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Originally published at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. The role of healthy soils in climate protection and food security was a major focus of the COP21 international climate summit in Paris. More than half of the 158 submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) ascribe importance to the agricultural sector. In particular African and Asian countries […]

The replanting of forests – when considering local livelihoods and national growth – can play a major role in achieving the climate objectives that were agreed in Paris. It is now time for investors to make a move and the ‘Forests for the Future, New Forests for Africa’ initiative has received the support of H.E. […]

Pop quiz: how much land in developing countries do women own? A: Less than one per cent B: Two to five per cent C: Ten per cent D: I don’t know This was the opening question posed to the group gathered at the high session on gendered perspectives on land rights at this year’s Global […]

Each year, services provided by nature accumulate value in the trillions of dollars. Yet, many investors still tend to focus on unsustainable, short-term goals and strategies which exploits natural resources. As a consequence, the deployed financial capital often damages the environment as well as the economy. Considering the additional decline of natural resources due to […]

Wood energy is critical for many communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as a way to cook food, clean water, and produce and sell charcoal as a source of income. On the other hand, the utilization of wood energy is responsible for 50% of forest degradation and 10-20% of forest destruction in the region. For development practitioners […]

Equity is a broad term, and can sound like a tall order to fill for initiatives seeking to help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change. It includes land tenure, adequate benefit sharing, equal participation of all stakeholders, distribution of social benefits, open access to information, access to justice, and the protection of the rights […]