International


Iran: Iran Urges Regional Cooperation on Environmental Issues

Jul 26, 2021 | Tasmin News Agency

The president of Iran called for collaboration among regional and neighboring countries to settle environmental problems. In comments after inaugurating a number of projects via videoconference…


Iraq: Iraq Oil Expert: Baghdad Shouldn't Replace Oil with Renewables

Jul 26, 2021 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

It is not in Iraq's best interest to adopt renewable energy at the expense of fossil fuels, energy and oil expert Hamza al-Jawaheri told local…


Sierra Leone: Sierra Leoneans Want a Share of Mining Profits, or They Want Compensation

Jul 23, 2021 | Abdul Brima, Mail & Guardian

Kumaro village residents used to get by on subsistence farming and artisanal mining. But with their lands mostly destroyed, so are their livelihoods. Three years…


Water Resources: Defusing Conflict, Promoting Cooperation

Jul 23, 2021 | Michael Keller, ETH Zurich

Researchers have developed a methodology for avoiding conflicts of use in transboundary rivers. The model-based procedure allows for participatory planning and cooperative management of water…


Libya: Libya's Battle to Protect Its Endangered Forests

Jul 20, 2021 | Hendia Alashepy, Deutsche Welle

While Libya has been torn by conflict between various political and armed factions over the past decade, some have been waging a different kind of…


Climate Change: Converging Climate Risks: Government, Military, and Business at NATO 2030

Jul 20, 2021 | Elsa Barron and Lily Feldman, Center for Climate and Security

There are few challenges more “transatlantic” in nature than the climate crisis. No single nation can fix the issue at hand, yet through strong partnerships,…


Soloman Islands: Sustaining Peace through Customary Land Recording

Jul 20, 2021 | Soloman Times

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Solomon Islands, in partnership with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey, has supported the customary land recording in…


Iraq/Kuwait: Video Claiming Kuwait Drilled for Oil on Border Fabricated: Iraq

Jul 19, 2021 | Kuwait Times

Basra Oil Company of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil denied on Monday the authenticity of a video clip on social media about purported oil drilling…


Colombia: Coca Replaced by Cattle - The Shift in Southern Colombia's Deforestation

Jul 19, 2021 | Juan Pablo Pérez and Manuela Galvis, Insight Crime

The deforestation in the rainforest of Guaviare is the result of decades of state neglect. And the road, which makes life easier for the inhabitants of…


Afghanistan: The War for Mineral Possession Started in Afghanistan

Jul 15, 2021 | Tushar Abdullah, Modern Diplomacy

All the mentors in the world are now interested in working with the Taliban.  But why?  There are probably multiple reasons for this.  One of…


Afghanistan: Taliban Attack Salma Dam

Jul 14, 2021 | Afghanistan Times

Afghan National Water Authority has said Taliban have fired dozens of mortars on the Salma Dam, major source of electricity and irrigation in Chesht district…


Sierra Leone: Land Grabbers on the Rampage in Sierra Leone

Jul 14, 2021 | Kongbap Sumner, Sierra Express Media

Encroachers are rapidly damaging the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (TCS) catchment areas at Regent Village outside Freetown. In spite of several complaints to the line Ministries…


Colombia: 5 Reasons for Record Deforestation in Colombia

Jul 14, 2021 | Katie Jones, Insight Crime

Recently published data has shown that deforestation in Colombia soared last year, as a range of illegal activities drove forest loss. Some 70 percent of…


Conflict Minerals: 2020 Company SEC Filings on Mineral Sources Were Similar to Those from Prior Years

Jul 12, 2021 | US Government Accountability Office

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure rule on conflict minerals broadly requires that certain companies submit a filing that describes their efforts to determine…


Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: Egypt, Sudan Urge UN Action on Dam; Ethiopia Says No

Jul 9, 2021 | Energy & Environment News

Egypt and Sudan urged the U.N. Security Council yesterday to undertake "preventive diplomacy" and call for a legally binding agreement to resolve a dispute with…


