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…

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…

The international community has, for good reason, sought to emphasize the importance of migration as a global public policy issue. With heightened awareness of the multiple implications of poorly managed migration, and with the international community focused on developing a new global compact to…

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…

This infographic shows the interactions and key questions around the relationship triangle of water, energy and food security, like: What are energy efficient water-treatment technologies? How does watershed management help hydropower? What technologies make irrigation more water efficient? et al.

Adaptive water governance seeks to increase a social-ecological system’s adaptive capacity in the face of uncertainty and change. This is especially important in non-linear dryland systems that are already exposed to water scarcity and increasing degradation. Conservation of water ecosystem services…

Study is the first to evaluate the effect of extreme heat on the probability of local work in rural Mexico, write Katrina Jessoe, Dale Manning and Edward Taylor

The cultivation of bioenergy plants at fertile, arable lands increasingly results in new land use conflicts with food production and cannot be considered as sustainable, therefore. Marginal lands have been frequently considered as potential alternative for producing bioenergy from biomass. However…

The report — Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains—summarizes the findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. It analyzes which policy decisions were taken and which interventions were implemented to…

FAO Side event at COP24 in Katowice looks into NBS via land, soil and water management

By 2050, nearly 10 billion people will live on the planet. Can we produce enough food sustainably? The synthesis report of the World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future shows that it is possible – but there is no silver bullet. This report offers a five-course menu of solutions to…

Sustainable Energy for All’s Energizing Finance series is the first and only in-depth attempt to capture multiple years of data on investment for the two key areas of energy access: electrification and clean cooking. It focuses on public and private finance commitments in 20 developing countries –…

The European Environment Agency’s five-yearly assessment ‘The European environment – state and outlook 2015’ (SOER 2015)

For the successful upscaling of land management, more attention must be paid to the social system from the first involvement stage, up to the long term maintenance.

The key to managing conflict and cooperation over water.

Soil is a natural resource essential to human welfare by virtue of its numerous crucial functions.

There is a lack of evidence-based assessment on how engagement processes contribute to water governance objectives. This article addresses this research gap by presenting key findings and policy guidance from a study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on…

Soil damage, climate change, water and energy availability are all challenges for farming.

"Europe is now generating four times more wind power and 70 times more solar power as in 2005. This is good news, but a clear, forward-looking investment strategy is also necessary across the fossil fuel power sector to meet our long-term challenge to cut CO2 emissions. Europe is committed to…

Land and soil are limited natural resources essential to all human life. One of the major environmental challenges facing Europe is an increasing demand for development, which threatens these ecosystem services, such as water recycling and purification, carbon storage, and food and fuel — as well as…

Land is a valuable and limited resource. Better integration of land use impacts needed across EU policies

Land degradation and taking land for urban development threaten critical ecosystem services, including provision of food and water, climate regulation and recreation. A new report, by the European Environment Agency (EEA), "Land recycling in Europe. Approaches to measuring extent and impacts" shows…

This report examines if the EU and its immediate neighbours are on target to achieving by 2020 the three thematic priority objectives (natural capital; resource efficiency and low carbon economy; health and well-being) of the 7th Environment Action Programme. It does that with the help of a set of…

This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of…

Biodiversity’s contribution to ecosystem services in grasslands — at different levels of the food chain (known as trophic levels1) — has been assessed in a new study. Higher species diversity across trophic levels — particularly for plants, insects and soil microbial decomposers — is important for…