Education for constructive change
By Jens Waltermann | Inter Press Service
Indigenous knowledge, a lesson for a sustainable food future
MILAN, Italy—Local knowledge systems rooted in traditional practices and culture passed down generations provide sustainable solutions to food and nutritional insecurity on the back of climate change, said at a conference recently.
Changing weather to affect living standards of half of India’s population
NEW DELHI—The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in January declared that 2018 was the sixth-warmest year in the last 117 years or since 1901, when recording started.
US survey finds lack of awareness on global warming
By Yash Bhandari | Inter Press Service
PHL island women lead in peatland restoration
ALANGALANG, Leyte—Eluminada Roca has lived all her life next to the Leyte Sab-a Basin peatlands in this municipality. The grandmother from San Isidro village in this Leyte Island grew up looking at the green hills that feed water to the peatland, she harvested tikog—a peatland grass to weave mats—and ate the delicious fish that was once in abundant in the waters.
Industrial jobs in danger when climate is to be saved
STOCKHOLM—The trade unions’ solution for a greener world is new jobs with good working conditions. The critics argue that there’s not enough time.
2B hectares of land globally degraded
GEORGETOWN—New data show that globally 2 billion hectares of land—roughly twice the size of China—have been degraded. And of this amount, 500 million hectares are abandoned agricultural lands.
‘Forests provide the world with oxygen, but more climate-change finance is needed’
PARAMARIBO—Suriname, the most forested country in the world, hosted a major international conference on climate financing for High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) countries.
Rapa Nui’s stone statues and marine resources face threats from climate change
HANGA ROA, Chile—Social activists and local authorities in Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, are calling for urgent action to address rising sea temperatures, declining rainfall and rising tides that threaten their fishing resources and their Moais, the mysterious volcanic stone monoliths.
Making communities drought resilient
GEORGETOWN—The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’s (UNCCD) Drought Initiative is in full swing with dozens of countries signing up to plan their drought program.
Climate change: Complex challenges for agriculture
ZURICH, Switzerland—The unusually hot summer of 2018 showed that climate change affects a central part of our lives: agriculture. The severe drought in Liechtenstein led to large losses in the hay harvest.
Sprouting mangroves restore hopes in coastal Myanmar
SHWE THAUNG YAN, Myanmar—Htay Aung is having a moment. The 63-year-old retired professor of marine science sits at the foot of a Buddha statue atop a hill on Shwe Thaung Yan subtownship, in Myanmar’s Ayyerwady region, almost in meditation. Below him, a vast thicket of mangrove glistens in the gold of a setting sun.
Over half of world’s tropical forests destroyed
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt—At least 10 more percent of land than what is currently being used to grow green crops will be required to successfully replace fossil fuels with alternatives derived from natural sources such as biofuel, biodiversity conservationists have revealed.
Mother nature can help us deal with water disasters
By Vladimir Smakhtin | Inter Press Service
Climate change becoming a reality check for the North
WAGENINGEN, the Netherlands—“This season, the month of May was particularly hot and dry,” said Leo de Jong, a commercial farmer in Zeewolde, in Flevopolder, the Netherlands.
Unclos expands to cover marine biodiversity
By Palitha Kohona | Inter Press Service
Land degradation: The largest environmental issue of our time
By Nalisha Kalideen
Will climate change cause more migrants than wars?
Climate change is one of the main drivers of migration and will be increasingly so. It will even have a more significant role in the displacement of people than armed conflicts, which today cause major refugee crises.
How global emissions have changed since 1850
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Which countries have emitted the most greenhouse gases? The quick answer is, “It depends.” A more definitive response is tougher than you may expect. Many factors inform the answer.
Is desalination an answer to water crisis?
TAMPA, Florida—On the recent World Water Day, universal access to clean water continues to be a privilege, when it should be a right. Experts predict that by 2030 the global water demand will exceed supply by 40 percent.
Is there data privacy, protection to poor customers?
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Research increasingly demonstrates that poor customers, just like other customers, value their privacy and care deeply about the protection of their personal data.
Designer: ‘Fashion should not pollute the planet’
By Kaya Dorey | Inter Press Service
Why people should care about the water crisis
By Tim Wainwright | Inter Press Service
Former world’s garbage dump, China bans waste products
MAASTRICHT, Netherlands—China, once the final resting place for half the world’s trash, has just banned the import of certain plastic, paper and textile waste.
Water, water everywhere, costs more than you might think
fWASHINGTON, D.C.—Without reliable access to water, human beings cannot survive. Yet, three out of 10 people do not have a safely managed water supply, and six out of 10 lack safely managed sanitation. Over 2 billion people drank water that was contaminated with feces in 2015.
