Blogs & Opinions

Local Solutions to Strenghten Women's Voices in Land Governance

May 13, 2019 | International Institute for Environment and Development

With increasing pressure on land in sub-Saharan Africa, including from commercial agriculture and mineral and oil extraction, how can the voices of women be included…

New Water Model Points Way to Gender and Social Equality

May 13, 2019

Valeriana Choque Zambrana and her family manage a small farm in Marquina, growing beans, corn and barley to eat at home and to sell in…

Science Diplomacy and Environmental Peacebuilding in the Polar Regions: Conservation, Resource Management, Geopolitics and Diplomacy

May 13, 2019 | Carla Isobel Elliff, Rashmi Ramesh, Sunitha Anup, and Dhanasree Jayaram

The polar regions of our planet, the Arctic to the north and the Antarctic to the south, are among the world’s most environmentally vulnerable regions.…

A Hazardous Oil Tanker Has Become a Bargaining Chip in the Yemen Conflict

May 10, 2019 | Doug Weir

In May 2018, CEOBS reported on the environmental threat posed by an ageing oil tanker moored off the Red Sea coast of Yemen. A year…

Indigenous Women Land Defenders of the Americas: Protecting Forests, Climate and Communities

May 9, 2019 | Osprey Orielle Lake

From April 22-26, the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International, an LDF grantee, hosted an Indigenous Women's Delegation to New York City for the…

Saving the Irrawaddy by Offering Compensation

May 9, 2019 | Lahpai Seng Raw

Controversy continues over a suspended mega-dam project, backed by China, on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin State. The social and environmental consequences of the proposed…

The Case for Gender Approaches to Urban Resilience-Experience from Coyuca

May 7, 2019 | Hector Becerril, Anna de la Parra, Rocio López Velasco, and Maria Jose Pacha. Translated and edited in english by Mairi

Coyuca de Benitez on Mexico’s Pacific coast has suffered repeated tropical storms and tidal surges in the past decade. The city, sited on the edge…

The Complicated Gender Politics of Going Zero Waste

May 5, 2019 | Alden Wicker

Look at #zerowaste and #zerowasteliving on Instagram and you’ll see mason jars filled with chocolate smoothies and rows of rose-gold straws. You’ll see perfectly organized…

The Nexus Between Gender Equality and Climate Change

May 3, 2019 | Edwin Mumbere

Over the past four years, we have had the highest temperatures in human history, almost 1°C higher than at the beginning of the industrial revolution.…

Sierra Leone's Diamond Industry Must Be Reformed

May 3, 2019 | Julian Lahai Samboma

Diamond smuggling has to be curbed and official corruption weeded out if the citizens of Sierra Leone are to benefit from their country’s natural resources,…

Women Land Defenders Face "Extreme Criminalisation," Added Risks

May 2, 2019 | Anna-Cat Brigida

Since her teen years, Maria Magdalena Cuc Choc, now 39, has defended the natural resources of El Estor, a predominantly Mayan Q'eqchi' community on the…

Resilience Strategy Tackles Climate Change, Governance, Gender Inequality in Coastal Mexico

May 2, 2019 | Hector Becerril, Anna de la Parra, Rocio López Velasco, and Maria Jose Pacha. Translated and edited in english by Mairi

An innovative action research project in Mexico has created a gender-sensitive, local climate change strategy, which recognises how women and men are affected differently by…

Is Empowering Women in Agricultural Development Projects Worth the Investment? Yes, When Done Right

May 2, 2019 | Agnes Quisumbing, Joao Montalvao, and Markus Goldstein

A recent article in Inside Philanthropy has a provocative title: “Top Funders and NGOs Think Empowering Women Farmers Can Reduce Hunger. Are They Right?” The…

Our Relationship with Water Isn't Gender Neutral. Here's Why that Matters

May 1, 2019 | Dalia Saad

When thinking about water management, gender is probably the last thing on many people’s minds. But in fact, the whole process of water management –…

Take the Oil: How Hitler Could Have Led Nazi Germany to Victory in World War II?

