The late afternoon sun sparkles on the waters of the French Riviera as yachts dock at the Port of Nice with mechanical grace. A tram glides past palm-lined boulevards, where joggers, drenched in sweat, huff past leisurely strollers and sunbathers. Just beside the promenade, a crowd gathers around a young girl. With braided hair bouncing in rhythm, she belts out Beyoncé’s Halo with stunning precision. Her bare feet dance on the cobblestones, her voice echoing against the pastel façades.
“When we poison the ocean, we poison ourselves,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters on the second day of the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3).
Year by year researchers improve and deepen our understanding of economic activity. The primary example, and probably the most commonly used, is the detailed data and analysis available on gross domestic product (GDP).
The world has converged along the Mediterranean Sea to affirm their commitments to the sustainable use and protection of the ocean.
A newly released report by Earth Insight in collaboration with 16 environmental organizations has sounded a global alarm on the unchecked expansion of offshore oil and gas projects into some of the most biologically rich and ecologically sensitive marine environments on the planet.
As the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) approaches, bringing renewed attention to SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and the rights of ocean-dependent communities, India’s Vizhinjam coast highlights the environmental injustice and human cost of unchecked coastal development.
Char Tito is hammering nails into wood at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Turkana County, northern Kenya. The 16-year-old is making a traditional chair under the scorching sun outside one of the classroom blocks.
The ocean is far more than a vast expanse of water; it is a cornerstone of life and a critical driver of sustainable development. The intricate relationship between human development and the ocean underscores why ocean governance and sustainability are pivotal to global progress. Its significance becomes particularly evident in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where the ocean is not just a resource but an intrinsic part of identity and survival.
On June 1, CIVICUS Global Alliance, announced the appointment of Mandeep Tiwana as its new Secretary-General. With his tenure underway, Tiwana sat down with an IPS correspondent to discuss CIVICUS’s work in promoting civic freedom and solidarity in an increasingly autonomy-restrictive world.
The South-West Pacific experienced unprecedented warming in 2024, according to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report released today (June 5)—threatening islands in a region where half the population lives close to the coast.
A particularly virulent outbreak of cholera was detected in the Khartoum State of Sudan and is a direct result of the Sudanese Civil War, warns the United Nations.
In a world marked by armed conflict, threats to democracy, technological disruptions, and geopolitical tensions, many people are asking:
Why should we prioritize environmental crises when there are other, more visible or perceived as more urgent challenges?
Every day, Delhi’s waste pickers walk three to four kilometers under the blazing sun, collecting and sorting the garbage that keeps India’s capital functioning. Their work is essential—yet largely invisible.
Plastic pollution is choking our planet.
An estimated 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year.
Less than 10% is ever recycled.
From the blistering heat of Delhi’s streets to Colombo’s humid corners, workers in the informal economy are silently enduring the toll of labour on their bodies and livelihoods.
As David Attenborough reflects in his new documentary
Ocean, “After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea". We wholeheartedly agree - and urge governments convening at the
3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in France next month to remember that life below water goes deep.
Brazil hopes to soon reap benefits of its largely renewable energy matrix. Data centers, whose demand is growing with the strides made by artificial intelligence, are the new frontier for these still-uncertain investments.[pullquote]3[/pullquote]
Almost 40 percent of glaciers that exist now are already in danger of melting even if global temperature stabilized at present-day conditions, a study says.
An international study published in the journal
Science finds that glaciers are even more sensitive to global warming than previously estimated.
In a world where headlines warn of rising seas, dying reefs, and vanishing species, it’s easy to think the story ends in loss.
But what if the frontlines of climate change were also frontiers of hope?
CIVICUS discusses the
devastating impact of palm oil extraction in West Papua with Tigor Hutapea, legal representative of Pusaka Bentala Rakyat, an organisation campaigning for Indigenous Papuan people’s rights to manage their customary lands and forests.
The humanitarian situation in Haiti has deteriorated significantly in the recent weeks as rates of violence, hunger, and displacement soar amid a severe lack of funding. As armed gangs continue to seize more territory in the capital, Port-Au-Prince, as well as in areas in the Artibonite and Centre Department, humanitarian organizations have found themselves unable to keep up with the growing scale of needs.