Time for Solidarity with Women of Haiti

I will never forget the time an earthquake shook Dodoma in 2002 when I was a parliamentarian in my home country of Tanzania. I had no idea how to react to the tremors and instinctively ran outside. Though I was fortunate that the tremors caused minimal damage, they brought home to me in a deeply personal way just how fragile we are. The earthquake that devastated Haiti brought these memories back vividly, and my heart went out to my many colleagues and the people of Haiti who have been deeply affected.

Help and Support Migrant Families Around the World

Message on International Day of Families, 2010

This year's commemoration of the International Day of Families focuses on the impact of migration on families around the world. Rising social and economic disparities create both pressures and incentives for people to leave their homes in search of better opportunities. Many migrate out of necessity due to poverty, unemployment, political or armed conflicts or violations of human rights.

Climate Change and Freshwater in Latin America and the Caribbean

Despite the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean have the largest freshwater resources per capita, a third of the region's population is cut off from sustained access to drinking water. Up until a few years ago, freshwater problems had been generally characterized as a result of inequitable natural distribution, lack of adequate financing for water infrastructure, poor freshwater governance, or a combination of the three.

Small Islands, Rising Seas

The threat posed by rising sea levels has been the centrepiece of climate change negotiations, the main issue emphasized by Small Island Developing States, also known as the SIDS. The poorer countries flanked by large bodies of water -- who have contributed the least to global warming, including rapid sea-level rise -- now find themselves at the precarious mercy of the historical polluters.

Oil in a Low-carbon Economy

When it comes to the subject of energy in the Middle East, we instinctively think of oil -- the black gold that has been the source of stable and healthy economies in the region. Nevertheless, this is about to change. With the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Governments are realizing the imminent threat of climate change, and that there is no choice but to act fast.

Global Warming and Surging Glaciers

During global warming, solutions to surging glaciers and their unpredictable behavior are still far from being found and demand organized national and international research.

Women...In The Shadow of Climate Change

Women are increasingly being seen as more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change, mainly because they represent the majority of the world's poor and are proportionally more dependent on threatened natural resources. The difference between men and women can also be seen in their differential roles, responsibilities, decision making, access to land and natural resources, opportunities and needs, which are held by both sexes.

Is Africa Ready?

The evidence for climate change is overwhelming. It has been reconfirmed by successive international studies and reports over the last two decades. Catastrophic climate change, which will threaten our entire ecosystem as we know it, is possible, though not yet probable. It is likely to happen if we do not change course and continue to ignore the evidence before our eyes: escalating temperatures will cause a big rise in sea level and the release of methane from the tundra will take us towards a tipping point where living creatures are unable to adapt to the changes fast enough.

Livelihoods In Peril: Indigenous Peoples and their Rights

Inuit hunters in northern Greenland are treading carefully on increasingly thinning ice, while at the same time the key marine species they depend on -- seals, walrus, narwhals and polar bears -- are moving away from the areas in which they are traditionally hunted, as they in turn respond to changes in local ecosystems. In the high ranges of the Himalaya, Sherpa, Tamang, Kiranti, Dolpali and other indigenous groups are witnessing the melting of glaciers; the same is true in other mountain regions of the world such as the Peruvian Andes, where the indigenous Quechua report that they are worried when they look at the receding glaciers on their mountain peaks.

Bare Sanctuaries

Loss of habitat is the greatest threat to biological diversity, and 85 per cent of the species on the 2006 Norwegian red list are threatened by changes in habitat. Highly-specialized species appear to be the most vulnerable. The polar bear is one such species, and the extent and sustainability of sea ice is essential for its survival. The global population of polar bears consists of roughly 20,000-25,000 individuals spread between 19 sub-populations.

Tracking Climate Change From Space

For centuries, rural communities in the high plateaus of the Andes have utilized water from melting glaciers that typify this amazing mountain range. But the retreat of these glaciers is forcing the communities to reconsider their livelihoods and ways to adapt. From a wider perspective, the melting of glaciers is an iconic warning to the larger cities in the Andes that rely on glaciers for potable water.

The Ecology of Recycling

While not on the front line of climate solutions, recycling of waste materials, wastewater, and wasted energy is a locally available and highly desirable means of reducing greenhouse gases. One potent greenhouse gas, the methane emitted from landfills and wastewater, accounts for about 90 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the entire waste sector