Sustainable Devpt

Indigenous Peoples and local communities protect half the world’s land, but formally own just 10 percent, according to a report released today by a global alliance of NGOs. The Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights, backed by more than 300 organisations all over the world, was on Wednesday launched with the publication of a new report. Entitled ...

The launch of an ambitious new three-year scientific assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services was announced in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on Sunday (February 28, 2016) at the close of a week-long meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body ...

Ratifications by Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have brought the total number of ratifications to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to 72. The Governments of Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland deposited their instruments ...

Bicycle ownership around the world is declining amid rising wealth levels and increased use of motorised vehicles in developing countries, a study has found. Four out of 10 households on the planet own a bike, according to a paper based on surveys from 150 countries between 1989 and 2012. But the growing popularity and affordability of motorised transport, such as ...

A new Greenpeace France investigations on Socfin, a company owned 38.75% by Bolloré group, has revealed the impact of the company’s plantations on forests, communities and wildlife in Africa. The revelation was made in a recent study. The report, titled: “Africa’s forests under threats”, shows that Socfin’s expansion plans in a dozen countries, mostly in Africa, are threatening forests that are ...

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is seeking long-term solutions to disasters such as drought and floods that are affecting communities all over the world. Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, who made the submission recently when announcing the plans for this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification, noted that the droughts and floods beating down on ...

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says that degradation of about two billion of hectares of arable land is due to population pressures in 64 of 105 countries. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) says 11 states in Northern Nigeria (Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Yobe states in the northeast Nigeria and Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, ...

The Bus, a sculptural memorial in honour of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine was shipped to Nigeria from the United Kingdom by Platform. On arrival in Nigeria it was seized by the Nigeria Customs since 8th September 2015 on the reported grounds that it had “political value.” The original ...

According to Josep Garí, head of the UN-REDD Programme’s work on stakeholder engagement and social inclusion as senior policy advisor at UNDP’s Sustainable Development Cluster, social inclusion is a key feature of REDD+ Social inclusion is a key feature of sustainable development, including in REDD+, a new international policy and incentive scheme to address the forest-climate interface. Social inclusion is ...

There are two oily stories that should catch our attention. One is about designing and fabrication of a refinery at a Nigerian university and the second one is about new dates for ending gas flaring in Nigeria. First is the news that the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has built a mini refinery that can “produce relatively ...