Montreux (Switzerland) – “As a grassroots organization, we have extremely important role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as we can deliver them on the ground,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, as he opened the…
Eleven days of negotiations produced a slimmer but still-troubled version of a climate deal on Wednesday, with negotiators from 195 countries divided over how far to go in curbing global temperature rises – and how to pay for it.”We’ve made…
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The need for making lasting arrangements to secure the Sunderbans forests from oil spill and other abuses by ships navigating through its rivers and canals instead of relying on contingencies to face accidents was emphasised at a…
In the 20 years since the first UN conference on climate change, weather-related disasters have claimed 606,000 human lives, damaged or destroyed 87 million homes, and injured, displaced or left helpless a total of 4.1 billion people.A new study from…
A new book discusses how agroecology can nourish the world and transform the currently unsustainable agro-food system. The focus is on small-scale farmers who, all over the world, are prone to food insecurity, but who nevertheless feed more than 80%…
The Oakland Institute today released 33 case studies that shed light on the tremendous success of agroecological agriculture across the African continent in the face of climate change, hunger, and poverty. “Released just two weeks ahead of the COP21 Conference…
Paris, 24 Nov – At the upcoming Climate summit in Paris, some governments and much of civil society will be pushing for an urgent transition away from the carbon-rich fossil fuels responsible for climate chaos. However, one hi-tech sector, the…
With the help of a new method to model heat wave magnitude, scientists have projected that extreme heat events are likely to increase both in severity and number during the next two decades.”Even if global mean temperatures do not increase…
In the middle of a desiccated lake bed in South Africa’s North West province, a seven-month-old calf is too weak to get up. It is doomed to die from thirst and hunger.A devastating drought is claiming thousands of livestock in…
Without the right policies to keep the poor safe from extreme weather and rising seas, climate change could drive over 100 million more people into poverty by 2030, the World Bank said on Sunday.In a report, the bank said ending…
Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2014 and the relentless fuelling of climate change is endangering the planet for future generations, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Monday.”Every year we say that time is running…
An increase in Antarctic snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the increased losses from its thinning glaciers.Areas of the continent like the Antarctic peninsula have increased their mass loss…
Sangeeta Shashikant (London): A major issue at the upcoming meetings of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) will be whether there is a need for a centralized harmonized mechanism for the filing, examination and…
Renewables are powering a rare bright spot in the energy industry, with record job hiring in solar, wind and hydro partly offsetting the biggest round of job losses in the oil and gas sector in almost two decades.The boom in…
The howler monkeys whose guttural calls reverberate through Central and South American rainforests possess a secret that the males of the species may prefer to be left unrevealed.Howler monkeys make among the loudest, deepest sounds of any land animal, and…
A new tool to assist developing countries in designing a “custom made” plant variety protection suitable for the seed and agricultural systems that prevail in developing countries has been published by an international group of NGOs. It was presented on…
An international team of scientists has identified potential ‘tipping points’ where abrupt regional climate shifts due to global warming could result in natural disasters.They found evidence of 41 cases of regional abrupt changes in the ocean, sea ice, snow cover,…
The ‘Save Sundarbans March’ which was launched by Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) on October 13 aiming to raise awareness against all environmentally destructive activities in the world’s largest mangrove forest, will be ended in…
Negotiators have several terms for the way they plan to enforce any deal reached at global climate talks in Paris this December. “Peer pressure” and “cooperation” are a couple. “Race to the top” is the American buzzword.What you won’t hear…
Some 30 years after the world’s worst nuclear accident blasted radiation across Chernobyl, the site has evolved from a disaster zone into a nature reserve, teeming with elk, deer and wolves, scientists said on Monday.The remarkable turnaround in the area,…
A Scottish company has developed a commercial scale method of producing biofuel capable of fuelling cars from the unwanted residue of the whisky fermentation process.Edinburgh-based Celtic Renewables developed its process of producing biobutanol at industrial scale in Belgium and was…
India has promised to shave a third off the rate at which it emits greenhouse gases over the next 15 years, in a long-awaited contribution towards reaching a deal to slow global warming at a UN climate summit in December.The…
A warning that climate change might make the world’s stock markets and banks unstable and lead to a financial crash has come from Mark Carney, chairman of the G20 countries’ Financial Stability Board. Carney, who is also Governor of the…
By Jessica Cheam Singapore: Air pollution brought about by illegal fires raging in Indonesia hit new hazardous records in Southeast Asia this past week and even triggered the closure of schools in Singapore for the first time last Friday. Apart…
Twenty-five fishermen were kidnapped by forest robbers from Kakrakhali canal of the Sundarbans under Shyamnagar upazila on Monday. Seven of the victims were identified as Rafiqul, 38, Mazid, 28, Sannasi, 38, Kawsar, 55, Khokon, 25, Amirul, 28, and Farid, 35.…
South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a newly created regional human rights body, on Thursday alleged that the government has been proceeding to implement the coal-fired Rampal power plant project based on arbitrary power, not logic. “Just a feudal mentality…
The southwestern Khulna has set a target of yielding 2,24,417 tonnes of Aman in the current year as plantation of two varieties of the major crop is underway in the district, agriculture officials said yesterday.“Transplantation of Aman seedling (Bree-23) or…
A new method of applying insecticide to netting has proved 100% effective against some strains of mosquito, an international study reports.
Different varieties of local fruits are disappearing fast in the district due to adverse impact of climate change, use of agro-chemical in the ground and want of planning on production.Earlier, there were various indigenous fruits like Gab, Deowa, Kathbal, Safeda,…
Two global bodies have signed an agreement this week to strengthen the cooperation between the two organisations in minimising the illegal killing of and related illegal trade in elephants and other CITES-listed flagship species in various regions.