Robert Watson Norwich – With the United Nations’ climate change conference underway in Bonn, Germany, rising global temperatures are once again at the top of the world’s agenda. But why care about the increase in temperature, if not because of…
Category: Think green
‘Save Gumti, Dakatia rivers from pollution, encroachment’
Dhaka, Nov 18 – The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR) on Saturday demanded immediate excavation of river Gumti and Dakatia by making those free from pollution and grabbing for the free flow of water and movement…
UN climate envoys agree to 2018 stocktake of planet
UN negotiators agreed at climate talks Saturday to take stock in 2018 of country efforts to cut fossil fuel emissions as part of a pact — rejected only by Washington — to limit global warming. Closing two weeks of talks…
Leave no one behind – stop caste based discrimination
Disaggregation statement Civil Society submission for the 6th IAEG-SDG meeting in Bahrain Nov 13 Thank you for giving us the opportunity to present. Disaggregation of data is a pertinent issue to stakeholders. Disaggregation is more than just a technical discussion.…
Move faster together: World leaders tell climate arbiters
Bonn, 16 Nov (Prerna Bomzan) – The opening of the high-level segment of the climate talks in Bonn presided over by Fiji, saw world leaders calling on all Parties to show more ambition and to move faster together on climate…
Yemen: End blockade; avert famine
By Chandra Muzaffar The threat of mass famine in Yemen is as real as ever — in spite of the reopening of the port of Aden and the Wadea land crossing on the Saudi-Yemen border. This is not enough, according…
COP23 parties agree on way forward on pre-2020 action
Bonn, 16 Nov (Meena Raman)- Parties to the UNFCCC have arrived on a way forward on pre-2020 climate action. In a closed-door informal consultation held on the morning of 15 Nov, COP22 Presidency representative Ambassador Aziz Mekouar from Morocco presented…
Climate change is already upon us & will only worsen
By António Guterres Bonn, Nov 15 (IPS) – It is fitting that this year’s conference of parties (on climate change, COP 23) is led by Fiji, a nation on the frontlines.
World leaders gather in Germany to give climate talks a boost
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.
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
Anthony Bourdain tackles food aaste in new documentary
Danielle Nierenberg A new documentary from chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain, “WASTED! The Story of Food Waste” explores both the problem of food waste in the United States and possible solutions from around the globe. The documentary features renowned…
Asserting media persons’ rights in India
By Nava Thakuria Guwahati, Assam – More than one reason, India remains a hazardous place for hardcore journalists irrespective of the regimes in power at the national or province capitals. The populous country witnesses the murder of around five media…
“Risk Management in Islamic Banks” Training held
Dhaka – IBCF Research and Training Academy arranged a daylong training program on‘’ Risk Management in Islamic Banks” held on October 21 at BAB office, Gulshan Dhaka.
East Asian cities among top 10 safe urban centres: Study
The Safe Cities Index 2017 is a report from The Economist Intelligence Unit sponsored by NEC. The report is based on the second iteration of the index, which ranks 60 cities across 49 indicators covering digital security, health security, infrastructure…