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Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, talks about his personal journey from growing up on a farm in Brazil to studying development economics and later learning about the complex connections between people and the planet, ecology and economy. He draws on examples from large dam construction projects to free pollination services delivered by bees to […]

Countries are facing multiple challenges in the pursuit of sustainable agricultural development. At the global level, nutritious food needs to be produced for a population of 9 billion by 2050 while keeping emissions from agriculture and land uses – currently 30% – in check. Yet, negotiators at this year’s UN climate change conference walked away […]

Getting the details of agricultural carbon projects right requires paying close attention to local institutions. These entities – including community groups, local NGOs and local governments – are  pivotal in encouraging the participation in carbon projects and adoption of carbon-sequestering farm-based activities. They contribute to the monitoring and tracking of results and ensure the fair […]

At the recent Third International Conference on Climate Services, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security showed donors, researchers and practitioners how climate services can work for smallholder farmers. The needs of agriculture were front and center at this third annual gathering of a global community of climate information producers and […]

By Janet Ranganathan The world is projected to hold a whopping 9.6 billion people by 2050. Figuring out how to feed all these people — while also advancing rural development, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting valuable ecosystems — is one of the greatest challenges of our era. So what’s causing the global food challenge, and how can the […]

In a newly published report, IIED assesses the benefits and drawbacks from Costa Rica’s Payments for Ecosystem Services programme. Costa Rica’s Payments for Ecosystems Services (PES) programme has become something of an icon in the world of PES. Its hitches and successes provide a valuable source of information and inspiration for other countries interested in […]