International


Colombia: Colombian Environmental Official Assassinated in Southern Meta Department

Dec 7, 2020 | Antonio José Paz Cardona, Mongabay

December 3, 2020 was a fateful day for the defense of the environment in Colombia. Javier Francisco Parra Cubillos, an official from regional environmental authority Cormacarena…


Afghanistan: Solar Power Provides a Lifeline to Afghanistan's Hospitals

Dec 6, 2020 | World Bank

Since it recorded its first COVID-19 case in February 2020—and incidentally, the first case in Afghanistan—the Herat province has logged the country's second-highest number of…


Afghanistan: 67 Mining Projects to be Offered for Bidding

Dec 6, 2020 | Wadsam

The High Economic Council (HEC) has approved 67 mining projects out of 108 proposed sites. The approved mining sites include construction materials, marble and garnet…


Iraq: Establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund in Iraq

Dec 6, 2020 | Iraq Business News

Throughout history, financial crises have been met with innovative reform plans that help develop the resilience of a country's economic system, except when it comes…


Climate Change: Climate Change as a National Security and Foreign Policy Priority: Opportunities and Challenges for the Next Administration

Dec 4, 2020 | Mayesha Alam, Just Security

Addressing climate change is a central pillar of President-Elect Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. Signaling his commitment to the issue, Biden named former Secretary…


India/Pakistan: India's Kabul River Dam Support Likely to Unnerve Pakistan

Dec 4, 2020 | Water Dipomat

India has announced plans to build the Shahtoot Dam on Afghanistan’s Kabul River, which will help residents of Kabul but is likely to unsettle downstream…


South Sudan: New Players for Juba Solar PV-Plus-Storage Project

Dec 4, 2020 | Constructions Review Online

Two new companies, precisely the United Arab Emirates-based Asunim Solar and the renewable energy solutions consultancy company I-kWh company, have joined forces towards the implementation…


Liberia: Green Advocates Breaks New Ground

Dec 3, 2020 | Observer

At a ground-breaking event in the city of Saniquellie, Blei Forest outlying communities in Nimba have self-identified as first step in supporting customary tenure recognition…


Afghanistan: UN Involved in Afghanistan Blockchain Land Registry Tool

Dec 2, 2020 | Ledger Insights

Later this month, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) plans to launch a land registry solution for urban cities in Afghanistan called goLandRegistry. The project is a collaboration with…


More Women in Boardrooms Mean Better Climate Change Policy, Study Says

Dec 1, 2020 | Heesu Lee, Business Standard

Companies with greater gender diversity in their boardrooms show better performance on developing policies and methods to address climate change risks, according to BloombergNEF.


Myanmar: Amid Tensions in Myanmar, an Indigenous Park of Peace Is Born

Nov 30, 2020 | Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360

The Salween Peace Park is being lauded as a model for conservation that draws less on Western science and more on ethnic cultural traditions of…


Myanmar: In Myanmar, Paul Sein Twa Helps Establish a Peace Park

Nov 30, 2020 | Madeleine Gregory, Sierra Club

The Salween River Basin—a strip of land on the border of Myanmar and Thailand—has been a site of conflict since before Paul Sein Twa was…


Liberia: Miners and Loggers Fight over Community Forest in Gbarpolu

Nov 30, 2020 | Mark N. Mengonfia, New Republic

In March last year, Korninga B Community Forest signed an agreement with Indo Africa Plantation Liberia to allow logging in its forest, which stretches across…


Iraq/Islamic State: Islamic State Says It Launched Rocket Attack on Northern Iraq Oil Refinery

Nov 29, 2020 | Ghazwan Hassan and Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters

A rocket hit a small oil refinery in northern Iraq on Sunday, causing a fire at a fuel storage tank and forcing a complete shutdown…


Afghanistan/Iran: Afghan Dam Constructions Threaten Iran Water Share

Nov 29, 2020 | Financial Tribune

Construction of the Kamal Khan Dam on Helmand River now near completion will profoundly affect water supply to Iranian wetlands and aggravate environmental problems in…