Afghanistan: Drought Crisis in Afghanistan Intensifies Risk of Displacement

Jul 8, 2021 | Danish Refugee Council

The drought in Afghanistan adds to challenges already faced by Afghans amid escalating conflict and insecurity as well as the health and socio-economic impacts of…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan to Cultivate Pistachio Forest in Restive Province

Jul 8, 2021 | Xinhua

The Afghan agriculture authorities planned to cultivate a pistachio forest in the country's northern Sari Pul province, in the latest efforts to boost agriculture in…


Iraq: Basra Protests Erupt as Power Cuts Hit Scorching Iraq

Jul 8, 2021 | Azhar Al-Rubaie, Al Jazeera

As summer temperatures reached scorching levels, hundreds of Iraqis poured into the streets to protest widespread power outages in Baghdad and the country’s southern provinces.…


DRC: Overcoming Community-Conservation Conflict: Q&A with Dominique Bikaba

Jul 8, 2021 | Rhett A. Butler, Mongabay

Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is renowned for its biodiversity, including Grauer’s gorilla — an endemic subspecies — and around…


Afghanistan: This Afghan Entrepreneur Directly Supports Women Who Harvest the World’s Most Precious Spice

Jul 8, 2021 | Shane Mitchell

“I drink a cup of saffron tea every day,” says Tahmina Ghaffer, founder of Moonflowers, an importer of Afghanistan’s “red gold.” “It’s my waking-up ritual.” 

Born…


South Sudan: Efforts to Boost South Sudan Agriculture Found Lagging

Jul 7, 2021 | Daniel Friday Martin, Voice of America

While people in South Sudan have enjoyed independence for the past 10 years, one longstanding problem – food insecurity – still hangs over the world’s…


DRC: In DRC, Community Ownership of Forests Helps Guard the Grauer’s Gorilla

Jul 6, 2021 | Marlowe Starling, Mongabay

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) share their forest home with rural communities – which could help…


Russia Diamond Miner Alrosa Offers New Tracking Technology

Jul 5, 2021 | Yuliya Fedorinova, Bloomberg

Russia’s Alrosa PJSC is offering diamond buyers a new laser-marking technology that will allow customers to trace rough stones and polished gems from the mine…


Ethiopia/Sudan: Sudan and Ethiopia’s Dispute in Fertile Border Area Threatens Regional Stability

Jul 2, 2021 | Mohammed Amin, Middle East Eye

A more than a century-old dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia over the Sudanese border region of al-Fashaga had been lying relatively dormant for more than…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Warring Military and Rebels Find Common Ground in Corrupt Jade Trade

Jul 2, 2021 | Andrew Nachemson and Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, Mongabay

Jade mining is fueling conflict in Myanmar, channeling money into the coffers of the military and ethnic armed groups, according watchdog group Global Witness. The…


Colombia: In the Colombian Andes, a Forest Corridor Staves off Species Extinction

Jul 2, 2021 | Veronika Perkova, Mongabay

The northern tropical Andes have lost almost 75% of their natural habitat largely to agricultural expansion and are starting to witness the additional damaging impacts…


IUCN Announces Commitments to Help Usher a Generation of Equality for Sustainability and Gender Equality

Jul 1, 2021 | IUCN

Today, as a part of the high-level Generation Equality Forum, Dr. Grethel Aguilar Rojas, Deputy Director General, Regions and Outposted Offices of the IUCN delivered…


South Sudan: South Sudan Crude Output Plunges as Blocks Reach Peak Production

Jul 1, 2021 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

South Sudan is experiencing a rapid drop in crude output as producing oil blocks have hit peaks and have begun to decline, according to Ministry…


Cambodia: Carving up the Cardamoms: Conservationists Fear Massive Land Grab in Cambodia

Jul 1, 2021 | Gerald Flynn, Andrew Ball, and Phoung Vantha, Mongabay

A new regulation signed into law in March this year but only unveiled publicly in May will see almost 127,000 hectares (313,800 acres) of previously…


South Sudan: Advocacy Group Sues South Sudan at Regional Court for Failure to Manage Oil Waste Causing Negative Human and Environmental Impacts

Jun 29, 2021 | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

South Sudan has been dragged to the East African Court of Justice over oil waste mismanagement that has caused unprecedented health damages to the environment…