World leaders arrived at global climate talks in Germany on Wednesday to give the negotiations a boost going into the final stretch, as campaigners called for a strong signal from rich countries on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Category: Green corner
BNP calls CJ SK Sinha’s resignation okaying ‘ominous’
Dhaka – The BNP yesterday termed the acceptance of Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha’s resignation letter as ominous sign for the judiciary.
For ‘equity’ in global stocktake under Paris Deal
Bonn, 14 Nov — On 11 Nov, Parties to the UNFCCC’s Ad hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) had an interesting exchange on how equity can be operationalized in the global stocktake (GST) that will take place in…
COP23: Nations concerned at lack of progress on finance issues
Bonn, 13 Nov (Prerna Bomzan) – Developing countries, led by the Group of 77 and China, expressed concerns over the lack of progress on all finance related issues due to the lack of political will by developed countries, adding that…
BD experts against indiscriminate groundwaer extraction
Rajshahi, Nov 13 – Water experts at a workshop here on Sunday called for stopping indiscriminate extraction of groundwater for lessening the gradually mounting pressure on it in the vast Barind area.
US cities, states defy Trump, still back Paris climate deal
Bonn, Germany (AP) — A group of U.S. states, cities, businesses and universities said Saturday they are still committed to curbing global warming even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is walking away from the Paris climate accord.
Putting a price on rainforests
Lorenzo Bernasconi New York – In early October, shortly after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that his company could, given the opportunity, rebuild the island’s electrical grid using solar power. Coming…
Developed countries oppose pre-2020 actions in COP23 agenda
Bonn, 9 Nov (Meena Raman) — Developed countries opposed the inclusion of an agenda item dealing with implementing pre-2020 actions onto the agenda of the 23rd meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 23) taking place in…
Climate Change Summit a step further, yes… but where to?
By Baher Kamal Rome, Nov 6 (IPS) – The UN Climate Change Summit in Bonn is a step further, most experts say. Fine, but towards what? On the one hand, the organisers – the UN, Fiji and Germany – express…
BNP moves Suhrawardy Udyan rally to Saturday
Dhaka, Nov 6 – BNP on Monday deferred its Wednesday’s rally at Suhrawardy Udyan to Saturday due to the ongoing 63rd conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in the city.
China sees prospect power-sharing thru Naypyidaw
It’ll help BD for high-end manufacturing growth Dhaka, Nov 5– China sees a good prospect in electricity sharing by Bangladesh and Myanmar in the future through grid interconnection transmitting clean hydropower from China’s Yunnan Province, says a senior official of…
Food sovereignty of peasants needed to sustain agri-biodiversity
A new paper traces the roots of agricultural biodiversity, threats, benefits and how to sustain it. Agricultural biodiversity is the product of the dynamic management of species and ecosystems, especially by smaller-scale food providers, their families and communities, who have…
What to expect at the Bonn climate change talks?
Bonn, 6 Nov. (Meena Raman) – The annual climate change talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and the Paris Agreement (PA) are taking place in Bonn, Germany from Nov. 6 to…
Organic soils store more carbon, cut emission from agriculture
Conventional agriculture is one of the main causes of the depletion of carbon in the soil and the increased presence of carbon in our atmosphere. The decline in soil organic matter (SOM) is of particular concern due to its key…
How long will UN Security Council be missing in action on Burma?
New Resolution Opportunity for Council to Address Crisis Philippe Bolopion Two months into one of the most vicious ethnic cleansing campaigns in recent history, the United Nations Security Council is still missing in action. For all its pledges to protect…
CAB suggests electricity tariff cut by Tk 0.28 a unit
Dhaka – The consumers association of Bangladesh (CAB) has proposed to reduce the electricity price by Tk .28 and cited that the government policy in power sector is problematic. It also observed the proposed price hike as illogical.
US likely to live up to Paris accord: UN environment chief
Geneva, Oct 31 (AP/UNB) – The head of the U.N. environment program said Tuesday the United States is likely to live up to the Paris climate deal despite President Donald Trump’s planned pullout, because “all the big American companies” are…
Adolescent health congress skirts abuse-trafficking issues
By Stella Paul New Delhi, Oct 30 (IPS) – Twenty-year-old Gogontlejang Phaladi of Mahalapye, Botswana is grateful she was never sent to a so-called “hyena” like scores of girls in neighbouring Malawi were.
Stopping child marriage forever
By Shahiduzzaman Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct 30 (IPS) – The mother moved in like a tigress to save her cub. In 2015, when her 13-year-old daughter Shumi Akhter was about to be married off, Panna Begum pleaded with her husband, Dulal…
Without water – Story of Rohingya refugees
By International Organization for Migration Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Oct 30 (IOM) – You could not see it in their faces and they could no longer physically feel it but Mohammed and Jameelah’s pain was consuming their minds – in the…
Emirates, Rotary Club implement joint Green Initiative
Dhaka: Emirates in partnership with Rotary club of Dilkusha, Bangladesh, held a joint tree plantation programme in Kolatoli Village of Keraniganj near Dhaka recently. Over 1,000 wood and fruit saplings were planted and distributed. The programme took place at Ahadipur…
A Chinese model for foreign aid
Asit K. Biswas and Kris Hartley Singapore – Last month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released a status report tracking progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The data, which were meant to highlight efforts to eradicate…
Planning better cities
Christine Auclair and Mahmoud Al Burai Nairobi and Dubai – Cities, the American-Canadian author Jane Jacobs once observed, are engines for national prosperity and economic growth. But in their current form, modern cities are also catalysts of inequality and environmental…
In defence of the 1.5°C climate change threshold
Loren Legarda Manila – The Earth today is more than 1°C hotter than it was in pre-industrial times, and the terrible symptoms of its fever are already showing. This year alone, back-to-back hurricanes have devastated Caribbean islands, monsoon flooding has…
Chimpanzees among 33 breeds selected for special protection
A UN-backed wildlife conference held in the Philippines has voted for additional protections for a list of 33 endangered species including chimpanzees, leopards and giraffes.
Cooking to fight climate change
By Paloma Duran UN, Oct 27 (IPS) – What you eat doesn’t only affect your own health – it also affects our planet’s health. From deciding which food to buy, to how you store and prepare it, you are making…
Open or closed borders, or something in between?
By Joseph Chamie New York, Oct 25 (IPS) – Recent elections around the world have clearly shown growing public support for candidates and political parties advocating the deportation of migrants and stricter restrictions on immigration, including halting it altogether. At…
Turkish court frees HR activists from jail pending verdicts
Raf Sanchez, Middle East correspondent The trial of a group of human rights activists in Turkey took an unexpected turn on Wednesday night when a judge ruled they could be released from prison but must still face charges.
19th World Fest of Youth and Students ends in Russia
Dhaka – The 19th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) ended in Sochi of Russia. Over 25,000 young people of age between 18-35 from 185 countries including Bangladesh took part in the festival, held from October 14 to 22,…
Concern over shrinking role of CSOs in global dev
Dhaka – Leaders of global civil society organisations at a seminar in Dhaka yesterday expressed their concerns as what they said spaces for CSOs are shrinking in the global development processes.