CANBERRA — A report from the U.N Environment Programme released last month seeks to make governments look beyond environmental law, and focus on gaps in implementation.

The report analyzes the global environmental rule of law and provides an important evidence base to help advocacy efforts on proper enforcement of laws.

“Governments talk about how good their laws are but they don’t necessarily talk about how these are being implemented.”

Costa Rica decided to take the challenge of decarbonizing its economy, for which the transportation sector represents a fundamental challenge, followed by the solid waste sector.

Inventories of greenhouse gases (GHG) made by the municipalities of San José, Desamparados, Belén, La Unión, Monteverde and Golfito show that both activities are the main sources of GHG across the six municipalities.

Dozens of private jets flew into Switzerland in late January for the 2019 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF), which convened more than 100 governments and 1,000 businesses in the Alpine ski resort of Davos to discuss globalization’s future.

Yet, climate change and inequality were two of the issues that dominated the event.

• While cities are generally considered to be poorer in biodiversity than rural areas, new research finds that urban areas could actually play a key role in conserving pollinator communities.
• A team of researchers led by scientists at the UK’s University of Bristol studied pollinators and floral resources at 360 sites in four British cities representing all major urban land uses, including allotments (community gardens), cemeteries, gardens, man-made surfaces like parking lots, nature reserves and other green spaces, parks, sidewalks, and road verges.

Imagine having decisions made on your behalf, decisions that impact your livelihood, your home, your culture – and not having a voice in the process. 

Four coffee co-operatives in Peru will be trained in sustainable farming, learning about the best use of organic fertiliser and robust seeds

BOGOTA, Jan 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Thousands of coffee farmers in Peru hope to produce higher and more profitable crop yields to better cope with the impact of climate change under a landmark United Nations-backed project.

More than 1.3 billion people live on farmland that is deteriorating and producing less, putting them at risk of worsening hunger, water shortages and poverty, the U.N. says.

• Renewables account for more than 38 per cent of overall capacity as country tries to wean itself off coal

China’s renewable power capacity rose 12 per cent in 2018 compared to a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, with the country still rolling out new projects despite transmission capacity concerns and a growing subsidy payment backlog.

China has been aggressively promoting renewable power as part of an “energy revolution” aimed at easing its dependence on coal, a major source of pollution and climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Historically, farmland could be used for solar or for farming - not both. But that could change

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nathan L'Etoile and Caroline Taylor are both passionate about preserving farmland, but they differ over a question being posed across the United States: should farmers devote some, or even all, of their land to solar energy?

As climate change is increasingly recognized as a “threat multiplier” by scientists, political representatives, and civil society across the world, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on Friday to discuss its concrete impact on peace and security, and focus on tangible ways to diminish the effects of global warming.

Can you still remember the spirit of excitement and hope engulfing the global community at the end of 2015? Not only had it come together in Paris to adopt an agreement to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C, it also adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a set of 17 comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve prosperity for people and planet by 2030.

Residents of the northern highlands of Nicaragua were typically overlooked by modern infrastructure development. The Association of Rural Development Workers has changed this, securing access to electricity and clean drinking water for local people for the first time. Today the association is also generating enough profits from hydro power to fund US$300,000-worth of development in the region.

It’s a familiar refrain in environmental circles: to be effective and sustainable, landscape restoration initiatives must be founded on local communities’ desires and needs.