Indigenous Marind in West Papua consider the forest and its plants and animals as kin. These culturally valued multispecies relations, however, are being disrupted by oil palm development projects.
Sophie Chao
Indigenous Marind in West Papua consider the forest and its plants and animals as kin. These culturally valued multispecies relations, however, are being disrupted by oil palm development projects.
Palm oil development is not just about the economy but also needs to consider social and environmental costs.
www.shutterstock.com
There are studies showing that farmers can have economic benefits from palm oil. However, they can also be impoverished by the commodity.
The Bangladesh government wants Karail, an established community of 200,000 people in the capital Dhaka, to make way for development.
Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World/flickr
A community of 200,000 in Dhaka faces eviction to make room for “development”. Is it time to rethink the concept, especially with a billion people now living in informal settlements worldwide?
More by luck than design, recent recent levels of immigration seem to be in a ‘goldilocks zone’ that balances economic, social and environmental objectives.
www.shutterstock.com
Immigration is neither the problem nor solution in many areas where Australia is off-track, from government debt to environmental action.
Indonesia plans to relocate its capital from the sprawling city of Jakarta – and it isn’t the only country with plans to build whole new cities.
AsiaTravel/Shutterstock
Other countries are planning new cities using technological innovation to achieve more sustainable development. Such plans aren’t new for Australia, but existing city growth is the focus of attention.
It’s not all doom and gloom – pathways to restore the health of our planet do exist.
wonderisland/Shutterstock
Many people focus just on agriculture and new technologies for feeding the world’s growing population. Yet, fisheries are the centerpiece of billions of people’s diets.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Pretoria ahead of the summit.
EPA
With international trade facing its greatest threat in decades, this club of China, Brazil, Russia, South Africa and India will have much to say about it.
France has committed to halving the level of food waste by 2025.
Shutterstock
The case of the start-up Phenix shows that the fight to reduce food waste requires a regulatory context that encourages innovation at the level of the business ecosystem.
Australia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gillian Bird, makes a statement at the 2016 Habitat III conference, where the New Urban Agenda was adopted.
Alexei Trundle
Australia and other United Nations member states signed up to the New Urban Agenda more than a year ago. But how well is health being integrated into sustainable urban development?
A man experiences a virtual reality bike ride in a display at the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur.
Ahmad Yusni/EPA
Representatives of nations around the world have come together to discuss how to achieve the New Urban Agenda. Collective political will is needed, but the Australian government didn’t show up.
A worker inspects solar panels at a solar farm in China.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria
What do China, India, South Africa and Mexico have in common? They all reduced the carbon intensity of their economies without sacrificing economic growth. Other developing nations can do the same.
Brazilian President Temer, Russian President Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Africa’s President Zuma and Indian Prime Minister Modi.
Reuters/Kenzaburo Fukuhara
The promise of BRICS was that it would usher in a new approach to development. But after meeting annually for the last nine years there’s no sign that the old order has been challenged.
The Maputo Convention recognises traditional rights of local communities and indigenous knowledge.
Shutterstock
After decolonisation and independence a new conservation document was needed, one that looks after the needs of the people. That’s what the Maputo Convention aims to do.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals have distinct functions but are interrelated and requires an integrated approach from both scientists and policymakers.
The city of Dortmund is seeking citizens’ input on plans for this 44-hectare brownfield site of Hoesch Spundwand und Profil in Dortmund.
Robing Chang
Pop-up parks and tiny houses are just a few of the innovative solutions that can help post-industrial cities across Europe and North America adapt to the future.
Activists protest against South Africa’s proposed nuclear deal.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Education should be for everyone not only those in formal education institutions. Popular education programmes presents an opportunity for people to learn how to contribute to a sustainable future.
A boy jumps from a water pipe into a canal as temperatures soar in New Delhi. Access to clean and regular water remains a challenge for India’s capital.
Cathal McNaughton/Reuters
Access to clean and regular water remains a challenge for New Delhi, a city that could easily tackle its water crisis with greater effort.
Our national wellbeing probably peaked with Australia’s population at roughly 15 million in the 1970s, when this photo was taken in Hunters Hill, Sydney.
John Ward/flickr
Australia’s GPI, a broad measure of national wellbeing, has stalled since 1974. So what has been the point of huge population and GDP growth since then if we and our environment are no better off?
Many African countries are sitting on vast and under-utilised oceanic territories that have the potential to unlock enormous economic value, if properly governed.
Professor of Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute and School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand