bustled with a steady flow of passengers. Women ushered toddlers along. Snack bags dangling on their hands. Tourists dragged wheeled suitcases across the floor. Students scrolled through smartphones as they returned to campus. Each had been attracted by the speed, reliability and comfort of the electric train.

What Next? United States Exits Key Entities, Vital Climate Treaties in Major Retreat from Global Cooperation

By Joyce Chimbi
President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, the environment, and energy. This strategy is in step with his administration’s established approach to undermine and redirect funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs.

Tracking the Invisible: Monitoring Air Pollution from Space

By Keran Wang, Sheryl Rose Reyes and Taisei Ukita
Take a deep breath. Did you know that in many countries in Asia and the Pacific, the air we breathe falls short of the safety standards for air quality set by the World Health Organization? While the start of a new year signals new beginnings, it also marks the continuation of the recurring air quality crisis across many countries in the region.

Richest 1% have Blown Through their Fair Share of Carbon Emissions for 2026 –in just 10 Days

By Oxfam
The richest 1% have exhausted their annual carbon budget – the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while staying within 1.5 degrees of warming - only ten days into the year, according to new analysis from Oxfam. The richest 0.1% already used up their carbon limit on the 3rd January.

Experts Urge Rapid Adaptation as India Braces for ‘Stronger’ Cyclones, Quakes

By Athar Parvaiz
Despite early warnings reportedly reaching communities before the cyclones (Ditwah and Senyar) struck coastal regions in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia late in November 2025, over 1,500 people lost their lives and hundreds went missing even as millions were impacted by these disasters, which caused massive destruction. Scientists say that these disasters reflect a changing climate system, which is making cyclones more hazardous than what we considered “typical” in the past.

Excluding Food Systems From Climate Deal Is a Recipe for Disaster

By Busani Bafana
As they ate catered meals, COP30 negotiators had no appetite for fixing broken food systems, a major source of climate pollution, experts warn. Food systems are the complete journey food takes—from the farm to fork—which means its growing, processing, distribution, trade and consumption and even the waste.

US Retreat from Multilateral Institutions Undermines Rule Of Law

By Center for International Environmental Law
The Trump Administration’s sweeping executive order to withdraw the United States from dozens of United Nations bodies and international organizations, as well as a treaty ratified by the United States with the advice and consent of the US Senate, is a targeted assault on multilateralism, international law, and global institutions critical to safeguarding human rights, peace, and climate justice.

United States Withdrawal From Organizations Triggers Global Alarm

By Oritro Karim
President Donald Trump's executive order to stop United States support for 66 international organizations, including 31 United Nations (UN) groups, has faced strong opposition from these organizations, the global community, humanitarian experts, and climate advocates, who are concerned about the negative effects on global cooperation, sustainable development, and international peace and security.

Living with nature, the climate lesson from Brazil’s caatinga

By Mario Osava
“The work of collecting seeds saved me from depression,” caused by her daughter's suicide at the age of 29, said Maria do Desterro Soares, 64, who lives in the poor rural community of Jatobá in northeastern Brazil.

Natural Restoration Recovers Lagoon and Environmental Justice in Brazil: VIDEO

By Mario Osava
"We moved from a context of socio-environmental exclusion to one of environmental justice," said Dionê Castro, coordinator of the Sustainable Oceanic Region Program which led Brazil's largest nature-based solutions project.

‘Zambia Has Environmental Laws and Standards on Paper – the Problem Is Their Implementation’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses environmental accountability in Zambia with Christian-Geraud Neema, Africa editor at the China Global South Project, an independent journalism initiative that covers and follows China’s activities in global south countries.

‘People Reacted to a System of Governance Shaped by Informal Powers and Personal Interests’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses Generation Z-led protests in Bulgaria with Zahari Iankov, senior legal expert at the Bulgarian Centre for Not-for-Profit Law, a civil society organisation that advocates for participation and human rights.

The Bitter Sweet Future of Cocoa Showcased During COP30, Belém

By Tanka Dhakal
Izete dos Santos Costa, also known as Dona Nena among locals in Combu Island, welcomed hundreds of people from around the world during the recent climate conference in Belém. Her team showcased local crafts and chocolate-making processes in the land of the Amazon rainforest—far from the deafening air conditioner sounds at the Parque da Cidade, where the COP30 negotiations were ongoing.

A Grim Year for Democracy and Civic Freedoms – but in Gen Z There Is Hope

By Mandeep S.Tiwana
2025 has been a terrible year for democracy. Just over 7 per cent of the world’s population now live in places where the rights to organise, protest and speak out are generally respected, according to the CIVICUS Monitor, a civil society research partnership that measures civic freedoms around the world. This is a sharp drop from over 14 per cent this time last year.

In Kenya, Smallholder Farmers Push Back Against Corporate Control of Agriculture

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
For the past two years, Samuel Ndungu, a smallholder farmer, has been growing organic food and supplying it to the local market in Githunguri, just outside Nairobi.

A Global Movement for Nutrition Is Needed Now More than Ever

By Afshan Khan
In my more than 30 years with the United Nations, I’ve seen enormous change, collaboration and progress towards improving human development. But I’ve also seen how history has a way of repeating itself to entrench some of the most intractable global challenges.

Climate Justice Denied by Delays

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan
Opinions have been divided over the annual UN climate conferences. While some see COP30 in Belém, Brazil, as confirming their irrelevance, others see it as a turning point in the struggle for climate justice.

End of Year Video 2025

Multiple shocks defined 2025: conflict, climate breakdown and shrinking democracy. Multilateral institutions were tested as never before.

Rescued from Fire: the World in 2025

By Farhana Haque Rahman
Our traditional “year-ender” usually kicks off with a grim litany of world disasters and crises over the past 12 months, highlights IPS partners and contributors and culminates in a more positive-sounding finale. This time I’d like to begin on a more personal note intended also as a metaphor.

Escalating Food Insecurity in Asia-Pacific Undermines Health, Economic Growth, and Stability

By Oritro Karim
2025 marked a notable year of progress in reducing global hunger; yet climate pressures, economic instability, and ongoing conflicts continue to push agri-food systems to their limits, undermining food availability. In a new report, UN agencies raise the alarm on how these factors are particularly pronounced in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for 40 percent of the world’s undernourished.

‘We Need a New Global Legal Framework That Rethinks Sovereignty in the Context of Climate Displacement’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses climate displacement and Tuvalu’s future with Kiali Molu, a former civil servant at Tuvalu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and currently a PhD candidate at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Bergen in Norway. His research focuses on state sovereignty and climate change in the Pacific.
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