Economy & Trade

Biodiversity: Roll Up the Sleeves and Do Something, says Astrid Schomaker, New UNCBD Head

By Stella Paul
“We are living in a time where nature is regularly raising its hand and saying, 'Look, I'm here and I'm in trouble,' and then bringing us all sorts of natural disasters to the table," says Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), in an exclusive interview with IPS. 

Climate Activists Target Culture Greenwashing

By Andrew Firmin
Civil society is working on all fronts to tackle the climate crisis. Activists are protesting in numbers to pressure governments and corporations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. They’re using non-violent direct action and high-profile stunts, paying a heavy price as numerous states criminalise climate protest.

Clean Energy Boosts Autonomy for Brazilian Women Farmers – VIDEO

By Mario Osava
A community bakery, family production of fruit pulp, and the recovery of water springs are some of the initiatives of the Energy of Women of the Earth, organised since 2017 in the state of Goiás, in central-western Brazil.

Conditions Grow Dire in Myanmar

By Oritro Karim
On August 21st, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric spoke at a press briefing at the United Nations Headquarters about the ongoing Rohingya genocide taking place in Myanmar. Dujarric detailed high levels of hostility and displacement in the Shan, Mandalay, and Rakhine regions, which have significantly intensified since late June of this year.

Things Can Only Get Better for Bangladesh

By Saifullah Syed
The student movement in Bangladesh demanding reform of the quota system for public jobs was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Awami League (AL) government led by Sheikh Hasina, in power continuously since 2008, collapsed on 5th August 2024. With Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India and leaving the country in disarray, her authoritarian rule of 15 years just melted away.

Uganda Coffee Smallholders Grapple With EU Regulations on Imports

By Wambi Michael
In Kubewo village in eastern Uganda, children often go to work with their parents in the coffee gardens. Earnings from Arabica coffee are used, their parents and grandparents say, to pay for children’s education and other expenses for the family. 

Various Uncertainties Block Indigenous Land Rights in Brazil

By Mario Osava
A never-ending battle threatens the indigenous rights that seemed clear and secure in Brazil, until the extreme right emerged in 2018 with a force challenging the civilisational advances set out in the Constitution.

US Flails in GM Corn Dispute with Mexico

By Timothy A. Wise
Closing arguments are in in the U.S. trade complaint against Mexico’s restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn, with the three-arbitrator tribunal set to rule on the matter in November. The legitimacy of the trade agreement itself hangs in the balance.

How Extreme Heat Intensifies Health Problems and Hunger

By Muhammad Aamir
In May, temperatures soared above 52° Celsius (125.6° Fahrenheit) in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh. To cope, Samina Kanwal, a community health worker with Action Against Hunger, began work at 7:00 am — the earliest time possible given neighborhood security protocols — to travel door-to-door helping vulnerable with the health consequences of extreme heat including heatstroke, difficulties with brain function, and even hunger.

Micro-Dams, a Solution to Water Shortages in Rural Brazil

By Mario Osava
Water shortage is over, springs have emerged or become perennial, small ponds with fish have formed and pastures have become greener and more permanent, all thanks to the ‘barraginhas’, the Portuguese name given in Brazil to micro-dams that retain rainwater and infiltrate it into the soil.

Origins of the Gaza Catastrophe – Part 1

By Jan Lundius
During the first half of the 20th century, antisemitism was endemic in Europe and eventually burst out in full force when Nazi-Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945 systematically (and well-documented) murdered six million Jews across German-occupied Europe. In an environment mined by hostile public opinion, the Zionist Nahum Sokolow popularized the Hebrew term Hasbara. The word has no real equivalent in English, but might be translated as “explaining”, indicating a strategy seeking to explain actions, regardless whether or not they are justified. As a skilled diplomat, Sokolow based his widely publicized opinions on in-depth research of actual events, though he presented his findings in a manner that favoured his cause.

Dealing with Bangladesh’s Odious Debt

By Anis Chowdhury and Khalilur Rahman
Bangladesh has become increasingly indebted since 2009. The country’s external debt stock increased from US$23.3 billion in 2008 to US$100.6 billion in December 2023 (see figure below). Thanks to the country’s mega-projects led so-called development with borrowed money under the now deposed authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina.

How the Private Sector Can Create Jobs and Drive Development in Western & Central Africa

By Abebe Adugna
Every year in Western and Central Africa, 6 million young people enter the labor force, while only about half a million new jobs are created. This enormous jobs deficit means that most entrants into the workforce work in the informal sector, with insecure income, low quality employment, and very little hope of escaping poverty.

Yemen Crisis Brings Small Reprieve for Entrepreneurial Women

By Randa El Ozeir
Once upon a time, the Sheba (Seba’a) Kingdom (today’s Yemen) had a prominent queen. Women, in the presence of men, were held in a higher position, literally.

Handling Financial Crises in the South

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
When history repeats itself, the first time is a tragedy; the next is a farce. If we fail to learn from past financial crises, we risk making avoidable errors, often with irreversible, even tragic consequences.

Empowering Africa’s Informal Market Traders To Deliver Safe Food

By Busani Bafana
Local informal food markets feed millions of urbanites in bustling African cities, but the consequences of tainted food could be illness and death for unsuspecting consumers.

Hydrogen from Renewables or Fossil Fuels? The Panamanian Question

By Emilio Godoy
In 2021, the Panama Canal welcomed a French experimental ship on a world tour, the Energy Observer, the first electric vessel powered by a combination of renewable energies and a hydrogen production system based on seawater.

Small Farmers Feeling Climate Change Heat Find Little Support From the State

By Zofeen Ebrahim
The over 20 million residents of Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, in Sindh province in particular, have been experiencing brutal heat since May. But they are not the only ones bearing the brunt of high temperatures and humidity. Up to 15,000 cattle died due to scorching heat mixed with high humidity which Shakir Umar Gujjar, president of the Cattle and Dairy Farmers Association, Pakistan, said was “no joke”.

Pacific Community Photographic Winners Bring Impacts of Climate Change to Life

By IPS Correspondent
The Pacific Community’s photographic competition winners reflect the devastating climate impacts on beautiful and sensitive environments, documenting the most pressing issues the communities who live on the islands face today.

Should There be a Dedicated Credit Rating Agency for Asia & the Pacific?

By Lin Zhuo
Following persistent and determined efforts, Africa has achieved a breakthrough in advancing the establishment of an African credit rating agency (ACRA), with the proposed launch scheduled for December 2024.

Water Stories: The Well Seven Families and 400 Buffaloes Rely On

By Tanka Dhakal
In the rural village of Khardariya in the Dang district of Nepal, access to clean water is a major issue. Villagers depend on one poorly managed well for drinking water, cleaning, and feeding livestock. Anjana Yadav stood near the well while a neighbor walked toward it to fetch a bucket of water.
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