Nowhere to hide from climate change
TOGORU, Fiji—The water is nibbling away the beaches of Fiji. Not even the dead are allowed peace of mind. The graveyard of Togoru—a village on the largest island of Fiji—has been submerged.
Should environmental refugees be granted asylum status?
UNITED NATIONS—The 1951 United Nations convention on political refugees—which never foresaw the phenomenon of climate change—permits refugee status only if one “has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”
Empowering women improves communities, ensures success for generations
ROME—At an event held on October 29 at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) Gender Awards 2017, five countries were honored for impressive achievements in gender equality and women’s empowerment despite harsh conditions and numerous daunting situational and societal obstacles. The five countries are Bangladesh, Mozambique, Colombia, Morocco and Mauritania. The Ifad-supported projects in these countries have ambitious goals for a more egalitarian future. To date, these projects have successfully provided women with decision-making opportunities, skill training and increased autonomy through the development of their own livelihoods.
Combating climate change? Fight land degradation–UNCCD chief
BONN, Germany—Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admitted Monique Barbut, the executive secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
At climate summit, 2 global energy alliances emerge
BONN, Germany—As the summit of governments, known as 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP 23) reached its conclusion in Bonn, Germany, last weekend, two clear alliances have emerged in the global energy landscape.
Climate-change summit a step further, but where to?
ROME—The United Nations Climate Change Summit in Bonn is a step further, most experts say. Fine, but toward what?
Cooking to fight climate change
By Paloma Duran | Inter Press Service
Alert: Nature on the verge of bankruptcy
ROME—Pressures on global land resources are now greater than ever, as a rapidly increasing population, coupled with rising levels of consumption, is placing ever-larger demands on the world’s land-based natural capital, warns a new United Nations report.
Pope donates for drought, conflict-stricken East Africa
ROME—As an unprecedented gesture, Pope Francis has donated €25,000 to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) efforts supporting people facing food insecurity and famine in East Africa.
Ocean conference: Integrated vision that must be delivered
UNITED NATIONS—In March 2015 at the Sendai World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction, then-President of Kirbati, Anote Tong, made it very clear how vulnerable his country was to climate and disaster risk, when he informed the room (which was sadly less than half full) that his country had purchased land in Fiji.
World lags on clean-energy goals
VIENNA, Austria—It may be the 21st century but more than 3 billion people still use fire for cooking and heating. Of those, 1 billion people have no access to electricity despite a global effort launched at the 2011 Vienna Energy Forum to bring electricity to everyone on the planet.
‘Religious discrimination and fanaticism worsened’
ROME/GENEVA—Religious discrimination, fanaticism and xenophobia have worsened in several countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North America, thus, there is a need for alternatives to identify a common strategy to address these challenges, a Geneva-based think tank promoting global dialogue said.
Excessive antibiotic use in farming poses threat
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—The greatly excessive use of antibiotics in food production in recent decades has made many bacteria more resistant to antibiotics.
A carbon law to protect the climate
UXBRIDGE, Canada—The Carbon Law says human carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions must be reduced by half each decade starting in 2020. By following this “law”, humanity can achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by midcentury to protect the global climate for current and future generations.
UN and the religious right
UNITED NATIONS—Religious advocacy groups have a long history of working with the United Nations, pushing back against progressive interpretations of the terms “family” and “marriage” as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
WHO: Poor environment causes 1 in 4 child deaths
UNITED NATIONS—Unhealthy environments—both inside and outside the home—cause the deaths of more than 1.7 million child under the age of 5 every year, according to two new reports released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.
New antibiotics urgently needed to combat resistant bacteria
ROME/GENEVA—The United Nations health organization has just published its first-ever list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens”—a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
Making the deep blue sea green again
UNITED NATIONS—Kids growing up in the Seychelles think of the ocean as their backyard, says Ronald Jean Jumeau, the Seychelles ambassador to the UN.
One-person households rising
UNITED NATIONS—A significant global demographic change having far-reaching consequences, yet receiving, scant attention is the rise of one-person households.
Antifracking movement alarmed at Trump’s focus on fossil fuels
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas—Earl Hatley, a descendant of the Cherokee/Delaware tribe, has witnessed the consequences of using hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on his native land to produce shale gas.
Developmentalism, conservation clash out at sea
CANCUN, Mexico—“We don’t have access to marine areas, because most are protected areas or are in private hands. We indigenous peoples have been losing access to our territories, as this decision became a privilege of the state,” complained Donald Rojas, a member of the Brunka indigenous community in Costa Rica.
‘Complex’ climate fund procedures hindering devt
DHAKA—Though highly hopeful about achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) well ahead of the 2030 deadline, Bangladesh is upset over the procedures to access the Green Climate Fund (GCF), calling them “ridiculously complex” and warning that they may slow down its drive to achieve the SDGs.
