Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury today called for increasing participation of women in policymaking activities of the government to raise their empowerment.”The dignity of women in a society reveals what progress the society has achieved. In this regard,…
Pakistani rights activist Asma Jahangir came down hard on her government for demonstrating disproportionately high passion” against the execution of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed much more than those being hanged by military courts or Pakistanis executed…
Lili Fuhr Berlin – If the world is to avoid climate catastrophe, it will have to forego burning almost 90% of proven coal reserves, plus one-third of oil and half of natural-gas reserves. But instead of implementing policies aimed at…
by Michael Meyer Nairobi – At one of Hanoi’s priciest restaurants, a group of Vietnamese businessmen meet their new American partners to celebrate their latest venture. “A toast!” someone exclaims. They raise their glasses, filled with the finest scotch, which…
Worldwatch Institute study suggests CARICOM-wide energy and climate targets and outlines strategies and initiatives for achieving them Washington, D.C.-The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has received recommendations for reaching an ambitious regional target of 48percent renewable energy generation by 2027. The Caribbean…
by Stephen Leonard Jakarta – Earlier this year in Myanmar, torrential rain caused mudslides that wiped out hundreds of houses and caused large-scale crop destruction. More than 1.3 million people were affected, and over 100 died. In Vietnam, the same…
Bonn, Germany – A review of country climate targets reflecting the twin pillars of science and equity has been released by civil society ahead of the UN climate conference in Paris. By early October, a total of 146 countries, representing…
Paloalto – Since the development of the science of toxicology in the sixteenth century, its guiding principle has been that “the dose makes the poison.” It is a rule that applies to the medicines used by patients worldwide many billions…
by Asit K. Biswas,Julian Kirchherr SINGAPORE – European policymakers like to lecture the rest of the world on air pollution. Asia, and China in particular, is a favorite target for criticism. Indeed, it sometimes seems as if no major environmental…
Danielle Nierenberg As food system leaders gather in Iowa for the Borlaug Dialogues and the World Food Prize, nearly 800 million people around the world continue to suffer from chronic hunger. More than 161 million children under the age of…
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the international body for assessing the science related to climate change – has elected South Korean economist Prof Hoesung Lee as its new chair. Lee will lead the organisation into its next…
Oby Ezekwesili , José Maria Figueres and Pascal Lamy Geneva – The just-adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are expected to herald the start of a new era in global development, one that promises to transform the world in the name…
by Johan Rockström Stockholm – Our generation has a unique opportunity. If we set our minds to it, we could be the first in human history to leave our children nothing: no greenhouse-gas emissions, no poverty, and no biodiversity loss.…
The death of 769 people in a stampede at Mina near the holy city of Makkah has not only cast a gloom on the Eid celebrations in the Muslim world but also created a big tension as some countries. Iran…
Rachel Kyte Washington DC – In less than 80 days, world leaders will have the opportunity to strike a once-in-a-generation agreement in the fight against climate change. The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December could mark a…
As you know, over one hundred Heads of State and Government will gather this week to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda is intended to make the United Nations (UN) ‘fit for purpose’, but it is important…
Jeffrey D. Sachs , Enrico Giovannini , Robert Chen and Shaida Badiee New York – There is growing recognition that the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be adopted on September 25 at a special United Nations…
Gro Harlem Brundtland London – When Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote that “All that is solid melts into air,” they intended it as a metaphor for the disruptive transformations that the Industrial Revolution implied for established social norms. Today,…
Danielle Nierenberg The Organic Trade Association (OTA), a membership-based organization of organic food companies, is working to bust myths about organic food. “Despite organic sales and accessibility at all-time highs, consumer confusion about organic benefits remains significant,” say Laura Batcha,…
Nguyen Chu Hoi Ho Chi Minh City – Since December 2013, China has added more than 1,200 hectares to islands in the South China Sea. The geopolitical implications of these land reclamation efforts are well documented: The majority of the…
By Bill Gates SEATTLE – A few years ago, Melinda and I visited with a group of rice farmers in Bihar, India, one of the most flood-prone regions of the country. All of them were extremely poor and depended on…
Why the new Sustainable Development agenda is “fundamentally compromised” by corporate interests By Nafeez Ahmed The SDG stakeholder engagement process draws selectively on the input of civil society groups to promote its public legitimacy, while systematically ignoring the voices that…
Javier Solana Madrid – Next month, the world will achieve a milestone for global development efforts. The United Nations General Assembly will adopt the Sustainable Development Goals, an ambitious set of global objectives expected to improve the lives of millions…
Brigitte Miksa Munich – The aging of our societies is one of the greatest success stories of the twentieth century. More than three decades have been added to the lives of hundreds of millions of people over the last hundred…
Danielle Nierenberg Every day, plant species across the globe are disappearing. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that approximately 75 percent of the Earth’s plant genetic resources are now extinct, and another third of plant biodiversity is expected…
Mumbai: Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, tuesday said the need of the hour is to develop socially inclusive, sustainable and environmental-friendly trade practices even as SAARC countries aim for financial integration in the region. In his special address…
Christian Lambrechts NAIROBI – African countries are often criticized for failing to meet their environmental challenges. Observers often cite loss of habitat in the face of population growth, land degradation, and industrialization. And then there is the most frequent charge…
Henry I. Miller Palo Alto – Since the development of the science of toxicology in the sixteenth century, its guiding principle has been that “the dose makes the poison.” It is a rule that applies to the medicines used by…
Millions of people and billions of dollars depend on healthy oceans, but human actions create complex interactions that endanger oceans Washington, DC—The combination of overfishing and climate change may be putting the oceans’ health—and our own wellbeing—at risk. As State…
– John Hewson SYDNEY – On a recent 14.5-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, I had time to read the columnist Charles Krauthammer’s collection of essays, Things that Matter. It made for a disturbing flight. I have enjoyed Krauthammer’s…