Nemonte Nenquimo has spent years fending off miners, loggers and oil companies intent on developing the Amazon rainforest.
The leader of Ecuador's indigenous Waorani people, she famously fronted a 2019 lawsuit that banned resource extraction on 500,000 acres of her ancestral lands — a court win that gave hope to indigenous communities around the world.
For many locals and tourists, Praslin Island in Seychelles is synonymous with paradise. From the white sands of Anse Lazio, frequently voted as one of the top beaches in the world, to the endemic species of the jungle, to the colorful coral reefs in Curieuse Marine Park, Praslin is filled with both beauty and biodiversity.
But, as events at one site on the northwest side of the island demonstrate, this paradise is precarious.
The past decade was the hottest in human history. Apocalyptic fires and floods, cyclones and hurricanes are increasingly the new normal, and emissions are 62 per cent higher now than when international climate negotiations began in 1990.
The evidence is clear. We are in a race against time to adapt to a rapidly changing climate – one of the three planetary crises we face along with biodiversity loss, pollution and waste.
Near Omar Gona’s house in Djibouti’s Tadjourah city stands a wall three metres high and five metres thick. What might be an eyesore for some is a godsend for the city because the wall holds back the monsoon rains that have decimated people’s lives here for decades.
Responding to the profusion of challenges at our doorstep, world leaders have been stepping up – and making ambitious commitments.
Food, water, medicine, energy: the planet’s ecosystems provide the essentials of life, so long as they’re taken care of.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been happening. During the last several decades, human development has pushed many of the world’s forests, savannahs and other natural systems to the brink of collapse.
Did you know nature is one of humanity’s best defences for adapting to climate change? A new funding opportunity is scaling up ecosystem-based adaptation across the world. The call for proposals is now open.
During the online session of the fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) which took place 22-23 February 2021, a short online poll was conducted.
Planning for adaptation is progressing, although nature-based solutions are lagging. As temperatures rise and climate change impacts intensify, nations must urgently step up action to adapt to the new climate reality or face serious costs, damages and losses, the 2020 edition of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Adaptation Gap Report finds.
The development of the GAN involved a broad UNEP-facilitated consultative process, including an international consultation meeting and four regional consultations.
