News

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Allowed to Sue Kurds Over Texas Oil Tanker in U.S.

Jan 8, 2015 | Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg Businessweek

Iraq’s oil ministry can sue the Kurdistan regional government for possession of 1 million barrels of crude that have waited in a tanker circling off…

Myanmar: Farmers Fleeing Myitsone Dam Face Economic Challenges

Jan 8, 2015 | Eleven Myanmar

Farmers who fled their lands to make way for the Myitsone Dam project are now struggling to earn livelihoods.According to the farmers, although homes, roads…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Dispute Over Tanker's Kurdish Oil Continues in Houston Court

Jan 8, 2015 | Collin Eaton, Houston Chronicle

Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government are still trying to resolve a dispute that for six months has kept a tanker full of Kurdish oil…

Resource Curse: The Twilight of the Resource Curse?

Jan 8, 2015 | The Economist

For decades commodity prices have shaped Africa’s economic growth. The continent is home to a third of the planet’s mineral reserves, a tenth of the…

Jordan: Renewable Energy Project Coordinator

Jan 7, 2015 | Norwegian Refugee Council

NRC is planning to implement a project on replicable renewable energy to contribute towards meeting the renewable energy goals set by the Government of Jordan’s…

Sanctions for Peace in South Sudan

Jan 7, 2015 | Peter Biar Ajak

After about a year of on-off negotiations between the government of South Sudan and rebels led by its former vice president, Riek Machar, the two…

Liberia: FDA Under Watchful Eyes, Ears of Advocacy Groups in 2014: Nation’s Forest at Glance

Jan 7, 2015 | Edwin M. Fayia III, Liberian Observer

Liberia’s prime custodian of the forest sector, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), started 2014 under the watchful eyes and ears of local and international advocacy…

Iraq/Kurdistan: NOC Oil Heading to Market Via Kurdistan

Jan 7, 2015 | Kamaran al-Najar, Patrick Osgood, and Ben Lando, Iraq Oil Report

Iraq's federal North Oil Company (NOC) has begun exporting Kirkuk crude for the first time since militants led by the so-called Islamic State (IS) bombed…

Syria: Yarmouk Camp Victim of Water Wars in Syria

Jan 7, 2015 | Aya Chebbi, Al Jazeera

The Syrian regime is using water as a tool of war in the Yarmouk camp, according to a recent report issued by the Palestinian League for Human…

Africa: Oil Prices and African Economies

Jan 7, 2015 | Abayomi Azikiwe, Global Research

During 2014 many western-based financial publications declared that the Federal Republic of Nigeria had surpassed the Republic of South Africa as the largest economy on…

Myanmar: Two Dead, 30 Missing After Rockslide at Myanmar Jade Mine

Jan 7, 2015 | Aung Hla Tun, Reuters

At least two people were killed and around 30 were missing on Wednesday after a mountain of rubble collapsed at a jade mine in northern…

Myanmar: Daunting Myanmar Mining Risks Keeps Investors to a Brave Handful

Jan 7, 2015 | South China Morning Post, Reuters

With abundant mineral wealth from jade and rubies to copper and coal, Myanmar ought to be looking forward to a mining boom as it opens…

Nigeria: Shell Agrees to Pay $83.5 Million for Oil Spills

Jan 7, 2015 | New York Times

The oil giant Shell agreed early Wednesday to pay a Nigerian fishing community 55 million pounds, or about $83.5 million, ending a three-year legal battle…

Somalia: Somalia Expels Chinese Firm for 'Illegal Mining'

Jan 7, 2015 | World Bulletin

A Chinese mining company has been ordered out of Somalia for allegedly conducting illegal mining activity and causing "public turmoil," the Somali government announced on…

"Livelihoods, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding" to be published in February

Jan 6, 2015 | ELI, UNEP, McGill University & University of Tokyo

The Environmental Law Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, McGill University, and the University of Tokyo are delighted to announce the completion of "Livelihoods, Natural Resources…

