Environment

Power-Sharing —Boomers and Gen Z Face Off at the ICSW

By Zofeen Ebrahim
The message is clear: today’s youth are not “wishy-washy.” They are not just the future—they are the present, full partners in shaping it, and “power-sharing” is the new mantra. The veterans of activism are being reminded not merely to listen but to hear and to leave their egos at the door.

Deliver Emission Cuts, or Risk Locking the World Into ‘Catastrophic Warming’

By Umar Manzoor Shah
The world is falling dangerously short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals, with global greenhouse gas emissions rising to record levels and current national pledges still far off the mark, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in its Emissions Gap Report 2025: Off Target.

COP30: New Faces, Old Issues: What Must Change if Global Climate Talks Are to Deliver Justice for Africa

By Martha Bekele and Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe
Three decades after the first Climate COP, the multilateral climate process – which was intended to serve as an instrument of justice and a guardian of the planet’s atmosphere – has fallen far short of its goals.

COP30: The Real Solution to Climate Change Could be Through International Law

By Joan Russow
At COP15, the developing countries were calling for the temperature to not rise above 1.5 degrees and they ignored the Copenhagen Accord which agreed to 2.0 degrees

COP30 Belém: Turning Promises into Action

From the 10th to the 21st of November 2025, the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) will be hosted in Belém, Brazil.

A Unified Oceanic Commitment to Tsunami Preparedness

By Temily Baker and Michel Katrib
On a quiet July morning in Severo-Kurilsk, a coastal town in the East of the Russian Federation, the sea began to retreat unnaturally fast. Within minutes, tsunami sirens blared and 2,700 residents evacuated to higher ground. Waves up to five meters inundated the port and fish factory, but no lives were lost. The town’s survival reflected years of investment in early warning systems, community drills, and resilient infrastructure. The 2025 Kamchatka tsunami demonstrated what preparedness can achieve when science, governance, and community action align.

As COP30 Nears, We Need All Effective Climate Solutions

By Gabriel Labbate
A new global study has challenged a key assumption in climate planning: that the planet’s geological “carbon vault” is vast enough to hold all the carbon dioxide (CO₂) we might one day choose to bury underground after we remove it from the atmosphere. It isn’t.

Lawmakers Urged to Consider Emerging Drivers of Child Marriage

By Cecilia Russell
Closing the chapter on child marriages is still a distant ambition in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, and despite great strides at developing and passing legislation to eradicate it, existing and emerging drivers are still at play, making youngsters vulnerable to the practice.

Financing Tropical Forests now is a COP30 Solution that’s Already Working

By Keith Tuffley
As the world prepares for COP30 in Belém, all eyes are on Brazil’s proposed Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF)—a bold plan to reward countries for keeping forests standing. It represents a vital part of the long-term vision we need for global forest protection.

Challenging Elites, Defending Democracy: Oxfam’s Amitabh Behar Speaks Out

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Speaking to IPS on the sidelines of the International Civil Society Week in Bangkok (November 1–5), Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International and a passionate human rights advocate, highlighted his concerns about rising inequality, growing authoritarianism, and the misuse of AI and surveillance. Yet, he expressed optimism that, even as civic spaces shrink, young people across Asia are driving meaningful change. He also shared his vision of a just society—one where power is shared, and grassroots movements lead the way.

Strengthening Indigenous Lands Rights Key in Solving Deforestation in Amazon

By Tanka Dhakal
Strengthening Indigenous land rights will protect more forest in Brazil’s Amazon and avoid large amounts of carbon emission, according to new research released ahead of COP30.

As Civil Society Is Silenced, Corruption and Inequality Rise

By Busani Bafana
From the streets of Bangkok to power corridors in Washington, the civil society space for dissent is fast shrinking. Authoritarian regimes are silencing opposition but indirectly fueling corruption and widening inequality, according to a leading global civil society alliance.

Guatemalan Peasants Overcome Drought in the Dry Corridor

By Edgardo Ayala
Water scarcity that relentlessly hits the rural communities in eastern Guatemala, located in the so-called Central American Dry Corridor, is a constant threat due to the challenges in producing food, year after year. But it is also an incentive to strive to overcome adversities.

Will COP30 Reenergize Nigeria’s Great Green Wall Project?

By Promise Eze
In 2017, 45-year-old Jabiru Muhammed could hardly contain his excitement when the village head of Batu in Jigawa State, northwestern Nigeria, announced that their community would work with officials from the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) to plant trees across a large stretch of land in the village.

Children’s Education Must Be Put At The Forefront of Climate Discussions At COP30

By Oritro Karim
In 2024, the climate crisis has disrupted schooling for millions of students worldwide, weakening workforces and hindering social development on a massive scale. With extreme weather patterns preventing students from accessing a safe, and effective learning environment, the United Nations (UN) and the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE Hub) continue to urge the international community to assist the most climate-sensitive areas in building resilient education systems that empower both students and educators.

Adaptation Finance Shortfalls Leave Developing World Exposed

By Cecilia Russell
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica yesterday—the strongest hurricane to impact the island on record since 1851—with expectations of tens of thousands of people being displaced and devastating damage to infrastructure. The tropical storm, slightly downgraded but nevertheless devastating, made landfall in Cuba today as UNEP’s newly released Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty shows that the finance needed for developing countries to adapt to the climate crisis is falling far behind their needs.

Indigenous Communities Are the Frontlines of Climate Action—It’s Time COP Listened

By Nana Kwesi Osei Bonsu
I had hoped to attend this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP) in person, to stand alongside fellow Indigenous leaders and advocate for the rights of our communities.

Data Centre Investments Bad Deals

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan
Opposition to data centres (DCs) has been rapidly spreading internationally due to their fast-growing resource demands. DCs have been proliferating quickly, driven by the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI).

The Time for a Decade of Island Resilience is Now

By Penny Becker, Ralph Regenvanu and Safiya Sawney
As biodiversity loss including ocean degradation, pollution and climate change threaten our planet, islands, and particularly global small island nations, often don't get the spotlight they deserve. Often labeled as vulnerable, the world’s small island nations are in fact powerful beacons of resilience.

Eyes in the Sky: How Satellites Are Helping to Reduce Emissions from Livestock

By Lindsey Sloat
Thousands of years ago, we looked to the stars for guidance — constellations like Taurus and the Pleiades signalled the changing of the seasons and the best times to plant, harvest and move animals.

In Zimbabwe, Secondhand Clothes From the West Are Collapsing the Local Textile Industry

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
Shamiso Marambanyika assists a male customer in selecting a pair of jeans on a Saturday morning in Mutare, a city in the eastern part of Zimbabwe.
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