Sustainable Settlements to Combat Urban Slums in Africa

Slums are a curse and blessing in fast urbanising Africa. They have challenged Africa's progress towards better living and working spaces but they also provide shelter for the swelling populations seeking a life in cities.

Renewable Energy: The Untold Story of an African Revolution

Africa is experiencing a revolution towards cleaner energy through renewable energy but the story has hardly been told to the world, says Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Q&A: Why Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism is at a Crossroads

The U.N. mechanism for supporting carbon emissions projects in developing countries – the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – is in crisis as a result of a dramatic slump in the prices being paid for carbon credits.

Nanotechnology Could Lighten Venezuela’s Oil Footprint

Venezuela is studying the use of nanotechnology as a means of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases caused by the oil industry.

Q&A: Food Production Accounts for 29 Percent of Greenhouse Gases

Food production, including agriculture, represent 29 percent of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming, say scientists with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Q&A: Companies Study Climate Risks and Opportunities

Investors and corporations have become increasingly concerned over the effects of climate change, which are being felt in vast areas of the planet and have begun to impact on the profitability of their operations.

Trash Collectors Become Zimbabwe’s Unlikely Climate Change Ambassadors

Tomson Chikowero was ashamed of his job. He did not want anyone finding out what he did to earn a living, so he used to wake up early every morning and leave his home in Hatfield, a residential suburb in Zimbabwe’s capital city Harare, under the cover of darkness.

U.N. Paper Factory Threatened with Closure

One of the world's largest "paper factories" – a dubious title traditionally conferred on the United Nations -  is on the verge of running out of business.

U.N. Aims To Offset its Own Carbon Footprint

As the international community readies for a global mega-conference on sustainable development in Brazil mid-June, the United Nations is determined to practice what it preaches to the outside world: improve resource efficiency and drastically reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.