United Nations News

Bottom trawling is a practice used by commercial fisheries around the world in which a large, heavy net is dragged along the ocean floor to scoop up everything in its…

The U.S. Midwest and Northeast experienced one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record this past season. This might seem contrary to warming trends forecast by climate scientists, but a…

The world is warming rapidly due to greenhouse gas emissions, threatening everything from our food supply to our ecosystems, but the solution may be surprisingly cheap, according to the third…

Every year, 20 million tons of plastic enters the world’s oceans. In 2012, the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development dubbed marine plastic litter “a major environmental issue…

Cumulative deforestation and population growth. Courtesy of UNREDD Investing $30 billion a year in forest conservation — less than seven percent of the $480 billion spent annually on fossil fuels…

Rainforest in Sabah. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Negotiators in Warsaw have reached formal agreement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), a program that aims to compensate tropical…

Australia, Japan and Poland blamed for sabotaging UN Climate Summit talks. Thirteen citizen groups—including Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WWF—have walked out of ongoing climate talks in Warsaw to protest what they…

Yesterday, at the International Coal and Climate Summit—just a couple miles from the ongoing UN Climate Summit—Christiana Figueres delivered a speech unlike anything ever heard at a coal industry meeting…

The amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere in 2013 is expected to hit a new high of 36 billion tonnes, according to a Carbon Budget released today by…

Around 60,000 Australians marched yesterday across the country calling on their government not to go backwards on climate action, according to organizers. Australia has taken a sudden U-turn on climate…

Japan's decision to weaken carbon emissions target a 'slap in the face' to poor countries. In 2009, Japan pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 25 percent based on 1990…

Bangladesh's rush to coal could increase emissions by 160 percent. In October, a global risks analysis company, Maplecroft, named Bangladesh the world's most vulnerable nation to climate change by 2050.…

Environmental initiatives that target zero net deforestation may miss their mark when it comes to slowing climate change and protecting biodiversity, warns a commentary published in this week's issue of…

For many concerned about climate change, Australia has suddenly become the new Canada. With the election of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister in September, the land down under has taken…

In Redeeming REDD: Policies, Incentives and Social Feasibility for Avoided Deforestation, anthropologist Michael Brown relays a constructive critique of the contemporary aims, standards and modalities for mitigating climate change by…

Following the devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan—which is arguably the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall—Filipino delegate, Naderev 'Yeb' Saño, has vowed to go on a fast at the UN…

The link between good economic policy and climate change mitigation is instigated by policies such as the triple-bottom line, carbon limitations, and pro-environmental legislation. However, economic inequality is a little…

Human actions are responsible for warming the Earth, reconfirms the landmark Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released today, the first mammoth report on the physical science of climate…

John Lukas will be speaking at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo in San Francisco on October 12th, 2013. On June 24th of last year, MaiMai Simba rebels, led by an…

An Interview with Cacique Betanio Chiquidama, National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Panama This week in Lombok, Indonesia, the Policy Board of the United Nations climate change program known as…

A world heritage site in the Solomon Islands is "in danger" due to logging, warns the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The East Rennell area of the…

The global population could grow by another 4 billion people by the end of the century if fertility rates in Africa don't decline, according to a new report by the…

Today is the United Nations' International Day for Biological Diversity, an initiative that aims to raise understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year marks the 12th International Day for…

Demand for metals is likely to increase tenfold as developing economies surge ahead, putting severe stress on the natural environment, a new report from the United Nations Environment Program (Unep)…

Just 9% of the millions of tonnes of fish caught by China's giant fishing fleet in African and other international waters is officially reported to the UN, say researchers using…

More than 60 percent of Madagascar is suffering from a massive locust infestation that is threatening crops and livestock, potentially increasing risks to native wildlife and forests from hungry farmers,…

Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam under construction. Photo courtesy of Robin Oisín Llewellyn. A Ngäbe indigenous Panamanian, Onesimo Rodriguez, opposing the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam project was killed last Friday evening…

Giant kapok ('Big Tree') in Panama's rainforest. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples in Panama (COONAPIP) has announced it is withdrawing from the United Nation's…

Annual deforestation emissions estimates released by the FAO Deforestation in Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched a global set of…

Rainforest beetle in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), the UN program to conserve tropical forests by paying developing nations to keep…