In Zimbabwe, the bulk of rural communities and urban poor still get their energy supplies from the forests, leading to deforestation and land degradation. The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) 2016 review on forest policies in the country found that fuel wood accounted for over 60…

There are various climate risks that are caused or influenced by climate change. They are known to have a wide range of physical, economic, environmental and social impacts. Apart from damages to the physical environment, many climate risks (climate variability, extreme events and climate-related…

The Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region will be held on Thursday, 1 March, and Friday, 2 March 2018, at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG). About: The Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD) follows up on and reviews the implementation of the 2030…

WOCATpedia.net is a wiki based knowledge platform related to the WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Technologies and Approaches) network. This wiki focuses, similar as the WOCAT network, on issues related to Sustainable Land Management (SLM), as e.g. Food Security, Economics of Sustainable Land…

Land, air and water are the cornerstones of life on Earth. To sustain the vitality of our global ecosystem, we must understand the health of our natural assets and how to halt and repair damage done to them. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)…

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are the most commonly known, used, and globally widespread, environmental planning and management tools, with Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) also gaining increasing momentum over the last decade. The objective of these tools is to make sure that…

In a recent review, FAO identified that 41 out of 54 countries in Africa included at least one policy or measure on more sustainable use of bioenergy in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Considering the critical role of sustainable bioenergy in sub-Saharan Africa, FAO’s…

Rural women - a quarter of the world’s population - work as farmers, wage earners and entrepreneurs. They represent an important share of the agriculture workforce and their contribution to the rural economy is widely underestimated. They are concentrated in the informal economy in low-skilled, low…

Twenty-seven policy briefs were authored for the Global Preparatory Meeting for Review of SDG 7. IRENA released two reports, on renewable energy market analysis for Southeast Asia and prospects for the EU. A joint report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Facebook looks at options for bridging the…

Asia hardest hit region, says report on the burden borne by poor farmers due to natural disasters

GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility—is an international network and research infrastructure funded by the world’s governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth.

Worsening land degradation caused by human activities is undermining the well-being of two fifths of humanity, driving species extinctions and intensifying climate change. It is also a major contributor to mass human migration and increased conflict, according to the world’s first comprehensive…

Biodiversity is vanishing at an alarming rate across most of the world, find the most comprehensive assessments of global ecosystem health to be done in decades. The five reports, published in the past week, are the culmination of three years’ work by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on…

Publication to present project BRIDGES under the FAO-Turkish Forestry Partnership programme in support of efforts to combat land degradation and desertification in Eritrea, Mauritania and Sudan, contributing to Africa's Great Green Wall initiative.

A roadmap for businesses operating in some of the most biologically significant places on the planet has been issued today by the Key Biodiversity Area Partnership involving 12 of the world’s leading conservation organisations – including IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Drought is one of the most damaging natural hazards. Various studies rank it first among all natural hazards by seriousness of impacts such as the loss of life and livelihoods, economic losses and the adverse social and ecosystem effects. In many instances, drought can be a major factor in local…

Where in the world will people’s lives be affected by water issues by the year 2050? What is the impact of the growing global population, further urbanisation and climate change on these water risks, the food supply and migration? This new report by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment…

Most power generation consumes water, whether to cool steam in thermoelectric plants or power turbines for hydropower. And the global demand for both water and electricity will continue to increase substantially in the coming decades. Although growth is generally a good thing for the economy, it…

Transformation is picking up speed in the power sector, but urgent action is required in heating, cooling and transport This year’s Renewables 2018 Global Status Report GSR reveals two realities: one in which a revolution in the power sector is driving rapid change towards a renewable energy future…

A new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition, is an unprecedented collaboration that sheds new light on the policy…

FAO report calls for a more pro-active and long-term planning to become more resilient against droughts

With climate change soon to be the main threat to biodiversity, protected habitat will be a higher priority than ever to give wildlife a chance.

Do you want to find out why promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment can help deliver better environmental outcomes, and to figure out how you can do it? The course will help you better understand the linkages between gender and the environment. It will provide you with the knowledge and…

The need to mainstream biodiversity into economic growth and development is being increasingly recognised and is now also firmly embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals. Drawing on experiences and insights from 16 predominantly megadiverse countries, this report examines how biodiversity is…

Highlights The authors identify 100 questions that, if answered, would enhance ecological restoration. Questions cover all aspects of landscape restoration in Europe. A wide range of restoration experts identified questions by voting and discussion. The authors hope these will be used by policy…