International


Liberia: New Illegal Logging Threatens Liberia’s Forests amid Vague Ban

May 2, 2024 | James Giahyue, Mongabay

Chainsaw-milled timber is emerging as a damaging new form of illegal logging in Liberia. Chainsaw milling is legally permitted only for small-scale production of boards…


Rwanda: ‘Blood Minerals’: What Are the Hidden Costs of the EU-Rwanda Supply Deal?

May 2, 2024 | Lorraine Mallinder, Al Jazeera

EU plans to secure supplies for green revolution from Rwanda are likely to support smuggling of conflict minerals from DR Congo.


Ukraine: Distributed Electricity Generation in Ukraine: The Risks and Opportunities

Apr 30, 2024 | Oleksiy Vasyliuk and Eugene Simonov, Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group

The decentralization of Ukraine’s energy sector, which has gained new impetus in 2024 as a result of Russian missile attacks, is currently the subject of…


Climate Change: New Report Finds Major Social Cohesion Losses in Climate Vulnerable Areas and Assesses Existing Programming and Next Steps

Apr 30, 2024 | Lily Salloum Lindegaard and Francis Jarawura, Danish Institute for International Studies

Climate impacts are intensifying, but knowledge of social impacts is limited. This DIIS Report documents novel findings of considerable social cohesion losses in highly vulnerable…


Afghanistan: National Museum Welcomes 400 Ancient Finds from Logar’s Mes Aynak Mine

Apr 30, 2024 | TOLOnews

The Ministry of Information and Culture reports that since the excavation of the Mes Aynak copper mine in Logar province began, over ten thousand ancient…


Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: Groundbreaking Study Reveals Way to Resolve Nile Water Dispute

Apr 30, 2024 | Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, Jerusalem Post

Scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK in collaboration with regional organizations have now shed light on a new, groundbreaking approach that could…


DENR, UN Women Partner for Environmental Protection, Climate Resilience

Apr 29, 2024 | Jing Villamente

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga on Monday said she and United Nations Women Philippines Country Programme Coordinator Ma.…


Colombia: Court Decision to Uphold Mining Ban in Colombian Town Impacts AngloGold Project

Apr 28, 2024 | Mining.com

The Tenth Administrative Court of Ibagué, the capital city of Colombia’s western Tolima department, ratified a mining ban in the Cajamarca municipality, thus upholding the…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Drone Attack on Iraqi Kurdistan’s Khor Mor Gas Field Kills Four, Halts Production

Apr 27, 2024 | Arab Weekly

Four expatriate workers were killed in a drone attack targeting the Khor Mor gas field in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Friday, an advisor to the…


In Ethiopia's Somali Region, Women Build Businesses and Resilience to Climate Change

Apr 25, 2024 | Elshaday Gebeyehu

Sadiya starts her day early by letting out her goats from her backyard barn at Bokolmayo refugee camp, a collection of makeshift houses in Ethiopia’s…


Liberia: FDA Approves Export of Illegal Timber Valued Nearly US$1M

Apr 25, 2024 | James Harding Giahyue, The Daylight

The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved the export of 797 logs, valued at an estimated US$923,441, despite being aware that over half of the timber…


DRC: DRC Accuses Apple of Using Illegally Exploited Minerals from Conflict-Torn East

Apr 25, 2024 | Agence France-Presse

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using "illegally exploited" minerals extracted from the country's embattled east in its products,…


Liberia: Liberia Puts a Wartime Logger in Charge of Its Forests

Apr 25, 2024 | Ashoka Mukpo, Mongabay

Liberia’s new president, Joseph Boakai, has appointed a timber trader linked to illegal logging to head the agency responsible for the country’s forests. Rudolph Merab,…


Colombia: Only 10% of Land Stolen during Armed Conflict Restituted Since 2011

Apr 25, 2024 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

Colombia’s authorities have over the past 13 years restituted only 10% of the land that were stolen during the armed conflict. According to NGO Forjando…


DRC: Congo Questions Apple on Concerns About Use of Conflict Minerals

Apr 25, 2024 | Paul Richardson, Bloomberg

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government notified Apple Inc. of concerns that the company’s supply chain may be tainted by conflict minerals sourced from the…


