News

International Women's Day, celebrated annually on March 8th, is a day dedicated to recognizing the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women around the world. It is also a time to raise awareness about women's ongoing struggles and inequalities and to renew the call for gender equality and women's rights. 

This day has been observed since the early 1900s and continues to be a powerful symbol of the progress that has been made and the work that still needs to be done to create a more just and equal world for all women.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) makes up near 20% of the world’s gold.

Women are an important part of the sector. However, they often face a host of challenges, including gender-based violence, denied access to assets and significant risks to health.

Farmer Nima Elmassad noticed the weather changing around seven years ago. In Sudan’s southern White Nile State, the rains began coming later and falling inconsistently. During the long, harsh dry season, her children had to travel three hours per day to collect water, and all but one dropped out of school. The family donkey that towed their water wagon became progressively weaker.

Yemen and Somalia are working to make climate action a win-win, tackling the impacts of both conflicts and climate crisis, while also addressing some of the underlying causes of both.

Despite significant challenges, both countries are pushing for meaningful climate action addressing the most urgent vulnerabilities and some of the causes of unrest, while paving the way for more climate friendly development and growth.

Politicians, scientists and environmental campaigners are gathering in Montreal, Canada, this week for negotiations on a global deal to safeguard the planet’s dwindling biodiversity.

Some of those talks are expected to focus on how to protect the plants, animals and microbes whose genetic material is the foundation for life-saving medicines and a host of other products.

The role that young people can have in spreading climate change messages and recruiting behaviour change is becoming more and more apparent.  This hasn’t gone un-noticed in Sudan where an energy-efficient lighting awareness campaign was designed specifically to target primary school children as a route to engaging their families and communities. This is particularly important in Sudan where the illiteracy rate is still high, and many families learn from their children who attend schools.

In the Mpanda Commune in north-western Burundi, a long ribbon of rubber – about a metre high and two metres wide – snakes through a farmer’s field before disappearing into foliage.

A woman is sowing her crops alongside the structure, which is bulging with water and circles much of the commune.

Rosa Cordero, who is diabetic, remembers a time when she couldn’t store her insulin safely. Her refrigerator was old and unreliable, and she never knew if the temperature was cool enough to store the drug.

As Riziki Bwanake walks along the Tana River Delta, the dry, dusty earth crunches beneath her feet. This part of eastern Kenya was once lush, home to a rich expanse of mangroves and an abundance of fish.

Ancient forests. Snow-capped mountain peaks. And towering waterfalls cascading down rocky slopes. China’s Shennongjia National Park is the stuff of legends, providing inspiration to thousands of years of Chinese poets, artists and authors.

It’s also home to one of the world’s most elusive primates, the endangered golden snub-nosed monkey, who spends winters in large groups of mostly males deep in the mountain forests of Asia.

Isolated and timeless, the tiny Yemeni archipelago of Socotra remains one of the world’s most unique destinations.

Set amidst turquoise seas at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden, Socotra has been called the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean”. The archipelago is home to remarkable terrestrial and marine biodiversity – with over 30 percent of its plant species and much of its fauna being found nowhere else in the world.

Located in Zambia’s North-Western Province, the greater Kafue National Park and West Lunga ecosystem complex was once home to an abundance of ancient rosewood trees and a host of other endemic and endangered species.

As the sun sets in central Zambia, orange rays reflect across the Lukanga Swamp, a vast wetland spanning 2,600 km2.

A watery path cuts through the swamp’s reeds and purple water lilies, where dugout canoes pass daily, ferrying fishers to and from their floating camps. Among them is John Chisela, one of more than 6 million people who rely on the wetlands – and the surrounding forests – for food, firewood and income.

Yacouba Sawadogo, 76, has been a farmer for much of his life, tending a plot of land in a semi-arid stretch of central Burkina Faso. But in the 1980s, that way of life almost came to an end.

Severe droughts triggered soil erosion and land degradation, crippling farms across Burkina Faso and much of Western Africa.

In a milestone for the environment, Europeans purchased more electric cars than those powered by diesel last month. According to recent data, over 20 per cent of new cars sold in Europe and the United Kingdom (UK) in December 2021 were electric. Meanwhile, the sale of diesel vehicles in the European Union (EU) slipped below 19 per cent.

On International Jaguars Day on 29th November, we follow how the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is working with Panama to promote jaguar conservation and curb human-jaguar conflict.

When you think of a forest, chances are you picture trees rising high above you, leaves crunching underfoot. But there are some very different types of forest - in and under the water -  that are just as beautiful and just as precious. While they don’t all contain trees, these so-called blue forests are essential to life on this planet, say experts.

As the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) came to a close, news agencies and bloggers ploughed through the Glasgow Climate Pact to make sense of the commitments made to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mauritania’s battle against encroaching desertification, which has damaged ecosystems and endangered species, has received a timely boost with the news that 200,000 hectares will be turned into a protected area to support biodiversity in the country.

Despite being responsible for only around 3 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, experts say that Africa will be the region hardest hit by climate change.

From record-breaking storms to floods and fires, perhaps more than any year before it, 2021 has underlined the position of our cities as frontlines in the global struggle to rebalance our relationship with nature.

For generations, people have combed the sponge-like cloud forests around the city of Xalapa, Mexico for edible mushrooms. But a combination of deforestation and climate-change-related drought have devastated mushroom crops, an important source of income in a region beset by poverty.

For many locals and tourists, Praslin Island in Seychelles is synonymous with paradise. From the white sands of Anse Lazio, frequently voted as one of the top beaches in the world, to the endemic species of the jungle, to the colorful coral reefs in Curieuse Marine Park, Praslin is filled with both beauty and biodiversity.

But, as events at one site on the northwest side of the island demonstrate, this paradise is precarious.

Under the theme, Life and Livelihoods, this World Oceans Day (8 June 2021) launches a decade of challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources, by 2030.

Ile aux Aigrettes, or Egret Island, is just one of the many small islands off the coast of Mauritius named after birds. There’s also Common Noddy Island, Shearwater Island, Lesser Noddy Island, Bird Island, Bird Rock and Flamingo Island.

There is just one thing missing from all these islands with avian appellations.

Large populations of seabirds.