The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
Forests and grasslands cover 57.5 percent (2,008.9 million hectares) of the land surface in the Asia-Pacific region and provide vital ecosystem services (e.g., water and climate regulation) in support of agriculture, food security and nutrition. Furthermore, these lands offer vast potential to contribute to climate change adaptation by ensuring long-term …
This report published by UNESCO, the International Social Science Council and OECD, highlights connections between global environmental change, particularly climate change, and challenges such as accelerated production and consumption, population growth & widespread patterns of inequality. The report was released during the 37th session of the UNESCO General Conference in …
Honeybees utilise floral odours when foraging for flowers; we investigated whether diesel exhaust pollution could interrupt these floral odour stimuli. A synthetic blend of eight floral chemicals, identified from oilseed rape, was exposed to diesel exhaust pollution. Within one minute of exposure the abundances of four of the chemicals were …
This new Springer publication describes and analyses multiple dimensions of urbanization, focusing on how the processes affect patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem services within as well as outside city boundaries. It is therefore an assessment of the process of urbanization, rather than an assessment of cities per se . Further, …
This paper reflects on the progress made in climate change adaptation in the city of Durban since the launch of the Municipal Climate Protection Programme in 2004. This includes the initial difficulties in getting the attention of key sectors within municipal government, and how this was addressed and also served …
Using case studies and examples from around the world, the guide answers questions that help assess, address, and adapt to a world of increasing climate risks. What is the value of our rivers, and what do they mean for climate resilience?; What are climate risks to rivers, ecosystem services, dams, …
Using case studies and examples from around the world, the guide answers questions that help assess, address, and adapt to a world of increasing climate risks. What is the value of our rivers, and what do they mean for climate resilience?; What are climate risks to rivers, ecosystem services, dams, …
This paper explores the role of equity in the climate negotiations. It establishes why climate change is an issue of injustice by examining the environmental challenges posed by climate change and links those challenges to socio- ecological and economic systems that undermine the rights of people, especially the poor, marginalized, …
World leaders at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) reaffirmed their commitment to sustainable development which embraces economic progress, social development, and environmental protection for the benefit of all. One of the principal outcomes of Rio+20 was the call to develop a set of universally applicable sustainable …
We need to think about a pan-Himalayan development strategy which is based on the region's natural resources, culture and traditional knowledge - An interview with Sunita Narain.
The FAO Statistical Yearbook is divided into four thematic parts: Part 1 - The setting measures the state of the agricultural resource base by assessing the supply of land, labour, capital and inputs, and examining the pressure on the world food system stemming from demographic and macroeconomic change. Part 2 …
Forests provide numerous goods and services that support life. The importance of forests in a country such as ours is even more significant considering the large amount of marginalised communities that depend on forests. When a patch of forests is diverted for non-forestry purposes, its implications on human well-being are …
With the global population expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050, there is a continuous need to increase food production and buffer stocks. In this scenario, countries around the world, especially developing countries where the pervasiveness of hunger and food scarcity is more acute, are resorting to various counter …
Climate change is expected to have significant influences on terrestrial biodiversity at all system levels, including species-level reductions in range size and abundance, especially amongst endemic species. However, little is known about how mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions could reduce biodiversity impacts, particularly amongst common and widespread species. Our global …
Building upon previous work of the International Resource Panel on Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth, this report examines the potential for decoupling at the city level. While the majority of the worlds population now live in cities and cities are where most resource consumption takes …
Uganda’s wetlands are an important stock of natural capital producing goods and services that have economic value. Despite the need to conserve them, their loss to unsustainable resource utilization activities has continued because they are considered to have little or no economic value. This study aimed at highlighting the economic …
Forests provide fresh water, soil protection, carbon sequestration, and other valuable resources that forest-dependent communities have relied on for millennia. Quantifying these goods and services has been the focus of considerable attention in recent years. But even if we can agree on how much they are worth, how do we …
Payments for watershed services (PWS) are schemes that use funds from water users (including governments) as an incentive for landholders to improve their land management practices. They are increasingly seen as a viable policy alternative to watershed management issues, and a means of addressing chronic problems such as declining water …
The Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have joined hands to promote renewable energy technologies to enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods in the country’s protected areas. An agreement to this effect was signed on Monday by Govinda Raj Pokharel, executive director …
A recent decision of the Waitangi Tribunal granted legal personhood to New Zealand’s Whanganui River (appointing guardians to act in its interests). Exploring the impacts of this decision, this column argues that new technologies (such as artificial photosynthesis) may soon be creating policy opportunities not only for legal personhood to …