Climate-resistant beans could save millions
CALI, Colombia—A global food watchdog works around the clock to preserve crop biodiversity, with a seed bank deep in the Colombian countryside holding the largest collection of beans and cassava in the world and storing crops that could avert devastating problems.
Climate finance for farmers key to avert 1B hungry
MARRAKECH, Morocco—With climate change posing growing threats to smallholder farmers, experts working around the issues of agriculture and food security say it is more critical than ever to implement locally appropriate solutions to help them adapt to changing rainfall patterns.
Air pollution is top killer globally and major cause of climate change
PENANG—New research is showing that air pollution is a powerful silent killer, causing 6.5 million worldwide deaths, as well as being the major cause of climate change.
Funding to combat land degradation lagging; urgent action needed
NAIROBI, Kenya—Land degradation already affects millions of people, bringing biodiversity loss, reduced availability of clean water, food insecurity and greater vulnerability to the harsh impacts of climate change.
Cities address key challenge: Infrastructure needs
QUITO, Ecuador—“We, as mayors, have to govern midsize cities as if they were capital cities,” said Héctor Mantilla, city councilor of Floridablanca, the third-largest city in the northern Colombian department of Santander.
Climate doomsday: Another step closer
ROME—Almost inadvertently, humankind is getting closer every day to the point of no-return toward what could be called the “climate doomsday”.
Stronger collaboration for greater energy access in Asia Pacific
By Dr. Shamshad Akhtar | Inter Press Service
$90-T infrastructure investment could combat climate change
UNITED NATIONS—The world will need to more than double its current infrastructure stock over the next 15 years—a massive undertaking that could either contribute to or combat catastrophic climate change—according to a new report.
Climate change adaptation key to reaching zero hunger in LatAm
SANTIAGO, Chile—Climate change is leading to major modifications in agricultural production in Latin America and the Caribbean, and if mitigation and adaptation measures of the productive system are not urgently adopted, threats to food security will be exacerbated.
‘Science makes policy out of bricks, not straw’
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Given the enormity of the challenges confronting humanity, the world’s investment in science, technology and innovation is woefully inadequate.
Environmental crimes could face ICC
UNITED NATIONS—The International Criminal Court (ICC) will pay more attention to crimes of environmental destruction and land-grabs, according to a new policy paper published by the court.
9 in 10 people worldwide live with excessive air pollution
ROME—The warning is sharp, and the facts alarming: 92 percent of the world’s population live in places where levels exceed recommended limits. And 6.5 million people die annually from air pollution.
IUCN votes to ban all domestic trade in elephant ivory
HONOLULU, Hawaii—The international conservation community has taken an important step toward saving African elephants from mass slaughter by voting at a major congress to call on all governments to ban their domestic trade in ivory.
Climate victims: Every second, 1 person displaced by disaster
ROME—Climate change and related extreme weather events have devastated the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of most vulnerable people worldwide—by far exceeding the total of all the unfortunate and unjustifiable victims of all terrorist attacks combined.
India’s climate migrants lead mass migration to cities
NEW DELHI—Deepa Kumari, a 36-year-old farmer from Pithoragarh district in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, lives in a one-room tenement in south Delhi’s Mongolpuri slum with her three children. Fleeing devastating floods, which killed her husband last year, the widow landed up in the national capital city last week, after selling off her farm and two cows at cut-rate prices.
UN warns: Record-high seafood consumption not sustainable
UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) warned on Thursday that global fish stocks cannot keep up with record consumption, with the average person now consuming 20 kilograms of fish a year.
Antibiotic resistance needs global response
UNITED NATIONS—Addressing antibiotic resistance will require a global political response similar to the way the world has reacted to climate change or HIV/AIDS, Sweden’s Minister of Public Health Gabriel Wikstrom, told Inter Press Service (IPS) recently.
Govts slow to respond to elder abuse
LONDON—Although instances of elder abuse are widespread around the world, many government responses have been inadequate.
Coral-reef tourism in danger
A recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) report on World Heritage Sites in danger from climate change received widespread media attention, after the Australian government requested the removal of a chapter on the Great Barrier Reef.
Humanitarian summit, a big ‘disappointment’
ISTANBUL, Turkey—The World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul on May 23 and 24 failed to achieve its fund-raising goals. With the exception of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, none from the group of the richest courtiers or of the UN Security Council attended. And the summit could not mobilize the much-needed resources it had hoped for.
A decalogue to understand terrorism and its consequences
Roberto Savio
World Bank reinvents tainted aid program for Ethiopia
By Elizabeth Fraser | Inter Press Service
Caribbean biodiversity overheated by climate change
SANTO DOMINGO—The nearly 7,000 islands and the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea are home to thousands of endemic species and are on the migration route of many kinds of birds. Preserving this abundant fauna requires multilateral actions in today’s era of global warming.
