An official with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that climate change and conflict are leading to food insecurity for millions of people living in Africa. “Undernourishment appears to have risen from about 21 percent to nearly 23 percent between 2015 and 2016,” Bukar Tijani, FAO’s assistant director general for Africa, said […]
By Paula Caballero, David Waskow and Christina Chan Two years after the world joined together to forge the Paris agreement on climate change, representatives from around the globe will convene in Bonn, Germany, on Nov. 6 for the next round of United Nations talks. The summit marks a critical stepping stone for global climate action. […]
By Andy Rowell When Donald Trump signalled earlier this year that the U.S. was going to pull out of the UN Paris climate agreement, there was global outrage at his actions. The perceived wisdom is that the agreement is the best international mechanism we have to fight climate change and to keep global warming to […]
By Leah Samberg Around the globe, about 815 million people—11 percent of the world’s population—went hungry in 2016, according to the latest data from the United Nations. This was the first increase in more than 15 years. Between 1990 and 2015, due largely to a set of sweeping initiatives by the global community, the proportion […]
By Paul Brown The hurricanes and wildfires that have severely damaged large areas of the U.S. in recent weeks have had no impact on President Donald Trump‘s determination to ignore the perils of climate change and support the coal industry. In a deliberate denial of mainstream science, the Trump administration has issued a strategic four-year […]
Erik Solheim, the head of the United Nations’ Environment Program, made an interesting point during a recent speech in New York: Companies, not taxpayers, should pay the costs of damaging the planet. “The profit of destroying nature or polluting the planet is nearly always privatized, while the costs of polluting the planet or the cost […]
By Colleen Curry The United Nations has designated 23 new sites around the world to its World Network of Biosphere reserves—stunning natural landscapes that balance environmental and human concerns and strive for sustainability. The forests, beaches and waterways were added to the list this year at the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the […]
The U.S. has quietly withdrawn 17 sites from the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves program. As first reported by National Geographic, the sites include a number of national forests, preserves and reserves from Alaska to the Virgin Islands (see list below). There were previously 47 biosphere reserves in the U.S. The move was made […]
Bolivian President Evo Morales blasted President Donald Trump‘s announcement that the U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. He called the U.S. one of the world’s “main polluters” and said Trump’s decision is akin to “denying science, turning your backs on multilateralism and attempting to deny a future to upcoming generations.” This “has made […]