Environment

UN Assessed Contributions Needed to Generate Core Funding for Climate Loss & Damage

By Inge Kaul
For decades, there have been non-conclusive deliberations regarding how the international community could support poor and vulnerable countries in their efforts to cope with and recover from the havoc wreaked on their territory by the ill-effects of global warming such as severe droughts, floods, storms, or rising sea levels.

AGRA Gets Make-Up, Not Make-Over

By Timothy A. Wise and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Despite its dismal record, the Gates Foundation-sponsored Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) announced a new five-year strategy in September after rebranding itself by dropping ‘Green Revolution’ from its name.

Black ‘Fraud-Days’ and the Shocking Cost of Staying Fashionable

By Baher Kamal
Please take a quick look at this short report before rushing to shop on a Black Friday, Christmas sales and all those long chains of big discounts and wholesales, most of them are fake, as often denounced by consumers organisations that report that the business usually inflates prices before launching such deals.

Was COP27 a Success or a Failure?

By Felix Dodds and Chris Spence
It’s finally over. After the anticipation and build-up to COP27, the biggest climate meeting of the year is now in our rear-view mirror. The crowds of delegates that thronged the Sharm el-Sheikh international convention center for two long weeks have all headed home to recover. Many will be fatigued from long hours and sleepless nights as negotiators tried to seal a deal that would move the world forwards. Did all this hard work pay off? In our opinion, COP 27 was both better and worse than we’d hoped.

For this Caribbean Island, Ozone Protection is a Year-Round Mission

By Alison Kentish
For countries across the globe, September 16th is a day to reflect on progress in protecting the ozone layer. The United Nations designated day for the preservation of the ozone layer is marked by speeches, and educational and social media campaigns.

Asia: the Power of Connections and their Consequences

By Simon Commander and Saul Estrin
In our recent book, “The Connections World: The Future of Asia”, published by Cambridge University Press in October 2022, we argue that mutually beneficial links between dynastic business houses and political elites have been important drivers behind Asia’s extraordinary renaissance. Yet, these close ties now threaten future economic growth.

Lessons from Niyamgiri Movement’s Success to Protect an Indigenous Sacred Mountain

By Joyce Chimbi
The Dongria Kondhs say they are the descendants of Niramraja, a mythical god-king who is believed to have created the Niyamgiri range of hills in Odisha, an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal.

Ugandan Women Tackle Domestic Violence with Green Solutions

By Aimable Twahirwa
Constance Okollet Achom, a Ugandan woman from Tororo, a rural village located in Eastern Uganda, has helped several dozens of her peers affected by domestic violence to address the issue by equipping victims with skillsets to manufacture eco-friendly biofuels from agro-forestry waste.

Pan-African Approach Needed to Tackle Food Insecurity Arising from Conflict and Climate Shocks

By Joyce Chimbi
Upheaval on the global stage, the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Horn of Africa, severe climatic shocks, high international inflation, increasing global commodity prices, high prices of agricultural inputs and low intra-continental trade are fuelling food insecurity across Africa.

COP27: Landmark Win on Loss and Damage Fund

By Meena Raman
COP 27 delivered on what was the ‘litmus test’ for its success – consensus on the establishment of a fund on loss and damage. What seemed impossible was made possible, largely due to the unity of the G77 and China and the role of the Egyptian Presidency. Also important were efforts by civil society groups who put pressure on the United States, the main blocker to having the fund.

Open Veins of Africa Bleeding Heavily

By Ndongo Samba Sylla and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The ongoing plunder of Africa’s natural resources drained by capital flight is holding it back yet again. More African nations face protracted recessions amid mounting debt distress, rubbing salt into deep wounds from the past. With much less foreign exchange, tax revenue, and policy space to face external shocks, many African governments believe they have little choice but to spend less, or borrow more in foreign currencies.

Loss and Damage Fund Saves COP27 from the Abyss

By Daniel Gutman
They were on the brink of shipwreck and did not leave happy, but did feel satisfied that they got the best they could. The countries of the global South achieved something decisive at COP27: the creation of a special fund to address the damage and loss caused by climate change in the most vulnerable nations.

COP27: Historic Loss and Damage Fund Takes COP27 to the Edge

By Aimable Twahirwa
After a tense impasse and many hours of negotiations, almost 200 countries struck a deal to set up a loss and damage fund to assist nations worst hit by climate change – a demand considered not-negotiable by the developing countries.

COP27: The Pacific Region is Under Threat: We Must Act Now to Mobilise Climate Finance

By Labanya Prakash Jena
The Pacific Island Countries (PICs) – 14 small island developing nations in the Pacific Ocean - comprise one of the most exposed and vulnerable regions to climate change and natural calamities. The region did not cause this climate crisis; the crisis stemmed from heavy carbon emissions by developed countries. Yet paradoxically, the countries in the region are also the least resourced to adapt to climate change.

Food Systems Crucial for Pacific Islands at COP27

By Busani Bafana
Food is everything to the culture and identity of the Pacific island countries. Climate change impacts of rising sea levels and higher temperatures threaten islanders’ food security, which is largely dependent on fisheries and subsistence agriculture. Almost 70 percent of islanders rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

Act on Loss and Damage Finance Now, UN Sec Gen Tells COP27 Negotiators

By IPS Correspondent
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the negotiators at COP27 that time for talking about loss, and damage finance is over.

COP27: Africa’s Agri-food Systems Losses Ignored in Global Climate Negotiations

By Aimable Twahirwa
At a time when sustainable farming approaches such as agroecology have been removed from the text at ongoing global climate negotiation (COP27) taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, activists are urging African governments to explore new steps to integrate agriculture into the UN climate agreement.

Don’t Be Fooled: Climate Disasters Are Highly Lucrative

By Baher Kamal
As much as wars --or even more--, climate disaster represents a great business opportunity, so don't bother those who pour their fortunes into fueling them with talks about stopping it.

COP27: Climate Change’s Dire Consequences in the World’s Most Water-Scarce Region

By Hisham Allam
The Middle East and North Africa are the world’s most water-scarce regions – with 11 of the 17 water-stressed countries on the globe. According to UNICEF, nine out of 10 children live in areas with high or very high-water stress, resulting in significant consequences for their health, cognitive development, and future livelihoods.

Will the Global Energy Crisis Accelerate the Energy Transition? The Big Question at COP27

By Daniel Gutman
COP27 is unlikely to produce new commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing gases, but the global energy crisis will eventually prompt more action by countries to move away from fossil fuels. That is the positive feeling that many observers are taking away from the annual climate summit being held in Egypt.

Rising sea levels force Tuvalu to move to the Metaverse: COP27 speech

What happens to a country without land? As rising sea levels threaten to submerge our home, we have made a radical plan for the survival of our nation. Watch Tuvaluan Minister Simon Kofe’s address at COP27 and visit https://www.tuvalu.tv to find out how you can help.
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