Year in Review: Environmental Peacebuilding in 2014

Jan 6, 2015 | ELI, UNEP, McGill University & University of Tokyo

In 2014, there was dramatic growth in the field of environmental peacebuilding.  We are pleased to share with you some highlights from the Environmental Peacebuilding…

Iraq: Majnoon Protesters Demand Jobs

Jan 6, 2015 | Ali Abu Iraq and Ben Lando, Iraq Oil Report

Demonstrators blocked roads near the Majnoon oil field over the past week, claiming that Royal Dutch Shell has reneged on promises to provide jobs."We went…

Myanmar: Myanmar Arrests More Than 100 foreigners for Illegal Logging

Jan 6, 2015 | Associated Press

The Myanmar army has arrested more than 100 foreigners and 20 Myanmar nationals for illegal logging near the Chinese border, the defense ministry said Tuesday.It…

Iraq: Iraq Exports Record High 2.94 Mil b/d Crude in Dec, Up 430,000 b/d from Nov

Jan 6, 2015 | Faleh al-Khayat and Adal Mirza, Platts

Iraq's crude oil exports reached 2.94 million b/d in December, a new record high, taking the country's 2014 monthly average to 2.517 million b/d, as…

Myanmar: Govt Targets Kachin Rebels in Timber Takedown

Jan 6, 2015 | Nyein Nyein, The Irrawaddy

The Burmese government took a hard line on the timber trade in Kachin State on Tuesday, as state-run media publicly denounced rebels for facilitating illicit…

Course: Competing Claims on Natural Resources

Jan 5, 2015 | Wageningen University Centre for Development Innovation, Netherlands

Competition over land and natural resources is increasingly overstretching the multi-functionality of landscapes, whether it is at local or at global level. With the ambition…

UN Report Highlights Women’s Roles in Natural Resource Management During and After Conflict

Jan 5, 2015 | Priya Kamdar

It’s been 14 years since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 acknowledging women as important agents of change in recovery from conflict and peacebuilding…

Ghana: Chief of Party

Jan 5, 2015 | Chemonics

Chemonics seeks a chief of party for the anticipated West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA-BiCC) Activity, a five-year, $50 million project aiming to improve…

Central African Republic: Operations Manager

Jan 5, 2015 | Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps works almost exclusively in high-risk conflict and post-conflict environments. While we recognize that these are difficult places to operate, we believe that transitional…

Indonesia: Consultant for Green Rubber Project

Jan 5, 2015 | Center for International Forestry Research

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a nonprofit, global research organization dedicated to advancing human well-being, environmental conservation and equity.

We conduct research that…

Tajikistan Green Investment in the Agricultural Sector Helps Realign its Pathway to Sustainable Development

Jan 5, 2015 | UNEP

In Tajikistan, known to some as the "land of rugged mountains", agriculture provides the backbone of the economy and supports the livelihoods of two-thirds of…

Rwanda Restores Ecosystems, Generating Record Tourism and New Opportunities for Growth

Jan 5, 2015 | UNEP

Rwanda has undergone a remarkable economic and social reconstruction in recent years and recorded consistent growth rates of 8 per cent a year between 2001…

'Outside the Net': Women's Participation in Fishing Activities in Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka

Jan 5, 2015 | Gayathri Lokuge

‘The woman left us slowly and moved to the other side of the beach seine, sat down on the sand and started piling the seaweed…

South Sudan: New Fighting Rocks South Sudan Oil States

Jan 5, 2015 | Michael Atit, Lucy Poni, and Waakhe Simon Wudu, Voice of America

JUBA—The South Sudanese army and rebel forces loyal to former vice president Riek Machar are blaming each other for the latest outbreaks of fighting in…

China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Leery as China’s Infamous Oil Rig Heads for Indian Ocean

Jan 5, 2015 | An Dien, Thanh Nien News

Vietnamese agencies have kept a close eye on the path of a giant mobile oil rig since China Central Television announced it was setting off…