Nigeria: Kano Govt Moves Towards Finding Lasting Solution to Herdsmen, Farmers’ Conflict

Nov 28, 2020 | Kola Oyelere, Nigerian Tribune

Kano State government has expressed deep concern over the encroachment and blockage of cattle stock routes across the state, saying this has often led to…


Sierra Leone: MRU, CSOs Plan for Kimberly Process

Nov 28, 2020 | Mabinty M. Kamara, Politico SL

In an effort to ensure Civil Society’s effective participation in the Kimberly Process-Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (KP-ASM), the German international development agency, GIZ, has…


Liberia: Understanding People's Dependence on Forests

Nov 27, 2020 | New Dawn

Women working in the forest in Liberia. Here, forestry is the fourth largest contributor to the economy after services, agriculture, and fisheries, mining, and panning.…


Afghanistan: Water Authority, AKDN Sign MoU on Water Management

Nov 27, 2020 | Daily Outlook Afghanistan

The Agha Khan Development Network (AKDN) and National Water Management Authority (NWMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on matters related to water management…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Low Oil Prices Could Finally Bring Iraq and Kurdistan Together

Nov 27, 2020 | Viktor Katona, OilPrice.com

The relationship between Baghdad and Erbil has been strained ever since Iraq managed to eliminate the threat of the Islamic State. Both sides perceive the…


South Sudan: Asunim, I-kWh Join Elsewedy Electric on PV-Plus-Storage Project in South Sudan

Nov 27, 2020 | Edgar Meza, PV Magazine

United Arab Emirates-based PV system integrator Asunim Solar and renewable energy solutions consultancy I-kWh have formed a consortium to support Egyptian energy services company Elsewedy…


Liberia: 30 GoL Employees Train on Gender Sensitive, Land, Concession Reporting

Nov 26, 2020 | David A. Yates, Daily Observer

Over 30 employees from three autonomous agencies of Government have acquired an intensive three-days training in gender-sensitive, land and concession reporting organized by UN Women…


Climate Change: Looking at Security through the Climate Lens

Nov 26, 2020 | Michelle Langrand, Geneva Solutions

As global warming gains ground, the security implications of the climate threat can no longer be ignored. But as the Covid-19 pandemic enters its tenth…


Myanmar: Success Despite Covid: Hope from a Water Users Association in Central Myanmar

Nov 26, 2020 | Marie-Charlotte Buisson, Petra Schmitter, and Nyan Thiha, International Water Management Institute

The impact Covid-19 has had on farmers has been devastating. Harvest delays due to mobility restrictions, reduced availability of labor and variability in output and…


Myanmar: Farmers Refuse to Move for Dam Project

Nov 26, 2020 | Khonumthung News

Farmers are angry with the government because of plans to build a dam to divert water to Chin State’s capital, Hakha because it will inundate…


Colombia: Land Defenders Keep Getting Killed in Colombia

Nov 25, 2020 | Thomas Power, Vice

Hundreds of environmental defenders in Colombia feel fear in what is the most dangerous region in the world for their work, according to a recent…


Worsening Land Inequality Widens Gender, Climate Change Gaps

Nov 24, 2020 | Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Land inequality is growing worldwide, threatening the livelihoods of 2.5 billion people who directly rely on farming and widening disparities in gender, health and climate-change…


Liberia: Two Shot, Village Burnt in River Cess Riot over Mineral-rich Forestland

Nov 24, 2020 | James Harding Giahyue, FrontPage Africa

Two men have been injured and a village destroyed in a riot over potentially mineral-rich forestland over the weekend in River Cess County, local authorities…


South Sudan: Food Insecurity in South Sudan: The Impact of Flooding and Conflict

Nov 24, 2020 | Borgen Magazine

South Sudan is a country with a long and difficult history. Its people have dealt with prolonged food insecurity, extended periods of conflict and recurring…


Yemen: Solar Energy Micro-Businesses in Yemen are Saving Lives

Nov 24, 2020 | Borgen Magazine

Conflict and food insecurity continue to be prevalent in Yemen. Since 2015, Yemen has been experiencing a civil war that has taken a seemingly irreversible…