In parts of rural China, humans are doing the work bees once did. Striking new photos show farm workers in Hanyuan county, in China’s Sichuan province, painstakingly applying pollen to flowers by hand. Hanyuan county is known as the “world’s pear capital.” But pesticide use has led to a drastic reduction in the area’s bee population, threatening the fruit crop. Workers now ...

Water scarcity in parts of Lagos State is worsening, even as accusing fingers are being pointed in the direction of road construction works that affect underground water pipes, poor state of public water facilities, and irregular power supply. The consequences of these have left the masses with bitter experiences, as businesses that require water to operate continue to suffer huge ...

The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) has announced that the sixth edition of its flagship water event, the Africa Water Week, will hold from the 18th to the 22nd of July 2016. The Africa Water Week, which represents a political commitment at the highest level for creating platform to discuss and collectively seek solutions to Africa’s water and sanitation ...

Largest civil disobedience in the history of environmental movement materialises as campaigners commence actions to Break Free from fossil fuels Starting Tuesday, a global wave of peaceful direct actions lasting for 12 days will take place across six continents targeting the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel projects, under the banner of “Break Free.” 2015 was the hottest year ever recorded ...

Violent conflicts have become so pervasive in Nigeria that one could be excused to say that they threaten to become the new normal. Some years ago, no one could imagine that a Nigerian, child or adult, would become a suicide bomber. That thinking was loudly put to rest by the activities of Boko Haram, the group that erected and foisted a ...

Former Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has been nominated to be the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), helping to bolster a 2015 Paris Agreement to shift the world economy from fossil fuels, officials said on Tuesday. Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican who is stepping down in July after a six-year term as ...

The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, arrives in Nigeria this week on a two-day official mission in furtherance of the long-standing partnership between UNODC and Nigeria in the areas of anti-corruption, terrorism prevention; drug control with a balanced health-focused approach; strengthened criminal justice sector and the rule of law in Nigeria ...

The first meeting of the new Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-1) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opened on Monday in Montreal, Canada, focusing on increasing efforts related to strengthening the review process and enhance on-the-ground implementation at global, national, subnational and local levels. The meeting, being held from 2-6 May 2016 at the headquarters of the International Civil ...

Nigeria, with over 170 million people, is one of the most populated countries in Africa. Before the oil boom, the economy was known to thrive excellently on agriculture and it was no wonder the Naira was able to rub shoulders with western currencies. But, with the emergence of crude oil and the “pot of gold” that came with it, agriculture, ...

Key decisions on nature conservation and sustainable development are expected at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress 2016 in September, after the motions to be debated and voted upon were published. Held every four years, the 2016 IUCN Congress will be the largest gathering of environmental policy makers since the Paris Climate Agreement and the adoption ...