‘Paris talks should tackle historic emissions, make real change’
NEW DELHI, India—On a late Friday afternoon as choking smog descended on the Indian Capital, François Richier, the French ambassador to India, took some hard questions from scores of journalists about the upcoming climate-change talks in Paris this month.
No curtains yet for BRICS
NEW DELHI—With Goldman Sachs folding up its hemorrhaging Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) fund, is it curtains for the acronym that defined the investment bankers’ fancy for emerging markets?
The challenge of climate change: An Indian perspective
By Arnab Jyoti Das / Inter Press Service
How to make good business out of doing good in Southeast Asia
By Diana Mendoza / Inter Press Service
‘Sanitation, water and hygiene for all’ cannot wait for 2030
By Geeta Rao Gupta / Inter Press Service
UN’s new development goals need funds, political will to succeed
By Thalif Deen | Inter Press Service
Pope? Yes; Dalai Lama? No
UNITED NATIONS—When the United States established diplomatic relations with the Holy See back in January 1984, a televangelist asked rather sarcastically: when will Mecca send its own ambassador to Washington D.C.?
World running out of time to save oceans
By Thalif Deen | Inter Press Service
Young Cubans look forward to greater openness to ICT
By Ivet Gonzalez | Inter Press Service
Stop food waste: Cook it and eat it
By Silvia Boarini / Inter Press Service
Islamic leaders: Commit to zero emissions
By Kitty Stapp / Inter Press Service
Water, climate, energy linked to fight vs poverty in Central America
MANAGUA—Central America’s toolbox to pull 23 million people—almost half of the population—out of poverty must include three indispensable tools: universal access to water, a sustainable power supply and adaptation to climate change.
South Korea: Emerging industrial power rises from aid recipient to donor nation
By Thalif Deen | Inter Press Service
Pope raises concerns on transgenic crops
MEXICO CITY—In his second encyclical since he became pope on March 13, 2013—but the first that is entirely his work—Jorge Mario Bergoglio criticizes the social, economic and agricultural impacts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and calls for a broad scientific debate.
The road to Paris and the path to renewable energy
IPS / Jed Alegado
Dam project to determine fate of Brazil’s energy projects
ALTAMIRA, Brazil—Paulo de Oliveira drives a taxi in the northern Brazilian city of Altamira, but only when he is out of work in what he considers his true profession: Operator of heavy vehicles like trucks, mixers or tractor loaders.
Trans-fat substitute may lead to more deforestation
By Zhai Yun Tan / Inter Press Service
UN taps private sector to fund development and social causes
UNITED NATIONS—When the United Nations seeks outside financial assistance either for development needs or to advocate social causes, it invariably turns to the private sector these days.
Countries most at risk are least familiar with term ‘climate change’
NEW YORK—Although four in 10 adults have never heard the phrase “climate change,” many are aware that something is amiss with local weather patterns, a new survey covering 119 countries has found.
Even the rich have not harnessed full potential of digital economy
By Jaya Ramachandran / Inter Press Service
UN leads youth in campaign vs intolerance, racism, extremism
UNITED NATIONS (UN)—When the 21-year-old Crown Prince of Jordan, Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, presided over a Security Council meeting in April, he was described as the youngest ever to chair one of the UN’s most powerful political bodies armed with powers to wage wars and declare peace.
European federalism and missed opportunities
By Emma Bonino / Inter Press Service
Big oil companies privately accepted global warming; publicly opposed climate science
By Diego Arguedas Ortiz / Inter Press Service
Financial transaction tax could boost new development goals
UNITED NATIONS—Ever since the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development in March 2002 called for new and innovative strategies to complement traditional Official Development Assistance, various financial instruments have been discussed.
Foreign investment fell worldwide in 2014–U.N.
UNITED NATIONS—Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in 2014 declined 16 percent to $1.2 trillion, according to this year’s newly released World Investment Report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
US Supreme Court deals blow to Obama’s emissions cuts
NEW YORK—In a setback to the Barack Obama administration’s clean energy plans just five months ahead of a critical climate-change summit in Paris this December, the US Supreme Court on Monday blocked an initiative to limit emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
Donors pledge over $4.4 billion to Nepal—but with a caveat
UNITED NATIONS—Blessed with more than $4.4 billion in pledges at an international donor conference in Kathmandu on Thursday, the government of Nepal is expected to launch a massive reconstruction project to rebuild the earthquake-devastated South Asian nation.
Pope Francis’s timely call to action on climate change
By Tomás Insua / Inter Press Service
Swivel rockers deliver perfect combination of style and comfort
By Mary Carol Garrity / Tribune News Service
Cities will be decisive in fight for development—UN report
UNITED NATIONS—With cities increasingly in the spotlight on the international stage, urban planning and development has become a critical issue in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).