May 1, 2019 | John F. Murphy, Jr

With Lt. Gen. Erwin Rommel driving on Egypt and the British pushed out of Greece, a sudden pro-Nazi coup d’état in Iraq lay rich oil…

Gender Transition to Energy for All: from Evidence to Inclusive Policies

Apr 30, 2019

Following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, policy- and decision makers, governments, multilateral organisations, private companies, and civil society organisations, at both…

A Warmer Arctic Presents Challenges and Opportunities

Apr 30, 2019 | Kelly McFarland

As Arctic ice melts, we can physically see glaciers retreating. But what we can’t yet see is the exact effect climate change will have on the…

Mongolian Herder Families Are Being Split Between Countryside and Town

Apr 30, 2019 | B Munkhtuvshin

One snowy winter’s day I went to a small winter camp of just two households 140 km from the nearest soum (district) centre. A dog…

Breaking from Tradition, Indigenous Women Lead Fight for Land Rights in Brazil

Apr 29, 2019 | Anthony Boadle

Brazil’s indigenous women have been overturning tradition to step into the spotlight and lead an international push to defend their tribal land rights, which are…

Marcia Andrade Braga: A 'Stellar Example' of Why More Women Are Needed in UN Peacekeeping

Apr 29, 2019

Training gender advisors and focal points in the Central African Republic (CAR) has earned a Brazilian United Nations peacekeeper a special gender advocate award, it…

Experts Meet on Gender and Social Inclusion in Community Clean Energy

Apr 26, 2019

Experts gathered in Dhaka today for the start of a 2-day conference co-organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to discuss community-based clean energy in…

What Can We Learn about the Environment in Conflict Areas without Going There Physically?

Apr 26, 2019 | Lina Eklund

Access to areas affected by armed conflicts is often limited, posing problems for research into environmental change. In this blog, Dr Lina Eklund provides an…

Articulating, Strengthening and Building Solidarity - Women's Resistance to Mining

Apr 25, 2019 | Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action

 “Our grandparents told them to provide good roads, (electrical) power and hospitals. 
But they didn’t meet any of these expectations.
Here there is no power. 
Development… we don’t…

Global Assessment Highlights Growing Environmental Risks to Human Security

Apr 25, 2019 | Doug Weir

The Sixth edition of UN Environment’s Global Environment Outlook – GEO6 – was published to coincide with the fourth UN Environment Assembly in March. As…

Top Funders and NGOs Think Empowering Women Farmers Can Reduce Hunger. Are They Right?

Apr 24, 2019 | Michelle Sieff

In 2017, about 11 percent of the world’s population—around 821 million—was undernourished, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This data confirms a recent…

Left Behind- the Mongolian Herders Living at Home With Mum

Apr 23, 2019 | Narangerel Yansanjav

“I am one of the woman-headed households in this soum. I have been a herder for many years. For me life is still good, because…

To Mitigate Climate-Fragility Risks, Build Preventative Capacity in Fragile States

Apr 23, 2019 | Truett Sparkman

States facing major climate hazards, such as flooding, drought, and sea level rise, will be forced to contend with the cost of humanitarian and adaptation…

Blockchain Is Great, but It Can't Solve Everything. Take Conflict Minerals.

Apr 23, 2019 | Fritz Brugger

Blockchain technology can help trace a product as it moves through a supply chain, but it cannot create trust where it’s often most needed. 

Bloody Gold in Zamfara: Threat to Stability or Development Opportunity?

Apr 22, 2019 | Donald Inwalomhe

Although Zamfara gold should provide development opportunities but renewed gold interest in Zamfara represents a real threat to stability in a still vulnerable conflict in…

Was the Fate of Sudan's Ruler Sealed When Oil Prices Fell?

Apr 21, 2019 | Robin Mills

When Sudan shut down the pipeline from South Sudan in 2013, the new state was plunged into economic crisis within two years. Now, one of the…