Liberia: Illegal Timber Trafficking Web Uncovered at CARI

Apr 24, 2024 | Rebazar D. Forte, The DayLight

This is not your regular sawmill. It is the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in Suakoko, Bong County, and the piles of timber are remnants…


Afghanistan: Earth Day and the Plight of Afghanistan’s Landholders: Climate Change Threatens Country

Apr 24, 2024 | Amin Kawa, Hasht-E Subh

Afghanistan is grappling not only with political and economic crises but also with the challenges of climate change. Declining groundwater levels, devastating floods, rising temperatures,…


Persistent Gender Inequalities Hinder Climate Resilience, Say Women

Apr 23, 2024 | Gilbert Koech

Gender equality advocates are furious that decisions on climate change do not involve women despite their vulnerability. 

This as impacts of climate change continue to ravage…


Afghanistan: 1.25m Acres of Land Wrested back from Grabbers

Apr 23, 2024 | Hijratullah Kakar, Pajhwok Afghan News

Since its creation 18 months ago, the Land Grab Prevention and Restitution Commission (LGPRC) has wrested back 1.25 million acres of state land from land…


Colombia: Colombian Court Recognizes Environmental Refugees

Apr 23, 2024 | Agence France-Presse

A Colombian court has ruled that environmental calamities, sudden or gradual, can legally be considered a cause of forced displacement, placing obligations on the state…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iran Says Water Is an Important Factor in Expansion of Ties with Afghanistan

Apr 22, 2024 | Ariana News

Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, said on Sunday that water is an important factor in the expansion of bilateral relations, expressing hope…


Liberia: Cocoa Farming in Liberia Risks Undermining EU Deforestation Law

Apr 22, 2024 | Joe Bavier, Reuters

Farmers are clearing forests in Liberia to create cocoa plantations and are trafficking the beans into neighbouring Ivory Coast, undermining European efforts to curb deforestation,…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan on Brink of Climate Catastrophe, UN Warns

Apr 22, 2024 | Mujeeb Rahman Awrang Stanikzai, Amu TV

On World Earth Day, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned that Afghanistan is on the brink of a climate catastrophe and called for immediate…


Wildlife: The Pelicans That Brought Peace to a Troubled Corner of Europe

Apr 22, 2024 | Fred Pearce, Anthropocene

A dedicated group of bird-lovers in a war-torn region of the Balkans in Europe is showing us [that water can also be a way out…


Sudan/South Sudan: Abyei Protestors Call for Withdrawal of Armed Groups, Referendum Acceptance

Apr 20, 2024 | Sudan Tribune

Protesters in the oil-producing region of Abyei and in New York have called for withdrawal of armed groups and for President Salva Kiir to accept…


Nigeria: FG Partners Military to Protect Forests, Wildlife

Apr 18, 2024 | Lara Adejoro, Punch Nigeria

The Federal Ministry of Environment has partnered with the military in the protection and preservation of forests and wildlife in the country. The 2023 wildlife…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Isolated Communities Grapple with Fallout from Devastating Floods

Apr 18, 2024 | Modaser Islami, National

Flash floods have killed at least 120 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and damaged houses, infrastructure and farmland since Friday, according to authorities. While losses…


Colombia: Reclaimed Roots: Restoring Indigenous Lands and Cultures in Colombia

Apr 18, 2024 | Latin American Post

In a landmark move, Colombia’s Land Restitution Unit (URT) has successfully returned more than 16,000 hectares of land to the semi-nomadic indigenous communities of Sikuani…


Climate Change: Building a New, Secure Climate Future

Apr 17, 2024 | UNDP

Climate change does not directly lead to conflict or instability, but it can interact negatively with the factors that impact the lives of those most…


Sierra Leone: No Longer a Minefield: Rehabilitating Lands Scarred by Diamond Mining to Offer New Livelihoods in Sierra Leone

Apr 17, 2024 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

In the district of Kono, in eastern Sierra Leone, the yellow soils lie barren and exposed, gouged out by the relentless quest for diamonds. In…