On 26 October 2015, the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) hosted its 18th Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change in Washington, DC, US.
The XIV World Forestry Congress, the largest gathering of the world's forest sector which takes place every six years, was held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2015. The event brought together over 4000 participants from 142 countries to discuss topics such as the links between forests and climate change and the role of forests for building resilience.
The world has just received a new and more comprehensive development framework for 2030 that integrates the environmental dimension of development and at the same time makes the term “developed countries” obsolete, in a sense.
China’s economic slowdown is proving especially painful for countries that depend on Chinese investment. The Chinese are set to invest less in foreign countries this year, as their government takes steps to reduce the flow of its currency into overseas markets. Resource-rich countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, like Zambia, are suffering as a result.
El Niño is one of the most important drivers of climate variability worldwide. Reliable early warning is critical for preventing the climate hazard from developing into a full-grown disaster.
On Friday in New York, countries will adopt a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will guide global development up to 2030. The SDGs take the form of 17 goals, accompanied by 169 targets that give precise information about what should be achieved.
Ecological crises may be piling up in a seemingly hopeless cascade, but Swedish scientist Johan Rockström says the next few decades offer an unparalleled opportunity to undo the damage.
Due to its geography, Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable nations in the world. Millions of Bangladeshis are already facing pressing challenges from erratic weather conditions that severely damage infrastructure and farmland, threatening their livelihoods.
Eleven House Republicans, led by Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY), signed a resolution calling for action on climate change. The resolution, made public Thursday, marks a major break from the party line of climate change denial.
The women sat quietly in a village church in northwest Zambia, the sun slanting down on their colourful Sunday outfits as they told how life had changed since their chief sold a tract of land to a foreign firm for a new copper mine, displacing hundreds of families.
Migration across the Bay of Bengal has a long history, but it has recently reemerged in the international spotlight, along with debates about the push and pull factors that have prompted thousands of people to risk their lives at sea rather than remain in Myanmar or Bangladesh. Yet there is one important factor missing from this discussion: climate change.
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s 20 major economies, accounting for 66 percent of world population, have pledged to “promote an enabling global economic environment for developing countries as they pursue their sustainable development agendas”.
More than 80 percent of the estimated 42 million people living in Central Africa’s Lake Victoria Basin depend on fishing or farming for survival. Given this overwhelming reliance on natural resources, the lake’s deteriorating condition – driven by climate change, agriculture, pollution, deforestation, overfishing, and industrialization – has far-reaching implications.
Several prominent commentators have drawn connections between climate change and the rise of ISIS. US Democrat hopeful Martin O’Malley claimed that climate change has lead to the “extreme poverty that has led now to the rise of ISIL and this extreme violence”. John Kerry also argued that climate change would exacerbate Europe’s migration “crisis” and lead to the spread of extremism.
The United Nations will finalize in September its Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to eliminate poverty while reducing humanity's environmental discussion, including lessening the harmful effects of climate change. And some advocates are working to spread the message that climate change impacts men and women differently — and the UN goals need to reflect this sometimes grim reality.